seeklifepurpose

The importance of God in our life

2012-01-26T19:53:00.003+05:30

Have you ever been at the cross roads with the thought "Should I depend on God" or "Should I toil myself to succeed". I have had these thoughts sweeping me many times. There have been times when I thought God would do everything, and there were also times when I thought that only if I sweat it out, I could succeed.

Whenever we keep God aside and start doing things on our own, We would see ourselves busy doing many things, but at the end everything would seem to be a vanity. We would get many ideas, inspiration and confidence when we look at the things of this world. This could go on well for some time, but after that there won't be any substance in that.

I believe it is only when we sense our purpose, we could have meaning in our life and the purpose of our lives are laid out by God. This is the missing link and it could never be found out if we keep God away from us. When God purposes something in our life, we wont have any confusions and contradictory thoughts. We would succeed in everything that we do. On the contrary, without God also people succeed. But there is a difference. If you are doing it yourself, you might venture out in 10 things and succeed in only one. But with God, you might venture into only one thing, but you will be at the top in that. Got the difference?. When God proposes, nobody on this earth can dispose His plan.

The Bible says in Proverbs 19:21 "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails." This is an amazing verse. Read this many times and you will get the answer. For a wordly person, there would be many plans in his heart. He need to work his way for it. But for a child of God, it is only the purpose of God that prevails, no matter what happens.

Dear friend, It is so comforting to hear these things. All that we need to do to know the purpose of our lives is to go to God with a humble heart, confess our sins before Him and ask for His directions in our life. We need to do this each moment in our lives. The rest of the things He will take care in a way that would be beyond our imaginations!.

The power in the word of God

2011-10-29T04:59:00.003+05:30

There can be instances in our life where we have some doubts about the existance of God, and in particular about the authenticity of Christianity. Well, to question anything is the usual behavior of our mind, but getting the right answer saves us from much troubles.

In this world there are many religions, and day by day, a number of philosophies, guidelines to a happy life etc.. are on the rise. If we are not certain and clear of the truth, we will be shaken and taken for a ride in the roller coster called life.

A clear understanding of the word of God, under the guidance of the Holy spirit is the only way through which we can swim through all these deadly waters. The mandatory need for each and every Christian is to have a clear understanding of the word of God and for that, the only way is to invest our time to read it. We may look for short cuts, a verse here and a verse there, and get satisfied. But this never serves the purpose.

"Study" is different from reading. You read through a news paper, but study your subject like science or mathematics. Got the difference?. Most of us just read the Bible and this is never going to help us much in reality. Yes, it might be comforting to read the Bible when you are weak and depressed and it might give a temporary relief. But if you want the everlasting peace as God promises, then the word of God has to become part and parcel of our life.

We should not neglect anything from Bible. Right from Genesis to Revealation, everything was written under the influence of the Holy spirit with a purpose. I believe, we are expected to "study" the entire Bible atleast once in our lifetime and believe me the impact that it would make in our life cannot be measured.

Our life will be free of unnecessary doubts, thoughts and we will never be misled by the fancy philosophies (they might give a temporary ecastsy)if we are deeply rooted in the word of God.

Each and every word in the Bible has the power to change our lives. The Holy Spirit along with the word of God is the only source of transformation of our lives in this world. I bet, nothing else can transform our character and personality.

There are so many things that could be written on this subject, but I would like to close it with these simple thoughts. Spare some time for Bible study every day. I mean every day. Never miss a single day. We can have so many excuses, but if we have self discipline (which too is a gift of the Holy Spirit!) we can overcome all the distractions. Take a character from the Bible and study it, or take a situation, or do some research about the creation of the world. Be it anything, study something...Nothing will go as waste. Like a seed, it will get planted in you and at some point of time in your life, you will rest under the shadow of that tree which was planted in you long ago!.

For our inspiration, here are some scriptures that confirms what we discussed.

"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17

"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.
He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither..." Psalm 1:1-3

How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word.
With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments!
Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You." Psalm 119:9-11

"The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever." Isaiah 40:8

This web page has some beautiful verses that explain the qualities of the word of God. I encourage you to have a look

http://www.crossroad.to/HisWord/verses/topics/Word.htm

Eternal life - What it is?

2011-10-24T10:01:00.003+05:30

When we hear the word "Eternal life", What comes to our mind?. Is it something related to an unending life?, Is it a life that will be without pain and agony, tensions and frustrations?, or will it be a life devoid of death?. It is very essential to understand the correct meaning of eternal life.

Let us see what the word of God says about this. John 17:3 "And this is the way to have eternal life--to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth"(NLT).

Does it seem contrary to what we have been thinking?, To understand this, let us go back to Genesis, and recollect the events during the creation. God's primary purpose to create everything was to benefit man, and the purpose for which He created man was to have fellowship with Him. In simple terms, God wanted a companion, and wanted Himself to reveal to that companion, and that companion happened to be Adam and Eve.

But due to the intervention of Satan, Adam and Eve lost the fellowship with God, and God was no more willing to reveal Himself to them. The lost relationship was rebuilt when God sent Jesus Christ to the earth. That is the reason Jesus tells that He alone can provide eternal life.

Remember this always, Eternal life is the pursuit of knowing a magnificent God through His revealation to us. When we are born again through the act of the Holy Spirit by having faith in Jesus Christ, and when we are passionate to know God, God reveals Himself to us in many ways. This, then is eternal life. May God grant us the desire to Know Him.

Our life - The greatest source of gospel

2011-10-22T17:12:00.006+05:30

Are we so passionate about spreading the gospel and not able to do much because of the lack of opportunities?. Some of us might be having thoughts of organizing a meeting, or a musical program, or giving a great speech like one of those great preachers, and yet we are not able to move beyond just dreaming.

We might be thinking that only by conducting meetings and other gospel events, we can touch people, but that is not the only way. I believe, everyone is not called for that. But, I can tell this for sure. God wants everyone's life to be a message to others. The way we conduct and live before others makes the biggest impact than anything else.

We are the gospel to the world. People followed Jesus not only because of His preachings, but he lived a life that was absolutely in line with His preachings. He was lovable to all. He never had any grudge against anyone, He was always willing to comfort and help others, People could not find any fault in Him. All these and more, He achieved by living an ordinary life as a human being just like you and me.

Whenever Jesus went somewhere, the Bible says that people thronged to see and interact with Him. People from all sorts of culture were there. He did not restrict His associations with any particular group. He was open to all. He treated everyone in the same way.

How are we today?. What about our life in our workplaces and in our home and neighborhood. Are we loved by others and do we love others?. Believe me, each of us can make a great impact on others only through our life. Our life speaks more than a thousand sermons. The next time, when you are annoyed with a coworker, dont use a harsh word, instead act in a dignified manner. The next time the neighbor parks his car in front of your gate, dont shout at him, speak words of kindness instead. This is the way to change others.

Be the change that you want to see in the world. I believe this is possible when we allow the Holy Spirit of God to take control of our life. Let us try to live a life in a beautiful way, pleasing to God and others.

The faultless Samuel

2011-10-17T09:22:00.003+05:30

Samuel was a man who loved God and was loved by God. What a remarkable personality?. He was a king maker, and yet before God he was the most humble man that we see. He depended on God for everything, and it is this quality that gave him that prominent position in Israel. He never took a decision without consulting God. How many of us do that today?. It might be a small decision of buying a household appliance. Do we take a minute to enquire God about that?. Let us analyze.

Samuel was a man of honesty and integrity, two of the greatest virtues that every leader should possess. The entire nation of Israel was a testimony to his awesome qualities. We read about this in Samuel's farewell speech to the people of Israel. 1Samuel 12 :1-5
"1 Samuel said to all Israel, “I have listened to everything you said to me and have set a king over you. 2 Now you have a king as your leader. As for me, I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have been your leader from my youth until this day. 3 Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the LORD and his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe to make me shut my eyes? If I have done any of these things, I will make it right.”
4 “You have not cheated or oppressed us,” they replied. “You have not taken anything from anyone’s hand.”

5 Samuel said to them, “The LORD is witness against you, and also his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.” “He is witness,” they said.

Oh, what a testimony!. How many of us can boast of such a respect from the people. This is a very good example to us that if we are faithful and honest in whatever responsibility that we are given, we would be exalted by God, and we will win the hearts of all the people with whom we interact. As Christians, we need to be different from others. We need to be a cut above the rest. This is what our God expects. We need to be hardworking, sincere, smart, honest and above all, faultless.

When You Feel Far Away From God

2011-10-16T16:21:00.002+05:30

This article was very useful to me. Hope each of us reading would get encouraged by it.

In a life of faith, looks can be deceiving. by Dianne E. Butts

source :http://nowwhat.cog7.org/Articles/ChristianFaith/General/When_You_Feel_Far_Away_From_God.html
"If you feel far away from God, guess who moved!"

I read the one-liner in a magazine and chuckled. But later I questioned its wisdom.

How many times have I felt so close to God one day, but so far from Him the next? I wondered. I know sin erects barriers between us and God, but sometimes He seems distant even when I have not sinned. Why does God feel far away just when I need Him most -- when I'm in difficult circumstances or when my situation looks hopelessly impossible?

I never intend to move away from God, especially in tough times. Yet sometimes He feels so far away. What has happened?

Defeat after victory
I'm not the only one who has felt this shift.
In a dramatic display of God's power, the prophet Elijah witnessed God's nearness. He challenged the prophets of Baal to climb Mount Carmel for a contest: his God against theirs. After these false prophets spent most of the day pleading for their god to accept their sacrifice, Elijah prayed to the one true God. Immediately "the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil . . ." (1 Kings 18:38). Amazed by God's response, the people put the prophets of Baal to death.

When wicked Queen Jezebel heard what had happened to her prophets, she sent Elijah a message: "May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them" (19:2).
As a result, "Elijah was afraid and ran for his life" (v. 3).

Did Elijah feel the Lord had left him in the middle of this difficult situation? After watching God's defeat of Baal's prophets, did Elijah think God would not, or could not, help him?

Faulty feelings
I have fought similar thoughts and feelings as I've slipped into spiritual valleys, often following "mountain top" experiences. But I'm learning not to trust those feelings. Our feelings fluctuate with our circumstances and other factors, and often do not accurately portray our situation. For instance, just because I feel God is far away does not mean He is far away. We know He is the God who has promised "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5) and "Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (Matthew 28:20).

When we base our faith on feelings, our faith fluctuates with every high and low in life. But when we base our faith on what we know of the unchangeable God, our faith remains steady, even in tough times.

Faulty senses
Also, our physical senses -- touch, sight, hearing, smell, and taste -- can influence our internal or "gut" feelings. Elijah's successor, Elisha, was helping the king of Israel frustrate the efforts of an invading army. Enraged, the enemy king sent "a strong force" to capture Elisha.

When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. "Oh, my lord, what shall we do?" the servant asked. "Don't be afraid," the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them." And Elisha prayed, "O Lord, open his eyes so he may see." Then the Lord opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire . . ." (2 Kings 6:15-17).

The servant saw the enemy army surrounding him and Elisha, and he felt their situation was hopeless. But his sight deceived him because he could not see all that surrounded them -- not until God allowed him a glimpse of the vast spiritual army present to protect them.

Martha, whose brother Lazarus had died, learned that her physical sense of smell did not necessarily tell the whole story of her seemingly impossible predicament. When Jesus instructed her to take the stone away from the tomb of her dead brother, she hesitated.
"But, Lord . . . by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days." Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" So they took away the stone. Then . . . Jesus . . . called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out . . . (John 11:39-41, 43, 44).

Spiritual realm
Do our physical perceptions always reflect our entire situation? Can our senses, like our internal feelings, deceive us? If we base our faith only on what our physical senses can perceive, we will fail to take into account the spiritual realm. But there is a spiritual realm, for "God is spirit" (John 4:24).
When we base our faith on spiritual realities, which are not governed by physical laws, our faith will not crumble when circumstances look hopeless or impossible, because we know "nothing is impossible with God" (Luke 1:37).

Knowing God
Faith tough enough to withstand tough times must not be based on what we feel or even what we perceive with our physical senses, but on what we know about God.
David, a young shepherd boy, did this. When he told King Saul he would fight Goliath, Saul tried to discourage him; but David wouldn't listen.
"Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it . . . The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine" (1 Samuel 17:34, 35).

Had David based his faith only on his gut feelings, he might have felt as terrified as Saul and the other Israelites (v. 11). And if he had reacted only to what he saw, the sight of the armor-clad, nine-foot champion (v. 4) might have frightened him away. But David knew the Lord had helped him perform his shepherd duties in the ordinary days of his life when he fought the lion and the bear. He knew God would help him fight Goliath.

Growing faith
How can we know God as David did? We can experience Him on ordinary days by asking Him to help us with decisions and problems. We can study the Bible and the stories of people like Elijah, Elisha, Martha, and David.
As we get to know God better, we begin to base our faith on what we know, not on what we feel or perceive through our physical senses. That kind of faith grows as we grow in our knowledge and understanding of Him. And a growing relationship with God matures into a faith that stands the test of tough times.
After pondering that one-liner in the magazine, I think I'd be inclined to rewrite: "If you feel far away from God, quit relying on what you feel and start relying on what you know!"

Saul - Israel's first king

2011-10-16T15:37:00.003+05:30

In the last post, we saw about the circumstances that forced God to think about appointing a king for the nation of Israel. In this post, let us see how God went about in doing it.

Since the people of Israel were very particular in their request for a King, God finally decided to grant them a king but not before warning them with the consequences that they would face with the earthly king. We read about these in 1 Samuel 8:10-17. But the people were not ready to give up their demands, they were very stubborn.

In 1 Samuel chapter 9, we read an account of how God went about choosing Saul to be the king of Israel. Now, Saul was an ordinary young man, a Benjamite from the smallest tribe of Israel, but the Bible says he was handsome and a head taller than anyone else.

The donkeys belonging to Saul's father Kish were missing, he asked Saul to go in search of them along with a servant. After searching at a few places, Saul decided to give up,and he said to his servant 1 Samuel 9:5 "When they reached the district of Zuph, Saul said to the servant who was with him, “Come, let’s go back, or my father will stop thinking about the donkeys and start worrying about us.”
Saul was an impatient man. We could see many instances of his impatience as we read through his story, and it was one of the qualities in him that led to his downfall.

The servant told Saul that they could meet Samuel, the man of God and he would be able to give some details about the donkeys. In the meantime, God spoke to Samuel about Saul, 1 Samuel 9:15-17 "15 Now the day before Saul came, the LORD had revealed this to Samuel: 16 “About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him ruler over my people Israel; he will deliver them from the hand of the Philistines. I have looked on my people, for their cry has reached me.” 17 When Samuel caught sight of Saul, the LORD said to him, “This is the man I spoke to you about; he will govern my people.”

