You’re the first car facing a red light at an intersection. What do you focus on while you’re waiting for the light to turn green? The traffic signal immediately in front of you? Or the opposing one?

I must admit that more often than not I look at the other guy’s light waiting for it to go from green to amber, so I can start revving up to zoom right through the nanosecond his light turns red and mine turns green. C’mon, fess up, you’ve done it too J

I also have to admit that sometimes I get so distracted by the opposing light that I miss it when my light turns green. It is only when the driver behind me toots a blaring reminder (sometimes accompanied by a single digit signal) that I realize what has happened! Of course, there are times when I’m the one giving the reminder (minus the hand signal, of course!). Between you and me, I feel really good doing it too!

Sad but true that we sometimes miss what is happening directly ahead of us, because we are so focused on what is happening around us.

We wait for someone else’s circumstances to change as our signal to move forward, rather than wait for our own to turn green.

In the process, we can miss an opportunity to move forward. We can end up delaying the fulfilment of our destiny.

That is why Solomon penned these wise words in Proverbs 4:25– Focus your eyes straight ahead; keep your gaze on what is in front of you. Or, as the Message Translation puts it: Keep your eyes straight ahead; ignore all sideshow distractions.

We would do well to follow this advice. Amen?

I heard a story about a very wealthy man who was deciding what to do with his estate. There were only two beneficiaries in the picture–one beloved son and one beloved servant. In the end, he told the son: “You can have your choice of one thing that belongs to me…just one thing…and the rest goes to the servant.”

The son was now faced with a decision. Should he choose the golf course? The mansion? The island? The investment portfolio? After some time, he made a choice that resulted in him owning everything that belonged to his father.

Can you guess what he chose?

Solomon had just become king of Israel. In I Kings 3 we read about how the Lord appeared to him in a vision and said: “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” “Whatever” gave Solomon quite a lot of latitude. What would he choose? Wealth? Fame? Power? Military success? A larger empire?

Of course, Solomon asks for “a discerning heart to judge the people and to distinguish right from wrong.”  God is so pleased with his request that he promises to honour his prayer and as added bonuses, offers him riches and honour! Small wonder then that he writes in Proverbs 4:7: “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom.”

A number of years ago, I had the chance to ask a Christian businessman who had achieved phenomenal success in his field this question: “What all did you pray for along your journey to success?” His answer consisted of one word: “Wisdom.” When I pressed further, he said: “Well, if I had God’s wisdom to make the right choice whenever I was faced with a decision, I knew that I would be successful, because I would not make mistakes along the way.” I was very impressed with his answer.

Yes, if there is only one thing you could pray for…choose wisdom. It is the principal thing.

Okay, let’s end the suspense now. The beloved son had obviously prayed for wisdom. For, the one thing that belonged to his father that he chose was the beloved servant!!!

May I suggest a daily prayer that will propel you faster to your destiny?  “Father, grant me wisdom to make the right choices in every decision I face today.” AMEN.

Are you familiar with Interval Training? It is one of the most effective ways to cut out stubborn fat that accumulates in your body in highly visible places, such as your belly. Simply put, in Interval Training you do intense cardio in short bursts followed by a lengthier period of rest. So, for example, after warming up, you pedal your bike really  hard for 15 seconds until you are out of breath, rest for 45 and repeat the process 5 or 6 times. You are also advised to do Interval Training no more than 3 times a week.

In other words, it only takes about 10 minutes (including warm-up and cool-off time) to complete a workout. Do the math and you will discover to your surprise that it takes a total commitment of just 30 minutes per week to blast belly fat off! This is in stark contrast to most cardio routines where you sit and pedal for 30-60 minutes at a time, and still don’t make much of a dent in your fat content.

Needless to say I was skeptical when I first heard about this method, but having seen enough proof that it would produce the promised results, I decided to give it a try. The first week that I was consistent with Interval Training, I must admit that I saw no visible results. My waist size was still the same and my weight had not dropped significantly at all.

