New Book Release: Apprehended & Apprehending Explains the True Meaning of Salvation by Grace

New Book Release: Apprehended & Apprehending Explains the True Meaning of Salvation by Grace: The book Apprehended & Apprehending describes the true meaning of salvation and it shakes the faith of its readers to help them understand its meaning.

Believing the Truth Does Not Make It True

Time To Put A Context To It

To put my writing into context one must understand what my ministry is about. Prior to entering in the wilderness with God, I heard the call of God and He wanted to send me. God calls us in different ways. But, there is another call by God that is so personal and beautiful that it puts you for a while in a state of awe and you feel you are living life kind of suspended for a while.  After I heard my call, my heart could not come down to earth and all I could sing is this song by Daniel O'Donnell of 2004 and the title of the song is "here I am Lord."  At the end of this post, I will provide the lyrics for you. I was not sure what to do with the call and I was one of those people, God restrained me right away. So, even if I wanted to move ahead on my own, I would not have been able to. 2 years have passed I enrolled in an evangelism training. Through it, God overwhelmed my heart with the darkness that existed right there in a small corner of Toronto. Because I was spending weeks amongst people involved in Evangelism, I thought it was a great opportunity to tell them about my calling. Needless to say that most people were surprised that I did not set sail and "go."  While I was urged to be obedient to the call, I was so torn inside, the wilderness was raging on in my life, and everything was falling apart. Meanwhile, God was restricting me from making what would have been the biggest mistake of my life with Him. 

Surprisingly, while I felt there was a call to go and evangelize the world, mainly the South Asia, God was at work in me working in the background and preparing me to be 'His'  first and foremost before I could go. Through the process of preparation that lasted years I found out so much more. Yes, I needed to learn evangelism, I needed to learn God's Word, I needed to learn to be broken by Him, so that my will would be His first before handing it back to me. While there is a whole list that I needed to learn from Him, most of all, I needed to understand His standards. Through the wilderness, the vision took shape and my identity and spiritual life in Him have catapulted to an unimaginable level. It turns out God was raising me to be a prayer warrior. A real one. But the true vision did not take shape until 2012. More than seven years after I heard the call. 

While my spiritual maturity in Him, and the knowledge and boldness I have received from being with Him could be beneficial to anyone with a heart set on living for Him, my true calling is to reach those who do not understand that believing the truth does not make it true, Satan believes the truth as well. Most of these people are very active in the Church and a lot of them are in leadership positions. These people are so hard to reach and they make it their mission to resist any changes you call them to. They have accumulated just enough Christianity to become Satan's personal favorites. Beside the stubbornness of their hearts two major things they  also have in common is that they do not want to go to Christ to be changed and they are all carnal. They are the perfect picture of the reverse of John 6:65 meaning they have no willingness to go to Him to be transformed. There is lots of frustration in this ministry, the only thing that keeps you going is knowing who God is and He is able to do the impossible. So you keep praying and keep calling for changes.

 Through my training, and also my daily walk with Him, God has given me wisdom and discernment to unmask these Christians no matter how many masks they are wearing, their gender, rank etc. Make no mistake this is hard ministry. God has to teach you humility which is painful to learn from Him. I am not sure how to explain the other major component of this ministry. It is something you possess in your heart, where you automatically know certain insights you have on someone has to remain confidential. It is funny, because God does not have to tell you not to say anything about it. The other thing I find out is that God keeps you on a need to know basis. 

PRAY: Father God I pray that my brothers and sisters would learn to serve you wherever they are.  I pray you would pour out Your Spirit Lord on those sitting in the pews that are blind, my heart's  desire is for them to see you. I pray hearts would be softened and people would respond to your invitation to  "come to me!" 

Here is the lyric of the song I mentioned in the post

Here I Am Lord

I, the Lord of sea and sky

I have heard my people cry

All who dwell in dark and sin

My hand will save.

I who made the stars and night

I will make the darkness bright

Who will bear my light to them

Whom shall I send?

Here I am Lord

Is it I Lord?

I have heard you calling in the night

I will go Lord

If you lead me

I will hold your people in my heart.

