Who really is this 'Comforter of the Afflicted' & 'Help of Christians'!

Whom do you turn to in the midst of a storm? Whom do you run to when you are in trouble and are afflicted? Jesus knew that you and I will need a lot of help in these areas. He knew that we, frail as we are, would always need someone who can comfort us, someone to whom we can run to when we are helpless, someone who will constantly remind us about what Jesus taught while He was walking among men in His flesh and someone who would alert us of the things to come.

Therefore before Jesus was arrested, scourged and crucified, before he died and was resurrected He gathered His disciples and told them that He will ask the Father to send them a Comforter, a Helper and a Guide.

Jesus did not tell them to go to His mother, Mary and ask her to pray for them. He did not tell them that when anyone of them dies and goes to heaven, the others can ask that person who is in heaven to pray for them or ask him or her for favours. By this time His earthly father was already dead. Jesus knew that His dad, Joseph will be with Him in heaven after His resurrection, once heaven's doors were open. Jesus did not tell them to pray a nine day novena to his dad to obtain favours from God.

Before we go any further let us know God's nature. God is Omnipotent, Omnipresent and Omniscient.

Omnipotent means all-powerful. God has supreme power. This means God can do what He wants. It means He is not subject to physical limitations like man is. Being omnipotent, God has power over wind, water, fire, gravity, physics, etc. God's power is infinite. His power is limitless.

Omnipresence means all-present. This term means that God is capable of being everywhere at the same time. It means His divine presence encompasses the whole universe. Being omnipresent enables Him to hear the prayers of every individual throughout the world, at the same time and answer each prayer individually.

Omniscience means all-knowing. God is all-knowing in the sense that He is aware of the past, present and future. Nothing takes Him by surprise. His knowledge is total. He knows all that there is to know and all that can be known.

Only God is Omnipotent, Omnipresent and Omniscient. Human beings alive or dead are not. We are finite beings and are limited in our powers. Even angels do not pocess these attributes of God. The bible says that only God knows our secret thoughts. That means  that only God knows what we wish for and what we pray in the silence of our hearts.

When we pray to Mary or the saints who are in heaven, they will not be able to hear us because they are not near us. When we say that they can hear, then we are saying that they are Omnipresent and Omniscient. If ten people around the world pray to Mary or any one of the saints at the same time will they be able to hear and answer everyone's prayer at the same time? By saying that they can, are we not saying that they too have God's attributes?

Jesus knew our human weakness. He knew that we human beings, if left alone will turn to other beings or images to pray to, to seek favour from and to worship. That is why He told His disciples about the Helper Whom He will ask the Father to send and  reminded them time and again after His resurrection but before His ascension not to leave Jerusalem before receiving this Helper, The Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is only given to those who believe in the life, death, resurrection and the saving power of Jesus Christ and who keep His commandments. He is the Helper of every Christian.

Let us read through the Words of Jesus.

John 14:15-17
English Standard Version (ESV)

Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit

15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper,[a] to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be[b] in you.

John 16:12-15
English Standard Version (ESV)

12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

After His ressurection Jesus appeared to His disciples.

John 20:19-22 NIV
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” [20] After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. [21] Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” [22] And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

Acts 1:3-5, 8 NIV

[3] After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. [4] On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. [5] For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” [8] But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Jesus knew that we would need a Helper to be with us and in us, at all times. The disciples in the early church did just what Jesus commissioned them to do and prayed the way Jesus taught them to pray and sought the Holy Spirit for every need of theirs. Now all the martyrs of the early church surely went to heaven. The early church members could have prayed to the martyrs right? We don't read about Paul praying to Steven whom he ordered to be stoned to death, after his own conversion. Nowhere in the bible do we read of anyone praying to the saints in heaven.

Blessed is the one who heeds the Words of Christ and allows the Spirit of God to abide in himself and makes the Holy Spirit his best Friend.

The Holy Spirit Who is God's Spirit is Omnipotent, Omnipresent and Omnicient because He is the third Person of God. He has limitless power and the Bible shows us, all that the Holy Spirit can do for us.

