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

How can we allow God to Mould our Character through the Trials

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault.” (James 1:1 – 5)

Many of us have read this verse but do we truly believe that the trials we are going through are actually provided by God to mould our character? How hen can we allow God to mould our lives?

1. Be Sensitive and let God Mold your Character when you are in the Desert

Many of us go through deserts in our lives at certain point of time. Some of our desert experience seemed to last very long, some of us get out of the desert much faster than others… I believe how long we will stay in the desert depends on how fast we learn what the Lord wants to teach us as we go through our desert experience. If we remained ignorant of what is God doing in our lives, or remained unchanged in our behavior which God wants to change in us…, then we may wander around in the dessert going in circles
experiencing the same obstacles over and over again in our lives…

Like what the Apostle James said, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds”, we need to be able to appreciate the trials that we faces in life and see what God is teaching us through those trials. Then as we grow in sensitivity to what God is doing, we will be able to overcome those obstacles in our lives better and grow in our Character which God is painstakingly building. When our character is being built up, we will be able to conquer with an unwavering faith just like Joshua, the Conqueror. When our character is formed, we will be ready to move out of the desert and crossed River Jordan into the Promised Land.

2. Be Patience & Persevering and let God help you grow in Maturity when you face Trials

Character Building requires an intense and profound work. Great effort and patience are required in order to grow in maturity in the Lord. We need to grow from the stage where we are always acting on our own emotions to the stage where we allow God to work through our weaknesses such that we will not be controlled by our emotions alone. When we face trials, the first thing that we need to overcome is not to react to the situations… But we need to learn to response to adverse situations and ask ourselves how we can overcome. We need to learn to ask the Lord what He is teaching us and have peace that God is in control. This process of growing in the Peace of the Lord and growing in maturity is not easily achieved. It requires a lot of patience and perseverance to achieve that state of peace in our minds and emotions. It comes from the Lord, but we need to grow into it as the Lord work through our lives to build His character in us.

3. Be Determined and let God help you Grow in Self-Control when you are being Tested

Self-control is the Foundation of our Character. This is the capacity to not allow our desires to control how we act. Self-control is the ability to control our emotions and guide them in a positive sense, especially in our relationships with others. God takes advantage of each situation to mould our behavior. Once He has succeeded, He turns us into able leaders who can face adversity. The adverse circumstances of life are part of a process of divine working that give substance to our character. The Lord wants His character to be implemented into our life. It is not easy to attain full maturity in Christ. This implementation implies dedication, effort, consecration and the denying of ourselves.

Conclusion

We need to build our confidence in God. Especially when we go through trials in our lives, we need to trust Him that believed that God is in control. He will lead us into Triumphant Victory if we learn to depend on Him. Let us remember that we can always count on the Holy Spirit’s help. Without Him, it would be impossible to attain the Christ-like character that God wants in us.

Source of the above message: Message 12
(Taken from the book by Cesar Castellanos D, 52 Teachings for the G12 Meetings)
Teaching 12: The Influence of Character in Discipleship
The words below are extracts from Pastor Cesar’s book itself…

Introduction
Anyone who is full of God will ultimately reflect God in their character, and they will bare witness to the fruit of the Holy Spirit. The type of leaders God wants to raise up in these days need to be known for their strength of character. This type of character strengthens them in their time of testing, removes all self confidence, and takes them to fully depend on God. Character refers to the basic characteristic related to values and morals of an individual.

1. God Molds our Character
In the Scriptures, we find examples of men and women who had a covenant with God to fulfill his purpose in them. Moses, one of the great leaders in the Old Testament, had to spend years of his life in the desert before God could entrust him with His work. As it was with Moses, we will have to cross deserts and spiritual processes until the Lord can form our character. Fo this reason, we should be prepared to come out victorious in order to help our people conquer the same process later.

2. Stages of spiritual growth
* Spiritual adolescence
This stage is when we act on our own emotions. Moses was aware of his position and identity, but in his desire to help one of his people, he acted on his human wisdom and ended up killing an Egyptian. He was then forced to flee and take refuge in the desert.
* Ministerial formation
God allowed Moses to experience all kinds of needs in the desert for the purpose of stripping him of all the teachings that he had received in the Egyptian Royal Palace. At the same time as he was being tested, he was also being cleansed. God took advantage of everyday to form his character. It is possible that we may have to go through times in the desert so that the Lord can place his character in us.
* Ministerial maturity
God formed Moses’ character by working on his weaknesses. This is what gave him the strength to endure the quarrels of an entire nation who never understood what God wanted to do with their lives. However, in spite of it all, Moses allowed himself to be used by God in signs, wonders and miracles. When we go through the desert, we become different individuals, and miracles will take place through our lives.

