Mary, highly favored

Why did God Almighty choose Virgin Mary, the little girl from Nazareth, to be the mother of his only son Jesus Christ? What was in her that attracted him to perform great deeds in her life and to entrust her? The qualities that prepared Mary for greatness can be imparted to you also because God is no respecter of man.

Humility

In his salutation and throughout their conversation, Archangel Gabriel mentioned to Mary more than once that she is highly favored by God. Why was she highly favored by him? Maybe because she was so beautiful that God wanted to bless his son with a beautiful mom or maybe because she was the only virgin in her town? No, Mary caught the attention of heaven because she was a humble vessel for such a high calling & mandate. She was favored because she was humble “God opposes the proud but favors the humble.” James 4:6. Mary also confirms this by saying: “For He took notice of His lowly servant girl” Luke 1:48. Humility is obeying and serving God and saying yes to all of his will not a part of it no matter the high price of it “Mary responded, “I am the Lord's servant. May EVERYTHING you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.” Luke 1:38. Jesus Christ is the highest model of humility and in the light of his humility other humilities look like pride, Philippians 2:7-10.

Treasuring God’s Word

Another great quality that was attached to Mary is that she was serious about God’s word, promises & prophecies. You often read this about her: “Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often.” Luke 2:19. In her Magnificat, Mary recites the promises of God about the promised Messiah & the plan of salvation, she knew it well and she was expecting it. Because she disciplined herself all her life on meditating on the word of God she became a vessel of the truth, a vessel of the promise. God looked at her from eternity and said: “Man, this girl loves my word; she really knows how to meditate on it until she can get pregnant with it and birth it. I will reward her now with the LIVING WORD, Jesus himself”.

Mary was a great woman of God but in all her greatness she always knew her place & her position and never exalted herself like Lucifer did to be an object of worship, Isaiah 14:14-15. What a grace! When the wise men came to the house, it is written that they bowed to baby Jesus only “They entered the house and saw the child with His mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped HIM.” Matthew 2:11. In her magnificat, Mary clearly called God her savior “and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior” Luke 1:47. Calling God your savior means you need salvation! Being virgin doesn’t mean you are not a sinner, my sister was a virgin before she got married but she is a sinner who needs God’s salvation, can you see the difference? Jesus died for all humanity on the cross including his mother who was the first to receive her salvation at the feet of the cross. Do you want to be like Mary? Be the first one at the feet of the cross and receive your salvation.

Are you highly favored? I mean, are you humble & do you treasure God’s word in your heart? If yes, then get yourself ready for greatness!

Glory to God
Tony Francis

Everlasting Father

A man never knows what fatherhood looks like until that one becomes a father himself. It is like all the fatherhood emotions suddenly unwrap for him as soon as he holds his first born. Now this man is definitely set on a journey he never embraced before and it is new but incredible because now he can foretaste of the one whom is the FATHER of fathers (Ephesians 3:15). However God the Father didn't become a father overnight, he is never new to this experience of fatherhood, he is not new in the business of fathering because he is the EVERLASTING FATHER. You become better if you keep practicing something for a long time, men become better experienced dads in time but God the Father is the ancient of days and he is an expert in this and your life is entrusted to such a person who will never panic when you are a trouble or in trouble because he knows you ahead and he loves you already. He was fathering Jesus his only begotten son from old (Proverbs 8:23, 30-31), Jesus has the best dad in the universe and he invited you for such a long lasting experience on the cross.

Sometimes it is hard to see the heavenly Father the way he really is because of our imperfect experiences with our earthly dads and even though you had a good dad he can’t be compared to the heavenly Father because he is like no other and scripture likens good dads to evil ones compared to him (Luke 11:13). Your heavenly Father is holy, flawless, loving, all wise, all powerful, richly glorious, so good, so patient, so generous, extravagant and so protective and you are the object of his love and his focus night and day. Jesus’s ministry was so focused on revealing him to us. He is the exact image of him; if you see Jesus you have seen the Father (Colossians 1:15). The first time God held you in his hands when you became his, it didn’t trigger his fatherhood to show up although he was so happy and that’s because he has been your everlasting Father from the moment you were conceived in his mind and imagination. You have been fathered for a long time in his heart without knowing, he has been preparing your life. In Christ, you are officially his son and his daughter and you are loved exactly as Jesus is loved by him (John 17:23). Our heavenly Father Rocks! 