Now imagine, if the servant was not there, Saul would have lost his opportunity due to his impatience. Saul meets Samuel, and Samuel gives tells him of three things that should happen before he can become a king, we can read all these in 1 Samuel chapter 10. Samuel asks Saul to wait for him for 7 days, but again Saul could not wait due to his impatient nature. Amidst all these, Saul was anointed by Samuel as the first King of Israel.

I would like to close this with a beautiful verse from 1 Samuel chapter 10, verse 6 "The Spirit of the LORD will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person". Yes, when we are filled with the Holy spirit of God, our personalities would change. This then, is the journey of Saul from an ordinary person to becoming the king of Israel, a magical change of life that was orchestrated by God alone. Even today, the same God could work wonders in our lives if we obey and trust Him.

Israel's first request for a King

2011-10-16T07:06:00.002+05:30

Let us look at a different topic today. This is about the consequences that led the people of Israel to ask for a worldy King. We know that the people of Israel were under the direct rule of God. The judges appointed by God were their first point of contact for settling disputes.

In 1 Samuel, we read that Samuel was appointed by God to be their judge. Samuel was a man who loved and revered God. He was a hard working man, and he always thought about the well being of the people of Israel. We read in 1 Samuel Chapter 6,that when Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as leaders, but they were not good. They went after bribes and other illegal ways of earning money.

1 When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as Israel’s leaders. 2 The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. 3 But his sons did not follow his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.

The children of Godly leaders too fail, what an eyeopener for us!. This is the first reason that the people of Israel wanted a king. They were not ready to trust the children of Samuel. When we lose our trust and integrity, we will be disliked and replaced.

This was the time that Israel as a nation was under severe threat of a war. People thought that only if the have a king, they can be secure. They went and told Samuel about their concern. Samuel was very angry not because they rejected his sons, but they rejected their rule of God. This shows that a leader like Samuel cared more about God than his family.

God told Samuel to breif the people against the dangers of having a king, but the people were not ready to give up. So, God finally decided to give them a king. Sometimes in our life, when we go against the will of God, there would be some warnings. But if we forsake them, We might get what we wanted, but we inherit trouble.

As children of God, we would only be safe if we are under His direct rule. But when we choose the ways of the world, and look at others, we start rejecting His rule and land ourselves in trouble. Today, whatever might be the case, if we are not under God's governance, let us ask Him to come and take His place in our lives. We may think that our assets, job, education etc, might be our security, but in seconds they would vanish.

Only God's protection and rule lasts forever. Let us safely return to the rule of His Kingdom.

In the next post, we will look at how God chose the first King of Israel.

Response and Reaction

2011-10-12T09:03:00.003+05:30

Reaction and response may seem to signify the same thing, but there is a big difference. When something that we don't like happens, How do we handle?. Do we rush to conclusions, lose our composure and start to attack the problem without thinking much, or we remain calm, collect the facts and then respond to the problem?.

When we respond to the problem in a calm and correct manner after gathering all the information, we will always be successful. We will never lose our image and respect. Rememeber, it takes a lot of time to gain respect, but takes a second of foolish act to lose it.

Next time, whenever we are faced with tough and provoking situations, let us atleast take a couple of minutes before we react to the situation. Those two minutes will be very helpful to avoid many unpleasent happenings. May be your boss irritates you, or a coworker or neighbour is of nuisance. Take some time analyze the situation and then handle it. It is also true that only in those moments, God can speak to us. Let us always remember that we need to be smart, and not foolish in our actions.

Hannah - A Character study

2011-10-09T15:55:00.001+05:30

1 Samuel starts with the story of Hannah. Her husband Elkanah had another wife called Peninnah. For some reason, Elkanah loved Hannah more than Peninnah though Hannah was barren and Peninnah had children. This clearly shows that love need not be based on our posessions. I am amazed to think that God too loves us even if we are "useless" and have "nothing".

Verse 5 "But to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved her, and the LORD had closed her womb."

Why was Hannah barren?. It was because Lord had shut her womb,and it is God who gave her favor in her husband's eyes. Peninnah started teasing Hannah since she was barren. Let us get a feel of that from the verse below.

"Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the LORD, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat"(Verse 7)

If we were in Hannah's place, what we would have done?. Probably we would have given a mouthful back, or used the influence with Elkanah to throw the rival. But Hannah did not do any of these. She was a Godly woman and had such wonderful qualities. She knew that it is better to go to the Lord than to retaliate. All she wanted was a child and she knew that the enemy would shut up once she gets a child.

She went to the presence of God and poured her heart. Do we do this when we are in a need?. We must learn from Hannah here. Nobody could help us in our trying circumstances other than God. Verse 10 says "In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the LORD, weeping bitterly."

Even while praying, she had to face some taunts. This time from a very old leader of the church, Eli. Mistaking her to be drunk, he shouted at her. Hannah's response here too was a Godly one. Even during her weak phase, she didnt lose her composure. On, what a lesson?.

Once she had poured her heart out to God, her face changed and the downcast look had gone. Those who look upon God will never be let down. God answered Hannah's prayer and she gave birth to Samuel, who would go on to become one of the greatest prophets of God and who anointed King David.

These are the lessons that we learn from Hannah

1. She was pious and simple
2. She was polite
3. She was a woman of faith and prayer
4. She was truthful and loyal to God (as she had vowed, she gave Samuel to the service of the Lord)
5. She was a dutiful woman

Let us learn these things from this wonderful woman.

Kingdom of God

2011-10-09T15:11:00.003+05:30

Matthew 6:33

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."

The above verse is a very powerful one than what we think. We just side step this verse very often,and go on with our own priorities. We go after things that are not that important. We are eventually led to believe in a certain format, which slowly sets in, and grips our life.

For some, money is the motivation, for some others fame and luxury may be the motivation. Things like music, sports, travel, work etc...could be the other driving forces of our life. we see today's world filled with the pursuit of these things one way or the other, and hence life becomes very difficult.

But Jesus is too good a person to follow. All He says is that "You seek me", and "I will give you all the other things that you may need". So simple, isnt it?. What are the things that He promises to the one who seeks Him?. Let us look at the verses preceeding this.

Verses 28-31 " 28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’" (NIV)

You get the point?, He promises to give everything that we "Need". Need is the key word. God always speaks to the point.

We may have been driven by several things in our life so far, and all our pursuits could have been in vain which could have led us to feel unworthy. But, can we try seeking Him today?. The only purpose you and me exist is to seek Him. If we do this, We can be assured that we are into His safest hands forever.

Would you pray this prayer with me?

Dear Heavenly father, So far in my life, I have been driven by so many passions. I have worn myself out in pursuit of the things of this world. I have no satisfaction, no peace. I am in desperate need of a changeover in life. I want to seek you from now. Please come into my heart and lead me in your way. Thank you Lord for accepting me. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

Never come to a conclusion without knowing the facts

2011-10-08T15:50:00.003+05:30

"As she kept on praying to the LORD, Eli observed her mouth. 13 Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk 14 and said to her, “How long are you going to stay drunk? Put away your wine.” - 1 Samuel 1:12-14

While reading the above verse, We see that Eli accuses Hannah to be drunk without giving much thought. The reality was that Hannah was praying to God as her soul was bitter. What a harsh and unreasonable comment by an elderly leader.

The response of Hannah was amazingly humble, for she was a Godly woman. Let us look at her response, Verse 15-16

“Not so, my lord,” Hannah replied, “I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the LORD. 16 Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief.”

Sometimes we come to conclusions very fast, without knowing the facts. This is very dangerous. We should always take time to analyze what we are going to say and weigh our words carefully. Once again read through Hannah's reply. Each and every word is measured and exactly to the point. Let us learn this simple trait in our life from this Godly woman who gave birth to one of the greatest prophets, Samuel.

Rules for self discovery

2011-10-08T15:43:00.000+05:30

Rules for Self Discovery

1. What we want most;

2. What we think about most;

3. How we use our money;

4. What we do with our leisure time;

5. The company we enjoy;

6. Who and what we admire;

7. What we laugh at.

~A.W. Tozer

Technology and faith

2011-10-06T17:28:00.003+05:30

This is an excellent address on the problems of evil, suffering and death by Billy Graham in one of the technological conferences.

It is so amazing to know this fact about Baise Pascal.
On November 23rd, 1654, Pascal had a profound religious experience. He wrote in his journal these words: "I submit myself, absolutely, to Jesus Christ my Redeemer."

The entire speech can be accessed from this url http://www.ted.com/talks/billy_graham_on_technology_faith_and_suffering.html

Let God speak to us through this wonderful speech.

overcoming impure thoughts

2011-09-23T09:42:00.002+05:30

back to the blog after a long gap. wanted to post on an important topic.

Thought Life
... Overcoming Impure Thoughts
Written by: Drury, Keith

source www.believersweb.com

"...and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."
-- 2 Corinthians 10:5

We live in a sex-saturated society. Advertisers use "sex appeal" to sell perfume, after shave lotion, blue jeans, hosiery, even toothpaste. Most of the TV advertising we see is carefully designed to appeal to our sensual natures. A modern diet cola advertisement is quite as erotic as many "girlie magazines" of a few decades ago. Magazines, books, newspapers, billboards, movies, even office conversations offer stimulation of the sexual parts of our beings. An increasing host of "soft core" TV programs titillate millions of viewers nightly, and what was once considered blatantly "sexy" is now accepted as good taste in clothing.

Is it any wonder that believers living in such a society are troubled by improper sexual thoughts? The temptation to dwell on sexual themes and erotic thoughts is everywhere.

Impure thoughts are not a temptation limited to young men. I once thought this to be so, but experience in counseling many years has taught me otherwise. I have talked with scores of older men who are plagued with this private sin and have suffered for the forty or fifty years since their teen years. Neither is lust the exclusive sin of men. My wife reports from her traveling and speaking schedule that she has counseled with innumerable women, young and old alike, who suffer with habitual sensual fantasies.

If this area of temptation is completely foreign to you, or you are aghast that Christians exist who wrestle with this awful demon, the following excerpts from two letters, may be helpful in describing the depth of this particular fleshly sin:

"I'm desperate for any help you can give me. I am so sick of my obsession with impure thoughts that I've even thought of suicide. I feel so filthy, so dirty, so unworthy after I've given in and dwelled on some memory or daydream about a beautiful woman. My guilt brings me to confess. And I promise God I'll never do it again. But I do. I always do. Sometimes I fight heroically. Sometimes I even beat this monster, but I often fall. Real often.

"Is there help for me? Am I too far gone? Should I simply give up at trying to be a Christian? That's how I feel sometimes. This filthy habit has clung to my life for more than 30 years. I've never told anybody else about it. My pastor, the board, the whole church -- even my wife -- all think I am a perfect model Christian. But I know I am rotten inside. I feel like such a hypocrite! Is there hope for me? If so, I need it soon."

Or, consider this letter my wife received from a delightfully talented woman.

"I had never even thought of how women have impure thoughts until last week at your session. I always figured that guys were the ones who had problems with "dirty thoughts." But maybe I have a problem too. "There's this handsome young man in our church choir who is not only talented, but pays attention to me. My husband is one of those guys who pretty well ignores me -- especially in public. But this guy treats me like a queen. He listens to what I have to say, looks right into my face, and acts like I am an important person. You know what I mean... he just treats me special.

"Anyway, I wonder if this has become a trap for me. I think about him all the time... while I'm working, during church services, even when I'm with my husband. Not that I think of having sex with him or anything like that. I just invent these intensely romantic scenes in my mind, as if they are happening between this fellow and me. It's exciting! But I wonder if it's wrong. Is it O.K. as long as I don't actually fantasize about the actual sex act? I hope you can guide me on this because I've been troubled about it all this week.

"P.S. All this has made a big difference in how I feel about myself lately. I now have something to get up for in the morning again. Even my husband complimented me recently (believe it on not!) on how nicely I've been dressing. Could these thoughts be wrong when they seem to have so many benefits????"

What would you tell this woman? What would you tell that man?

What is "Lust"?

Some spiritual advisors are not worried by these kinds of thoughts. They soothe troubled Christians by saying that sexual fantasies are common, normal and quite innocent. A few even consider impure thoughts as healthy for your marriage.

The Bible is not so soft. It names such thoughts with one word: "lust." God's Word condemns lust as sin. Christians are to get rid of it along with other evil thoughts, words, and actions. Fooling around with lust is like playing with a loaded gun. Given the chance, impure thoughts will ruin your soul. Lust is serious. Jesus shocked His audience by stating that in God's sight, lust is as serious as adultery itself.

So, what is lust? It is dwelling on sexual thoughts which, if you carried them out in real life would be clearly sin. Lust is sexual or sensual fantasies about someone you are not married to. Lust is sinful sexual passion. It is sinful sexual thinking nurtured in your mind and dwelled on for the sake of personal sensual pleasure. Lust is willful...it is purposefully thinking these thoughts.

Lust is not temptation. If you are blessed with high sexual energy, you may be especially tempted in this area. Satan may frequently remind you of some memory, tempting you to dwell on it. Or he may attempt to seduce you to fantasize about a particular person. This is not lust; it is temptation. While it is sometimes difficult for us to determine that fine line between disobedience and temptation, there is a world of difference between an evil thought and the thought of evil. Even our Perfect Example had thoughts of evil while He was not guilty of evil thoughts. He banished these thoughts from His mind with a decisive refusal to surrender, and a quote from God's word. Lust is not temptation. It is surrendering to temptation...dwelling on the impure thoughts Satan has presented to our minds.

Neither is dreaming lustful in itself. Dreams are a mysterious function of our subconscious mind. Have you ever dreamed that you had shot and killed someone? I have. I woke up trembling, and felt as if I had actually committed murder. But I was not guilty of murder, even in God's sight. God does not hold us accountable for the mysterious workings of our subconscious mind. Dreaming is not sin... daydreaming is the problem.

Lust is purposefully dwelling on sinful, sensual thoughts. These are the wild horses of our mind which must be tracked down, captured, and made obedient to Christ.

So What's the Trouble with Impure Thoughts?

1. You will come to justify sin.

The Great Deceiver tells you, "Don't worry about these thoughts, they're harmless, innocent fantasies." He would like you to dismiss them as the ordinary musings of all humanity. This sometimes works. The human mind cannot survive long when our behavior is out of sync with our beliefs. If you believe something is wrong you will want to stop it. However, if you fail at your attempt to stop, you will then try to sanctify the thought, word, or deed. You justify it as appropriate, thus escaping the tension of doing what you know you shouldn't. If you do not beat this thing, eventually you'll simply justify lust as ordinary and inescapable.