I the Lord of snow and rain

I have borne my people's pain

I have wept for love of them

They turn away.

I will break their hearts of stone

Fill their hearts with love alone

I will speak my word to them

Whom shall I send?

Here I am Lord

Is it I Lord?

I have heard you calling in the night

I will go Lord

If you lead me

I will hold your people in my heart.

I will hold your people in my heart...

False Religion According to God’s Standards

DEVOTION

Read Jeremiah 7: 1-5

This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord:  “Stand at the gate of the Lord’s house and there proclaim this message: ‘Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the Lord.  This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place.  Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!”

As I was reading Jeremiah 7 today, my heart was breaking because while this story is the Israelites story, specifically, in these verses Judah was targeted by God and it happened thousands of years ago, it is still us today. Things have not changed that much. We still go on with a vain confidence in mainstream Christianity. We find pride in our buildings, our achievements, the eloquence of our pastors, in our head knowledge, our plans, our standards, our denominations etc. We have compartmentalized Christianity, to us Salvation has become what we feel it should be. We bring God down so low, that His standards do not matter to us anymore. Our hearts are so callous, so much arrogance and pride in the Church and among Christians. Most of us in the pews along with our pastors have no idea what it means to be broken by God and the list goes on. Yet, we come and stand in His presence with no fear whatsoever. The Israelites felt they found protection too when they came into the temple. They too had compartmentalized their lives and expected God to honor His Word as if He could not see their hearts were not in it. We do not pay enough attention to the fact that God wants us to do things according to His Way and His standards.

We go through the Bible like lawyers going through documents to find loopholes. In the meantime we forget this is OUR GOD, the God of our Salvation. We offer Him sentimentality and we get caught up in our own hypes, our own deception and low standards of Christianity. But, true Christianity according to His standards demands that we live purposely for Him. Not according to what that means to us but according to His views, His Word., His standards and His plan for Salvation. When this is done according to His standards and by His grace, we are transformed on the inside. It is sad to see how we misunderstand Christianity because we do not know what it means to live under His grace and worst we have never learned to know ourselves because we have not been humbled by Him. So somehow, in the depth of our souls, we still think there is something good in us.

PRAY: Oh Lord, I pray we learn to embrace full Salvation according to your plan. I pray the eyes of our hearts would be open and we would get rid of Spiritual blindness. Take away the darkness that surrounds us Savior even though we do not deserve you, I pray that you would be glorified in all our lives.

In His Love & Service

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THE FEAR OF MAN!

DEVOTION

Read Jeremiah 1:11-19

Jeremiah has been placed as a watchdog over the nation and everything that came out of his mouth was going to be God’s judgement over the nation. He knew of the destruction awaiting Judah, and the fact that judgement was close by so there was no time to waste in finding the way back to Him in repentance. I can see his dilemma. Imagine you knew for a fact that a train is going to derail with everyone aboard, yet the people are not interested in what you know. If anything, they think there is something wrong with you. Your heart is breaking from the pain of possessing such knowledge with no power to convince the people that you know what you are talking about. As if it was not enough you have to deal with the fear of what they could do to you for disturbing the joy they found in their wickedness and idolatry.

God knew Jeremiah was terrified. His fear and his pity party in his mind and heart did not matter to God. The job had to be done and he was the chosen one. Instead God told Jeremiah “Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them. Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land. They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.

The fear of man is a powerful snare. It can cripple us and causes us to miss out on all that God has in store for us. In my life I found the only remedy that liberates us from the fear of man is the fear of God. Often we make decisions and side with man just to be on what seems the safe side. We let our fear take over, and our need for approval. This comes from a lack of knowing God, walking with Him and lack of fearing Him. When you fear and respect Him, the choice is always clear. This does not mean you are not trembling with fear of other people's reaction but your fear and reverence for God must come first. Just because God is not in your face, wagging His finger does not mean we get away with it when we side with man instead of Him. No matter what, we are to choose His side, no deletions, no alterations and no cutting corners to soften the blows. If you do, you will be judged by God severely. The only tool we ever need is God Himself.