Glory to God
Tony Francis

You can hear God

Designed to hear

I tell you the truth, you can hear God! You know the intentions and the desires of a creator in the things he creates. God created Adam in his image and you read in Genesis chapter 2 & 3 how Adam used to sense God’s presence, how they walked & talked with each other. This is God’s purpose from the beginning, to be in an everlasting relationship with you. God longs to talk to you, he has much things in his heart to share with you because he has predestined good plans for you before the foundations of the earth that he wants to reveal them to you.

How can I hear?

“God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24), he communicates with you spirit to spirit; he talks to your heart, the innermost part of your being. Now the problem is that the spirit of man died and was separated from God after Adam sinned but Jesus was sent by God to restore and reconciliate this broken relationship between man and God by rebirthing and regenerating the spirit of man into his likeness, what we call the experience to be “born again” (John 3). When you receive his forgiveness of sins it is your spirit man that becomes alive, your physical appearance doesn’t change. You now have spiritual eyes to see and ears to hear the Lord (John 10:27).

Developing sensitivity

Now that you are in and joined the kingdom of God it doesn’t end here, it starts! Developing sensitivity to your heavenly Father’s voice is a beautiful journey and he will make sure to mentor you in this area as long as you hunger for it. It’s hard to mistaken in a phone call the voice of someone you lived with for a long time. Build a daily intimate relationship with Jesus, grow with him and your spiritual senses will mature and sharpen to discern good from evil. (Hebrews 5:14, Acts 2:42).

If you want your spirit to rebirth into the likeness of God, pray: “Jesus, thank you for loving me, I believe you died for my sins and I receive right now your forgiveness in my heart. Everything is new now, I am a new creation and I decree and declare that you are my King, Lord and Savior and I give you all my life” Amen!

Glory to God
Tony Francis

Harry the Guitarist

Harry was a young beggar who spent all his life on the street but he was not an ordinary beggar he was talented in music especially in playing guitar. People pass by him to request a certain song that he plays for them and before they leave for their life activities they throw him some money in a little gray old bucket and this sound of the coins going down in it was the best music ever heard by Harry. The guitar was his only possession and since he couldn’t afford to buy one many say that he stole it, others say he just found it in the garbage, we don’t know how he got his guitar but he was really a good steward of it because he guarded it with all caution over the years. Harry lived to please people’s taste all the time; he discovered the varieties of characters & personalities over the years by the music requested from him daily. He reached a point where he almost could guess what someone would like to hear before he was ever asked. The same people used to come back to Harry not because they loved his music only but because Harry was so loveable and favored. One day a businessman brought him as a gift a new expensive guitar to express better his skills because sometimes we long to communicate clearly and powerfully our heart but our words fall short or the means we use are of low quality. This took his business to a whole new level where he attracted more people to him. When God wanted to express his love to you he found nothing more perfect than to send you his only begotten Son Jesus Christ who is the very expressed image of God whose love on the cross attracted many when he was lifted there. Jesus is the fullness of God’s Love to you!

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39

Glory to God
Tony Francis

God’s Bosom

“No one has seen God at any time; the Only-begotten Son, who is in the BOSOM of the Father, He has declared Him.” John 1:18

What heaven is really like? It is to be in the bosom of your heavenly Father. You can catch a very fade glimpse of something alike when you are hugged by your earthly father or mother. The bosom of your parent is the place where you want to be. The bosom speaks of a great intimacy; Jesus is in the Bosom of the Father and in Christ you are in the same place, are you aware of this? I don’t want to sit on a throne in heaven just give me some space in the bosom of my heavenly Father and this is more than enough to me. The bosom of the Father can contain all of his children yet it remains intimate for each one. The bosom of the Father is the very center of heaven, you are in the heart of God, you are in a place rich in love for you night and day. You are in a place of security, protection, freedom, revelation, power and majesty. No word can describe the glory of being in the Bosom of the heavenly Father.