2. You will live a double life.

If you are truly saved, the Holy Spirit won't abandon His convicting work. Though you tell yourself this sin is O.K. the Holy Spirit will keep telling you otherwise. You will then adopt a new strategy: you partition life like a roll-top desk. You decide to simply ignore this part of your life. You create a pigeonhole for impure thoughts pretending they don't exist.

Churches are full of men and women who live this kind of double life. They tuck their evil thoughts into a sealed desk drawer of their mind. Into this drawer they enter alone. These folk seem quite ordinary when you meet them, work with them, or serve on a committee with them. But they are a Jekyll-Hyde Christian. Though they grow in other areas, appearing to make progress along the highway of holiness, they have a cancerous closet in their mind. These double-minded Christians sneak off to their private closets of their minds. There they dwell on corrupt and sordid thoughts, then cower back full of guilt and despair. This is a wretched way to live.

3. Lustful thirst is unquenchable.

Sexual pursuits outside marriage is like an empty well. It promises satisfaction, leaving you unfulfilled. It is an unsatisfying pursuit. The more you dwell on these thoughts, the less exciting they will be for you. In your quest for fulfillment you will mount a perpetual treadmill of self gratification. The faster you chase satisfaction, the less satisfied you'll be. Like drinking salt water, the more you drink the less satisfied you'll be.

4. You will become obsessed.

Sexual fantasies are addictive. Once you establish the habit, you will begin a relentless cycle of obsession. These thoughts will gradually permeate every recess of your mind. They will dominate you, enslaving you in a bondage of despair. Eventually your entire life will be tarnished by them. You will be "hooked" on the opium of sexual fantasies. You will be obsessed with your quest for satisfaction -- always hungering, never satisfied. You will then be lust's slave.

5. Lust diverts wholesome sexual energy.

The devil didn't invent sex. God did. He termed it "good" along with the rest of creation. The most important sex organ in your body is your mind. God designed your mind with the powerful capacity to direct and focus sexual energy toward another. This remarkable mental ability is God-given and designed to produce the great sexual satisfaction in marriage. This God-given ability should be focused on your mate, not squandered on some fleeting fantasy. When you surrender to impure thoughts, you poke a leak in your own sexual energy, which ultimately produces frustration and unfulfillment.

6. Thoughts lead to action.

On this one concept philosophers and great thinkers throughout history agree: as you think, you shall become. If you think positive, uplifting, wholesome, healthy thoughts, you will eventually become a positive, healthy, uplifting person. If you think gloomy, negative, sickly thoughts, you will turn out to be a negative, sickly person. What we think, we become. As Jesus put it, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he."

Your mind is like a fertile field. A field doesn't care what you plant in it -- corn, oats, or wheat. It simply obeys the universal law: what you plant in the field, you'll get back in abundance. If you plant corn, you'll get corn. Wheat, wheat, and so on. Your mind is like this fertile field. Your thoughts are seeds. What you plant, will sprout and grow, eventually producing an abundant crop in real life.

Can you see the ultimate results of impure thinking? "Innocent fantasies" planted in your mind will eventually produce an abundant crop of sinful behavior. What you thought was a benign mental pastime carried on in the privacy of your mind will turn out to be the doorway through which your moral downfall enters. Thoughts lead to actions. Your sensual thought life will not escape this universal law of life. Sooner or later you will act as you think.

Ten Steps Out

How to Completely Overcome Impure Thoughts

If you have been enslaved by impure thoughts, there is good news for you. You can be free. Completely so! If you seriously hunger to be free from the bondage of impure thoughts, God is able to do it. He can!

The following are ten steps you can begin today. They are not some philosophy dreamed up in an ivory tower of theory. Rather, they have been hammered out in the trenches of life by hundreds of men and women who once suffered in defeat, but are now free of this "clinging" sin (Hebrews 12:1-2)

Though they are "steps" in one way, they are not to be considered completely sequential. Though there is a general arrangement of the order, each point must be continually maintained while others are added. Hundreds have followed these steps and found complete victory. You can too!

1. Confess.

All improvement starts with confession. Quit dismissing impure thoughts as inconsequential. Tear down the partition to that private closet in your mind, allowing Christ's light to expose these thoughts of darkness. Call them what God does: lust. Agree with God concerning this sin and begin your journey to a pure mind.

2. Expose lust's "big lie."

Admit to yourself and to God that this way of life does not bring the ultimate satisfaction. Acknowledge that the promises of the Deceiver are out-and-out lies. Lust is not satisfying. It never has been... never will be. Keep reminding yourself that the Devil is a liar from the beginning. Start remembering where all this "daydreaming" could eventually lead...to behavior, moral collapse, the break-up of your home.

3. Starve the sources.

Track down your stimuli and get tough with them! What is it that gets your mind going? Is it the "story section" of a woman's magazine? Is it a particular TV program? Videos? Soap Operas? Music? Is it a certain person who is flirting with you? Is it double-meaning kidding with someone? Is it "girlie magazines?" Do romance novels start your sexual engines? Is it indecent jokes or stories of another's sexual activities? What is the outside source of your temptation?

Your mind is fearfully and wonderfully made. It is incredible. Better than man's best computer, the mind is constantly receiving messages, processing input, and affecting your behavior. When you expose your mind to stimuli, it affects what you think. If your mind is wandering into sexual fantasies, somewhere along the line it has received stimuli which triggered these thoughts. Track down and avoid your besetting stimuli. "Be careful, little eyes, what you see."

If you were a rehabilitated alcoholic, you would have to learn to stay away from alcohol. If God had delivered you from drinking, would you drop into a bar just to check out how well God had delivered you? Would you order a beer and set it before you just to test your resistance? No! You would avoid alcohol in any form whatsoever.

So it is with lust. Lust is a hungry carnivorous monster. It must be fed "flesh" to survive. External stimuli trigger lust. These stimuli continuously nourish and multiply a lustful orientation. Since society is saturated with sexual stimuli, you may be tempted to play along -- simply giving up. But you need not do this. With a little thought you could make a list of the ten most dangerous "triggers" for temptation in this area. Then starve the sources.

4. Win with the Word!

How shall a young man keep his way pure? How will you keep from sinning against God? By hiding God's Word in your heart. A consistent habit of reading, memorizing and meditating on God's Word is incompatible with impure thoughts. One will eventually destroy the other. Which one wins in your life? (Consider Psalm 119:11... better yet, all of Psalm 119.)

A believer who is failing to live above impure thoughts will almost always confess he or she is not practicing a regular habit of systematic devotional Bible reading. The road to thought purity always runs through Scripture. The most important habit you can begin, to aid you in your battle against temptation, is a daily "Time Alone with God." If the devil is tempting you to lustful thoughts, start with these scriptures:

2 Corinthians 10:5
Psalm 119:9-11
James 1:14-15
2 Timothy 2:22
Hebrews 3:1
1 Timothy 4:12
1 Timothy 5:2
Colossians 3:2-7
1 Corinthians 10:13
Galatians 5:24-25
Philippians 4:7
Corinthians 6:18-20
Psalm 13:2
Psalm 19:13-14
Proverbs 2:12-191
Proverbs 5:1-23
Proverbs 6:24-29
Proverbs 7:1-27

5. Practice "Displacement."

"An idle mind is the devil's workshop." If you have ample amounts of unoccupied time, you will be a "sitting duck" for Satan. If you are often alone, you may find Satan coming in like a flood during these times. Perhaps your job is boring and unchallenging, allowing time for your mind to wander -- and wonder. When a mind is unoccupied the devil takes this opportunity to suggest sinful thoughts for you to dwell on. What you do with his "pitches" will determine dour destiny!

Displacement is concentrating your mental energies on other things (cf. Philippians 4:8). It is filling up your brain with other thoughts, focusing your mental powers elsewhere. Impure thoughts are crowded out. Search for a mental infatuation with something else: baseball, scripture memorization, an invention you're working on, taking a class at the nearby college, a new floor plan for your "dream house." Anything decent will do. Find something which can occupy your mind, and displace impure thoughts.

6. Redirect your thoughts.

If you are married, you have already discovered that the temptation to impure thoughts does not pass with the wedding ceremony. In some ways it increases. But the married person has one definite counter force against this temptation: When you are tempted to think sexual thoughts, go ahead and think them. What? Yes. Rather than developing a negative obsession about these thoughts, redirect them properly. Where? Toward your mate. Use your sexual thoughts to enhance your own sex life in marriage. Focus your thoughts toward marriage -- toward that relationship where sexual expression is beautiful and God-sanctified. This is the wholesome use of your powerful mental sexual energies.

7. "Drink from your own spring."

If you are single, skip this one. If you are married, work on developing a satisfying sexual relationship at home. A developing sexual relationship takes tenderness, understanding, and patient hard work. Learn to flirt with each other again. Recapture the tremendous sexual power of that meaningful glance. Practice romance. Spend some money. Surprise her! Allure him! Keep the fire hot at home.

8. Turn temptation into spiritual energy.

Do a turnabout on the devil. When he introduces some delectable temptation to you, immediately go to prayer. Not for yourself, but for others. Take your temptation as a signal that Satan would love to have you fall so that he can more easily get at those in your circle of influence. What about your son? Daughter? People in your church? Someone you discipled? Spouse? Congregation? Could they be tempted likewise? Most likely they are. Thus go to prayer for them, that they will be strong in their similar temptation. This is a great trick to play on Satan. His temptation merely sends you to earnest prayer for others. The more he tempts you, the more you pray -- what a clever ploy! What a mighty ministry of intercessory prayer!

9. Become accountable.

You will doubtless never beat this one alone. Find someone of the same sex whom you trust, preferable someone who has fought this battle and won. In a few cases I have know of husband-wife accountability on thought-life, but often an accountability relationship with someone of the same sex is better. Ask him or her to check up on your thought life every time he or she sees you. Make sure they are tough on you, never satisfied with less than 100% purity.

10. Seek deliverance.

This sin is usually too powerful to beat by the first nine steps alone. If you carefully follow each of the above prescriptions you will find great victories and progress in your struggle. You will become an overcomer most of the time. You may say, "I've come a long way," but you are not completely free. You will still yearn for complete freedom. You want more than partial victory. You are not even satisfied with 100% "victory." You want deliverance (Romans 7:24-25a; 8:2-3).

You can have it. God carries deliverance in stock. You can do more than fight the battle -- often winning, sometimes losing -- "one step forward, then two steps backward." You can do more than resist the magnetic pull of the flesh.

True, you will likely not ever be totally delivered from temptation in this area (or at least related areas). But you need not fall. You need not be content with being a "recovering lust-aholic."

You can have deliverance. You'll never completely beat this thing through striving, though strive you must. You'll never defeat this clinging habit through hard work, though work you must. Only the "Strong Man" can bind this evil spirit of the mind. It is only the Son of Man who can drive these thieves from the temple of your heart. God can deliver you. And He will. If you let Him.

Now don't leap too quickly at this opportunity for a shortcut. Don't say to yourself, "Good, I'll seek instant deliverance... it's certainly easier than memorizing these Scriptures." God will see through your shallowness and spiritual laziness. He expects you to work. And as you work, He also works (Philippians 1:6; 2:13). So, as you pursue thought purity, also seek His total deliverance. He can do it. He has done it for many; He can do it for you!

It could happen today, or after many months or even years of seeking. It could happen gradually or it could occur in a single instant. But it can happen. There is not one sin which you can not be free of. God forgives. He also delivers. Let it happen!

Now what about you, my friend?

Do you suffer defeat in your thought life? Has lust plagued you for years? Have you almost given up hope of being free of this beast? Don't give in. Don't give up. Rather, cheer up! Look up! Your hope of deliverance is near. If His gentle Spirit convicts you of this sin, rejoice. For He never convicts without the hope of correction. Your conviction is cause for joy. There is hope. Beginning today. You can be free!

Bible Study
Matthew 5:27-29.
In what way does Jesus here expand the interpretation of the seventh commandment?

2. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5.
What weapons might Paul be speaking of which can demolish "strongholds" and take "captive thoughts."

3. Psalm 119:9-10.
What preventative for sin is prescribed here?

5. 1 Corinthians 10:13.
Is it possible to be in a spot where we are helpless before temptation, unable to have victory?
What is the difference between "resistible temptation" and "escapable temptation?"

6. Colossians 3:5-6.
To what does lust belong?
What are we told to do with lust?

7. Philippians 4:7-8.
Besides guarding our hearts, what else will the "peace of Christ" guard?
What are eight types of thoughts with which we should fill our minds?

8. Colossians 3:1-2.
Where are we to set our hearts and minds?
What can a Christian do to develop a heavenly "mindset?"

9. Personal Reflection.

What is one single thing you could do in response to the truths of this chapter?

An action to take:

A promise to make:

The Good Shephered

2010-11-07T13:55:00.003+05:30

A shephered was leading a flock of sheep. Each and every sheep was obediently following him. Whenever he asked them to take rest, they laid on the pasture and relaxed, when he asked them to walk, they followed his voice. But there was one sheep which wanted to experiment in life. It was not satisfied with what the shephered was doing. It wanted more fun, more glamour, and it wanted to lead a different life than what the shephered wanted it to do.

The result, slowly it stared to wander off from the flock. It went through rugged terrains, and hurt its legs. It landed in a thick dense forest and was made to run for its life by furious wild animals. It tried many other things to be successful in life, and it thought that all the other sheeps in the flock are wasting their life by blindly following the shephered.

One day, after doing all it could in quest of the life which it set before itself, the lost sheep was at the cross roads, it did not know where to go, it was hungry, it was afraid, it was lonely, it was in despair, it did not know the way to reach its shephered. It started to understand the love of its shephered and was on the lookout for him to come and take it.

Are you that lost sheep looking for the good shephered, our Lord Jesus Christ. Are you the one who wandered away from His words and His plan and set out to accompolish something great in life. Are you the one who wanted to be independent in life?, Are you the one who got bored with the word of God?, Are you the one who found it difficult ot sit in the church?, Are you the one whose eyes were blinded by the lust and glamour of this world?, Are you the one who thought that you could live this life by your own intelligence?.

Oh, if it is you, dear friend, dont lose heart. Jesus is very near. He hasn't left you away. He is always willing to have you back. You need to change directions and invite Him to take you back into His strides. You need to give Him the first preference in all the areas of your life, not just when you are in need, but always. You need to seek Him before you start doing any other activity each day. If you are ready to do that, He will take you back, and not only that lead you through the green pastures and you will never be in want.

When you are away from God

2010-10-19T09:52:00.002+05:30

A popular saying is that feeling is deceptive. What we feel may not be real, but the feeling of the presence of God is absoultely real. I am not speaking about an outward or some sort of an emotional experience, but about the inner peace that surpasses everything else.

Have you ever felt being close to God?, and also at times away from God....?. I tell you being far from God's presence is the worst thing that can happen to anyone. It really makes life so devastating. Our entire hope of living would be lost and even the greatest personal achievement would not revive our happiness.

