The Lord Will Bless and Enlarge Our Territory
1 Chronicles 4:9-10
A man had a problem finding a parking space. He finally parked in a no parking zone and left a note on his windshield that read: "I’ve circled the block for 20 minutes. I’m late for an appointment and if I don’t park here I’ll lose my job. Forgive us our trespasses." When he returned later that evening he found a parking ticket on his windshield and a note that read: "I’ve circled the block for 20 years and if I don’t give you a ticket, I’ll lose my job. Lead us not into temptation."
There is a possibility for Jabez to be tempted to complain because of the meaning of his name.
Jabez means pain. Why in all the world, his mother called him pain?
Possibility:
For some reason, his mother had a horrible pregnancy, or for some reason, either his father abandoned his mom after his birth or for some reason, maybe Jabez had a physical abnormality, or people called him pain just for fun.
Illustration: My brother Herald had given a name by other children in our hometown. ( Ilyong) That name was given to make fun of my brother and he hated that name up to the extent of even boxing them who called him by that name.
The meaning of the name affects individual.
Illustration: There was a graduating BSE student who spent much to change her family name. From Bakucang to Bakukan. Imagine when she became a teacher and greeted by her students. “ Good morning Miss Bakukang. ( Bakukang is a pussy swelling on the leg that would produce a scar when healed).
Another illustration: Bagonggahasa into Basa.
I heard from the TV commentator that there was a family with the family name, Bagonggahasa which was changed into Basa. (The meaning of Bagonggahasa is newly raped).
I searched in the internet about what the commentator had said and I saw a name Virginia Bagonggahasa. There was one comment in the internet which said, “Funny talaga , pero kawawa.” (It looks funny but I pity her).Virginia Bagonggahasa. It sounds funny because her name means a newly raped virgin.
Jabez means pain.
Jabez didn’t change his name. But he changed the meaning of his name from pain to Prayer. What do you remember when the name Jabez is mentioned? We can remember the “prayer of Jabez.” The reason for me I believe why he was more honorable than his brothers is, he honors God in living a prayerful life and God honored him in return.
The most remarkable person in this chapter is Jabez. We are not told upon what account Jabez was more honorable than his brethren; but we find that he was a praying man. The way to be truly great, is to seek to do God's will, and to pray earnestly.
Jabez is remembered for a prayer request rather than heroic act. In his prayer, he asked God to:
Bless him
Help him in his work ( “ enlarge my territory)
Be with him in all he did and
Keep him from evil and harm.
Jabez acknowledged God as the true center of his life. When we ask of God’s blessing we should also pray that He will take a rightful position as Lord over our work, our family time, and our recreation. Obeying Him in daily responsibilities is heroic living.
The Lord will bless and enlarge our territory is a declarative statement.
Originally it was a prayer.
1 Cho.4:
10 Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request.
Our theme is a declarative statement because we believe that the Lord will bless and enlarge our territory because we prayed for our FICC Vision 2013.
Don’t declare that the Lord will bless and expand our territory if you are not praying for our vision 2013 of planting churches to the 7 Emirates of UAE. In reality this prayer of Jabez is partially true to Filipino International Christian Church because we are now at the verge of accomplishing our border expansion business. We have already planted 7 churches in 6 Emirates and we have only one Emirate left to accomplish our goal, and that is the city of Fujeirah. By the help of God we are looking forward for the fulfillment of our vision 2013.
I urge you to prepare for growth and if there is one thing for you to remember above all else in this work, it would be your prayers.
We need Prayer- We tend to be sidetracked in our thinking to the point that we see the work as primary and prayer as secondary. Prayer is very important in our extending border business. Do what Jabez did 1 Chro. 4:10. He prayed and God granted his request.
Michael Green says, “ For if we do things without praying He can’t afford the risk of allowing us to succeed. For we would get proud, and would be hardened in our conviction – that is activism. Dependence on God is the way for Christians to serve God.”
John Wesley says, “God does nothing except by prayer.”
Jabez started out in tough circumstances. The word Jabez means, “pain.” Yet he was able to take his pain and transformed it into prayer and he rose above the rest and achieved greatness.
1 Chronicles 4:9-10 (NIV)
9 Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, “I gave birth to him in pain.”
10 Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request.