God longs for intimacy with you, many can hear God’s voice or see visions of the throne, this is wonderful and I want both but I long for something more, I long to touch him, to feel him and to worship him closely that I can be lost at my daddy’s feet. I want to be able to say with John the beloved: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have TOUCHED–this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.” 1 John 1:1. In his bosom, you will be healed, restored and be made whole, in his bosom you will be victorious and stay victorious, in his bosom you will sense your great value unlike the prodigal son who reached the level of pigs and felt cheap and worthless when he abandoned his father. This place is so real to me and is so scary to the devil that he always tries to dethrone me out of it but no one can pluck me out of my Father’s hand but me John 10:29. Do you know this intimacy?

Glory to God
Tony Francis

The Truth about Prayer

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. (Romans 8:26-27)

It’s my firm belief that having a strong and a powerful prayer life begins with the revelation that I don’t know how to pray. This is what we just read in Romans 8:26 “we do not know what we ought to pray for” and scriptures always tell us the truth about ourselves. Bottom line, you and I don’t know how to pray God’s will. Then why would God tells us to have a prayer life if we don’t know how to pray? How can we respond to his calling and be successful in our prayer life as his priests?

I need HELP! Exactly! When you say: God Help! You are actually calling upon the name of the Holy Spirit for he is the Helper; he is your helper in your prayer life. One day, the disciples of Jesus woke up spiritually to the fact that they don’t know how to pray, thus they came to him asking to be taught how to pray, they wanted a prayer life like Jesus. So Jesus taught them by the Holy Spirit to pray the Lord’s Prayer according to their need at that time. I am not saying you can’t pray it nowadays, it is a wonderful pattern of prayer and we can learn much from it, what I am saying is that if you approach the Lord today asking him how to pray, I assure you he has something new to teach you by the Holy Spirit to pray forth. It is wonderful to pray the biblical prayers, but I believe that prayer is the outcome of a personal relationship with the Master; it is a personal encounter with the Spirit of Prayer.  If we only have written prayers to pray, then we don’t need the Holy Spirit. I believe in both, the Spirit and the Truth lifestyle. The time changed, the need changed, the prayer changed but the Holy Spirit has not changed. He is always here to pray through you, to birth prayers in you that will release the will of the Father on earth as it is in heaven. Let your attitude always be “Lord, what’s on your heart to pray? “ Prayer was never intended and designed by the Father for us to be done on our own, from one side. Prayer is a partnership with the Holy Spirit, it is being in agreement with him, and it is being tuned to his desires and his will. We don’t pray our will; we pray his will to be done. How can we know his will? The Holy Spirit knows God’s will and he reveals it to you. Heaven is waiting on you to stop depending on your resources and start cooperating with the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit is your prayer partner, you are not alone. Trust him to pray his perfect prayers through you.

Romans 8:27 “And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit”, did you notice in this verse that God searches our hearts when we pray, not our souls or flesh? This tells us that our prayers must come from our hearts, our spirit man where Holy Spirit dwells. Didn’t Jesus tell us when we pray to go to our secret chamber and pray from there? Prayers that are cultivated in intimacy with the Holy Spirit in your inner man will be rewarded openly by the Father.

These 3 revelations will revolutionize your prayer life: First, know that you don’t know how to pray. Second, know that you need to partner with the Holy Spirit in prayer. Third, know that you need to pray by revelation, prayers inspired by the Holy Spirit. We read in Exodus how God commanded Moses to build the tabernacle according to the heavenly map he showed him. This tabernacle is full of symbolic elements. In the Holy, where the priests used to minister unto God, you see the candlestick, the table of showbread and the altar of incense. God commanded Moses that the oil of the anointing which represents the Holy Spirit must be made according to his formula not to men. So it is for the incense! Incense must be God-made not Man-made. Incense represents your prayers (psalms 141:2). Your prayers must be God-made when you minister unto him. You can’t fabricate your own incense; it is non-sense to God. When you pray, let the Holy Spirit download to you his own formula of incense. Exodus 30:7-8 “Every morning when Aaron maintains the lamps, he must burn fragrant incense on the altar. And each evening when he lights the lamps, he must again burn incense in the LORD's presence.” Aaron couldn’t burn the incense to the Lord before he lights the lamps first. It is a must to pray by revelation, by illumination, this is not only for the prophetic people in the church, this is the ministry of the priests to all and in Christ you are one! The Holy Spirit will reveal to you what to pray but you do the burning by releasing it in faith “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” (James 5:16)