When we are with God, even when everything else falls apart, we would have a hope to cling onto, but at the same time when we are away from God, though our personal and professional life are at a high, we would find a big vaccum in our self and that vaccum is God. Yes, we do really miss Him sometimes and go through a valley of confusions and hopelessness.

But, take heart. God will never leave us nor forsake us. All that we need to do is come into His presence,reaffirm our devotion to Him and give Him the right place in our hearts and allow Him to rule us. He would fill us with unspeakable joy. Yes, He is God and with Him all things are possible.

To quote David from Psalm 51:11 and 12 "11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me". He pleaded like this when he was trapped in one of the worst sins, and was feeling despair. God did restore him with a willing spirit and he wrote the ever green Psalms to praise his loving God.

Anxiety - The silent destroyer

2010-08-29T17:00:00.004+05:30

"If you have nothing to lose in life, Then everything is there to be gained". I wrote this statement when I was thinking about or rather concerned about the outcome of many things in life. A lot of times in our life, we fast forward certain things and try to predict their outcome and in the process, our thoughts go through a vicious cycle of waves.But, in reality, not an inch would have been moved.This is anxiety!. Typically anxiety is characterized by the following things

1.You feel insecure in life.
2.You think always about the future.
3.Two lines of thoughts about a certain event - (a)Had I not done this, Life would be been wonderful.
(b)Having done this(this is the compulsion of anxiety),My life is going to be a mess.

Now let me ask you this question

1.Would you be anxious if you know that tommorow is going to be your last day on this earth and there is no way to avoid it?
I think most of us would not be anxious if we are in such a situation because we know we cannot do anything about it.We would make up our mind to face it, and try to be peaceful.If we can make up our mind for something like this, then why are we not able fight against anxiety, where almost nothing that we think ever come to reality.This is because we try to live our life by ourself. We think that we are in control of our life and hence everything would happen as we think. This is not true. Our life is controlled by our Maker. He is the one who runs the show, and only if we believe this amazing fact, we could find rest. If we realize this and surrender our lives to Him and allow Him to direct our paths, all our anxieties would vanish and we would only live for today and for this moment and leave the rest to God. This is what is called faith, and this is the faith that God honors.

Today we may be tormented by so many anxieties in life.May be the insecurity in job, a fear of a breakup, or about a terrible disease.Just take a moment and think about this, would you be able to prevent anything from happening by your actions?.If so, try to do what you can and leave the unpreventable to God.If somebody is to undergo a complicated bypass surgery tommorow, is there something that he can do about it?,Absolutely nothing. All he can do is to commit everything to God and be peaceful. This is what we need to do exactly to overcome anxiety.

I will close this with a beautiful passage from the Bible

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" - Philippians 4:6,7

Unless the peace of God fills us, we can never overcome anxiety."The beginning of faith is the end of anxiety and the beginning of anxiety is the end of faith".

All about our work

2010-07-04T09:42:00.002+05:30

I want to write today something about our work and work places.Many of us are going through great agony either because of too much pressure of work or for the lack of challenging assignments which drives us into a state of low self esteem.Some of the thoughts that swing across our minds are

1. Can I change my organization?
2. Can I ask for a change in the current organization itself?
3. Can I wait for some more time?

These three questions predominantly run aross our thoughts most of the time.Before, we start analyzing these, I want to refer to a beautiful verse spoken by the wisest and the most intelligent man who has ever lived on earth. He had everything he wanted and enjoyed everything, and King Solomon says in Ecclesiastes chapter 2

"17 So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. 18 I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. 19 And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. 20 So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. 21 For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. 22 What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? 23 All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless.
24 A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, 25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? 26 To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind."

We see it is very clear that the satisfaction is not achieved by any of our efforts, but it is a gift from God. Listen to me very carefully, we cannot find satisfaction by ourselves in any of the things that we do, and it has to be presented to us by God. In verse 26, we find that God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness to the one who pleases Him.

Having said this, let us now go back to our questions. Work is something which is given to us by God. It was one of the curses that Adam took upon when he disobeyed God, and it was something that God permitted. In the Bible we find a lot of things being said about work and this ushers us to take work seriously. Jesus was a hard worker, as he helped Joseph in the early days of his life with carpentery. It is God who gives us the work, and He expects us to do it faithfully, and in turn He rewards us with satisfaction. This is the sequence and if understood in the right way would wipe of so many confusions.

Why does God put us at unfavourable conditions at work sometimes?.Why there is pain and anguish at work?.The reason is all very simple, we are not yet fully prepared to do the work. Either we lack the skills to do it, or we dont have the right attitude towards work and He wants us to change. We see in Joseph's life he was put through so many difficulties before he became a governor. God's training is much different from the world's and it is perfect. He can see through our motives and intentions.If we successfully pass the test, He would exalt us and give the desires of our heart.

Practical things to be done :

1. Examine to find if you are lacking something that is required to do the work in the field that you are currently in.
2. Are you giving the right place to God? Do you think of your work more than God?
3. What is your attitude towards work? Do you consider everything as if done for God?
4. Are you procastinating, lazy, and irresponsible at work?

If you are at fault at any of these, ask for repentance, and commit yourselves to Him, who would transform your personality and grant you the desires of your heart.

If a job change has to be done, He will do it in His time.

The Greatest Resolution

2009-12-31T08:08:00.004+05:30

Life is an amazing journey. It can be euphoric and exciting and at the same time equally frustrating and anguishing. This is what makes life so thrilling and unpredictable. As days and years roll by, we grow from time to time. For some, each year is a stepping stone towards their long cherished goals, and for some others, it is a slippery ground as the quality of life deteriorates and slides towards the lowest point.

As we look closely into these events, all depends on the choices that we make. At every stage of our lives we are destined to make choices and that’s what measures our success, or writes our failure. As this New Year 2010 approaches, let us take a moment to analyze the choices that we made in 2009, and delve into the outcome of those. This is one of the most important things that we need to do at the start of the New Year.

It is true that we need to make resolutions for the New Year, but if we choose not to learn from the previous year’s failures, we cannot make the New Year exciting. We need to take the good things into the New Year and leave the worst one’s behind. We should be determined to make the New Year special for us and for that we need to be mentally prepared and wise enough to make the right decisions.

We all make resolutions on diets, finances, education, entertainment and what not…but we forget one most important thing. The Bible says that “Every perfect gift is from God”. Everything in this world belongs to Him. But the sad thing is that we receive so many things from Him, and forget Him amidst the celebrations and the busy schedule that we have. God stands as a silent and lonely spectator, closely watching over us.

We must also understand that it is God’s amazing grace that makes us to run in this world. It would be a matter of seconds before we come crashing down on life, if God’s grace does not abide in us. Every day we hear news of wars, accidents, serious diseases, job losses, relationship breakdowns and so many other infirmities of life. What shielded us from these things? It is grace.

God gave us the greatest gift of all by sending His son Jesus Christ to the cross, so that we may be happy. But sadly many of us have not still accepted Him as our personal savior. It is one of the most important choices that we should make in our life. It is the one choice that decides where we our eternity. He promises joy and peace in this life as well as eternity.

Why don’t we make this greatest resolution to accept Him this New Year? , maybe we made a resolution to accept Him and spend time with Him last year, but we didn’t do that. It is not late yet, let us renew that and rededicate ourselves to Him. Trust me, it is the most important decision that we would make in our lives, and we will never regret for that.
If you had made that resolution or renewed it, Please pray this prayer.

Prayer
Loving heavenly father, I come to you at the start of this New Year just as I am. I cannot change myself. I am so wicked and sinful. Wash me and cleanse me through the blood of Jesus Christ. I want to become a new person and want to experience the joy and peace that you offer. I believe you have accepted me. I give you all glory and honor. In Jesus name I pray. Amen

Be joyful always

2009-12-21T07:04:00.003+05:30

Joy is something that we long to have all the time. Many of us still think of happiness and joy to be the same. But there is a vast difference between the two. Happiness is situational but joy is everlasting. We can experience happiness whenever something of our liking happens. A new car, a new house, something good happens in our family life and so many things like this brings us happiness. But how long does it last?. May be for a day? or a week?. Thats what most of us are used to and that is why there are lot of pain and frustration left in our life and we are always not contempt with what we have.

The fascinating thing about Bible and a life with Christ, is that in contrast to the worldly system, here we find everything to be eternal and everlasting. The world's offering to us are momentary,but with Christ everything is eternal. Be it peace, joy, salvation, everything is unlimited and available freely, because everything is paid for by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ at the cross of Calvary.

Apostle paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:16, that "Be joyful always" and in Phillipians 4:4writing from prison, he says "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!".
How could someone be so joyful and think about others when he is in a dark prison cell, where everything seems gloomy and hopeless?.Where lies the secret?.

Well, the secret lies in the fact that Apostle Paul always trusted in the heavenly abode, the Lord Jesus Christ and He was the source of everything for him. This is what made him to praise, sing and shout all the time. Though he was persecuted and beaten, he always rejoiced because Christ was in him.

What about our condition today?. Are we struggling to live with contempt and always dreaming of something that we don't need at all?. Are we not satisfied with the blessings God has given us currently and pursuing after things that are not meant for us and in the process lose all the peace and joy?.

Dear friend, turn back from such a state of mind and make Jesus Christ, the source of all our providence. We will not lack anything when we trust in Him and we will be filled with joy beyond every measure that we can ever think of. Would you make that shift in your mindset today?. God bless you!

Do you want peace?

2009-12-19T11:38:00.004+05:30

"Peace" is a word that has been used so frequently amidst us. There are lot of organisations striving to bring peace into the world in many ways. We all try to bring peace into every aspect of our life. But the hard fact is that inspite of all these efforts, we find the world still longing for peace.

Peace has different meanings and context for each of us. Some of the common thoughts about peace are

1. Peace abides when there are no problems in life
2. Peace can be brought in if we have the wisdom to solve the problems of life.
3. Peace depends on situations and relations.

Friends, if any of us think peace is all about the above listed things, then we haven't understood the real meaning of peace.

Then what is peace?. How can we be peaceful amidst turmoil? How can peace abide in our families?. These are some of the questions that come to our mind. Let us dwell on these things below.

As everything has a source, peace too has a source. That source is not human, it is divine. We can never create peace, unless we are at peace with God. The Bible says in Isaiah 26:3 "God will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in Him". and in Numbers 6:26 we find "The LORD turn his face toward you
and give you peace."

The above scriptures clearly reveal us that only God can send peace into this world and He had sent it long time ago when He sent His only son Jesus Christ into this world 2000 years ago. In Isaiah 9:6, we read that Jesus is the Prince of peace, and only He can fill our hearts with peace.Ephesians 2:14 says "For he himself is our peace".

We can never have the eternal peace inside us if we have not found Jesus Christ. We have to turn away from our old sinful ways and seek Him. We read in Isaiah 48:22, that there is no peace for the wicked. If we still have secret sins in our life, we can never have peace.

The first thing we need to do is to be peaceful within ourselves. For this, all our sins need to be forgiven. When we surrender our lives to Jesus, He cleanses us and makes us clean and peaceful. Then we can radiate this peace to our family and in turn to all others who are around, and finally to the whole world. This is what needs to happen if we have to have a peaceful world.

Each and every person need to reconcile with God first. This is the starting point. Without this, there is no beginning in our efforts to establish peace. The peace that God gives will withstand all the trials in the life as we would not be depending on anything earthly for our peace. Jesus said in John 14:27 that "My peace I leave you". That peace is still there, but we need to cling on to it.

It is not too late yet. Would you open your hearts to Jesus this Christmas season?. Probably we would have celebrated so many Christmas's in our life. But let us try to make this Christmas something special for ourselve and those who are around us by reconciling with God and giving that peace to others.

Prayer:

Loving heavenly father, I have come into your presence with a desire for peace. I believe that only you can give me that. I confess all my failures and sins to you. Wash me with the blood of Jesus and make me clean. Make me a new person. Let this Christmas be a turning point in my life. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

Sexual immorality

2009-11-08T20:13:00.002+05:30

1 Corinthians 6: 9-11

"9Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders
10nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
11And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."

We live in a world which is full of filth and immoralities. Everywhere we turn around we see lawlessness, quarrels, slanders, adultery and all the corrupt things. The Bible says in Jeremiah 17:9 that "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?". Good and bad can never coexist together, as light and darkness cannot!.

Everyone of us were born into this world with sin inside us. No one except our Lord Jesus Christ is exempt from this, even the greatest saints who have lived in this world. Each one of us would have lived according to the pattern of this world filled with filth and garbage before we came to Christ. This was the life to gratify the desires of flesh. The blood of Christ cleansed us from all the sins and made us new creations. This is what we call the experience of salvation and starting a new life with the power of the Holy spirit.

We should not forget the sacrifice that Jesus Christ did on the cross to rise us back from spiritual death. But sadly, many of us, though we claim to be born again, still live a defeated life, as slaves to the passions, lust, fame and other worldly things. Paul is very clear in writing to the Corinthian church that anyone who indulges in wickedness will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

It is very straight, that either we please God and enter heaven or still live pleasing the world and its attractions and end up in hell. The choice is ours to make. No compulsions of any sort, as they are of no use. It is God's desire that not even a single soul should be lost and thats the reason that He is delaying the judgement. But there is a day coming when Jesus will come back and take His children to be with Him forever. We need to make a choice today. It is my prayer that none of you reading this would be caught on the wrong side on the day of the second coming of Christ.

Would you please surrender your life to Christ now?. It is very simple. Make a commitment to Him by asking Him to come into your life. As you pray this prayer, mean each and every word in it. As you complete this prayer earnestly, God would have made you a new person. A glorious life follows you in Christ. God Bless You!

"Father, I know that I have broken your laws and my sins have separated me from you. I am truly sorry, and now I want to turn away from my past sinful life toward you. Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again. I believe that your son, Jesus Christ died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer. I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of my life. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen."

The troubled conscience

2009-10-04T12:33:00.003+05:30

God forgives our sins when we repent and believe in the name of Jesus Christ and trust Him. Satan is an accuser and one of his primary goals is to elude the clarity of our conscience and as a prowling lion, waits to devour us. The devil sows seeds of doubts, anxieties, confusions and everything possible to rob us of the peace that God offers us.

All these things are because the devil feels insecure when we cling on to God and decide to give up our own “SELF”. Satan knows that he cannot fight against us when we are with God and so he uses our own selfish desires to separate us from God. Let us never fall prey to this well known trick of satan by which he has brought many down.

We need to drive away the devil in the name of Jesus Christ. The Bible says in James 4:7“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you”. As we are reading this article, let us take a moment to analyze whether we resist the devil all the times by submitting ourselves to God, or we depend on our own strength and get defeated all the time.