When I went back and re-read the workout instructions, there was a word of advice there, something like: “Don’t expect instant results. Don’t measure your weight or your waistline until you have consistently done I.T. for at least two weeks.” Duh!

Much to my surprise, at the end of the third week, I started noticing some visible results. My pants were fitting a bit more loosely around my waist and I had indeed shed a couple of pounds.

By the time I’d stuck to it faithfully for 6 weeks, I had to add extra holes in my belts, because my waistline had shrunk significantly!

The whole exercise taught me a valuable lesson on the power of The Cumulative Effect. Let me give you another example.

My wife Sulojana has been getting up an hour early, reading the Bible and spending time in prayer every day for quite a few years now. The first year or two, I could not honestly say that I noticed a significant difference in her. But, around the third year, I became aware of an increase in her spiritual strength that would sometimes catch me by surprise. Today not only does she know her Bible much better, but she knows the heart of the Father much more intimately as well. I know that it was the sheer power of The Cumulative Effect that was responsible for this amazing change.

I also recall how when I first started to deliver destiny words to others in a small group, the accuracy of the words I delivered was nowhere close to some of my peers in the same group. When I learned that there was a direct relationship between Intimacy with the Father and accuracy in hearing His voice, I started Soaking for a few minutes a day, every day. (Soaking is simply staying still in His Presence, with quiet music playing in the background).

Once again, there was no discernible difference for the first few months, but, gradually, I began to notice a positive change in the accuracy of the words. There was no other explanation than the power of The Cumulative Effect.

May I encourage you to realize and harness this power in your life as well? Whether it is with physical exercise, a spiritual discipline or skill development, please do not get discouraged when the results are not readily apparent at the outset. As the apostle Paul reminds us in Galatians 6:9: “We shall reap in due season, if we do not give up.”

Just keep on doing what you need to do and let God help you experience the powerful blessing known as The Cumulative Effect.

“When you hear about wars and riots, don’t be afraid. These things must happen first.” (Luke 21:9)

Those of us living in the Niagara Region of Canada were warned a few days ago that the remnant of Hurricane Sandy combined with some other weather systems could trigger a Frankenstorm—a very scary prospect indeed!

We were told to expect extremely high winds in the 100 km/hour range and severe flooding. As a result we could be without electricity for a few days. We were advised to stock up on all we would need to survive for 72 hours and take other precautionary measures.

Our older son, Sathiya, made sure that anything that could get blown about by high velocity winds was in the garage. He also cleared the leaves off the ditch in front of our house, so that water could drain into the sewer system without any obstructions.

I bought candles that would provide light and heat. We bought meat that could be barbecued, in case we could not use the electric stove and oven. We made sure we had a good supply of vegetables, fruits, salads, bread and peanut butter. We brought the flashlights out and checked the batteries. We charged our cell phones.

In short, we basically did all we could to prepare for the worst.

As Monday night progressed, we read the reports and saw live footage of what was happening in parts of New Jersey and New York City when Sandy finally made landfall. It was scary, for sure. We prayed that God would spare us any serious harm.  Then we braced ourselves to face Nature’s fury.

Sure enough, soon we could hear the gusts of wind and the pelting rain. Yet, in the midst of all the turmoil, there was calmness and serenity in our household. Was it because of our faith? Yes, for sure. But, it was also because we had prepared ourselves to face whatever the storm could throw at us.

“Don’t be scared, be prepared.” These words came to mind while we were dealing with the prospect of surviving without electricity for 72 hours.

Someone pointed out that the words “Fear not” or something similar appear in the Bible 365 times. It is as though we would need to receive this reassurance on a daily basis!

Thankfully, Frankenstorm did not live up to the forecasts and we were spared any serious damage.

The morning after the storm, I met with a terminally ill woman to help plan her funeral service. As we talked, she admitted that walking through the valley of the shadow of death was scary at times. Yet, at one and the same time, preparing to face death with the help of the staff at our local hospice, the support of her family and friends and guidance from her pastor was making a difference.