3. The Formation of Character: An Intense Work
For true leadership, an intense and profound work is required within ourselves. Effort and patience are also required in order to see fruit.

4. Self-Control: The Foundation of our Character
Weakness or strength of character depends on self-control. This is the capacity to not allow our desires to control how we act. This attitude defines our personality. In other words, self-control as the basis of character, is the ability to control our emotions and guide them in a positive sense, especially in our relationships with others. We should set as our goal the formation of leaders with character and equip them to face challenges that will arise day after day. It is not an easy task, but it is possible to shape their personality based on Biblical principles and patterns. This will allows them to achieve a level of responsibility so that they can be used as an instrument of God. God takes advantage of each situation to mould our behavior. Once He has succeeded, He turns us into able leaders who can face adversity. The adverse circumstances of life are part of a process of divine working that gives substance to our character. The Lord wants His character to be implemented into our life. It is not easy to attain full maturity in Christ. This implementation implies dedication, effort, consecration and the denying of ourselves. However, let us remember that we can always count on the Holy Spirit’s help. Without Him, it would be impossible to attain the Christ-like character that God wants in us.

Conclusion
Just as God dealt with the character of many men who had specific callings, so it will also be with each one of us.

Have a good week ahead!
Pastor William

How to Build God’s Confidence in Our 12?

Here are William’s Personal Applications for Message 10: How to Build God’s Confidence in our 12?

In message 10, we want to explore how to build Confidence into our 12? Before we can even begin to talk about building confidence, we need to first recognize that the confidence we are discussing here is not a confidence that comes from ourselves, as in how capable we are… We are referring to a confidence that comes from the Lord who is living in our lives and deep within our spirits… We need to first recognize that it is about God’s grace at work in our lives that we are able to achieve great things for Him. That confidence comes from the Lord…

1. Know God’s Mercy and recognize that it is not by your own Merit

Hence the first thing to do in order to build confidence in our 12 is to help our 12 know God’s Mercy. I was deeply touched when I read Chapter 10 of Pastor Cesar’s book on the 52 teachings for the G-12 Meetings. I felt that our Great Grandfather shared one of the deepest insights about the grace of God that I have ever heard. The way he uses the story of Mephibosheth (the grandson of King Saul) totally open my spiritual understanding to see what Grace of God is all about. The story that he quoted is as follows:

Mephibosheth was a man who had a hard life. Although he was the grandson of King Saul, he was hurt deeply in his life and began to think that he was a mistake. Saul was the first king of Israel, but because of disobedience, he and his children all died on the same day. Mephibosheth was five years old when the maid heard the news of the deaths. In the midst of all the bitter excitement, she was running hysterically and tripped, causing the boy to fall down and severely damage both of his feet. This accident left the boy lame. This misfortune left a mark on that child’s life, which also left him feeling abandoned. His father, uncles, and grand father were all dead, while he was crippled. Anyone would think that such a life has no meaning. But the life of this child has become the voice of nourishment for many people.

When David had already become king of Israel, he wanted to be merciful to Saul’s house. They told him about the grandson of the former King Mephibosheth. He was also the son of Jonathan, David’s friend. The first thing King David said to him was, ” ‘Do not be afraid because I will surely show you mercy for the sake of your father Jonathan, whom I love. I will give back to you all of the land of your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.’ The boy humbled himself and asked, ‘Who is your servant that you look at a dead dog like me?’ “

This act is an illustration of God’s grace, in the same way it is poured out on each one of us. It offers us dignity when we feel worthless.

Grace is the unmerited favor of God bestowed upon each one of us. It is not a payment people receive for something they’ve earned. Grace gives people dignity, improves their lifestyle, ensures families, and opens the door to blessings in their lives… We must understand that the prosperity comes, not by the company in which we are, not by our work or the possibilities, but that it comes to our life when we believe. All of God’s riches are within your reach; all you need to do is extend your hands and say: “Lord, I believe that they are for me.”