We are in a spiritual warfare with the enemy. We can never win over him by our own strength. We need spiritual weapons to fight the spiritual battles and only God can provide it to us. The full armor of God is needed for the battle. We need to put all our plans and strategies away and trust in God’s protection and the victory that He has given us through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary.

Ephesians 6:11-18 says “11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests”

Whenever we are confused and bogged down by the worldly trials, the enemy rejoices. We should not allow this and should always be aware of the wonderful fact that no matter whatever happens, two things are for sure.

1. If we live, God is with us.
2. If we die, We will be with God

The next time when we are confused about forgiveness from sin, let us remember 1 John 1:9“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness”.

Grace in action

2009-09-29T21:07:00.002+05:30

There are many areas in our life where we lack wisdom, intelligence and even the desire to work hard. Even after our repeated efforts to improve our personality, we are not changed. I hope many of us are in such a situation in our workplaces where others are too smart than us and we feel most of the time lacking something.

There was a weight lifting completion. A number of champion weight lifters strongly built with heavy muscles participated in it. They kept on practicing rigorously with the latest techniques and supervised by the best coaches. On the day of the competition, when everyone expected one of the well known lifters to win hands down, an unknown person who was little known and was frail won the event. No one has ever seen him practicing. Now, this is Grace. This is what David had when he encountered Goliath.

All the well trained soldiers in the Israeli army were afraid of Goliath, but David without much training and effort killed him. Maybe to the world, David would have looked like a fool when he told that he would fight the Philistine. But God chooses the weak to shame the strong.

It is grace that we need to fight the battles of the world. We need to surf in the wave of grace which comes on and on without stopping. I am not saying that we need not work hard; we need to put our best efforts in everything. But ultimately it is grace that counts.

To sum up everything, God said to Paul in 2 Corinthians 12: 9 “"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Let us never forget this whenever we are downcast and disturbed by our weakness. Grace is one of the most powerful weapons that God has given us through Jesus Christ to wipe off our imperfections. Let us never take it lightly!

Trust in God

2009-09-28T16:47:00.001+05:30

Proverbs 3:5
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding”

Whenever God puts us through some very tough and unfavorable conditions, we should not fret about it. It is to develop that character toughness in us so that we are not dismayed by anything. He also wants to make us strong to accomplish marvelous things in the future. David had to fight a lion and a bear before he could bring down Goliath and subsequently become the King of Israel.

When we really depend on God for everything sincerely, it is absolutely certain that He will take care of all our needs. We need to “Trust” God. Trust is something which cannot be 10% or 50% or even 99%. It should always be 100%. Suppose if we have to travel from city X to city Y in an aero plane. How much would be our trust on that aero plane and the pilot? I don’t think anyone of us will take that flight with 90% trust. The same applies to our walk with God too. We need to trust Him completely. God honors such people who put their trust in God alone and that is when He would start working in our lives.

There are many of us reading this who are dismayed in our lives after trusting so many people close to us only to find out the emptiness of that trust. But, God is not like human beings to change His word. When He commits something, He will make sure that He does that. It is His character to honor those who trust in Him. I would encourage you to read through the lives of Abraham, Joseph and Daniel to see how God lead them when they trusted in Him. If you are in the brink of failure, cheer up, it is not too late to call on our loving Savior, Lord Jesus Christ.

God is the source of wisdom

2009-09-17T21:31:00.005+05:30

During the last few days, I didn't write any articles. I want to share about something that God did for me recently. It may seem so trivial, but the impact and strength that it gave me is unexpressible in words.

I work in IT. I am neither a computer geek nor have any extraordinary talent in computers. I found myself lacking in many skills when compared with others. People were too intelligent at work when compared to me. I was so frustrated when I could not complete my work and meet the expectations. I have learnt a lesson in my life as not to depend on anyone other than God. There was a time that I tried different strategies to increase my intelligence. I would read a lot of personality development articles, try to solve puzzles etc..etc..but nothing really helped.

I prayed earnestly that if God is the source of all wisdom, and if grace is something which is for an undeserving person like me, and if God is the fountain of grace, then I wanted to get drenched in that fountain called grace. I got a revelation that it is not intelligence that counts but all grace. The Bible says "My grace is sufficient for you". Paul says in Phillipians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". The next day I went to work not as the same old person. I went with a new attitude, and with a deep vindication that His grace is all that I needed. Believe me friends, I am now able to do my work with least of the efforts. This is the power of grace in action, when we empty ourselves, and surrender completely to Christ.

It is only when I saw my unworthiness, that I could see God pouring His grace on me. This testimony of mine may not be so dramatic, but I want to reach out to everyone who is frustrated because of lack of intelligence and wisdom. Please pour out your inability to God, and He will fill you with His grace to such an extent that you will be amazed at the outcome.

Water to Wine

2009-09-13T17:39:00.002+05:30

John 2:1-11

1 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine." 4"Dear woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied, "My time has not yet come." 5His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."
6Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
7Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water"; so they filled them to the brim.
8Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet." They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10and said, "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now." 11This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.

Jesus went to Cana in Galilee with His mother and disciples to attend a wedding. In the Jewish tradition, it was customary to serve wine in the wedding as it meant to be a source of joy for them. At this particular wedding, the wine was over before everyone finished dining. We know the miracle that Jesus performed there and the outcome was that everyone had more than enough tastier wine and it ended on a happy note.
We will focus our attention to what we can learn from this miracle. John calls all the miracles as signs. It implies a spiritual truth. Let us break this down and learn from it.

Wine was over

The wine was over soon because it was manufactured by people. The happiness that each and every one of us tries to manufacture in our lives will dry out soon. Whatever we consider as secure will be shattered one day and our needs will be exposed. Nothing in the world will give us the security that our life demands.

Water into wine

Lord Jesus asked the servants to fill the six jars with water and then He asked them to serve it. It became the tastiest wine. This shows us that God will change our sorrows into joy, our despair into hope, and every weakness into strength. But we need to take all our waters to Him so that He could change. The Bible says in John 16:20 that "You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy".

Tastier later wine

The wine that was served later was tastier than the old one. When the Lord blesses whatever we have, it will give us the greatest satisfaction of all. The life that we live with the Holy Spirit inside us will be the best phase of our life. The old wine signifies our old life where we lived in sin under the dominion of the evil one, and it has to come to an end so that we could be born again with the Holy Spirit. This is the transformation that happens when we surrender our lives to Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:7 says "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!". We are renewed in our minds and our lives become joyful and peaceful.

If we have not tasted the new life so far, let us surrender our lives to the Good Shepherd, Lord Jesus Christ now and become the best fruits in His vineyard.

Grace and Faith

2009-09-11T07:45:00.000+05:30

God stretched His hands
down towards me
invited me to know Him
that was GRACE

I stretched my hands
up towards Him
yielded me to know Him
that was FAITH

GRACE and FAITH
together magnified
pulled me from sin
led me to salvation

Peace

2009-09-10T21:52:00.000+05:30

Jesus said "My Peace I leave unto you". If we lack peace, one of the reasons
is that we search for it emotionally. Emotion varies and is temporary. Only
ONE person can give us the peace that we desire. That is our Lord Jesus
Christ. He is the source of peace. Amen!

My heart yearns
My soul longs
My eyes search
My conscience pleads

I feel high and low
crushed and fresh
anxious and calm
dry and flowing

All that I long
for peace and joy
evaded me often
in my emotions

There I found
emotions are futile
they change like clouds
run like a river

Peace is eternal
available free
All that I have to do
set my foot on THE ROCK

The Great redemption

2009-09-09T07:41:00.002+05:30

When we think of that amazing transformation that happens in us when we are born again, it really is awesome to imagine the mercy of God. The instant conversion of a sinner to a saint is the outcome of a supreme sacrifice that God made for us. I am publishing this poem with a hope that it would touch all of us who read this.

It has three section, first talks about our fall,the second about the redemption and the third about the coming of Christ. I believe this sums up everything.

God created man
to rule the world
satan tricked man
made him a slave

From ruler to slave
what a pity
God's mercy stepped in
Grace poured out

It needed a man
who would be perfect
and could smite satan
to rescue the lost

God sent His own son
What amazing love?
A supreme sacrifice
to redeem His world

There came the son
He fought for me
willingly died on the cross
and put the devil to defeat

He rose again
to be my hope
sent His Holy spirit
to be my guide

This I am sure
one day He will be back
to take me home
for ever and ever

Wrestling thoughts

2009-09-08T21:21:00.002+05:30

Many of us find it very painful to control our thoughts many times. It is our thoughts that control our life. We will gain victory over negative and blasphemous thoughts only when we surrender them to God and receive His grace. I wrote this poem so that it would encourage all those who are troubled with uncontrolloble anxious thoughts.

There was a battle
fought in my mind
a great wrestling
of two envious forces

I tried my best
to seperate them
but all in vain
the battle went on

one fine day
My eyes were opened
I could see two spirits
"self" and "God"

There was a decision
to be taken with precision
to choose between the two
before judgement

I looked at the world
found so pleasing
"self" triggered to be chosen
I knew not what to do

But there was a plan
which I knew not
that God had for me
even before I was born

He chose me before
I thought about Him
only a simple act needed
to yeild to Him in faith

The fight ended
"grace" won over "self"
the crown was eternal life
and peace on earth

Life Trekking

2009-09-02T07:15:00.003+05:30

Hebrews 12:1

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us"

Trekking is a great adventurous activity. Trekkers, while trekking on
unknown places, look for sign posts to find the routes that can be trekked.
If they choose some route which has not been explored, they are in danger
of getting lost. The most comforting thing for a trekker is to find some
foot prints in the route that has been taken. It gives them a great feeling
and assurance that someone else has already travelled that road!.

Life too is a trek in many ways. There are lots of unexplored areas in our
life. We all live inside a small circle, restricting ourselves to very
minumum activities. But, believe me friends, God created the world for us
to enjoy with Him. When we go alone with the world, we land ourselves in a
pit. But when we take God with us in each and every mountain that we climb
in this life, we will not be defeated.

God has already explored all the areas of life. Lord Jesus came to this
world and lived a complete life. He was very much human like each and every
one of us. But, one thing is that He was with out sin. He has gone through
all the temptations, trials, frustrations, disappointments and what not?.
Whenever we go through a rough patch or an unknown situation in our lives,
we need to believe that Christ has already conquered that. This is the
victorious Christian life friends!. Believing in the finished work of Jesus
and accepting Him as our Lord and Savior sums up our life on earth and life
eternal.

He offers a complete life on earth plus heaven for us the moment we
surrender ourselves completely to Him. May be there are many things that
are not clear for us. Life seems like an unsolvable puzzle when we try to
live alone. But, Living the life along with Jesus and the Holy spirit is
awesome. He is a friend, counsellor, and above all the God almighty. "Never
trek life alone".

Song of a soul

2009-09-01T21:39:00.001+05:30

God gave me the grace to write this poem yesterday.Please read and hope will find it useful.

I dont know why I am here
Each moment is bitter
An hour is like a day
and day like a year

I tried to do many things
Many dreams have I dreamt
and lived in those dreams
those were the sweeter times

I spend my times in despair
My heart and soul is bitter
Thoughts tossing up like waves
I knew not my life's purpose

As one day I heard a voice
That was so familiar to me
It did not promise me gold or silver
but peace and joy for ever

I looked around to see
could not see anyone
Looked through eyes of faith
found the LIVING ONE

That day I found my purpose
I came to myself
The only reason for me to live
To glorify and praise God

Downcast soul

2009-09-01T07:01:00.005+05:30

A downcast soul is one of the difficult things to comprehend. We may be downcast because of so many reasons. It could be because we dont have a clear goal and purpose, or it could be because of much sin in our lives and we can think of so many things that might take the sweetness out of our souls. We read about this in Psalms 42:5, The writer says,

"Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God."

As we read across Psalms 42, we find the agony and frustration of a downcast soul. Even the bones suffered mortal agony due to the impact of the stress. We all know about stress and its impact in our lives. It leads to all other medical complications and spiritual dryness. But there is one more dimension to it. Stress could be considered as a test. We see in Bible that many of the mighty men and women of God were subjected to stress and we need to learn how they dealt with it.

The basic test that stress poses is this "Are we trying to control it by triggering our emotions? or, "Do we trust in the promises of the almighty God?". Here lies the secret, if we try to put our minds at work, we can never beat stress because our problems are too bigger for our small intelligence to solve. Look at how the Psalmist handles this situation. He says,

"Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God"

Dear friends, many of us reading this might be under unbearable stress in our lives. We may even think as why we need to exist in this world. But, Let us shift our focus from our problems towards God. Our huge problems are nothing in front of such a glorious and powerful God, at whose voice the earth shakes. Shall we praise Him? Shall we lift Him up?. When we earnestly ask God and surrender our "self" to Him, we can be assured that He will deliver us.

Jesus says in Matthew 11:28-30 "28Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.".

If the stress that we undergo today leads us towards our loving saviour, that would be the greatest blessing that could be bestowed upon us. Let our downcast soul trust God and find the needed rest in Him!

whenever you sin

2009-08-28T17:11:00.005+05:30

Life is an amazing gift of God. It is a privilege to spend each day on this beautiful world created by an awesome God. When He created the world, He saw everything was good. Adam and Eve were given all the authority to rule over the whole world. They had the uninterrupted fellowship of God all the time. It is so glorious to think of such an experience. My imagination makes me to leap in joy whenever I dream of such a fascinating state of life. We all desire to have such a world. But, alas! Adam and Eve lost it to satan.

I believe the greatest mistake that Adam and Eve committed was hiding their sin and running away from the presence of God. We can be sure that if they had confessed their sin, our great God would have forgiven them. But, they did not do it. This made God angry and He cut His fellowship with them and with all of us. It was like surrendering to satan by forgetting God. What a shame?

This is true even today when we turn away from God whenever we sin. Every one of us are sinners. We all sin day in and day out. But, as children of the most high God, we have the wonderful privilege of going back to God in repentence. This was made possible by the great sacrifice that our loving Lord Jesus gifted us by dying on the cross. 1 John 1:9 says "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness".. What a comfort we can draw out of this beautiful verse.

Sin is terrible, and continuing to live in sin without repentence is even disastorous. God knows all our weaknesses. He can understand all our temptations because He was tempted in the same way like us and yet was without sin. May be we have sinned too much, but when we truly repent and confess our sins, God cleanses us and forgives us in a whisker. The Bible says in Psalms 103:12 "as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us".

It is a wonderful feeling to leave all the burden of guilt at the throne of grace and receive forgiveness. If some of you happened to read this, I believe God is speaking to you personally to get into the presence of God and confess your sins. It may be anything, may be the most ugly sin. We may think that if others come to know of this they may spit on us. But, dont worry, the one who is inside us is greater than anyone in the world. He says that he will forgive all our sins. We can walk with our heads held high if we dont run away from God.