Here are some important principles in expanding our borders.
I. God will bless and enlarge our territory but we must break through our COMFORT ZONE.
Comfort Zone is place where you are staying comfortably. It is the will of God that you MOVE. And unless you are free of the lie that the evil one throws at you, you’ll never go for it.
• When we enlarged our vision of planting churches – there were mixed response from the congregation of Sharjah.
Some were happy and some were not.
Because they wanted to be together.
• The same is true with Dubai FICC.
There were mixed reactions when Pastor Mark started the work in International City, Dubai.
• The same is true with FICC Ajman. When the FICC Council commissioned them to start UAQ.
They said “Why us? “
So, move from your comfort zone if you want the Lord to use you in enlarging the territory business.
II. The 2nd principle in enlarging our territory is:
A. God will enlarge your territory but we must overcome our border bully.
Bullying consists of three basic types of abuse – emotional, verbal, and physical.
What is a bully? Is a harasser of the weak. (It is commonly understood as behavior intended to disturb or upset, and it is characteristically repetitive). Bullying consists of three basic types of abuse – emotional, verbal, and physical. It typically involves subtle methods of coercion such as intimidation.
Example of bullying: I had been bullied for many time and I was hurt every time I was bullied. Imagine they would tell me, “ Pastor Joel you are handsome.” I know I am not. “If you won’t believe ask my wife.”
What is a border bully?
Do you ever hear people saying:
“We’ve never done it that way before!”
“We don’t have the money.”
“We don’t have the people.”
“They aren’t capable of doing it.”
Or the more important question is Am I a border bully? The devil wants us—to be a border bully. So I want you to evaluate yourself—not the person sitting next to you—but look at yourself.
• Border Bullies are detractors - A person who belittles the worth of another. So , don’t get counsel from the detractors. People who look at the negative side.
Why ? Because they will let you down.
When we try to do the impossible- there are people who will tell you- you should not do it.
Don’t listen detractor-
Don’t get counsel from the pessimist.
Winston Churchill says, “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity. An optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”
Saul was the classic example of the pessimist.
Saul was the classic example of the pessimist. 1 Sam.17:33
33“Don’t be ridiculous!” Saul replied. “There’s no way you can fight this Philistine and possibly win! You’re only a boy, and he’s been a man of war since his youth.”
Everybody was saying he is too big we can not kill him.
David was saying he is too big we can not miss him.
Note: There are people who achieved success in their lives despite criticism. Because they refused to say, “ I can’t.”
Job refused to listen to his wife.
• Border bullies exaggerate the threat.
Ex. During one of the Board meetings to discuss about the vision 2013 of planting churches. Our Board Chairman questioned me about the feasibility of planting churches in different parts of the Emirates with few years more to go. I was happy to inform them that in conjunction with the vision 2013, pastor Mark took the initiative of planting church in International City, Dubai. I was antagonized by saying at least pastor Mark is young and energetic , but how about you ? “You are old and you have a heart problem.” “ I said to myself, I know only the carabao gets older.” During that time I examined myself and did not sense any heart problem. The only problem with my heart is, “ I have a murmuring heart, and my heart murmurs, Evelyn…. Evelyn … Evelyn… I love you so much… Evelyn is the name of my wife.
Bullying consists of three basic types of abuse – emotional, verbal, and physical.
What is emotional abuse? Emotional abuse occurs when a person uses
words, silence, or actions to threaten, belittle, or humiliate another person. The purpose is to instill fear or to intimidate; the goal is to control someone.
I wish you hadn't been born."
"You didn't make your bed so I threw out your stuffed animals."
"You're worthless—no one else would marry you."
"If you leave me, I’ll get custody of the children.”
"You're crazy, and people will believe me when I tell them that."
Every spiritual advancement we read about in the Bible is opposed by a bully in some way. If you’re honest you’re tempted to be a bully—I am too. Someone wants to do a new thing in our church, we think they aren’t qualified. But you know what—People are usually more qualified to do new ministries than we think they are.. After all, the best way to train a leader is to give a person more responsibility that is way past his or her responsibility. Let people make mistakes—so what? How else do you learn? If something fails—you go on. I’ve learned that time and time again in our church. If we are not making mistakes we’ve stopped growing.