2. Know that God is for you and realize that you need not Fear

One of the reasons of why one is lack of self confidence is due to the issue of low self-esteem. When we have a low self-esteem, we will feel inferior to others and we will lose the confidence to try even if we can. The enemy will try to plant thoughts of failures and thoughts of doubts in people’s minds like seeds. If we are not careful, we will allow such seeds to grow in our lives, especially when we have been beaten up by different adversities, or exposed to great trials…. Don’t let your past or your fears take you away from the love that God wants to show you. Fear is more than a feeling; it is the manifestation of a demonic spirit which God can set us free from as we receive the Word of God.

Romans 8:31 says, “What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?”

Romans 8:35, 37 says, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? …. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”

We need to realize that we need not fear because God will always support us and He will not let us face the battle alone… But in Christ and through Christ, we shall be conquerors and overcome whatever difficulties that we face. While we may not always get the results of what we hope to see, we must trust that God is in control and He will bless us with victory according to His eternal purposes… So be brave to try whatever God ask you to do and know that God will see through what He assigned you to do… Do not fear, but have faith to believe that God will lead us into triumphant victory!!!

3. Know that you are a Child of God and receive God’s Blessings
God’s blessings are real, and as a loving father he tells us, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9)…… If we know the great riches that God has planned for us, as His children, we will be able to trust our future into His loving hands with no worries…. We need to trust in our Heavenly Father that He has our best interests in His heart and He wants us to flourish and be fruitful.

Sometimes, we struggle with the situations in our lives and become uncertain if God will really bless us? This is especially so when we experience difficulties despite everything that we are doing seemed to be according to God’s will… When we experience growth and see fruits in our lives, and then suddenly, we face much difficulties coming along our way… If we are not careful, we may misunderstand God’s intention totally when we face all the trials in our lives…

John 15:1,2 says, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”

You see, Jesus is the Vine and God our Heavenly father is the Gardener. Our Father in Heaven is always busy cutting off those branches that bears no fruits and for those bearing fruits, he prunes. What does that means, when we sin against him and does not bear fruits, the Lord will discipline us and cut off all the unwanted “sins” in our lives. When we are growing well and bearing fruits in our lives for the Lord, He will still prune us by cutting off any parts that may hinder us to be even more fruitful. This is what the Father as the Vinedresser would do for all the branches that come from the true Vine, Jesus Christ.

So be confident and know that God your Father has great plans for you… Plans to prosper you and make you fruitful….

Conclusion
God is faithful to His word in each one of us. In His mercy, the Lord brings us to Him to heal our wounds, to give us back what the enemy has taken away, and to enjoy each one of His promises. Jeremiah 29:11 says “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Trust in the Lord and place your confidence in God.

Source of the above message: Message 10
(Taken from the book by Cesar Castellanos D, 52 Teachings for the G12 Meetings)
Teaching 9: Forming Confident Leaders
The words below are extracts from Pastor Cesar’s book itself…

Mephibosheth was a man who had a hard life. Although he was the grandson of King Saul, he was hurt deeply in his life and began to think that he was a mistake. Saul was the first king of Israel, but because of disobedience, he and his children all died on the same day. Mephibosheth was five years old when the maid heard the news of the deaths. In the midst of all the bitter
excitement, she was running hysterically and tripped, causing the boy to fall down and severely damage both of his feet. This accident left the boy lame. This misfortune left a mark on that child’s life, which also left him feeling abandoned. His father, uncles, and grand father were all dead, while he was crippled. Anyone would think that such a life has no meaning. But the life of this child has become the voice of nourishment for many people.

1. Knowing God’s Mercy
When David had already become king of Israel, he wanted to be merciful to Saul’s house. They told him about the grandson of the former King Mephibosheth. He was also the son of Jonathan, David’s friend. The first thing King David said to him was, ” ‘Do not be afraid because I will surely show you mercy for the sake of your father Jonathan, whom I love. I will give back to you all of the land of your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.’ The boy humbled himself and asked, ‘Who is your servant that you look at a dead dog like me?’ ” This act is an illustration of God’s grace, in the same way it is poured out on each one of us. It offers us dignity when we feel worthless.