Never make the mistake that Adam and Eve did. Let us be people who fear God out of love. We are all vessels molded by the great potter. He knows those little rough particles in us. All that He expects is that we call on Him for help!. Remeber that "whenever sin abounds, grace abounds much more". Don't get me wrong here as this is not a licence to sin. I want to reach out to all of us who are broken because of sin in our life and apply the balm of the love of Jesus on our wounded hearts so that we are healed.

If you would open your heart to Jesus, I want to praise God for that. Please do send me a note at the contact email given at the top right corner of this blog. God bless you!

Spiritual paralysis

2009-08-27T07:39:00.004+05:30

Mark 2:3-5

3Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. 4Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. 5When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."

The passage before us today is an interesting one. Jesus was in Capernaum and was preaching. A large crowd had already gathered there. It is at this time, some thing remarkable happened there. Four men carried a paralytic to be healed by Jesus. As they could not make their way to Him, they opened up the roof and lowered the paralytic to Jesus, and He healed him and forgave his sins.

There is a great encouragement for us while we study this passage. Many of us are spiritually paralysed at times. There is always a valley in our spiritual life, when we feel lonely, desperate, worthless and exhausted. The very existence becomes a question for us. God seems far distant and unreachable. It is at this point of our lives that God expects us to be lifted up by our fellow believers. Christian life is a life lived along with the community. It is not an isolated life.

God expects every one to help others spiritually. There will be times in each one's life where they need the help of others. We need to reach out for help from other believers. God honors when others plead for us. That is why we are all one body in Christ. We need to balance each other. We are all one family with Jesus Christ as the head. This gives a great comfort to all who feel lonely. Every one around the world go through such feelings.

Let us be people who care for the well being of others. Let us all be united in the spirit of Christ and be sensitive to the need of the fellow believers. It would be a great blessing if we live together and support each other in Christ. Remember that "Christian life is not a life lived in isolation".

The Outlier effect

2009-08-25T20:42:00.002+05:30

The Outlier is a book written by Malcolm Gladwell and it is one of the best selling books on the New York times. I did not get a chance to read through the entire book, but one thing in the book got my attention. In this book, the writer shares something about the 10,000 hours rule. He tells great things can be accompolished in this world if we put our efforts for 10,00 hours. It can be in any field. It translates to 2 hours daily for 10 yrs and the duration of years gets reduced if more hours are put in every day.

He goes on to quote about Bill Gates, The Beatles, and about his personal experience as well. Everything sounds great!. On reading this, I got a revelation. People were able to accompolish so many worldly things by putting these mammoth efforts. But, the Lord opened my eyes to this wonderful thought. If we could spend 2 hours a day with our Lord, How great that would be?. The greatest privelage one can get is to communicate with the maker of this universe. The greatest acheivement is to proclaim the gospel to a soul that is heading towards the hell. We can be sure that the reward in heaven for such an act would easily surpass all the earthly honors.

If we spend time with the Lord daily, We would know Him better. Knowing God is the greatest thing that we can ever imagine. The apostle Paul puts it this way in Phillipians 3:4-9

"If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.

7But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith"

It is a different thing to know about God, but Knowing God is something special. It is like this, we all read about famous personalities and their life. But it is different to know them personally and have friendship with them. We must know God and for that we need to spend time with Him. Let us give our time to God, whatever possible,may be 15 mins a day atleast. This would change us completely. We will never remain the same. God would make us more than conquerers in everything.

Swine flu

2009-08-23T06:06:00.003+05:30

Psalms 91:7

Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare
and from the deadly pestilence.

The world is reeling under the snare of Swine flu. Governments across the globe are trying their best to control it. People are scared to death because of this epidemic disease. We try to prevent it by wearing masks and taking other precautions, but nothing seems to work. Have we ever thought about God amidst this epidemic?. The verse before us today clearly says that He is able to save us from the deadly pestilence.

The definition of pestilence goes like this "A pestilence is any virulent and highly infectious disease that can cause an epidemic or even a pandemic. The word can also be used about parasites causing large scale sickness and death"(source:Wikipedia). How true is the word of God. Dear friends, nothing could ever happen in this world without the knowledge of the one who owns this world, our loving Lord Jesus Christ. He is everything. All the situations and circumstances are under His mighty control. We as His children have the amazing privilage of taking all our sickness to Him in prayer.We need to also remember the people affected by this and pray for their healing.Always remember that only God can take away this disaster from the world.

But the sad thing is we forget all these. We worry along with the world,that these things might also happen to us. Let us step on to the pedal of faith and approach the throne of grace with boldness as children of God. These are situations given to us to get back to God. Through these things we understand that we cannot do anything without God. Let all of us reading this, if we are away from God, take this time to look to God and receive His mercy and forgiveness. His loving arms are always stretched towards us. This is the period of grace!Now is the time of salvation!.

Sin as cancer

2009-08-22T10:24:00.002+05:30

Cancer is a dreaded disease. The very thought about it makes us feel sad and doomed.It is a condition which is not known in the beginning, and then it spreads rapidly affecting all the cells and finally brings the entire body to a halt. But, if it is diagonosed early and treated, there is cure.

But I want to share with you something which is most serious than cancer. May be the consequences of cancer stops in this world, but the one which I will speak about today has its consequences to eternity. I am not sure how many of us take "Sin" so serious.We might live a life giving no importance to sin at all,and enjoy its pleasures to the maximum. We cannot even deny the fact that sin gives pleasure for a while. But, alas after that the guilt of sin makes us as fugitives and captives throughout our life.

The Bible says that the "Wages of sin is death". There is absolutely no denying of this fact. If we sin, we will die. There is no alternative. One sin will lead to another and as cancer, in the course of time there will be nothing left in us, except sin. We will be rotten with sin and die.

It is serious business to deal with this sin, and overcoming sin is very easy. We need not do anything to overcome it. Yes, I repeat we need not do anything, because we don't have the strength to overcome sin. We have to believe the fact that Jesus Christ carried all our sins and died on the cross of Calvary for us and sin was defeated on that day. If we beleive this and accept Jesus as the Lord of our lives, we get freedom and deliverance from sin.All the sins including those secret and personal sins that we do every day, the inward sins and everything bad in us will be transformed into the goodness of Christ. This is the greatest miracle. The conversion of a sinner instantly into a saint, because of the finished work of Jesus.

I want to drive this point deeply to all who read this. There may be someone reading this with heaviness of guilt, and the defeated life of sin and the inability to gain victory over it inspite of repeated attempts. Dont be discouraged, there is hope in Jesus. We need to stop trying and leave it to Jesus. This is the secret to victory. You know something, the victory that Christ gives over sin is like this "We will hate sin in the same way that we hate cancer". This is the complete victory. May God bless us and help us to live a victorious life.

Tears in Heaven

2009-08-18T21:12:00.000+05:30

"When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her, also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit, and was troubled, and said, 'Where have you laid him?' They said, 'Lord, Come and see.' Jesus wept. And so the Jews were saying, 'Behold, how He loved Him!" (John 11:33-36).

Jesus went to the house of Mary and Martha after the death of Lazarus. As He entered that place, He saw the sisters weeping along with the other jews. Jesus was deeply moved with compassion and grief. He wept there. This shows the heart of our loving Lord. He is so tender and merciful. He loves each and every one of you reading this in the same way that He loved Lazarus. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Whenever we are filled with sorrow and grief and weep inside us, let us not forget that Jesus Christ sheds tears for us. He is such a loving Lord.

Let us not be disheartened if we dont have anyone to share our feelings and longings. No one can care for us as Christ. Even we may be forsaken by our parents or spouses. But, I believe that the more we are forsaken in this world, all the more Jesus loves us. What an amazing difference between Godly love and human love!. If anyone of you is reading this with a heavy and lonely heart, I encourage you to go right away and pour out your heart to the Lord.

As we read on the story of Lazarus, Mary and Martha were filled with the joy of their lives when they saw jesus rising their dead brother. The same joy can be ours today. We may dead to the world and to our family and forgotten by everyone. But, Jesus Christ will rise us up today and make us soar to heights that we have never imagined. We will be transformed and renewed to the amazement of others who might have insulted us. This is the power of our matchless Lord. Remember this clearly, "Whatever seems to be the end with us, is the beginning with Christ". Dear friends, let us never forget that there is one who sheds tears for us in Heaven.

Jesus Cares

2009-08-17T07:39:00.000+05:30

1 Peter 5:7

"Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you"

Anxiety is a terrible disease. It exists in all of us at some point of time. We become so anxious about our future, about the prospects of our jobs,marriage,and some of us are so concerned about the well being of our family and friends and we spend most of the times worrying about things that will never happen. Anxiety is directly related to insecurity. We become anxious if we don't have things put in the proper place. We never feel secure and try to find our own solutions to make us secure.

But we never get that security by any of our efforts and plans. We find ourselves on a slippery ground always. Dear friends, no creations can give us the security we long for. There is only one who can help us and He is our great creator. We as creations will feel secure only in the loving arms of our Lord Jesus Christ. He shelters us under His wings as how a bird protects its younger ones. He is the solid rock where we can set our foot upon without doubts and worries. Turn to Him today!.

Turn away

2009-08-15T08:26:00.001+05:30

Hebrews 10: 26-31.

26If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge
of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left,
27but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will
consume the enemies of God.
28Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony
of two or three witnesses.
29How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has
trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the
blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit
of grace?
30For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay,"and
again, "The Lord will judge his people."
31It is a dreadful thing to
fall into the hands of the living God.

The passage before us today is a very alarming one to all who never took
the expericence of salvation seriously. Many of us may say that we are born
again christians and we may even think that we have many great spiritual
expericences to share. All of this is well and good. But, what about those
sins that are still in us?, those secret sins that no one else knows about.
Do we keep on committing those sins and enjoy the pleasures of it?. Some of
us could be in a state wherein our conscience has become so hard that we
dont feel that we are wrong.

Sinning deliberatly will make God's wrath to fall upon us on the day of
judgement. It would be the most terrible thing that we could never imagine.
God is a consuming fire. The wrath of God will destroy us if we keep on
sinning after accepting Christ. What is a deliberate sin?. After we are
born again, the Holy spirit of God comes into our life. He instructs and
teaches us. When the thought of sin enters us, He ignites our consicience
against sinning and this is what creates a dilemma in us. Most of the time
we face this dilemma. When we yeild to the spirit and turn away from sin
,we glorify God. When we yeild to the sin, we deliberately commit the sin
inspite of the warning that the Holy spirit triggered inside us.Another
type of deliberate sin is when we plan something and commit it for our own
pleasures.

The good news is that still we are in the period of grace and God looks
with mercy at each and everyone of us. He is ready to pardon us even if all
throughout our life so far we have kept on sinning. It takes a minute to
confess our sins to turn back to God and receive His forgiveness. He will
give us a clean heart and an everlasting life filled with joy and peace.Why
do you want to miss that?. Jesus is knocking at the doors, open it for Him
today!

Supreme love

2009-08-13T20:22:00.000+05:30

“The entire law is summed up in a single command: 'Love your neighbor as
yourself.'” —Galatians 5:14

As the followers of Christ, We try to do too many things to make sure that
we have a right conscience before God and human beings. But, many a times
we miss a very simple yet important command that is over everything else.
It is "Love your neighbour". Neighbour can be any one, may be people near
our homes, co workers in office, people whom we meet every day in shops. In
short everyone whom we come across each day in our life are our neighbours.

Now let us take a moment and analyze whether we really love others. Even if
we love, what is the motive of that love? Is it for our favors and gains?.
If we fall short in this, let us ask God to make us love others with a
clean heart. God was so loving and self-less that He sent His own son Jesus
Christ to the cross to save us. This is supreme love and let us grow more
in Christ and be transformed into His likeness.

Now the next time, if you get to see some one you hate the most, pray that
God will make you to love that person. This is how we can love others
practically. It is difficult, but with Christ, all things are possible!

Complete surrender

2009-08-07T10:16:00.000+05:30

Matthew 26:39

"Yet not as I will, but as you will"

This was a remarkable prayer that Jesus Christ prayed at the garden of
Gethsamane. As He was also like us in flesh, He too had the agony of
death,which is the disconnection of fellowship with His Father. It is here
that we learn a powerful lesson from our Lord Jesus Christ. He gave us this
incredible lesson that really sums up our life as Christians. He says “Not
my will, but thy will be done”. This shows the complete surrender of His
will to God the father.

This is how we too need to live in this world each day, every second and
moment. Nothing less than a total surrender is accepted by God. We can
never be in the fence having one foot for our will and another for God's
will. God requires complete surrender of our will to Him. This is the
secret for a victorious Christian life. Let us pray that God may grant this
gift to us today.

Following Jesus

2009-08-05T07:29:00.001+05:30

John 3:16

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever
believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

As we meditate on the above verse, let us ask ourselves a question. Why do
I follow Jesus? or Why should I be following Jesus?. Let us answer this
question very earnestly. Most of us follow or try to follow Jesus for our
life's guidance, provisions, blessings and many other things that are
aimed at our well being. There is nothing wrong in depending on Jesus for
all these things. But, our primary and foremost aim should be to follow
Jesus out of our love for Him. We should remember that Jesus is our
"Savior". We are all corrupt people who should have been destroyed by the
wrath of God. Our hearts should rejoice in awe of the fact that it is
because of God's supreme sacrifice of His son Jesus Christ on the cross of
calvary, that we are saved.

Let this thought be always on our hearts and let Jesus Christ reign in our
hearts always. This should be out of an act of love, and not out of a
pre-requisite to receive His blessings. The Bible says "Seek ye first the
Kingdom of God and all these things will be given unto you".
If you are far away from Jesus Christ, get back to Him now. He is eagerly
waiting for you!.

Overcoming life

2009-07-31T16:53:00.000+05:30

Galatians 2:20

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives
in me."

We all wake up every morning with new dreams, resolutions and plans. We
want to make the day as best as possible. We plan to break that addiction
in our life. We try to suppress our feelings and emotions so that we don't
do anything wrong. In short we put ourselves in a cage with our ideas.

Well, if everything works according to our plans, we can continue doing
this through the rest of our lives. But, it never works that way. The
reason is each and every one of us is corrupt by the nature of "sin" in our
lives. We dont have the strength in ourselves to overcome this. Millions
around the world are going through this routine each day and it is always a
failure if we think that we can solve all our problems.

If you have a thought that we can live a victorious christian lives by our
own strength, then I would like to take you back to what apostle Paul
realized long back. The secret is as christians "we" are already "dead" and
it is no longer "we" who live but it is "Christ" who takes our place and
lives for us.

The choice is ours. Either we can ask Him to live our life, or we can
continue with our self-discipline, motivational and other techniques and be
independent of Christ. But,Bible says there is a way that seems good to a
fool but the end is destruction.