Here, listed are some 33 ways in which the Holy Spirit helps us. These are by no means exhaustive. Nevertheless these 33 in this list, would enlighten us about the ability of the Holy Spirit Who resides in every believer of the Lord Jesus, every believer who continually repents and renews His relationship with Christ Jesus.

33 Things The Holy Spirit Does.

(This list, '33 Things The Holy Spirit Does' was adapted from the Charisma magazine.)

1. He helps us.(Rom.8:26)
2. He guides us.(John 16:13)
3. He teaches us.(John 14:26)
4. He speaks.(Rev.2:7)
5. He reveals.(1 Cor.2:10)
6. He instructs.(Acts 8:29)
7. He testifies of Jesus.(John
     15:26)
8. He comforts us.(Acts 9:31)
9. He calls us.(Acts 13:2)
10. He fills us.(Acts 4:31)
11. He strengthens us.
      (Eph.3:16)
12. He prays for us.
      (Rom.8:26)
13. He prophesies through us.
      (2 Pet.1:21)
14. He bears witness to the
       truth.(Rom.9:1)
15. He brings joy.(1 Thess 1:6)
16. He brings freedom.
      (2 Cor.3:17)
17. He helps to obey.
      (1 Pet.1:22)
18. He calls for Jesus'
       return.(Rev.22.17)
19. He transforms us.
      (2 Cor.3:18)
20. He lives in us.(1 Cor.3:16)
21. He frees us.(Rom.8:2)
22. He renews us.(Titus 3:15)
23. He produces fruit in us.
      (Gal.5:22-23)
24. He gives gifts.
      (1  Cor.12:8-10)
25. He leads us.(Rom.8:14)
26. He convicts us of our
       sins.(John 16:8)
27. He sanctifies us.
      (2 Thess .2:13)
28. He empowers us.(Acts 1:8)
29. He unites us.(Eph.4:3-4)
30. He seals us.(Eph.1:13)
31. He gives us access to the
       Father. (Eph.2:18)
32. He enables us to
       wait.(Gal.5:5)
33. He casts out demons. 
      (Matt.12:28)

Why do we need the Holy Spirit? We need Him because without Him dwelling in us, we will not know the mind of Christ and will not be able to function in the way God wants us to function. Without Him we will not have the power to fulfill the 'Great Commission'!

The Holy Spirit is God's Unadultrated Essence given to us Christians as a Gift to transform our distorted images into God's Image and Likeness.

My greatest desire is for everyone to come to the knowledge of God and allow the Holy Spirit to operate from within us and learn to hear His still small voice speaking to and guiding us.

Hope you found this article useful. Feel free to share it. God bless.

Mary Augustine
12th June 2015

The Secret of Fulfillment!

Pleasing God, must be the  priority in our lives. Only that, will birth the New Life of Christ in us and make us feel loved.

Pleasing ourselves and others to gain fulfillment, can become idolatry. God longs to satisfy us beyond our dreams, but before that He must be placed first in our hearts.

A wonderful example is Leah, Jacob's first wife. She was unloved by Jacob. Leah thought that if she pleased him, he will love her more, but Jacob continued to ignore her and love Rachel instead. Jacob did not love Leah. God saw that she was unloved and He gave her a son.

God's nature is to be drawn towards those who are unloved and who are hurting within.

Man's nature is the opposite. Man will move away the more you pursue him to try to win his love, and this is what happened with Leah and Jacob.

Leah was seeking fulfillment by trying to attain Jacob's love, and now her problem was becoming worse. For not only was she not attractive to Jacob, but her jealous acts seemed to be building up on her unloveliness. Thus she now became even more unattractive to him.

We can learn a great lesson from Leah's life. The more we try to win someone's  love and affection,  the more they will move away from us. Trying to do anything in our flesh will reap unfruitfulness. We need to do everything in God's strength. But even before that we need to be filled by God's presence.

Leah continued in her efforts to please Jacob but her efforts were futile. When Leah conceived the fourth time, she slowly became aware that although she was not loved by her husband, God loved her and she realised that God's love is the only thing that matters. Therefore she began to grow closer to God and began praising and worshipping Him and proclaimed, " I will praise the Lord" Genesis Chp 29 vs 35.  She named her fourth son Judah, which meant 'Praise'. It was from the tribe of 'Praise' that is, the tribe of Judah that Christ was born.