2. Be free from the Spirit of Fear and Inferiority
The root of Saul’s problem originated from his low self-esteem. Although everyone around him praised him for his stature, and being the most handsome person in all of Israel, he felt like the most insignificant person in the world…. Fear is more than a feeling; it is the manifestation of a demonic spirit which God can set us free from as we receive the Word of God.

3. Receiving Grace & the Inheritance
Grace is the unmerited favor of God bestowed upon each one of us. It is not a payment people receive for something they’ve earned. Grace gives people dignity, improves their lifestyle, ensures families, and opens the door to blessings in their lives… We must understand that the prosperity comes, not by the company in which we are, not by our work or the possibilities, but that it comes to our life when we believe. All of God’s riches are within your reach; all you need to do is extend your hands and say: “Lord, I believe that they are for me.”

4. Enjoy your Blessing, do not accept failure and Believe you are a Child of God
God’s blessings are real, and as a loving father he tells us, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9)…… The enemy plants thoughts in people’s minds like seeds. The best soil for such seeds (of accepting the idea that one is a failure) to grow in is the lives of people who have been beaten up by different adversities, or exposed to great trials…. Don’t let your past or your fears take you away from the love that God wants to show you.

Conclusion
God is faithful to His word in each one of us. In His mercy, the Lord brings us to Him to heal our wounds, to give us back what the enemy has taken away, and to enjoy each one of His promises.

Have a blessed week!
Ps William

Marks of Jesus’ Disciples

Here are William’s Personal Applications for Message 9: Marks of Jesus’ Disciples

There are 3 exciting Experiences in our journey of growth as Christ’s disciples. To grow in the Lord, we need to grow in our conviction and commitment in following Christ. Christ’s example of dying on the cross has always been teaching us to die to ourselves; brokenness and submission are key traits in our growth as Christ’s disciples. It is also a natural process in our spiritual growth to experience the Lord empowering us and use us to achieve great things for Him. We will also see fruitfulness in our lives because of God’s blessings.

1. Conviction & Commitment
It is essential to have the absolute certainty that God has called us into the ministry, and to have the correct motivation for going into the ministry. Why? Because it would be impossible to develop something supernaturally while having a natural attitude and motivation. Serving the Lord requires great conviction from the heart as the challenges that one faces in the ministry is very great. If we serve in the ministry with motives from our flesh, we are bound to be disappointed and get disillusion over time. The only way we can persevere in the Lord and never give up in the midst of our struggles is to fix our eyes on Jesus and be certain of our calling in the Lord. We need to realize that it is God who have called us and serve Him with all our heart to fulfill what we are called to do. God chose you from among the millions of humans dwelling here on planet earth. You were selected by Him to continue His work. Knowing this should cause us to have a profound commitment with Him. With the Conviction of our hearts, then we can be fully committed to our Calling in the ministry. There is great power in those who are fully committed in what they set out to do. Conviction and Commitment are 2 Key Marks of being Disciples of Jesus Christ. Disciples who are not committed to the Lord’s calling will not be worthy to be His Disciples.

2. Brokenness & Submission
“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.” (John 12:24). Brokenness is the most powerful protection mechanism a believer can have when facing the adversities of life. In the ministry, we will face many challenges that will attack our confidence. We may experience many setbacks to failures and we would felt accused of being not good
enough. The best way of overcoming the adversities of life is brokenness. It is only when we die to our own pride and realized that apart from God, we can do nothing, will we be able to overcome all the disappointments in life. Those who are a spiritual authority must understand that our authority over others is not an imposition, but a position of managing others as we present ourselves as examples in everything. It is through a lifestyle of humility and submission that we can win others to follow our example of being
disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submission is a key in growth of us as disciples. True disciples are people who are able to submit themselves to the lordship of their disciple makers. Those who follow the Lord need to follow Jesus’ directions wholeheartedly as how Jesus fully submitted to the Heavenly Father’s will. To grow in submission is to grow to be like Christ.

3. Anointing & Fruitfulness
This is when you experience the presence of God in your life continuously. It is reflected in the way you speak, in the way you teach, in what you pray, in what you understand and in the people you lead… God gives us the anointing to carry out His work effectively. Experiencing God’s anointing is a great experience because it is great to know God can use us. When we see what the Lord achieve through our hands, when we see lives and families being transformed and restored as a result of what God prompts us to do, we
will marvel on the greatness and goodness of God. One of the advantages of the Vision is that everybody can develop their potential to its fullest, and it is reflected in fruitfulness. I know that there is no greater joy a person can have other than the feeling of usefulness in the work of the Lord…. So be faithful to God’s calling; He has His eyes fixed on you. He will bless you because He is your heavenly who loves you and gave Himself up for you.