On the road to reaching our destiny, there will be times when we too will be called to face frightening prospects. In times like these, may these words of wisdom guide you: “Don’t be scared, be prepared.”

Proverbs 27:7–If you have had enough to eat, honey doesn’t taste good; but if you are really hungry, you will eat anything. (CEV)

Over the past 29 years of marriage, Sulojana and I have had the opportunity to serve meals at our house to literally hundreds of guests—family, friends, acquaintances and total strangers.

The Holy Spirit brought to my memory two separate occasions where the guests had diametrically opposite responses to the food that was placed in front of them.

One time, we invited some people we had just met for a meal, mainly because they were from our home country and were living away from their family in our town. We cooked the best possible Indian meal we could prepare.

They came, sat down at the dining table, gulped down the meal with no appreciation whatsoever and promptly left right afterwards, dashing our hopes of visiting with them and getting to know them better.

The second occasion, we were asked by a friend to put up for the night two young Korean missionaries she had met at the mall. When they got to our house, Sulojana discovered that they hadn’t eaten dinner. She quickly put together a meal from the leftovers in the fridge—very basic Indian food. Not only did they wolf it down speedily, they had seconds and thirds and could not stop thanking her for the delicious food that they had just eaten.

You don’t have to be a food critic specializing in Indian food to know that the first group of guests were treated to choice gourmet dishes. Yet they were not all that grateful. These two Korean young men, on the other hand, could not contain their gratitude for the rather plain food that we had served them.

What was the difference? It was their level of hunger.

The first group were all professionals, who had the income to afford eating out. They had likely enjoyed a good lunch earlier in the day. They did not really need the meal we served. Had we not invited them, they would have simply found a restaurant to satisfy their hunger.

The second group, on the other hand, were missionaries who lived by faith. They had no money, they simply relied on the goodness of God and the kindness of strangers for their provision. We learned that they had slept the night before in a sleeping bag under a tree and had not eaten anything the whole day when they got to our place.

Isn’t it true that our level of hunger determines how much we appreciate the Presence of God as well?

It used to puzzle me when I would hear totally different responses to the same service–some liberally sprinkled with gratitude, others punctuated by ruthless criticism.

Then it dawned on me that what made the difference was not the service, but their hunger level.

Those who came hungry devoured crumbs as though they were caviar, while those who came without hunger for more complained about the presentation of the caviar!

One of the best prayers that we could ever pray is simply this: “Lord, please give me the grace to remain hungry always for more of you.” Will you pray it with me now?

Proverbs 24:16—“The righteous may fall seven times but still get up…”

Genesis 26:1, 12— “There was a famine in the land…then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold.”

When I first arrived in Kincaid, Saskatchewan as a newly-ordained minister, farmers filled me in on what had happened a few months earlier. The spring rains did not come on time. However, high velocity dry winds did, and swept away the top soil as well as the newly planted seeds.
They were faced with a dilemma. Repeating the seeding process would double input costs such as fuel and grain and result in reduced income, if the yield turned out to be only average. On the other hand, these seeds could never germinate or produce a poor harvest, which would lead to further losses. It was a risky business.

To seed or not to seed, that was the question.

To their credit, virtually everyone who faced this predicament opted to re-seed. So here I am, expecting a month of dry heat with virtually no rain. Much to my surprise, it rained barn cats and prairie dogs!  With lots of sun and very little rain in August, heads of grain were bulkier than normal. To make a long story short, farmers were treated to a bumper harvest as fields that normally yielded 25-30 bushels per acre on the average produced nearly twice that amount!

How did this come about?

You see, when the seed was planted, even though there was no water from above, there was still moisture below the soil. Because of the arid conditions, the roots had to go further and grow longer than normal. Thus the plants got rooted more deeply than they would in a typical year. When the rains came in July and the roots got their fill, they went on a growth spurt that was nothing short of phenomenal. Since the root structure was deeper, the stalks could grow taller and support heavier heads of grain than normal, leading to a higher than average yield.