While Leah was busy seeking self fulfillment by pleasing her husband with her own efforts, God could not fill her with His fulfillment because she did not open herself up to be filled by God. God is a Gentleman. He will never violate our will. He waits patiently for us to open up to Him.

When Leah realised that all she needed was God, she began to praise and worship Him. It was then that God was able to remove her insecurities, fear, anxiety, jealousies and heartaches. God filled her to the brim and gave her complete fulfillment. She no longer needed the security of Jacob's love. God's love was sufficient for her.

Now let us look at the other perspective. 'Making others happy'. Brothers and sisters, no matter what we do or try to make our husbands or wives or children or bosses or colleagues or friends, happy by our own efforts, we will surely fail because we are not seeking God first. Only God can make one happy and fulfilled.

Let us look at the following analogies:-

1) A torch has an expensive bulb fitted in it. But only when it is charged it can shine on the beautiful scenery around it to make all the people around enjoy the scenic beauty and be happy. But if the torch is not charged, no matter how expensive the bulb is, no matter how extraordinary its finish is, it cannot shine and all those around will surely be unhappy in the engulfing darkness.

In the same way we need to be filled, charged by God first so that those around us can experience God's love through us and be happy.

2) Imagine a durian rolling over to people and trying to hug them! Won't the people run away in fear because of its thorny exterior? But when the vendor who sells it cuts it open, the sweet aroma of its yellow juicy flesh fills the air and people are drawn towards it.

In the same way we need the power of the Holy Spirit to remove our thorny exterior, to remove our addictions, our self seeking characteristics, our fleshly desires, our uncultured habits and our egoistic attitudes and bring out the beauty from within us so that others may see God's beauty of character in us and be pleased and happy with us and in our presence.

These days husbands and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends are seeking to please each other by putting them on the pedestal instead of our Creator God and they are failing miserably in their efforts. Thus the reason for the rise in divorces.

Blessed is the person who knows the secret of happiness, and the secret is in seeking after God's heart, pleasing Him and resting in Him.

We need to soak in God's holy presence, read His Word and meditate on His Words daily without fail. Only then will we be changed and filled with the Holy Spirit in all His fullness. Only when we seek God will we be fully satisfied and know that we are truly loved by God in our filthy state. That will draw us to repent and seek pardon from Him and draw us closer to Him. Then our character will change from the inside out and God's presence in us will bring about a positive change in us first and in our loved ones next and bring us closer to one another in genuine unconditional love. We will then be bonded in love with Christ. Anything apart from Christ's love is not genuine.

God is waiting for us to surrender fully to Him. He is patiently waiting to fill us with His Spirit, to refresh us with a fresh anointing. What are we waiting for?

     Mary Augustine
Tuesday 9th June 2015

Father's Blessing.

This blessing was prayed over his children & spiritual children by John Paul Jackson. He just went home to be with our Lord in heaven on 19th Feb 2015. He is now communing with our Father face to face. Pls share this with all the Fathers and Fathers to be and all who are even intending to marry and become Fathers one day and also with all spiritual Fathers. So that they can can pray over their children/ unborn children / future children/ spiritual children, etc...

A Father's Blessing over his children is very important for their physical, mental and spiritual growth and well being.
~Shalom...MaryAugustine.

     THE FATHER'S BLESSING

May “The LORD bless you and keep you; The LORD make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.”

May you reach the purpose for which you were created. May you have courage above your peers. May you have more passion for the things of God than others think is necessary. May you dream more than others think is practical, and may you expect more than others think is possible.May you choose wisely, without earthly bias. You have people to influence that you have not yet met. You have lives to change that are waiting for your arrival. You are strategically placed wherever God takes you by His grand design, just so you can become all He made you to be. That place is the place you can best grow, the place you can be most fruitful, the place where the future is changed because of your presence. May you see vistas that others do not even know exist. May you see God in every petal of every flower and in every blade of grass for each of them are designed by His hand. May you bless your children and may they become giants in the faith under the mighty hand of God. You will not fail, you were made by God to be here for such a time as this. I pray this and I decree and declare this in Jesus' mighty name. Amen!