The way of the cross is the path to an overcoming life. There are no short
cuts.

Accept Christ today and get freed of the yoke and bondages!. Allow Him to
fight the battle!.

Answers for prayers

2009-07-29T20:28:00.001+05:30

Psalm 40:1

" I waited patiently for the LORD;
he turned to me and heard my cry"

God hears and answers all our prayers.

The answers are always one the following

1. yes
2. No
3. There is a delay for the answer.

We are very happy if the answer is "Yes". We are upset when the answer is
"No". The third answer seems to be very painful. It tests our patience. But
the secret to peace and harmony is waiting patiently for the Lord to answer
our prayers. One thing we should never forget is this "God answers each and
every prayer of our's" and all the answers are for our well being.The
timing of the answer is always "His" and not "Our's". Let the Holy Spirit
of God open our eyes to understand this truth and fill us with that peace
that only He can give us. Next time, when we get frustrated for something
that God is not answering us immediately, let us remember the word
"patience" and wait on Him.

Just Do It!

2009-07-28T21:29:00.001+05:30

By Bill Keller
source :www.liveprayer.com

Jesus said in Mark 9:23, "Everything is possible for him who believes."

The Nike sporting goods company used a very simple but powerful phrase in one of their recent ad campaigns, "Just do it." This is going to be a little different Devotional today. I want to take a moment right now before you do anything else and simply ask the Lord to open your heart to hear this message today since it has to do with faith. Now, let me ask you a question. What is something that you have always dreamed of but have never done? Maybe it is to see a certain place or do a certain thing. What is something that you have always dreamed of but have never done?

The writer of Hebrews defines faith in Hebrews 11:1 as, "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Note the key words in this definition are SURE and CERTAIN. True Biblical faith is not something we simply hope for, but we are SURE of what we hope for. True Biblical faith is not just a blind leap into the dark, we are CERTAIN of what we do not see. That is why Jesus told us that, "EVERYTHING is possible for him who believes." Not a few things, not certain things, not most things . . . EVERYTHING!

Today, I want to challenge your faith and encourage you to fulfill your dreams. As I share with you often, this journey through life is very short. It is over before we even know it. We know the Bible teaches us that tomorrow is promised to none of us, that each day is literally a gift from God. We must treat each day as the precious gift it is and make the most of it. Too many people live their lives in those "ruts." You get comfortable in making life work for you on a daily basis and get locked into a routine that you rarely if ever deviate from. You complain how boring life is, how unexciting life is, when the problem is not life but the way you choose to live it each day!

Over these past 20 years, I have ministered to and walked with hundreds of people from 10 to 97 in the final days of their life. In almost every case the person shared with me their regrets about things they had always wanted to do but didn't, places they had always wanted to see but never went. Now, in their final hours of this life they felt bad for not having taken the time or made the effort to see and do all of the things they had wanted to do.

Let me ask you again, what is something that you have always dreamed of but have never done?

Here is my word for you today, my challenge. Sit down with a paper and pen and answer the above question on the paper. Write down what it is you have dreamed of but never done. Maybe you always wanted to see the Great Wall of China. Write it down. Maybe you have always wanted to learn how to ride a horse. Write it down. There is not one person reading these words today that doesn't have something you have always wanted to do or some place you have always wanted to visit. Everyone has a dream they have not seen fulfilled.

After you have written down what it is you have always dreamed of, take that paper and pray over it. Pray in faith that God is going to let you see your dream come true. God is not some magic genie in a lamp that we rub and make wishes to. However, God is the One who promised that, "Everything is possible for him who believes." God is the One who promised to, "Give you the desires of your heart." As a follower of Jesus Christ you have very right to hold God to His promises. There is no dream that is too big for God!!!

This journey through life is exciting, exhilarating, and can be a wonderful experience. What I find in so many lives I deal with each day is that they have allowed the trials and tribulations of this life to overwhelm them to the point they have stopped dreaming. They are simply content with not living in turmoil and have forgot how to dream, let alone believe their dreams can come true.

Your life, just like your relationship with the Lord will be exactly what you choose it to be. We ALL have to face the problems that life throws our way. That is simply part of living in this sin-filled and fallen world. There are always problems, things that don't go the way we expect or like. The key is do you allow the problems of life to choke off your joy? Do you allow the trials you face to steal your peace. Do you allow the challenges of life to rob you of the abundance Christ promised you?

I love you and care about you so much. I want to encourage you to start living each day in faith, the faith that "everything is possible for him who believes." That doesn't just mean being victorious over the day-to-day trials of this life, but seeing your dreams fulfilled as well. I want to encourage you today to take the piece of paper you have written down whatever you have always dreamed about and work to make your dream a reality! God will help you.

Don't listen to the liar satan tell you don't have the money, you don't have the time, it can't be done, or any other lie he will tell you to discourage you. Who are you going to believe, the liar who says your dream won't come true or God who promised you that "everything is possible?"

This message today is MUCH deeper than just challenging you to make your dream come true. Once you do whatever it is you have dreamed about, once you make that dream a reality, you are going to want to make your next dream come true. After you see that dream become a reality, you will want to make the next dream come true. Over time, you are not just living life, you are making the most of each day and instead of simply dreaming, YOU ARE LIVING YOUR DREAMS EACH DAY!

Jesus promised us, "Everything is possible for him who believes." Don't dream it, DO IT!!!

Responsibilities in work

2009-07-08T20:46:00.003+05:30

Many a times we become very happy when we come to know that our managers/superiors at work are on leave. We feel so much of freedom and think that the day is ours. Do we get this sort of feelings?. Are we feeling irritated or upset when we see our managers or if they call us?.

These are clear indicatios that we are not fulfilling our responsibilities properly. We are gripped by fear and uncertanities when we do not fulfill our tasks properly. There is always a sort of lack of confidence and anxiety in our hearts when we fail in our work.

The Bible says that we need not be afraid of anyone or anything other than God. But we must respect everyone and be at peace with them. We should walk upright and be very active and energetic in our works. We shlould be people that others look for help. We should always be bubbling with energy and enthusiasm that Christ gives us.

Jesus Christ was never afraid of anyone. He did all His responsibilities without the slightest of the failures. He was completely perfect in all that He did and He fullfilled His responsibility of carrying our sins on the cross and sacrificing His life for us.

A true child of God will be perfectly at ease with everyone under all the circumstances.

Memorizing scriptures

2009-07-07T20:59:00.003+05:30

I read this article regarding the importance and power of memorizing the verses from the scripture. I am publishing it here so that we may read and implement this as a practice in our daily lives.

First, a few testimonies: I have it third hand, that Dr. Howard Hendricks of Dallas Seminary once made the statement (and I paraphrase) that if it were his decision, every student graduating from Dallas Theological Seminary would be required to learn one thousand verses word perfect before they graduated.

Dallas Willard, professor of Philosophy at the University of Southern California, wrote, “Bible memorization is absolutely fundamental to spiritual formation. If I had to choose between all the disciplines of the spiritual life, I would choose Bible memorization, because it is a fundamental way of filling our minds with what it needs. This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth. That’s where you need it! How does it get in your mouth? Memorization” (“Spiritual Formation in Christ for the Whole Life and Whole Person” in Vocatio, Vol. 12, no. 2, Spring, 2001, p. 7).

Chuck Swindoll wrote, “I know of no other single practice in the Christian life more rewarding, practically speaking, than memorizing Scripture. . . . No other single exercise pays greater spiritual dividends! Your prayer life will be strengthened. Your witnessing will be sharper and much more effective. Your attitudes and outlook will begin to change. Your mind will become alert and observant. Your confidence and assurance will be enhanced. Your faith will be solidified” (Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994], p. 61).

One of the reasons Martin Luther came to his great discovery in the Bible of justification by faith alone was that in his early years in the Augustinian monastery he was influenced to love Scripture by Johann Staupitz. Luther devoured the Bible in a day when people earned doctorates in theology without even reading the Bible. Luther said that his fellow professor, Andreas Karlstadt, did not even own a Bible when he earned his doctor of theology degree, nor did he until many years later (Richard Bucher, "Martin Luther's Love for the Bible"). Luther knew so much of the Bible from memory that when the Lord opened his eyes to see the truth of justification in Romans 1:17, he said, “Thereupon I ran through the Scriptures from memory,” in order to confirm what he had found.

So here are a few reasons why so many have viewed Scripture memorization as so essential to the Christian life.

1. Conformity to Christ
Paul wrote that “we all, . . . beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another” (2 Corinthians 3:18)) If we would be changed into Christ likeness we must steadily see him. This happens in the word. “The Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord” (1 Samuel 3:21). Bible memorization has the effect of making our gaze on Jesus steadier and clearer.

2. Daily Triumph over Sin
“How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. . . . I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:9, 11). Paul said that we must “by the Spirit . . . put to death the [sinful] deeds of the body” (Romans 8:13). The one piece of armor used to kill is the “sword of the Spirit” which is the word of God (Ephesians 6:17). As sin lures the body into sinful action, we call to mind a Christ-revealing word of Scripture and slay the temptation with the superior worth and beauty of Christ over what sin offers.

3. Daily Triumph over Satan
When Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness he recited Scripture from memory and put Satan to flight (Matthew 4:1-11).

4. Comfort and Counsel for People You Love
The times when people need you to give them comfort and counsel do not always coincide with the times you have your Bible handy. Not only that, the very word of God spoken spontaneously from your heart has unusual power. Proverbs 25:11 says, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.” That is a beautiful way of saying, When the heart full of God’s love can draw on the mind full of God’s word, timely blessings flow from the mouth.

5. Communicating the Gospel to Unbelievers
Opportunities to share the gospel come when we do not have the Bible in hand. Actual verses of the Bible have their own penetrating power. And when they come from our heart, as well as from the Book, the witness is given that they are precious enough to learn. We should all be able to sum up the gospel under four main headings (1) God’s holiness/law/glory; 2) man’s sin/rebellion/disobedience; 3) Christ’s death for sinners; 4) the free gift of life by faith. Learn a verse or two relating to each of these, and be ready in season and out of season to share them.

6. Communion with God in the Enjoyment of His Person and Ways
The way we commune with (that is, fellowship with) God is by meditating on his attributes and expressing to him our thanks and admiration and love, and seeking his help to live a life that reflects the value of these attributes. Therefore, storing texts in our minds about God helps us relate to him as he really is. For example, imagine being able to call this to mind through the day:

The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust. (Psalm 103:8-14)

I used the word “enjoyment” intentionally when I said, “communion with God in the enjoyment of his person and ways.” Most of us are emotionally crippled—all of us, really. We do not experience God in the fullness of our emotional potential. How will that change? One way is to memorize the emotional expressions of the Bible and speak them to the Lord and to each other until they become part of who we are. For example, in Psalm 103:1, we say, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!” That is not a natural expression for many people. But if we memorize this and other emotional expressions from the Bible, and say them often, asking the Lord to make the emotion real in our hearts, we can actually grow into that emotion and expression. It will become part of who we are. We will be less emotionally crippled and more able to render proper praise and thanks to God.

There are other reasons for memorizing Scripture. I hope you find them in the actual practice.

source www.desiringgod.org

Pharaoh’s dream and my experience

2009-07-07T20:53:00.000+05:30

By C. H. Spurgeon

"And the cows that were ugly and gaunt ate up the seven sleek, fat cows."—Genesis 41:4. NIV

PHARAOH'S dream has too often been my waking experience. My days of sloth have ruinously destroyed all that I had achieved in times of zealous industry. My seasons of coldness have frozen the warm and pleasant glow of my periods of fervency and enthusiasm. My fits of worldliness have thrown me back from my advances in the divine life. I need to beware of lean prayers, lean praises, lean duties, and lean experiences, for these will eat up the fat of my comfort and peace.

If I neglect prayer for even a short time, I lose all the spirituality I had attained. If I draw no fresh supplies from heaven, the old corn in my granary is soon consumed by the famine which rages in my soul. When the caterpillars of indifference, the cankerworms of worldliness, and the palmerworms of self-indulgence lay my heart completely desolate and make my soul to languish, all my former fruitfulness and growth in grace avails me nothing whatever. How anxious I should be to have no lean-fleshed days, no ill-favored hours!

Backsliding leaves me far away from the prize of my high calling and robs me of the advances I had laboriously made. The only way my days can be as the "fat cows" is to feed in the right meadow, spend time with the Lord in His service, in His company, in His fear, and in His way. O Lord, keep me far away from the curse of leanness of soul. Let me not have to cry, "My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me!" Instead, may I be well-fed and nourished in Thy house, that I might praise Thy name.

In the midst of trial

2009-07-01T08:06:00.000+05:30

In the midst of trial we tend to throw our arms up and cry, “God, why hast Thou forsaken me?”, not fully understanding the significance of such trial. How many can honestly say that they welcome trials and tribulations? Not I for sure. Yet in our Christian faith, we must at some point partake of the cup of Jesus. It is only through this drinking that we come to understand our walk of faith and grow strong in its ramifications.

Jesus was Lord and He knew the reason for his sufferings, the purpose for which He came. This is the great paradox of our Christian faith, the “great mystery of the cross,” that is mentioned in the Bible. And yet through the dire image of the cross comes our greatest blessing, our greatest joy, our greatest hope. How unhumanly conceivable! To the world, the cross is foolishness, as Paul the apostle so rightly states. But God did not choose what would be ordinary or common sense to save the world. It is this that should ground our faith. For after all, put yourself into God’s position: Would you choose something common to save the world, or would you choose something that would require intense belief because it was so contrary to majority opinion? When we view the cross from this perspective, the scales fall from our eyes, and the blinding light shines through.

Now in the midst of trial, we should look to the cross as our saving grace. This is hard to do as we are human and weak by nature; and yet the spirit be willing, the flesh is always weak. Now here is something to consider that might help in our struggle: the realization that Christ knew His purpose, yet we know this only through our faith. Although this knowledge could never attenuate the physical suffering He experienced—as God designed it this way—Christ was in a position that we could never be. How precious might we be in His sight then, as He watches us, knowing full well we have neither the resources nor essence of His most beloved Son, to go through trials while we cling tenaciously to our faith? And though we stumble and drop our cross, yet He knows how noble our efforts in the midst of trial.

Let us not be ashamed therefore by what the world throws our way. All this is part of His divine plan. Let us be comforted by the knowledge that Christ suffered—yet He was God; we suffer—yet we are men.

By Joe Pagano
source : http://www.mathbyjoe.com

Truth shall set you free

2009-06-30T22:50:00.001+05:30

We see a lot of people around us addicted to different habits. Where ever there is addiction, peace is lacking. Frustration, fear and dissatisfaction loom larger in life. Spending each and every day becomes a burden. spending a day seems like spending a year and such is the hopeleness of life for many. Is there hope in such a situation? Is there comfort and shelter? Is there a solution for depression and anxiety?