What happened to wheat that summer has been repeated in my life many times over the past three decades of ministry. There have been dry periods of discouragement when it looked as though the seeds I planted had disappeared. Yet, when I re-seeded, I reaped more abundant blessings than ever before.

Can you relate to those Saskatchewan farmers in the Spring of 1982? Have your seeds been swept away? Don’t get down, give up or recede. Instead, get up, get busy and re-seed. Then get ready to receive a greater yield.

2 Kings 3:11-“Elisha…used to pour water on Elijah’s hands.”

Have you ever wondered what qualified Elisha to be Elijah’s successor?

Nowhere do we see any reference to him being enrolled in one of Elijah’s Prophetic Schools where at least 50 “sons of the prophets” were trained. Did Elijah teach him how to be his successor? We are not told.

What we are told is that Elisha hung around Elijah. We could even say that he clung to Elijah. In 2 Kings 2, before he leaves earth, Elijah tells Elisha to stay behind 4 times-at Gilgal, Bethel, Jericho and the Jordan. But Elisha refuses to heed his master’s advice. Instead he says every time: “I will not leave you.”

His only claim to fame seems to be that he “used to pour water on Elijah’s hands.” My understanding of the culture would suggest that Elisha functioned more as a servant or a personal assistant to Elijah who was by his side all the time.

I would suggest to you that Elisha is a classic example of one who proves that the anointing cannot be taught by one person to another. It needs to be caught by the one who desires to have it.

Yes, there are techniques, principles, guidelines and road maps that can be learned. But, there is an intangible that cannot be learned. It does not come by reading books and manuals. It does not come through observation. It can only be caught.

I have learned that what can only be released by impartation cannot be received by imitation. Elisha is proof positive that this is true.

Dare I say that this is true of the disciples of Jesus as well? In addition to all that was taught, what set them apart was what was caught by staying with Jesus for those 3½ years, amen?

This is why many of us do not settle for simply reading books by anointed men and women of God and listening to their teachings or watching them on video. We make the effort and pay the price to go and hang around them, so we can receive that which can only be caught and not taught.

No wonder then that when Elisha received Elijah’s mantle as it fell down on his ascent into heaven, it was caught as well.  Mantles cannot be taught, they can only be caught!

I’m not sure how it’s been in your part of the world, but I definitely get the impression that we’ve witnessed a greater number of double rainbows than usual this year.

Sulojana and I were vacationing in Sandusky, Ohio back in June when we spied with our large eyes the first one of the summer. The photo accompanying this blog was taken on September 4 as we were entering Forks Road East United Church for our monthly Board meeting. Just last week several Facebook friends posted pictures they had taken of double rainbows. On Saturday a friend told me about one that he had spotted while standing on the shores of Lake Ontario in Port Dalhousie (at the northern end of St. Catharines, where we live) that seemed to originate by the CN Tower in Toronto and end in our fair city (a distance of over 100 km)!

The moment we saw the very first one, I sensed a tug in my spirit that we were entering a season of Double Blessing. These most recent sightings in October, of all months, in Canada reinforced that sensing even more.

There are only a handful of references to rainbows in the Bible. In Genesis 9:16, we read that the rainbow is a reminder that God remembers His covenant. Two other references (Ezekiel 1:28, Revelation 4:3) have to do with the One who sits on the throne and the last one (Revelation 10:1) describes the head dress of a heavenly being.

I sensed the Father saying: “The Double Rainbow is meant to remind you that I have not forgotten the promises I made to you, my covenant children, both in my word and in prophetic declarations.  Some of you have been beaten up so much lately and living with so much discouragement that you need double reminders multiple times. That’s why you’ve been seeing the Double Rainbow so much in this season!

As you remind yourself of these promises and prophecies and reinforce them in your spirit through constant repetition, you will begin to experience their fulfilment with a double dose of the blessing I gave you through Aaron: ‘May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you.’