Numbers 13:32-33; (NKJV)
32 And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature.
33 There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”
Numbers 14:7-9 (NKJV)
7 and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: “The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land.
8 If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, ‘a land which flows with milk and honey.’
9 Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them.”
So they spread discouraging reports about the land among the Israelites: “The land we explored will swallow up any who go to live there. All the people we saw were huge.
33We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. We felt like grasshoppers next to them, and that’s what we looked like to them!
Do not rebel against the LORD, and don’t be afraid of the people of the land. They are only helpless prey to us! They have no protection, but the LORD is with us! Don’t be afraid of them!”--Numbers 13:32-33; 14:9
But are you a border bully? Do you think everything has to be done perfectly? Sometimes I do. So God, help me to let go. Help me to be a border bully buster. That should be the prayer of every one of you. God help me to stop being a border bully and help me to be a border bully buster.
III. Another PRINCIPLES TO APPLY IN Extending territory
• The principle seen in the Ants.
PROVERBS 6:6 Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!
Illustration: Have you ever seen a morsel of bread moving and wonder why? We get closer and see the small ants are actively moving it to the direction of their storehouse. Unbelievably big objects can be lifted by small ants because there is power and strength in cooperation. The truth can be applied in extending our border. We need to cooperate.
Why do we need to cooperate?
Because the pastor can’t do the Lord’s work alone.
i. An African proverb says: One hand will never builds a house.
ii. A French proverb says: Union makes strength.
iii. English proverb says: Two heads are better than one.
iv. Bible says: A rope of three cords is hard to break.
These proverbs are true.
To build a house many hands are needed. The mason can not do the whole job. Christ said , “ I will build my church.” And He called us to work together for this task.
i. Each one has a part.
ii. Prayer
iii. Effort
iv. Financial Support
v. All of the above
WHO WILL BE INVOLVED IN THIS 2013 VISION?
A. PASTORS-ARE THE KEY PLAYERS FOR THIS VISION 2013.
B. CHURCH LEADERS
C. ALL THE MEMBERS OF FICC- CHURCHES
WHERE ARE WE NOW IN OUR
VISION
2013?
We started our vision 2013 in 2009 and from that time onward we have planted the churches in Dubai International City, Ajman City, Abu Dhabi City and UAQ. City. By May 2013 we will plant another church in Fujeirah City by the help of God to accomplish our vision 2013.
This had to be the hand of God, because there is no way I could have done this by myself!”
But the final part of Jabez’s prayer is the most important. We need to consider the fourth part of his prayer: Jabez prayed that God would keep him from evil. One translation misses the point, I believe, when it says, “Keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” The New King James puts it like this: “Keep me from evil that I might not cause pain.” It is actually a play on words. His name meant pain. He had caused pain, but he did not want to cause any more pain. He wanted his life to be a blessing. He wanted to be protected from the harm of evil, but he also wanted to be kept from sinning, because he knew that sin causes pain. It brings pain into the world. It brings pain into the life of the one who commits it, and it brings pain into the lives of those whom the sin was committed against. But most of all, sin causes God pain.
Gen.6
5 The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.
6 The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.
Do you remember what the world was like just prior to the flood in Noah’s day? The Bible says that, “The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.” Then it says, “The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain” (Genesis 6:5-6). Sin brings pain to the heart of God.
Conclusion:
Sin brings pain to the heart of God.
And if you think you can live with sin without consequences, you are mistaken. It will be like a cancer eating its way through your life.
It will strip you of God’s blessing and destroy your effectiveness. It will make your life miserable, and it will alienate you from God.
Pray that you will be kept from evil and from the pain it inflicts. Because if you do, you will experience the blessing of God and feel his hand upon your life.
We ought to remember that Adam and Eve were driven out from their territory because of sin. In like manner , we will be driven out from our occupied territory if we will harbor sins in our lives. Sin will exclude us from God’s blessing. So please examine your life and repent of your sin, ask God to cleanse you. If you can’t leave a particular sin in your life please don’t participate in enlarging our territory ministry. The Lord will not use you unless you repent.
But if we turn away from sin, “ Vision 2013 will be sealed with celebration of joy for the Lord because we are very sure that the Lord will help us. “
“ Happy 2nd year Anniversary for FICC Ajman.” May God bless you.