PRAY: Lord I pray that I never compromise my walk with you to please men. I pray that other Christians would be willing to do the same for your Glory my Lord. That we would be people after your heart. We would be willing to give up our interest, personal agendas and wishes. Lord, may we never fail the call my Lord.  I love you daddy!

SMASHWORDS

CHOSE WISELY WHOM YOU SERVE

DEVOTION

Jeremiah 1:10

 "See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant."

The sole purpose of Jeremiah’s birth and the authority given to Him by God for his ministry are found in verse 10. The story of Jeremiah is astonishing. One would think that he would naturally become a priest. Instead of following in his father's footsteps, he had a much a bigger challenge presented to him at a young age. It was indeed a daunting task to try to reform his people and convince them to change their ways. In his ministry he was not to mince word because they had left behind all they had learned about God’s characters and Holiness. They had compromised so much, in their exceeding sinfulness they could not recover because their hearts became so callous and they were enjoying the ease of their new found religions. Jeremiah was given power to pull down and destroy and to remove evil among them.

There is no half way with God. He puts before us two choices “good and evil” it is up to us to choose. But we better use this freedom of the will to choose wisely. There is a price for choosing according to our will instead of His and we better be ready to pay the price tag attached to living in our own filth and our own will, because at judgement time, no stones will be left unturned.

 Sadly, in today’s church we are missing anointed ministers from the pulpits to lead the flock. We are living in time where everything is permissible and justifiable. While our ministers preach with gadgets, they tweak God’s message with their own philosophy and variety of their theology. God will be harsher with us come judgement time, because we have His revealed Word in the Bible, and the Holy Spirit to guide us to Him.

 What about you? Are you more interested in what the false prophet have to say than the Word of God? Do you find yourself enjoying the idleness and ease of religions? How can you use this message to turn around?

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you for today’s passage. It is a reminder that you are a God to be feared. Please help me to seek your ways and surrender in humility, everything each day into your care.  Only in you my Lord we can find true fulfilment and joy. Please help me live by the truth and honor you with my life!

Thanks,  M. J. Andre

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INADEQUATE FOR THE TASK GOD CALLS YOU TO?

DEVOTION

Read Jeremiah 1:6-8

Jeremiah knew he was ill-equipped for the job he was called for. He knew his lack of boldness, authority, communication, his youth and lack of knowledge would cause him to be despised by the very people he was called to serve.

When God calls us to deal with giants, it is always scary. It is one thing to experience Him, having intimate knowledge of Him and being able to communicate so closely with Him. But, it is dreadful to know that He is expecting you to go out there and tell people of Him exactly in the way you know Him. Not only you have your inadequacy to deal with, but you also feel like a fool. You already know in the scheme of things you are such a small potato. You already know people are not interested in the guy who stands alone with a message that no one wants to hear. So, yes you dread the day when you have to take your unpopular message out there and having to say things outloud to other people.

People who are truly called by Him for tasks that are completely above their capabilities—which is usually the case with God, He would not have it any other way— have one thing in common, they are always scared to go forward. The first reaction is to say no to Him, not because you want to be disobedient but simply because you feel He could find someone else to do a much better job for Him. You feel as if you would be a waste of time and He could get much more done through someone else better suited. Strangely, you are thinking in your mind that somehow He misses out on your lack of qualifications. Although when you come to your senses, all you can do is laugh about it for thinking there was something He did not know. The fear always comes from reacting in the flesh, it comes from lack of trusting Him. It also comes from the fact that you know, because you do not measure up you will be rejected, thus in your mind, you can taste the rejection, the mockery etc.

We should never let our sense of insufficiency get in the way. Once we mourn the pain of accepting the challenge, we must resolve to say yes to Him. The key here is that God is not looking for people who are capable of doing the job; instead He wants to use the weak things of the world. When we think we can do a good job for Him, than we are useless to Him because we are already too full of ourselves and there is no room for Him to manoeuvre. By contrast, when we know our worthlessness, He is able to use us because we are emptied of self, we recognize our limitations and our needs of Him as such He is allowed to move freely within us, and walk with us every step of the way to assure success of the ministry entrusted to us.  Do not ever allow your anxiety for who you are gets in the way. Know that He is sufficient for the journey ahead of you. We can always bank on His presence to lead us through.