Conclusion
It is a privilege and a responsibility to be called by God to leadership. Place your life in God’s hands and you will see fruit in abundance from your ministry.

Source of the above message: Message 9
(Taken from the book by Cesar Castellanos D, 52 Teachings for the G12 Meetings)
Teaching 9: A Leader called by God
The words below are extracts from Pastor Cesar’s book itself…

When speaking of leadership, it is important to understand what the “calling” is. It needs to be understood in order to develop a leadership of excellence…. Although Jesus could have poured out His life onto the multitudes, He didn’t. He preferred to work skillfully, shaping the character of twelve people who were completely different from each other… Sensitivity to the Holy Spirit is an essential requirement in order to hear God’s calling and understand it….. Fulfilling God’s call requires the following:

1. Conviction
It is essential to have the absolute certainty that God has called us into the ministry, and to have the correct motivation for going into the ministry. Why? Because it would be impossible to develop something supernaturally while having a natural attitude and motivation. Besides, we know that whomever God calls, He will also equip in all things.

2. Commitment
God chose you from among the millions of humans dwelling here on planet earth. You were selected by Him to continue His work. Knowing this should cause us to have a profound commitment with Him. God could have chosen someone else, but He preferred to choose you. Now go and do God’s work without fear!

3. Brokenness
“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” (John 12:24). Brokenness is the most powerful protection mechanism a believer can have when facing the adversities of life.

4. Anointing
This is when you experience the presence of God in your life continuously. It is reflected in the way you speak, in the way you teach, in what you pray, in what you understand and in the people you lead… God gives us the anointing to carry out His work effectively.

5. Submission
Those who are a spiritual authority must understand that our authority over others is not an imposition, but a position of managing others as we present ourselves as examples in everything.

6. Fruitfulness
One of the advantages of the Vision is that everybody can develop their potential to its fullest, and it is reflected in fruitfulness. I know that there is no greater joy a person can have other than the feeling of usefulness in the work of the Lord…. Be faithful to God’s calling; He has His eyes fixed on you.

Conclusion
It is a privilege and a responsibility to be called by God to leadership. Place your life in God’s hands and you will see fruit in abundance from your ministry.

May you have a fruitful and blessed week ahead!
Ps William

What You Need to Grow in Your 12?

Here are William’s Personal Applications for Message 8:

Message 8: What you need to grow in your 12?

In our previous message on “Week 4: how to implement the G-12 Vision?”, we said that we need to insist on choosing only those who are Faithful, Moldable and those who Desire to Serve the Lord. In the search of our 12, there will come a day that your team of 12 would be almost formed… As you are forming your team, I would like to share with you God’s heartbeat of what your team should become if you want to be used by Him.

Today we want to explore the qualities of those who are found to be suitable, according to God’s heart. God is seeking for someone whom He can use for His Glorious Purposes… Whoever desires to form their team of twelve must realized that the people who are being considered to be part of the team must fulfill the following requirements in order for the Lord to use their team to extend His Kingdom:

1. People who will become a Blessing to Others

We need to first understand why God choose us? We need to understand why we want to choose 12 persons to be our 12? Why do we in the first place need to bother with finding 12 persons and make so much effort to groom and disciple these 12 as though they are our very children… It is only with this understanding, we can grasp who should we choose to be our 12?

Gen 12:2-3 forms the foundation of our calling in the G-12 Vision:
GE 12:2 “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great and you will be a blessing.
GE 12:3 I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

You will realize that it is all about becoming a Blessing to others… The promise given to us is so that we can become a blessing; so that all the Peoples / families on earth will be blessed through us!!! Hence, train your 12 to become a Blessing!!! Bless them and teach them to bless others!!! Be generous, be forgiving, be loving with their words, etc., etc., etc…

2. People who will grow in their Faith

Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, …” The Lord uses those who believe in Him. The greater their faith is in the Lord, the more God can use them to accomplish His Divine and Glorious Purposes. So how we grow our people in their Faith?