The Lord Will Bless and Enlarge Our Territory
1 Chronicles 4:9-10
A man had a problem finding a parking space. He finally parked in a no parking zone and left a note on his windshield that read: "I’ve circled the block for 20 minutes. I’m late for an appointment and if I don’t park here I’ll lose my job. Forgive us our trespasses." When he returned later that evening he found a parking ticket on his windshield and a note that read: "I’ve circled the block for 20 years and if I don’t give you a ticket, I’ll lose my job. Lead us not into temptation."
There is a possibility for Jabez to be tempted to complain because of the meaning of his name.
Jabez means pain. Why in all the world, his mother called him pain?
Possibility:
For some reason, his mother had a horrible pregnancy, or for some reason, either his father abandoned his mom after his birth or for some reason, maybe Jabez had a physical abnormality, or people called him pain just for fun.
Illustration: My brother Herald had given a name by other children in our hometown. ( Ilyong) That name was given to make fun of my brother and he hated that name up to the extent of even boxing them who called him by that name.
The meaning of the name affects individual.
Illustration: There was a graduating BSE student who spent much to change her family name. From Bakucang to Bakukan. Imagine when she became a teacher and greeted by her students. “ Good morning Miss Bakukang. ( Bakukang is a pussy swelling on the leg that would produce a scar when healed).
Another illustration: Bagonggahasa into Basa.
I heard from the TV commentator that there was a family with the family name, Bagonggahasa which was changed into Basa. (The meaning of Bagonggahasa is newly raped).
I searched in the internet about what the commentator had said and I saw a name Virginia Bagonggahasa. There was one comment in the internet which said, “Funny talaga , pero kawawa.” (It looks funny but I pity her).Virginia Bagonggahasa. It sounds funny because her name means a "newly raped virgin" who remained virgin.
Jabez means pain.
Jabez didn’t change his name. But he changed the meaning of his name from pain to Prayer. What do you remember when the name Jabez is mentioned? We can remember the “prayer of Jabez.” The reason for me I believe why he was more honorable than his brothers is, he honors God in living a prayerful life and God honored him in return.
The most remarkable person in this chapter is Jabez. We are not told upon what account Jabez was more honorable than his brethren; but we find that he was a praying man. The way to be truly great, is to seek to do God's will, and to pray earnestly.
Jabez is remembered for a prayer request rather than heroic act. In his prayer, he asked God to:
Bless him
Help him in his work ( “ enlarge my territory)
Be with him in all he did and
Keep him from evil and harm.
Jabez acknowledged God as the true center of his life. When we ask of God’s blessing we should also pray that He will take a rightful position as Lord over our work, our family time, and our recreation. Obeying Him in daily responsibilities is heroic living.
The Lord will bless and enlarge our territory is a declarative statement.
Originally it was a prayer.
1 Cho.4:
10 Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request.
Our theme is a declarative statement because we believe that the Lord will bless and enlarge our territory because we prayed for our FICC Vision 2013.
Don’t declare that the Lord will bless and expand our territory if you are not praying for our vision 2013 of planting churches to the 7 Emirates of UAE. In reality this prayer of Jabez is partially true to Filipino International Christian Church because we are now at the verge of accomplishing our border expansion business. We have already planted 7 churches in 6 Emirates and we have only one Emirate left to accomplish our goal, and that is the city of Fujeirah. By the help of God we are looking forward for the fulfillment of our vision 2013.
I urge you to prepare for growth and if there is one thing for you to remember above all else in this work, it would be your prayers.
We need Prayer- We tend to be sidetracked in our thinking to the point that we see the work as primary and prayer as secondary. Prayer is very important in our extending border business. Do what Jabez did 1 Chro. 4:10. He prayed and God granted his request.
Michael Green says, “ For if we do things without praying He can’t afford the risk of allowing us to succeed. For we would get proud, and would be hardened in our conviction – that is activism. Dependence on God is the way for Christians to serve God.”
John Wesley says, “God does nothing except by prayer.”
Jabez started out in tough circumstances. The word Jabez means, “pain.” Yet he was able to take his pain and transformed it into prayer and he rose above the rest and achieved greatness.
1 Chronicles 4:9-10 (NIV)
9 Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, “I gave birth to him in pain.”
10 Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request.