You will see the glory of my Son who sits on the throne manifested in a doubling of signs, wonders and miracles—in quantity as well as intensity. I am also releasing twice as many heavenly beings into the earth in this season. You will begin to hear many more testimonies of angelic activity within the church (particularly in worship and healing) and outside the church (watch for an increase in stories of improbable protection and inexplicable intervention in the popular press that people will attribute to angels).

Remember these words every time you see a Double Rainbow (even in late Fall and Winter). Here, receive my Double Blessing.”

Amen!

A junior member of the church was very concerned that her experience of the Christian faith was not as vibrant as it had been when she first embarked on the journey.  She wondered whether she may have reached the point of no return, because the kind of excitement she used to feel was simply not there anymore and she wasn’t sure that she could ever re-capture it.

My first response was to assure her that what she was going through was nothing unusual.  Many who begin the journey of faith with great gusto often begin a slow moonwalk that sees them go from being frontliners to becoming backsliders.  Most of them would be reluctant to fess up for fear of being condemned by “seniors” in the faith who seemed to have it all together. So, I commended her for recognizing what was happening and seeking a way to reverse it before it got any worse.

Then I asked her to think back to the time when her faith was vibrant and exciting. What did she do then that she was not doing anymore?

She admitted that she was not devouring the Bible as she did back then, she had not been praying as regularly, she had not been spending quiet time in God’s presence and journaling what she heard, she had not been associating with other believers quite as much, just to name a few. I suggested she “go retro” for a few weeks and see what happened.

Sure enough, within a very short time, she began to notice some changes. The feelings she used to experience came back and she was falling in love with Jesus all over again. The journey back to the frontlines had now begun.

Isn’t this what the angel of Ephesus was told in Revelation 2: 4-5? “The love you had at first is gone. Remember how far you have fallen. Return to me and change the way you think and act, and do what you did at first.”

Lost your gusto? Go retro!

On a recent visit to the Corning Museum of Glass our family witnessed an amazing display of artistic ability as expert glassmakers took a small gob of molten glass and transformed it into a spectacular bowl in just over half an hour.  What struck me most about the entire demonstration was the frequency with which the glassmakers kept on inserting the work in progress in a furnace so they could keep the glass at temperatures exceeding 1000 degrees Fahrenheit. It was pretty obvious that the making of this masterpiece was impossible without the application of intense heat at critical intervals.

As I reflected upon this experience, it dawned on me that God, like the glassmakers, allows us to go through periodic applications of intense heat as well, so that He can fashion masterpieces out of the molten material of our lives.

I thought of the Old Testament character, Joseph, whose life story is recorded in chapters 37-50 of the book of Genesis. Notice how the molten glass that is Joseph keeps on experiencing the intense heat of cruelty from his brothers, slavery in Egypt, treachery in Potiphar’s household and captivity in the dungeon. Every application of heat, though painful to endure, turns into an opportunity for God to mould Joseph into the masterpiece He had created him to be and become.

Only two things could have prevented Joseph from reaching his destiny. He could have allowed sin to separate him from the Master Glassmaker’s hands by committing adultery with Potiphar’s wife. He could have permitted bitterness to enter into his spirit and turned against God. He did neither.

While enduring the heat of the furnace in prison, God arranges a divine connection to be made with a fellow jailbird, Pharaoh’s wine steward. When Pharaoh needs someone to interpret his troubling dreams, this steward, whose dream Joseph had interpreted accurately, remembers his cell-mate. Joseph interprets Pharaoh’s dreams to his satisfaction and is immediately promoted to second-in-command of the entire nation…just like that!

How about you? Are you going through (or have you gone through) a painful divorce, intense conflict, humiliating defeat, debilitating disease, unforeseen accidents, unexpected loss of a secure job, business failure, betrayal by a trusted friend, ……………..(fill in the blanks)?  If you are indeed experiencing a heat wave of adversity, could this be the Master Glassmaker at work? As long as you do not get bitter, as long as you do not allow sin to take you out of His creative processes, you will indeed become the masterpiece that He has destined you to be. Just ask Joseph.