Saturday, June 4, 2022

Diamond opportunity! Sow with tears will reap with songs of joy!

    




Please click this link for the video version of this blog:  


Bible in one year by Nicky Gumbel:

Nicky Gumbel's Bible in one year today:

https://preview.mailerlite.com/x2z3q5q2q5/1964989334352304167/c3p9/


Silence

1.   Put on your “brakes” and stop for a moment of silence
2.   Wait for God. Breathe deep for God's peace and feel His presence. Exhale your worries.

Praise and Thanksgiving

1.   Think through your day, all the times that made you smile
2.   Thank God for all those moments, and for all those people
3.   Sing a song to praise God (you are welcome to use "Father, I adore you" which I have been singing every morning for the past 20 years or your own choice to praise God)

          Father, I adore You, lay my life before You, how I love You.
          Jesus, I adore You, lay my life before You, how I love You.
          Spirit, I adore You, lay my life before You, how I love You.
      

Confession and Repentance (Subjective Shifting Devotion Method https://bishopsilas.blogspot.com/2009/08/count-down-5-subject-shifting-devotion.html

1.  Pray for the Holy Spirit to shine on you that you are able to discover your sins and be willing to repent:


     “Dear Holy Spirit, shine your light into the places of darkness in my life. Show me my sins, everything that blocks me from encountering God and having Jesus as my Lord. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”



2.  Through the Holy Spirit, examine yourself for a short silence and then pray:

     "Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for our sins and being victorious over death and sin. I confess my sins to you(pause, to tell Jesus what the Holy Spirit has shown you). Forgive my sins by your blood and help me follow you. Holy Spirit, fill me that I may be able to receive your gifts to love God and His people. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen."

3.  John Stott's daily prayer of Christlikeness (Christopher J.H. Wright, Cultivating the fruit of the Spirit. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2017, 13)

(Please click this link to see how God used John Stott to change my life:https://bishopsilas.blogspot.com/2009/07/

           "Heavenly Father, I pray that this day I may live in your presence and please you more and more.

             Lord Jesus, I pray that this day I may take up my cross and follow you.

             Holy Spirit, I pray that this day you will fill me with yourself and cause your fruit to ripen in my life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."


    
    The link to today's Time with Abba passages:   http://api.pastoralcareschool.org/twa/
    Time with Abba passages: (Psalm 126:4-6, 2 Samuel 22:21-23:23; Acts 2:1-47; Proverbs 16:19-20)

    Today's key passage: 

   Restore our fortunes, Lord,
    like streams in the Negev.
Those who sow with tears
    will reap with songs of joy.
Those who go out weeping,
    carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy,
    carrying sheaves with them.
Psalm 126:4-6

Let's have a time to be still and give the Holy Spirit space to speak through the passage we have just read. Offer this time to Jesus as you listen to Him. 
   
     My Listening
    The topic I received today from Jesus isDiamond opportunity! Sow with tears will reap with songs of joy! 

Yesterday's topic was "Diamond opportunity ! Captives return HOME, the Lord has done great things for us! " and today is the second part. The great things the Lord has done for us is because of our obedience to grasp this diamond opportunity to bring people to Christ. Even though we sow with tears with all kinds of hardship we have been experiencing, we will surely reap with songs of joy, harvest! Yes, this is God's promise!

"Sow with tears, reap for joy" means a lot to me! Because Archbishop Yong gave each Anglican Mission bishop a white stole with the Chinese words of "Sow with tears, reap for joy" during our consecration. For the past thirteen years of being a bishop, every time when I wear this white stole I think of the prophecy Archbishop Yong gives through this stole:
What we need to do is to sow with tears and we will surely reap with songs of joy and to experience the joy of harvest!

When I had my diamond opportunity to witness my elder son, Ignatius being ordained as a deacon by the Primate and Archbishop of the Anglican Province of Congo, Archbishop Masimango on February 4, 2016 and then ordained as a priest by the Primate and Archbishop of the Anglican Province of Rwanda, Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini on September 26, 2016. 

Both Archbishop Yong and me wearing that "Sow with tears, reap for joy" stole, that is surely a time of harvest!














     Dear Lord Jesus,  
     Help us to be willing to sow with tears trusting that we will receive your promise of reaping with songs of joy. In Jesus Name we pray, Amen.
     
     Reflect on these questions:
     1. How can you  grasp this diamond opportunity to sow with tears trusting that you will receive God's promise of reaping with songs of joy?
     
      2.  What is your next step to make that happen?

      Family Corner:
     Find an opportunity to share with your family the importance of today's message. 
     

     To know, learn and practice the method of Time with Abba, please click this link: https://www.pastoralcareschool.org

    

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