Here are some important principles in expanding our borders.
I. God will bless and enlarge our territory but we must break through our COMFORT ZONE.
Comfort Zone is place where you are staying comfortably. It is the will of God that you MOVE. And unless you are free of the lie that the evil one throws at you, you’ll never go for it.
• When we enlarged our vision of planting churches – there were mixed response from the congregation of Sharjah.
Some were happy and some were not.
Because they wanted to be together.
• The same is true with Dubai FICC.
There were mixed reactions when Pastor Mark started the work in International City, Dubai.
• The same is true with FICC Ajman. When the FICC Council commissioned them to start UAQ.
They said “Why us? “
So, move from your comfort zone if you want the Lord to use you in enlarging the territory business.
II. The 2nd principle in enlarging our territory is:
A. God will enlarge your territory but we must overcome our border bully.
Bullying consists of three basic types of abuse – emotional, verbal, and physical.
What is a bully? Is a harasser of the weak. (It is commonly understood as behavior intended to disturb or upset, and it is characteristically repetitive). Bullying consists of three basic types of abuse – emotional, verbal, and physical. It typically involves subtle methods of coercion such as intimidation.
Example of bullying: I had been bullied for many time and I was hurt every time I was bullied. Imagine they would tell me, “ Pastor Joel you are handsome.” I know I am not. “If you won’t believe ask my wife.”
What is a border bully?
Do you ever hear people saying:
“We’ve never done it that way before!”
“We don’t have the money.”
“We don’t have the people.”
“They aren’t capable of doing it.”
Or the more important question is Am I a border bully? The devil wants us—to be a border bully. So I want you to evaluate yourself—not the person sitting next to you—but look at yourself.
• Border Bullies are detractors - A person who belittles the worth of another. So , don’t get counsel from the detractors. People who look at the negative side.
Why ? Because they will let you down.
When we try to do the impossible- there are people who will tell you- you should not do it.
Don’t listen detractor-
Don’t get counsel from the pessimist.
Winston Churchill says, “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity. An optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”
Saul was the classic example of the pessimist.
Saul was the classic example of the pessimist. 1 Sam.17:33
33“Don’t be ridiculous!” Saul replied. “There’s no way you can fight this Philistine and possibly win! You’re only a boy, and he’s been a man of war since his youth.”
Everybody was saying he is too big we can not kill him.
David was saying he is too big we can not miss him.
Note: There are people who achieved success in their lives despite criticism. Because they refused to say, “ I can’t.”
Job refused to listen to his wife.
• Border bullies exaggerate the threat.
Ex. During one of the Board meetings to discuss about the vision 2013 of planting churches. Our Board Chairman questioned me about the feasibility of planting churches in different parts of the Emirates with few years more to go. I was happy to inform them that in conjunction with the vision 2013, pastor Mark took the initiative of planting church in IC. I was antagonized by saying at least pastor Mark is young and energetic , but how about you ? “You are old and you have a heart problem.” “ I said to myself, I know only the carabao gets older.” During that time I examined myself and did not sense any problem. The only problem with my heart is, “ I have a murmuring heart, and my heart murmurs, Evelyn…. Evelyn … Evelyn… I love you so much… Evelyn is the name of my wife.
Bullying consists of three basic types of abuse – emotional, verbal, and physical.
What is emotional abuse? Emotional abuse occurs when a person uses
words, silence, or actions to threaten, belittle, or humiliate another person. The purpose is to instill fear or to intimidate; the goal is to control someone.
I wish you hadn't been born."
"You didn't make your bed so I threw out your stuffed animals."
"You're worthless—no one else would marry you."
"If you leave me, I’ll get custody of the children.”
"You're crazy, and people will believe me when I tell them that."
Every spiritual advancement we read about in the Bible is opposed by a bully in some way. If you’re honest you’re tempted to be a bully—I am too. Someone wants to do a new thing in our church, we think they aren’t qualified. But you know what—People are usually more qualified to do new ministries than we think they are.. After all, the best way to train a leader is to give a person more responsibility that is way past his or her responsibility. Let people make mistakes—so what? How else do you learn? If something fails—you go on. I’ve learned that time and time again in our church. If we are not making mistakes we’ve stopped growing.
