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Relationships, God And Justice Series
Contributed by Caleb Ochieng on Jun 5, 2013 (message contributor)
Summary: It is all about relationships
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IT IS ALL ABOUT RELATIONSHIP:
A man goes down on his knee to pray to God and God acknowledges his prayers, sends an Angel to him. The Angel comes down and says, Cornelius, your prayers, your alms have come before the Lord as a memorial, and then the angel sends him to another man for solution. Just imagine, you are praying to God, you are serious with Him. He gets your prayers and sends an Angel to you. The Angel brings a message, "just send some people to Joppa, to call for one Simon Peter who is staying in the house of some one called Simon the Tanner, his house is by the sea, to come and tell you what you ought to do.
What you need from God is already packaged in another person's life. God has prepared help for you; it is in another person's life. You don't exactly know that person, where he lives and what he does but the Lord knows him. Or they might just be the person next door, your acquaintance, the one you have always seen and known. Only God knows His person of the hour for you. When you pray He links you up with that right person and your problem is solved. He knows how to stir them up for the encounter. We call this divine connection. The problem, it might be the person you don't like to see, the person you lowly esteem.
Three men are in a prayer retreat, they are praying and fasting, trusting God for a breakthrough, they have needs that only God can meet. God hears their prayers but refuses to answer them; God wants some one else to pray for them and He will hear. So, God sends them to this man called Job for prayers and instruct them to carry with them an offering (I whish they were sent to me). It is not that God could not hear and answer their prayers, but because God wanted to build their relationship with Job which was badly riddled with false accusation, blame and confusion. The person they accused and blamed for all the sins in this world, is the person God has ordained to pray for them. The person they considered evil and sinful is the man God has chosen as an instrument for their answered prayers. God has put value on good relationships. Job agrees to pray for them and right away a miracle of unprecedented restoration unlocks for Job, as he prayers for his friends. And the Lord turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends; also the Lord gave job twice as much as he had before. Job 42:10.
Awesome. The restoration of job's fortune did not happen because of some 40 days prayers and fasting period, or some casting out of demons of captivity. It happened when Job willingly, obediently and submissively yielded to the inner prompting of the Lord to build his otherwise destroyed relationship with his friends turned accusers. The people you hold as your enemies, who accused you falsely and destroyed your reputation may be the very people who are holding your fortunes from manifesting forth. Release them from your heart and move on with God. You may not be friends again, but holding the grudge will not do you any good. Forgivingness, good relationship, refusing to hold grudge with people is key to your destiny. God loves relationship. He has put values upon it.
A man has a barren wife, they are well stricken in age, and they have no children. But he has a promise from God. Several years ago, the Lord promised him a child but it is really taking long to happen. But then he is willing to prayer for another gentle man and his entire family who have a similar situation. God hears his prayers for his one time enemy and opens the wombs of all females in his household. They have barrenness in their marriage but they are willing to pray for another family suffering the very thing they are suffering. As that family begins to receive their miracles Abraham's family also get the same miracle they were praying for others; so that it might be fulfilled that which was said, "What you make happen for others, God will make it happen for you. It is so amazing to see how the scripture is arranged, in Genesis 20: 17,18, so Abraham prayed unto God: and He healed Abimelech, and his wife and his maid servants; and they bare children, vs. 18 for the Lord had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah, Abraham's wife. We close Chapter 20 with Abraham praying for his erstwhile enemy to receive a miracle and we open chapter 21 with this reality, "And the Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as He had spoken. For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which the Lord had spoken to him. The time for God to fulfill His promises to Abraham had arrived, and Abraham had to do something about it. He had the keys in his own hands. How you handle the people in your life, which might have even treated you badly, could be the ignition key you need to start the engine of your life. You need working relationships. (See notes on when your enemies are brought at your feet).