7 Steps to Restoring Our Relationship with God

Source of this message is taken from the book by Cesar Castellanos D, 52 Teachings for the G12 Meetings; Teaching 17: The Cross restores our relationship with God

Pastor Cesar shared with us seven steps in this chapter of how we can experience restoration in our relationship with God. They are:

1. Be cleansed by the blood of Christ. Recognize your guilt and receive the cleansing by the blood of the lamb.

2. Lay down your burdens and ask Christ to set you free.

3. Stop doing evil by breaking away from every past action and influence that displeases God.

4. Learn to do good until it becomes a way of life for us.

5. Seek justice by seeking obedience to God’s will, which is revealed in His Word.

6. Make restitution with the offended will cancels any argument the enemy may have had against us and removes the legal ground by which he gains access to our lives.

7. Seek Justice for the Orphan and Help the Widow because the widows and the
orphans represent those who have no one to protect them or provide for them, and we need to remember that God’s favor is upon them.

Pastor Cesar said in his book that, “If we follow these seven steps, the mercy and forgiveness of the Lord will reach us no matter how big the sin might be.”

Happy Christmas and Blessed New Year to you. May your days filled with love, joy & peace from above!
Pastor William

Forgiveness is Medicine for Our Souls

Source of this message is taken from the book by Cesar Castellanos D, 52 Teachings for the G12 Meetings; Teaching 16: The Grace of Forgiveness

To all my Leaders, we have come to the 16th Message of this 52 Weeks Series of what you can use for your G-12 Meetings. I hope so far these resources are useful for you. Today, I want to share with you the issue on Forgiveness.

One of the most common struggles in our lives is hurts that resulted from those who are closest to us. If we are not careful, we may find coldness between our love ones when one party is hurt by another whom they love dearly. That coldness can produce an empty feeling in the heart which leads to overwhelming resentment and bitterness.

In Pastor Cesar’s book, he said, “The moment a person opens his or her mouth to release forgiveness, a supernatural healing teaks place in the life of the person who forgives. This breaks the stronghold of an unforgiving spirit.” You see, when someone forgives, the person who forgives first is the one who is set free.

The following are the Steps to Efficient Forgiveness
1. Acknowledge your need to be forgiven by God
2. Submit yourself to God
3. Decide to forgive
4. Confirm your forgiveness
5. You must not go back to resentment
6. Replace the negative with the positive

A Christian life is based on having a forgiving heart. The same way we need God’s forgiveness, we need to forgive those who have offended us. Is there anyone whom you have not forgiven yet?

Blessed holiday!
Pastor William

Key Issues in Building in Our Twelve

To all my Leaders, we have come to the 15th Message of this 52 Weeks Series of what you can use for your G-12 Meetings. I hope so far these resources are useful for you. Today, I want to share with you some concerns that we need to work at in our lives:

1.    We need to Overcome our Unforgiveness
When we work in the lives of our 12, one of the most important issues that we need to help them grow in is to overcome their unforgiveness… As they grow in forgiving others, they will grow to love people and love the Lord.

2.    We need to Overcome the Brokenness of Families
I realize over the years of being in ministry for so long, many children suffered from broken families… I think it is God’s delight to use us to heal many hearts which suffered from broken familes… and to break the curse of broken families… so that in the next generation, we will see strong families being built together….

3.    We need to Overcome Rejections in our Lives
Very often, many of us struggle with rejections in our lives… I think another very important issue that we need to help to grow in our Twelve is to help them to be able to overcome rejections in life. We should grow in the strength of our hearts to be able to withstand rejections so that we would not be hurt easily…. Then we will be able to grow strong in the Lord and overcome the enemy who always throw accusations at us; when we are rejected.

Source of the above message is taken from the book by Cesar Castellanos D, 52 Teachings for the G12 Meetings; Teaching 15: Seven Words of Victory

Have a wonderful and blessed week!
Pastor William

Dying To Self, Living in Christ

The power of resurrection can flow through us when we choose to crucify our weak human nature. When we die to ourselves, we will live in Christ.

1. You have been crucified with Christ
It was not Jesus’ sins and infirmities that that nailed Jesus on the Cross for He was a man without sin. The stripes and nailing that Jesus had to endure was a representation of OUR sins and infirmities that He chose to bear upon Him so that we may be redeemed. Yet, how often do we take the Cross for granted? The important questions we want to ask ourselves are: “Are we crucified with Christ? Are we dead? Have we died? Did we die by Crucifixion?” Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life (John 12:24, 25). ” It is important that we learn to die to ourselves; die to our personal desires; die to our rights; die to our own understanding; die to our own gains and benefits; die to our pride; die to our likings and dislikes; die to our discomfort; etc., etc., etc.

As we acknowledged that Jesus died for us that we may be redeemed, we acknowledged too that our lives no longer belong to ourselves but to Him, which He bought with the price of His blood. We need to relinquish our rights over our lives, emotions, relationships to Jesus.

2. You no longer live but Christ lives in you
As we learn to let go and die to ourselves, Jesus is magnified in us. The resurrection gives the promise of hope and victory. The power of the resurrection cannot take place if we continue to cling on to ourselves and our rights. The revelation of the cross is both about the death of Christ and His Resurrection!!! We need to not only die to ourselves, but we need also to RESURRECT in a new life where the life I now live, I live in Christ.