Numbers 13:32-33; (NKJV)
32 And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature.
33 There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”
Numbers 14:7-9 (NKJV)
7 and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: “The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land.
8 If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, ‘a land which flows with milk and honey.’
9 Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them.”
So they spread discouraging reports about the land among the Israelites: “The land we explored will swallow up any who go to live there. All the people we saw were huge.
33We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. We felt like grasshoppers next to them, and that’s what we looked like to them!
Do not rebel against the LORD, and don’t be afraid of the people of the land. They are only helpless prey to us! They have no protection, but the LORD is with us! Don’t be afraid of them!”--Numbers 13:32-33; 14:9
But are you a border bully? Do you think everything has to be done perfectly? Sometimes I do. So God, help me to let go. Help me to be a border bully buster. That should be the prayer of every one of you. God help me to stop being a border bully and help me to be a border bully buster.
III. Another PRINCIPLES TO APPLY IN Extending territory
• The principle seen in the Ants.
PROVERBS 6:6 Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!
Illustration: Have you ever seen a morsel of bread moving and wonder why? We get closer and see the small ants are actively moving it to the direction of their storehouse. Unbelievably big objects can be lifted by small ants because there is power and strength in cooperation. The truth can be applied in extending our border. We need to cooperate.
Why do we need to cooperate?
Because the pastor can’t do the Lord’s work alone.
i. An African proverb says: One hand will never builds a house.
ii. A French proverb says: Union makes strength.
iii. English proverb says: Two heads are better than one.
iv. Bible says: A rope of three cords is hard to break.
These proverbs are true.
To build a house many hands are needed. The mason can not do the whole job. Christ said , “ I will build my church.” And He called us to work together for this task.
i. Each one has a part.
ii. Prayer
iii. Effort
iv. Financial Support
v. All of the above
WHO WILL BE INVOLVED IN THIS 2013 VISION?
A. PASTORS-ARE THE KEY PLAYERS FOR THIS VISION 2013.
B. CHURCH LEADERS
C. ALL THE MEMBERS OF FICC- CHURCHES
WHERE ARE WE NOW IN OUR
VISION
2013?
We started our vision 2013 in 2009 and from that time onward we have planted the churches in Dubai International City, Ajman City, Abu Dhabi City and UAQ. City. By May 2013 we will plant another church in Fujeirah City by the help of God to accomplish our vision 2013.
This had to be the hand of God, because there is no way I could have done this by myself!”
But the final part of Jabez’s prayer is the most important. We need to consider the fourth part of his prayer: Jabez prayed that God would keep him from evil. One translation misses the point, I believe, when it says, “Keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” The New King James puts it like this: “Keep me from evil that I might not cause pain.” It is actually a play on words. His name meant pain. He had caused pain, but he did not want to cause any more pain. He wanted his life to be a blessing. He wanted to be protected from the harm of evil, but he also wanted to be kept from sinning, because he knew that sin causes pain. It brings pain into the world. It brings pain into the life of the one who commits it, and it brings pain into the lives of those whom the sin was committed against. But most of all, sin causes God pain.
Gen.6
5 The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.
6 The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.
Do you remember what the world was like just prior to the flood in Noah’s day? The Bible says that, “The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.” Then it says, “The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain” (Genesis 6:5-6). Sin brings pain to the heart of God.
Conclusion:
Sin brings pain to the heart of God.
And if you think you can live with sin without consequences, you are mistaken. It will be like a cancer eating its way through your life.
It will strip you of God’s blessing and destroy your effectiveness. It will make your life miserable, and it will alienate you from God.
Pray that you will be kept from evil and from the pain it inflicts. Because if you do, you will experience the blessing of God and feel his hand upon your life.
We ought to remember that Adam and Eve were driven out from their territory because of sin. In like manner , we will be driven out from our occupied territory if we will harbor sins in our lives. Sin will exclude us from God’s blessing. So please examine your life and repent of your sin, ask God to cleanse you. If you can’t leave a particular sin in your life please don’t participate in enlarging our territory ministry. The Lord will not use you unless you repent.
But if we turn away from sin, “ Vision 2013 will be sealed with celebration of joy for the Lord because we are very sure that the Lord will help us. “
“ Happy 2nd year Anniversary for FICC Ajman.” May God bless you.