Faith comes by hearing, that is, by hearing the Word of God. Faith uses God’s eyes to look at the circumstances and see the positive side of that which surrounds us. The eyes of faith see that all things are possible and the man of faith learns to conquer everything in the spiritual realm. The man of faith is obedient, since he has learned to develop a great
sensitivity to the desires of the Spirit. His obedience is instant and without conditions.

3. People who will Delight in the Fear the Lord

PS 112:1 … Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who finds great delight in his commands. ISA 11:2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him– the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD– and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.

The Lord uses those who fear Him. The fear of God should exist in all aspects of our lives. God tests the heart before entrusting someone with a great task and seeks those who are faithful in the little to entrust them with much. A God fearing person is one who has experienced brokenness in their spirit and one who will depend on Him continuously…

When someone fears the Lord, he will reject rebellion and seek for excellence. When someone fears the Lord, he will be like soldiers when handling the Word of God. One will desire to seek the truth God hate deceit… God is light and in Him, there is no darkness. When someone fears the lord, he will not serve money, but serve God.

Source of the above message: Message 8
(Taken from the book by Cesar Castellanos D, 52 Teachings for the G12 Meetings)
Teaching 8: A Team According to God’s Heart
The words below are extracts from Pastor Cesar’s book itself…

Choosing one of the twelve is as important as choosing your spouse. It requires effort and time to get to know them and share together until having the total certainty that they are the indicated person. When the Lord chooses His twelve, He did it thinking that they would be with Him forever. Whoever desires to form their team of twelve must realized that the people who are being considered to be part of the team must fulfil the following requirements:

1. Be a Blessing (Deut 28:1)
* God’s heart desires for each one of His children to inherit blessings so that they, in turn, can release blessings upon others.
* Motivate them to be rich in God and to have a strong relationship with Him and His Word.
* Orientate them regarding the divine commandments
* Teach them daily to seek God’s “rehma” word for their lives. Great servants of God spend hours in quiet time, attentive to the Lord’s voice.

2. Full of Faith (Eph 2:20)
* They must have the Word of God as their foundation, which leads to faith. They must understand that faith comes by hearing, that is, by hearing the Word of God
* To enter the world of faith means having the mind of Christ
* Faith uses God’s eyes to look at the circumstances. God’s eyes see the positive side of that which surrounds us. His eyes see that all things are possible.
* The man of faith learns to conquer everything in the spiritual realm. The man of faith is obedient, since he has learned to develop a great sensitivity to the desires of the Spirit. His obedience is instant and without conditions.

3. Grow in Virtue (2 Peter 1:5, Exo 18:21)
* In Greek, the word “virtue” means “excellence”
* Virtue is
- Special Grace; ability for leadership
- Having the gift of leading
- Striving to be the best
* Virtue causes a person to reject rebellion and to always seek for excellence.
* David’s virtue succeeded in transforming a group of ordinary men into warriors for his army. In the same way, virtue will cause a leader to turn his disciples into successful leaders.

4. Know the Truth (2 Peter 1:5)
* We must be like soldiers when handling the Word of God. (John 8:32)
* We must be led by His Word, ridding ourselves of hypocrisy, deceit, jealousy and distractions. When we do this, freedom will come to our mind, emotions and feelings. In this way, the Word will penetrate our understanding with purity
* We should desire truth, because truth is the lamp that lights our way.

5. Fear the Lord (Exo 18:21)
* The fear of God should exist in all aspects of our lives.
* God tests the heart before entrusting someone with a great task.
* God seeks those who are faithful in the little to entrust them with much
* A God fearing person is one who has experienced brokenness in their spirit
* The fear of God causes us to depend on Him continuously

6. Hate Greed (1 Tim 6:10)
* There is nothing that destroys a person worse than allowing greed in their heart.
* Judas tried to disguise his greed with a mantle of piety by criticizing the woman who poured perfume on Christ’s feet. He claimed that it was a waste, saying that he could have sold it and given the money to the poor. He wasn’t speaking out of compassion, but rather, he said it because he was greedy. We know fully well that he was stealing from the offerings that he was in charge of
* Money is an excellent servant, but a terrible master.
* Servants of God can be good stewards if they do not give into the trappings of greed.

Have a great week ahead!
Ps William