Glory to God
Tony Francis

The Prison Of Emotions

Some people are in the prison of drugs, some are in the prison of alcoholism, some are in the prison of adultery and pornography, some are in the prison of depression and hopelessness, some are in the prison of selfishness but some are in the prison of emotional attachment and many aren't aware of it. Jesus came to release the captives free; his power is available to you today to get you out of this prison. It’s a new day of freedom for you in the area of relationships.

What’s an emotional attachment? Emotions are a God-Given gift to us and it’s normal and balanced to experience a healthy emotional bond toward the ones you love and those you are close to, can you imagine a relationship without feelings? It’s dry, isn’t it? But it is a real problem when this emotional bond becomes bondage. It becomes bondage when you can’t live without someone and when this one becomes your source of every need and satisfaction and not God. The only person you can be slave to and remain free is God. Some people reading this can’t even live without the remembrance of people they loved but they lost, this too falls under the category of emotional attachment and you need to be free. Can you think of someone in your life today you can’t let go? Remember you don’t own these people they belong to God; they are his property so make sure not to put your label of ownership on what God owns.

I remember being tortured with this for years and years until the Lord dealt with me and healed my emotions and released me. Today my relationships are more blessed with these people that I used to relate to them without balance. Oh, I can’t tell you how beautiful this freedom is that God offers you in your relationships.  This freedom is calling your name today, come up!

Prayer:

Lord, for those serious about it I release your grace to touch their emotions with your breakthrough and freedom, and what they used to struggle with for years they can surmount now easily. Bless their relationships for your Glory in Jesus name. Amen! (I hear in the spirit the chains falling off and I sense that God will enlarge the territory of your relationships by sending more divine connections and people for you because now he can entrust you with more). Hallelujah, Glory to God!

Glory to God
Tony Francis

The Heritage of a Son

“And if we are children, then we are heirs; heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17)

Is the heritage of a father-son based on the performance of this son, the color of his hair, the shape of his body, the style of his clothing, the grade of his exams, the beauty of his character or based on his identity as a son? Go travel the whole world, you will see that this is a fixed truth everywhere whatever the country was, or its culture or its language, a son always inherits because he is a son. The Prodigal son understood deeply his right to have the portion of the goods of his father that’s why he came boldly to ask him for it (Luke 15:12). Now we know that it wasn’t polite of the son to take his inheritance in this manner while his father lives but the father gave it to him. What I am talking to you about is also a kingdom principle and it is as real as this earthly principle is. The moment you become a child of God, you became his inheritor, now think of it for a moment: what is it like to be an inheritor of God? SELAH. God doesn’t withhold his goodness from you but for you. In every season of your growth in him, whether you are a child or a mature son you will inherit the blessings according to his timing and plans for you. A natural father prevents his car from his child to protect him; although this son will benefit of his dad’s car when he matures, but let’s say it is a postponed blessing! This child will enjoy other blessings for now. It is my firm belief that a blessing not in its right timing can be of no blessing. God deals with sinners with Mercy but deals with his children according to his covenant with them. Are you aware that you are a son of the Most High God? Are you aware of your inheritance with Christ? I pray that your eyes be illuminated with this revelation so you can tap by faith into the riches of his Glory stored up for you and enjoy the abundance that cost Christ everything to give it to you.

Glory to God
Tony Francis

The Language of Honor

“Would you pass me this cup of water please?” You can have the honor of serving someone in small things like passing a cup of water or in big things like going to the kitchen to pour it out and serve it with gladness in case there was none ready at the table! The greatness of your honor shows the greatness of your character, God Almighty showed you a big honor not by serving you a small cup of water but rather by giving all he is and all he has, rivers of living waters, through the sacrifice of his only begotten Son Jesus Christ on the cross.

