The Consecrated!

In these coming weeks, we will be talking about Nine characteristics of a consecrated person.

Today, I will be writing about two characteristics.

1.       Self Denial – The consecrated person has to have a denied self. The apostle Paul says in Galatians 2:20 ‘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.’ Apostle Paul is declaring his self denial, he says ‘I no longer live but the Christ lives in me.’ The consecrated person is ‘nobody’, a dead person. When I say self denial, nobody and dead I do not mean literally. My point is that a consecrated person is a person who is accepted and alive with God, but he is nobody and a dead person to others and to the world.

‘However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.’ Acts 20:24. To Paul life itself had no worth, his only aim was to live for the Lord and the gospel. This is a consecrated person!

When you are climbing the ladder keep looking up, don’t you ever look downwards! When you look downwards and you see the place you have reached, your self-righteousness and ego will come out. Instead always remain humble and just continue your path climbing upwards. This is consecrated person.

2.       Extreme Love for Christ -  ‘If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.’ Luke 14:26

A consecrated person has to love Christ and hate everything else. When I say hate everything else I mean let the Lord be your outmost priority! There are seven things that you should hate. [1. Spouse 2. Father 3. Mother 4. Siblings 5. Children 6. Yourself 7. Your filed (money).]

 ‘He said of his father and mother, ‘I have no regard for them.’ He did not recognize his brothers or acknowledge his own children, but he watched over your word and guarded your covenant.’ Deuteronomy 33:9 . This verse sums my point, submitting to God is our outmost priority!

‘Then Moses said, “You have been set apart to the LORD today, for you were against your own sons and brothers, and he has blessed you this day.” Here, Moses was addressing the Levites- meaning the priest, and he is saying that they have been set apart to the Lord! My beloveds we are called to be set apart and consecrated!

Encounter Retreat

On October 9^th-11^th at Abundant Life we held an encounter retreat.  We had over 60 participants and over 20 of them were from Syria.  On our encounters people are challenged to make sure they are right with God, set free from all the bondages the enemy has put on them, and filled with the power of God to live in victory.  I led the session entitled “The Cross” on Saturday morning.  I wanted the people to realize the sacrifice and brutality our Lord went through to save our souls.  When people see the magnitude of our Savior’s sacrifice people have to respond.  As I was preaching I saw the people’s hearts melt under the anointing of the Holy Spirit.  The participants began to weep and bow before the Lord before I finished the session.  As I prayed for the participants I felt the Holy Spirit very strong and the people were very receptive to Him.  Many of them truly gave their lives to the Lord for the first time. 

Then later in the evening I preached on closing the doors that are giving the enemy access to our lives.  I have studied much in this area, but I allowed the Holy Spirit to guide me and show me what doors the people needed closing in order to get victory in their lives.  The Holy Spirit led me to speak on closing these doors: Disappoint, complaining, unforgiveness, intentional sins, generational curses, emotional wounds, and internal oaths.  These are tools of the enemy to pull us away from the will of God and keep us bound and in spiritual chains.  Then the Lord showed up in a tangible way to deliver His people.  Many began to weep, while others shouted, and others just laid before the Lord.  You could tell that many received peace and freedom for the first time in their lives.  It was late and I was tired, but I felt a supernatural strength come upon me as I prayed for the participants.  The Holy Spirit gave me His strength so He could use me to bring freedom to His people.  Praise Jesus for the Cross because now we are forgiven of our sins and set free from all the traps of the enemy. Now I leave you with 2 Corinthians 13:14 “May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

In His Name

Charbel Louka

The Greatest Surgeon!

God’s word is so amazing, but in the same time it is hard for you to obey and live it without the help of the Holy Spirit. When the bible talked about the Holy Spirit, it declared that he is the spirit of console and encourager, the spirit of truth and the spirit that reminds us about everything Jesus said. Therefore my beloved, the Holy Spirit is the person who can help us. He is not power, he is the person of God that is found on the earth so that he helps us to live the Christian life because only the Christian life raises your head and is your glory.

If you want to live according to your own will and outside the frame of God’s word, you will always live in defeat. You will always ask ‘Why is God doing this to me?’ but in reality, it is not God who is doing this to you, you are not doing what God wants from you therefore you are defeated. Don’t you ever think that you can live, overcome and be happy without obeying the word of God.

You would say that it is hard to obey the word of God and live according to it. Yes, you are right it is hard and almost impossible; therefore we need the help of the Holy Spirit. Every day, we need to cry out to the Holy Spirit and say ‘Help me so that I can live Jesus’ path’. Holy Spirit helps me because Jesus’ path is always bumpy and hard, its ending is life. Whereas the path of satan and the world is wide and easy, he says to you ‘have fun, try everything’ but its ending is death, destruction of relations, sickness and stolen peace. That is why Jesus revealed that ‘My word is spirit and life’ in other meaning, my word is spirit and it is not dry or without life. The word of God is life and spirit so that you can live through this word which will lead you to life.

In Hebrews it says ‘For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword’. In the original translation it says that it is a sharp dagger. If we use this dagger, we hurt ourselves. But if Jesus uses this dagger, He is the greatest surgeon.  When we use the word of God, we need the Holy Spirit because if you use the word of God over your life you are cutting yourself. There are people in the church, when you look at them spiritually you’ll see that they are wounded. Why they are wounded? Because there were people who told them the word of God without being lead by the Holy Spirit. That is why when us‘preachers go to the platform we ask from God to give us His word, because if I give my own word, I will cut (wound) you.

What was the difference when they brought an adulterous woman and the people were calling her names which were real and that she need to be stoned but in reality they were expressing their own thought and not the Holy spirit’ thought therefore they were cutting her. She was also cutting herself because she was ashamed of herself for being an adulterous. Notice what Jesus did, notice the greatness of Jesus. Jesus also told her the same things but he told her later on. Jesus didn’t tell her ‘O woman, I’m not judging you, go away and do whatever you want’. Jesus first addressed her with his mercy and love, later on he addressed that the life she’s living is not right. When you’re living in a wrong way, He will tell you that you’re living in a wrong way but there are people who have closed their ears and are not listening to Him.

There are people who come and go to church without changing. But there are also people, who God is raising them up, and they are enjoying life and God is using them. Why? Because they always open their life to the greatest surgeon and He comes and cuts but he knows how to cut! It hurts but stand still because I know that God is working. When I’m hurting, he knows how to numb me little bit and wake me up little bit. That’s why sometimes you feel the pain and sometimes you feel relaxed. Open your heart to the greatest surgeon and don’t you ever open your heart to people that will cut you instead trust in Jesus who will cut you, stitch you back in a way to mark will be left. When Jesus comes and touches your life, there won’t be any mark of wound but when I come and touch your life, that mark or wound will remain to the end of your life. 

There are people who are offended by ‘religious men’ because they have cut them. They don’t feel safe enough to open their life to Jesus because they were wounded by ‘religious men’. Jesus is far for greater than any ‘religious men’ so don’t compare Him with anyone.  Jesus is the only greatest surgeon. When we use this dagger without the lead of the Holy Spirit and without love, we end up hurting people. Whenever we say ‘God use this hand and dagger, I will loosen my head you just come and work through me’. Then God will use you by making you a surgeon on people’s life and will use you to heal many people. Therefore let Jesus come and take the bitterness, sadness, hatred and un-forgiveness out of your body. Let the greatest surgeon work on your life!

Charbel Louka