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20) For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. (Philippians 1:21) Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. (Romans 6:8) We need to experience the “Living in Christ” part and see victory in out daily Christian Living. When we begin to live totally for the purpose of God, Jesus will deliver us from our human concerns and change our concerns to divine opportunities to experience God’s provision. When we live only to glorify Christ, the Holy Spirit will reveal His wisdom and His will to us so that we can fulfill the destiny that God has intended for us.

Conclusion:
To experience victory in our lives, it is a daily choice of remembering what Jesus has done on the Cross and dying to ourselves. We need to stand firm so that the yoke of slavery may not burden us again.

Source of the above message: Message 14
(Taken from the book by Cesar Castellanos D, 52 Teachings for the G12 Meetings)
Teaching 14: The Revelation of The Cross
The words below are extracts from Pastor Cesar’s book itself…

Introduction
From the moment Adam sinned, God established the day He was going to send His Son as the Savior and Redeemer of the world. For this reason, Jesus who was God in the flesh came to Earth and did not rest until His mission was fully completed. (John 18:37)… From the moment that Jesus was captured to the last breath that He took, it represented the journey of redemption for us.

1. The Crown of Thorns
When the crown of thorns was put on Jesus’ head, He gave us freedom from ruin.

2. The Whip
When Jesus was whipped 39 times on his back, He gave us physical healing over all diseases, infirmities and pain. (Isaiah 53:56)

3. The 3 Nails
When Jesus was nailed to the Cross, He gave us freedom over
A) Guilt
B) Accusations and arguments
C) Oppression

4. The Spear
When Jesus was speared in His side, He gave us inner healing.

The Cross that symbolizes curse became a greater symbol of blessing when Jesus took on the Cross. All the evil we were known for was placed on Jesus on that tree. All the good in Jesus was transferred to us through Him.

Have a great week!
Pastor William

Why Trials in Our Lives can Shape God’s Character in Us?

Last week we talk about how we can allow God to Mould your Character through the Trials in our Lives… We realize that our character will become stronger and more victorious after coming out of the desert in our lives. This week we hope to continue why trials in our lives can shape our character…

1.      Trials make us Broken before the Lord
Before a pure carbon can become into a diamond, it needs to be refined before become a sparkling diamond. So often when we go through trials, we choose to just give up. We do not realize that these trials are actually allowed by God to make us broken and to mould our character. Thus we can either choose to give up or we can surrender our brokenness before the Lord. The Lord will use those who are broken before Him.

2.      Trials make us Dependent on God
It is through circumstances that God shapes our character. Trials form our faith, our perseverance, and our consistency; they help us grow in our trust in the Lord, and they teach us to believe in the promises of His word. Without trials in our lives, we will not be able to learn how to depend on God and we will fail to know how much God wants to do in our lives….

Conclusion
A broken spirit and a contrite heart, the Lord never despises…. God uses us because of His grace and mercy according to His sovereignty and not because we are worthy…. To become like Christ, we need to follow His example of being broken and totally submit and depend on God…

Source of the above message: Message 13
(Taken from the book by Cesar Castellanos D, 52 Teachings for the G12 Meetings)
Teaching 13: A Character Molded by God
The words below are extracts from Pastor Cesar’s book itself…

Introduction
Each one of us is like a diamond in the rough that needs to go through a refining process. One day a friend told me about the process of refining a diamond. Knowing the four step process from this precious stone really caught my attention…

The four steps consist of:
1. Cutting
2. Polishing
3. Finding the best possible clarity
4. Mounting the stone on a high place where it can receive light from above and below.

1.      Cutting the Diamond: Brokenness
Almost every person in ministry has a great desire to please God in the area He has entrusted them with. However some are tempted to abandon everything once they face obstacles along the way… We should understand that the Lord allows us to be attacked by adversary, who confronts us with different kinds of tests, because God uses them to form us. Brokenness is the University God allows us to attend so that the likeness of Christ can be formed in us… No one voluntarily desires to go through tests and difficulties, but God uses adversity to mould our character.

2.      Polishing the Diamond: God’s Dealing with the Leader
It is through circumstances that God shapes our character. Trials form our faith, our perseverance, and our consistency; they help us grow in our trust in the Lord, and they teach us to believe in the promises of His word.

3.      The Clarity of the Diamond: Guard the Purity of the Vision
Some people are satisfied with having a vague idea of God’s vision… When I talk about the vision, I am referring to the Government of Twelve, which is the Holy Spirit’s strategy for this time. It stimulates the growth of the churches and allows each believer to fulfill the purpose of God throughout the earth.

4.      Mounting the Diamond: Fruit produces Honor
Every person involved in the ministry will be honored. They will not only be honored for the length of time they have served, but also for the fruit he or she bears for the God… God honors those who multiply. We know that the things of God start small and end in greatness. Solomon expressed this when he wrote:” The path of the righteousness is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day” (Proverbs 4:18)… In the beginning, God will not give you great responsibilities. He will first train you by giving you small tasks. As you are faithful in the few, God will entrust you with much more.

Have a good week ahead!
Pastor William