When you invite a guest you honor greatly to your house, you show him honor by serving the best and the most expensive banquet you can set before him, honor costs! When God invited you to his royal banquet table he didn’t find what is more valuable to serve you than his own precious lamb to eat of his flesh and to drink of his blood. God’s honor for us, who are made of dirt, is extravagant; it is according to the greatness of his love for us. How much more should we honor him by living for him a life worthy to praise his holy name and by honoring greatly what he honors: People! Honor is the highest form of love expressed and when you are filled with God’s kind of Love you can start talking his language!

Glory to God
Tony Francis

My Testimony

“Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.” Hebrews 12:9-10

My father disciplined me for a little while as he thought best for me and I am thankful! Are you familiar with this verse “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”? (Matthew 7:11). What my father thought was best for me was in many ways evil and hurt me, but no blame, because he thought he was giving me his best and sincerely I appreciate his efforts in raising me up, God bless him. It isn’t always what people do to you that hurt you; mostly it’s what they don’t do for you while the bar of your expectations is so high, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick” and in many ways what my dad didn’t do for me made my heart sick.

For those of you who don’t know my dad, here is a little bit of background for you: my dad is so old because of his late marriage at the age of 50, so I grew up in an environment where my friends at school and my community around me used to tell me: “your grandfather is so funny” and with a bitter smile I answer: “he is my dad”. He’s now 84 years old, in a good health and I’m believing for his salvation. He was always there to provide for me, I didn’t lack any material blessing at all, in fact I lived in abundance, in a big prosperous house, with the best games, the finest clothes, the best school and education in town … while I was living as a rich boy outwardly, I lived a severe poverty inwardly, in my emotions I was a beggar for the fatherhood love & affections. I don’t remember my dad playing with me or affirming me especially in my most time needed of my shaping as a man, more than that he didn’t model to me this strong father figure, where he rebukes me in doing wrong or even slap me! He was tender in character all the time, trying to correct me always with gentle words, until I hungered to see him slap me just to feel his strength, funny huh? He didn’t train me to carry responsibilities nor to face challenges, thus when I grew up the storms of life swallowed me; even I couldn’t stand its slightest breeze. I was so naïve inside and emptiness in me was horrible. I won’t discuss here the consequences of such things but believe me I was mentally, emotionally and spiritually sick and handicapped from head to toe. I was a living dead, well not quite, a living dead doesn’t feel, but I was feeling all the pain of the world. I was raised in a very beautiful home but because of my dad’s absence in my personal life I felt like an orphan homeless, I was lost in the rooms of my life and later I made it my aim to seek for the alternative as soon as I grow up and the world was gladly waiting for me with open arms to embrace a sinful life to journey from pit to a deeper pit and from deception to another.

Did I choose all that? Well some of it, I was aware that some decisions I should not have made but don’t blame a sick hopeless person, blame those who tasted the glory and forsaken it for the lesser. I think the prodigal son was crazy, how could he leave such a wonderful Dad? In the prodigal son’s story, I think the son was bad, in my story my father’s absence was bad. After I came to Christ, and his glorious light shone upon my darkness, I learned about the heavenly Dad but it was mere theology and head knowledge rather than a radical life changing experiences with him. If you were to ask me some spiritual questions, I would have raised my chin up and answered you boldly about my solid sound doctrine. I would have answered the same if you were to ask me about the trinity and the Heavenly Father but did I know him by experience? Not really! My friend, I tell you the truth, everything bad and deformed in my experience with my earthly dad was projected in my relationship with my Heavenly Father, without knowing. I always thought that this up there Father is distant, uncaring and an old guy on the throne. I always felt disconnected with him, I know he’s there hearing me and providing but I was not able to connect intimately with him. I treated him the same way I treated my dad, I used to bring him my list of needs in prayer to provide and then leave. I didn’t express my love to him and I didn’t think he would say it back to me or even wanted to touch me. My perspective of this perfect Dad who is like no other was deformed with the filter of my imperfect experiences. Until the moment my Heavenly Father started to visit me to introduce himself to me … and here my story begins!

Glory to God
Tony Francis