PRAYER : Almighty father, I pray Savior that we learn to be grateful people to you in all that we are. I pray that we learn to avail ourselves to you knowing that the fruit of our obedience would glorify you. Teach us Master, how to become solely devoted to your service and teach us what we need to remain attentive to our calling. Praises and glory to You Savior. Amen!

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GOD'S CALL FOR SERVICE

DEVOTION

Read Jeremiah Chapters 1:1-5

Jeremiah was born in the city of Anathoth in the country of Benjamin and His father was Hilkiah. You will find that Hilkiah was the high priest who found the book of the Law and passed it on to King Josiah.(2 Kings 22)  As we read Jeremiah Chapter 1, it seems like we are given information at the beginning of chapter 1 that looks more like data to the average reader. But, nothing God put in the Bible is useless no matter how trivial it might appear to our non-spiritual eyes. His appointment shows that nothing takes God by surprise. While the Israelites were given to sin, saturated by idols and ultimate corruption, cruelty, rebellion, contempt of God's Word etc for years, God was preparing someone in the background in the person of Jeremiah. He was set apart before he was even born, to be this incredible prophet of his nation. He was hesitant because of the daunting task he was called to, but God reassured Him that there was no need to be scared of them because He would always be with him.

Jeremiah started at a very young age he did not have time to derail from God’s plan for him. Unfortunately not all of us can claim to be that fortunate. Sometimes, our lives start derailing right from home through parents making choices for us that are not necessarily conducive to God’s plan. Sometimes we blow it on our own, and we continue making poor choices that lead us further and further away from Him. But, God's goodness is immeasurable. He waits for us patiently, and sometimes He takes matters into His hands and for lack of a better word, He hits us with a four by four (through trials) to get our attention.

One thing that I learned from God that has never changed. Like the prophet Jeremiah, the Scriptures shows that God appoints His ministers from their mother’s wombs (Isaiah 49:1, Galatians 1:15). Not one of us is born by accident and He has a plan and purpose for each of us, which He is willing to unfold to us if only we are willing to trust Him and wait while learning to heed to His Word.

No matter what you are going through, learn to be patient. Trust that He has a plan for you and if your heart is set on Him, there is no need to go ahead of Him by fear you might have missed something. In His own time, He will divulge more to you.

PRAY: God help me to learn to wait for you and move forward with you only according to your will in my life, May I learn to remain loyal to you no matter where the road leads and may I always walk in your way!

In His Love & Service, 

M. J. Andre

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BIBLE STUDY

When it comes to Bible study, like any important undertaking there are no shortcuts. Everything we need to live out the Christian life has been revealed to us in the Bible. The Bible is the Word of God and we need to believe it with every fibre of our being otherwise we are in trouble and we become sitting duck for Satan to ensnare us. The Bible is a road map and God has made provision for everything we could think of through examples and instructions, everything that could happen in our lives down here. Through it we learn to be a productive Christian, a good neighbour, how to deal with our enemies, how to be a successful family, a loving spouse and the list goes on. Therefore, reading the Bible in your quiet time alone with God, or together as a family has so many benefits and can only enrich the lives of those who partake in such practices. It also strengthens our faith, nourishes our souls and build our characters.

Throughout the Bible, God tells us how we are to study the Bible and some examples are: Psalm 119:11-12 "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you; Praise be to you, O LORD; teach me your decrees". Verse 24 of the same psalm says "Your statutes are my delight; they are my counselors". In Acts 17:11 we read  "Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so."  We study the Bible with a purpose in mind, which is to bring Him glory and get to know Him personally. As we study the Bible, it is of the utmost importance that we are willing to listen with the ears of our hearts and obey the Word of God at any cost and by any means. As we do, we allow God's Word to affect our lives and touches our souls.

As we become more advanced in our reading and we are enjoying the learning and the growth we are experiencing from it, we might want to get ourselves a good concordance and a Bible commentary. I find that you never outgrow making notes, journaling your thoughts, your discoveries and revelations from God . So, I challenge you to set aside the time needed every day to delve into your Bible, with commitment, purpose and determination to reach the fullness of life He has in mind for you. Go before your Master and Redeemer, learn to love, trust, listen and obey.

GO TO VICTORY BIBLE STUDIES FOR GREAT RESOURCES

MERCIFUL LORD, DEAL WITH MY UNFAITHFUL HEART

DEVOTION

Jeremiah 31:18-19

"I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning: ‘You disciplined me like an unruly calf,and I have been disciplined. Restore me, and I will return, because you are the Lord my God. After I strayed, I repented;after I came to understand, I beat my breast. I was ashamed and humiliated"

God intended to restore Judah and the other tribes because of His grace, love and mercy. His goal was to bring His people out of idolatry and wickedness, but He would not be satisfied until they hated themselves for having turned away from Him in abomination and exceeding sinfulness.

When God passes judgement on us and decides to bring us back to where He wants us to be, it is unreal the way He brings back the smallest sin we have committed in the past, even before you knew Him. He wants us to face ourselves, He wants us to loathe who we are in the flesh, He wants repentance, and He wants us whole and holy His.

What about you? is He dealing with you for your exceeding sinfulness towards Him? Well take courage and go toward Him, do not waste one more minute in your self-pity but ask Him to bring humility into your heart so that you can follow Him as a single eye devoted servant of His.

If you are one of those not following Him but has only embraced the culture of Christianity, you love the ease of things and enjoy your delusions, yet He is not dealing with you, then I feel for you because it is not a good sign. He stops at nothing to restore those who belongs to Him, whether through trials and storms He will keep His remnants at His feet. "This is the will of God, even your sanctification.”.

PRAYER: Oh! what a mighty God we serve! Father I pray that you would look on those that are not walking with you. I pray that you would pour your holy repentance gift in their hearts and they would learn to confess their need of you. Soften their hearts and let them see you my Lord. God I pray that you would be the the fire that burns in our hearts. May we learn to love you with hearts full of passion and gratitude. May our lives bring you glory!

In His Love & Service,

M. J. Andre

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CHRIST, OUR BALM OF GILEAD & THE PHYSICIAN FOR OUR SINS

DEVOTION

Jeremiah 8:21-22

Since my people are crushed, I am crushed;I mourn,and horror grips me. Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people?

Jeremiah’s soul and spirit felt crushed, heavy and wounded for his people, he was mourning for them. Their concept of sin was deplorable. His heavy heart also came from the fact that he knew God personally and he knew God was the only remedy for his people. But, no one could get through them, so they were like a patient with a sickness who is given medicine to recover but because of pride, stubbornness, and self-righteousness, refused.

Like us in the twenty first century, these people also saw their sin as "a pimple" or a simple "flaw" because their consciences were shut down. When we know God intimately, sins become abhorrent to us. Small or big, need not matter because all we can see is filth and wickedness. We know and live daily with the same attitude of the prophet Isaiah when he said in chapter 6:5 “Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty”

When we are full of sin, meaning we have been accumulating them with no holy repentance in the heart and we are living with no conviction from the Holy Spirit, everything we do is polluted. Even the simplest decision in our life is polluted because our mind is not able to think clearly since our mental faculty is depraves. We chose earthly things without realizing we are not Spirit led.

Christ is the appointed remedy, the balm of Gilead and the physician for our sins. Are you allowing Him to move freely in your life? You ask how you can do that? Then humble yourself under His mighty hands in dependence faith and obedience. Make it a point to go with Him once and for all.

PRAY: Teach us Savior how to recover from anaemic Christianity and from making this life about us. Take away our blindness and open the eyes of our hearts in exchange so that we can see You the invisible God. There is such greatness in you, empowers us to find the strength to grab onto you while there is still time. We love you Savior and Redeemer!

In His Love & Service,

M.J. Andre

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