The answer is a big "Yes". We need not depend on alcohol, drugs and sleeping pills to aid us in our times of frustration. We need not dream of peace when peace is very much a reality and readily available. We need not gain sympathy from human beings when it is of no use. Some of us might have tried everything in the world to be peaceful, but all the efforts might have been futile.

If money, influence, drugs, sex, music, movies etc etc...cannot bring us peace, what else is there for us to try...?

The only answer to the problems of life is "Jesus". Try Jesus, and He is the answer to all our problems. He is the way, truth and life. Where there is truth there is deliverance and the truth is "Jesus Christ". John 8:32 says "know the truth and the truth shall set you free". Let us try Him today...We will never be disappointed. All that we need to do is earnestly ask Him to come into our life and take control of it.

Overcoming life

2009-06-30T08:02:00.002+05:30

Are we struggling with certain sins in life that we are not able to come out of them?. Is there some sins that we try to suppress for a while and then they come back with greater magnitude and destroys our peace completely. It makes us feel even more guilty. Is this the condition of our spiritual lives after being born again?. It means that we are still living defeated lives. God never wants us to live like this. He wants us to be overcomers in everything.

Jesus Christ died for our sins on the cross of Calvary so that we can live an overcoming life. If we are not living such a life then we are defeating the purpose of God. There is a great news for all who are living a defeated spiritual life. Jesus Christ has already won us the victory. We need to believe this and apply this in our lives. We need to exchange our lives with Jesus.

It means we need to give all our weaknesses, worries, problems, temptations to Him and get His victory in return. This is the secret of a victorious Christian life.

We never realize this and try to overcome all the things on our own strength and we are defeated. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 12:9 that "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness". We need to surrender all our problems to Jesus Christ and forget about it. His grace and power will overcome all the uncertanities in our life. Only believe and all things will be perfect in God's own time. Amen!

Gaining the world

2009-06-27T14:30:00.002+05:30

Mark 8:36

"What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?"

St. Augustine described soul as follows "a special substance, endowed with reason, adapted to rule the body". The soul is the seat of our personality, traits and intelligience. The soul was formed when God breathed his spirit into the nostrils of Adam when he was made of dust.

We live in a world which is very fast and fancy. It is very certain that our souls will be lost permanantly if we do not repent and come to Christ for salvation during the period of grace now. I believe things would always be fine till one day when disaster will strike us,and we will be left alone in the wilderness. The soul which found its happiness through the vanities of this world, would be tortured in the hell by satan.

We may gain everything in this world by our intelligience and abilities. We can become world renowned celebrities. We can accumulate money for generations to come. We may have the most powerful posts of this world. But yet if we have not met Jesus Christ and surrendered our lives to Him, everything is vain and would be like garbage on the day of judgement. Hell is a very cruel place to be in. It is not as easy and cozy as we may think. The very description of hell would run fear down our spines. Satan is in the process of accumulating people to be thrown into hell.

Let us never fall to satan's trick which blinds our eyes and thoughts from the need of salvation. Jesus Christ can give us the peace that we long for today. He can just blast away satan if we surrender our lives to Him and allow Him to be the Lord of our lives. Christ is too good a person to rule our lives without us inviting Him. He stands at the door of our hearts and knocks all the time. We need to hear it and allow Him to come inside.

I challenge that life would not be the same once Jesus is with us. He will give us all the needs of this world and eternity. We can live without fear, anxiety and confusion if Christ directs us. There is no safer place to rest than the rock Jesus Christ. Heaven is such a glorious place. A place of eternal joy and a place where there would not be any sorrow. Jesus Christ holds the keys to Heaven.

I would plead you to surrender your life now to Christ. Time is running by..and we never know when the period of grace would come to an end. There would not be any oppurtunity to repent after that. Once the doors are shut, it would be all over. Now is the time of salvation. Repent and enjoy life with Christ!. Remember all the greatness in this world is garbage when it comes to eternity.

Bricks Of Life

2009-06-27T14:03:00.003+05:30

I came across this wonderful story in the internet. Many a times, we too are very busy with all our fantasies and fancies in life, that something has to break us to grab our attentions.....Read on...

About ten years ago, a young and very successful executive named Josh
was traveling down a Chicago neighborhood street. He was going a bit too
fast in his sleek, black, 12 cylinder Jaguar XKE, which was only two months
old.

He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and
slowed down when he thought he saw something. As his car passed, no child darted
out, but a brick sailed out and-WHUMP! -- it smashed into the Jag's shiny
black side door! SCREECH...!!!! Brakes slammed! Gears ground into reverse, and
tires madly spun the Jaguar back to the spot from where the brick had been
thrown.

Josh jumped out of the car, grabbed the kid and pushed him up against
a parked car. He shouted at the kid, "What was that all about and who
are you? Just what the heck are you doing?!" Building up a head of steam, he
went on. "That's my new Jag, that brick you threw is gonna cost you a lot of
money. Why did you throw it?"

"Please, mister, please...I'm sorry! I didn't know what else to do!"
Pleaded the youngster. "I threw the brick because no one else would
stop!" Tears were dripping down the boy's chin as he pointed around the
parked car. "It's my brother, mister," he said. "He rolled off the curb and fell
out of his wheelchair and I can't lift him up." Sobbing, the boy asked the executive, "Would you please help me get him back into his
wheelchair? He's hurt and he's too heavy for me." Moved beyond words, the young executive tried desperately to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat.

Straining, he lifted the young man back into the wheelchair and took
out his handkerchief and wiped the scrapes and cuts, checking to see that
everything was going to be OK. He then watched the younger brother push him down the sidewalk toward their home.

It was a long walk back to the sleek, black, shining, 12 cylinder
JaguarXKE-a long and slow walk. Josh never did fix the side door of his Jaguar.
He kept the dent to remind him not to go through life so fast that someone
has to throw a brick at him to get his attention... Some bricks are softer
than others. Feel for the bricks of life coming at you.

For all the negative things we have to say to ourselves, God has
positive answers

You say: "It's impossible"
God says: All things are possible (Luke 18:27)

You say: "I'm too tired"
God says: I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28-30)

You say: "Nobody really loves me"
God says: I love you (John 3:16 & John 13:34)

You say: "I can't go on"
God says: My grace is sufficient (II Corinthians 12:9 & Psalm 91:15)

You say: "I can't figure things out"
God says: I will direct your steps (Proverbs 3:5-6)

You say: "I can't do it"
God says: You can do all things (Philippians 4:13)

You say: "I'm not able"
God says: I am able (II Corinthians 9:8)

You say: "It's not worth it"
God says: It will be worth it (Roman 8:28)

You say: "I can't forgive myself"
God says: I FORGIVE YOU (I John 1:9 & Romans 8:1)

You say: "I can't manage"
God says: I will supply all your needs (Philippians 4:19)

You say: "I'm afraid"
God says: I have not given you a spirit of fear (II Timothy 1:7)

You say: "I'm always worried and frustrated"
God says: Cast all your cares on ME (I Peter 5:7)

You say: "I don't have enough faith"
God says: I've given everyone a measure of faith (Romans 12:3)

You say: "I'm not smart enough"
God says: I give you wisdom (I Corinthians 1:30)

You say: "I feel all alone"
God says: I will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5)

Slothfulness

2009-06-19T09:39:00.001+05:30

I came across this article and found it to be an eye opener for me personally. I am posting it here and pray that it would open the eyes of many who read this.

Proverbs 19:15
"Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep;
and an idle soul shall suffer hunger."

Slothfulness is doing a job s-l-o-w-l-y. It is d-r-e-a-d-i-n-g a job and resenting the effort it requires. It is a lazy attitude and effort toward work; and it starts a vicious cycle. Laziness saps your energy, slows you down, intimidates your spirit, and puts you to sleep.. Laziness begets more laziness, until you are a worthless bum. It leads to, “I’m too tired to do anything; I think I’ll take a nap.” Soon you are too “tired” to even eat (19:24: 26:15)!

What are the consequences of laziness? In a godly world, you would starve to death! The Lord Jesus Christ of the Bible does not allow lazy people to eat (20:4; II Thess 3:10)! An idle soul – a person not moving and working – shall suffer hunger! Because you are lazy, noble employers will not promote you or pay you very much; you will stay in lowly jobs and get poorer and poorer (10:4; 12:24; 13:4). You will soon not have enough to eat..

What is slothfulness? It is acting like a sloth! What is a sloth? The sloth is a mammal that lives in the trees of South America. They move very slowly – upside down. They are the slowest land mammals and travel very sluggishly on the ground (only 5 feet in a minute). When moving through the trees upside down, they travel at a quicker speed (about 12 feet in a minute). Sloths are very lazy animals and sleep an average of 15 hours per day.

Each day brings several tests to prove whether you are a sloth or not. One is in the morning, when it is time to get up. What do you do? If you roll over, cuddle yourself under the blankets, and wish you did not have to get up, you are a sloth. Solomon mocked your antics in bed as resembling a door on hinges, rolling back and forth in the comfort of your covers until poverty has fully destroyed you (6:9-11; 24:33-34; 26:14)! The diligent man is thankful for another day, a place to work, and things to do; he gets up and going!

Another daily test is when you face an unpleasant task, like a sink full of dirty dishes, or a large lawn needing to be cut on a very hot day. You will either, jump on the job and go at it with full strength, or you will tell yourself how miserable it is that you have to work so hard, and groan and moan all the way through it. Don’t be a sloth! Don’t think about how hard a job is! Think about how thankful you are for health, strength, sunshine, lawnmowers, grass, and having your own yard! Get out there and make it look great!

The hard worker gets done first, enjoys working hard, has a sense of accomplishment, and is rewarded by God and men. He is going somewhere! He drives his new car past the yard of the slothful and sees him trudging behind his mower. The slothful man finishes much later, complains about everything, is crushed by a defeated and exhausted spirit, and has his used car repossessed. Fire that bum! The hard worker is happy, promoted, and asking for overtime! The slothful man desperately just wants to take a nap!

It is all about attitude. And your attitude is a choice. If you get up slowly and wish you were still in bed, you will sap your energy and put yourself in slow motion. If you start a job with a sigh and resentment, it will seem like a mountain and take forever. Every job to the slothful man has a hedge of thorns in the way (15:19)! But if you leap up in the morning, thanking God for another day to serve Him, you can be done with several jobs before noon, have a full sense of accomplishment, peace, and joy, and be a great success.

It is a choice. Don’t sit. Don’t think about what you need to do. Don’t think about it being hard. Don’t think about how long it will take. Start the first job now! Get at it! Don’t think! Work! Before you know it, the task is over; you are refreshed by the joy and reward of a job well done; you are rejoicing in your abilities; and men will promote you.

A street bum, a panhandler, who sits and sleeps all day near his park bench, began with a choice one day not to work hard. One day of not working hard made it easier to be slothful the second day. In just a few days, he had lost the habit, conviction, drive, and joy of hard work. He lulled himself to sleep, the sleep of a bum. Sloth! Open your paper bag and drink your cheap wine! Fall down in the gutter and sleep in your own vomit!

The cure? We could rid the country of bums by ending social assistance to such people and firing all slow employees. Our nation’s productivity would leap! Prosperity would abound much more than it does. Starvation is the best teacher of good work habits (16:26; 20:4). Men have a universal tendency to be thankful and motivated about working, when their belly button gets closer to their backbone! If our nation stopped protecting and subsidizing the slothful, men would learn to work, or starve! Either way, society and the workforce are purged of those unworthy of food and drink. What glorious wisdom!

The cure for yourself? Don’t make excuses (22:13; 26:13,16). Get to work! Learn that extra time in bed is a horrible waste (6:9-11; 20:13; 24:30-34). Get up! Attack your job with fiery zeal, as to the King of kings; and think about working for kings, for that may be your next promotion (22:29; Col 3:22-25)! Work is pleasure and a privilege to the godly man, and he will be content with whatever abilities and job God brings his way.

Parent, this is a great lesson to teach your children each day. It does not matter who discovered Bolivia, that the atomic number for titanium is 22, or that Spanish for nachos is nachos! But it does matter how children get up in the morning and attack their tasks for the day. Hard work and a zealous attitude are not the properties of any race, nationality, or temperament; they are rather the marks of the children of God. If you have learned the wisdom of God from this proverb, you will not subsidize or protect slothful children.

Christian reader, the lesson of this proverb applies to all areas of your life, not just employment, washing dishes, or cutting the grass. It includes your attitude and efforts in your marriage, in child training, in personal devotions, prayer, and the worship of God. Are you ambitious, committed, energetic, and fervent in all these duties as well? There is only one way to live and approach our responsibilities – all out for the glory of God!

Never think for a minute that this doctrine is unique to the Old Testament. Paul condemned slothfulness in the New Testament (Rom 12:11; I Thess 4:11-12; Eph 4:28). He ordered the churches not to let lazy people eat (II Thess 3:10-12). And he called for the exclusion of any church members compromising these orders (II Thess 3:6-15). The grace of God that converts sinners, and the proper preaching of His Word, will transform men from the slothful habits and thinking of this lazy and spoiled generation.

Our blessed Lord Jesus and the apostle Paul were diligent workers. Jesus often did not have time for leisure (Mark 3:20-21; 6:31). He didn't want night to come, because He would have to quit working (John 4:34; 9:4; 17:4)! Paul labored more diligently than the other apostles (I Cor 15:10). He preached during the day and worked at night; he preached during the night and worked during the day (Acts 18:3; I Thes 2:9; II Thes 3:8).

There is no room in the kingdom of heaven for lazy and slothful people (Matt 11:12; Luke 9:62; 13:24; I Cor 9:24; Phil 3:14). Neither Jesus nor Paul was slothful, and they are both our examples (I Cor 11:1). They put their hands to the will of God and did it with all their might, just as we should do the various duties God has given us (Eccl 9:10).

The Holy Spirit Can Minister To All Your Needs

2009-06-16T21:17:00.000+05:30

By Zac Poonen

In 2 Kings 4: 1 - 7, we read of a preacher’s widow who was in debt. It’s a sad thing when husbands die and leave their wives with a debt. That’s something all of us should avoid at any cost. And preachers especially should avoid getting into debt, because that is a bad testimony. Now the creditor had come to take away her two children as slaves to repay the debt. Elisha asked her what she had in her home. She replied, “Nothing, except a jar of oil.” She called the jar of oil “nothing” and yet the solution to all her problems lay right there. The Lord asked Moses something similar in the desert, “What do you have in your hand.” He only had a shepherd’s staff. That was enough. With that staff, he split the Red Sea, brought water out of the rock and led Israel right up to the borders of the promised land. The widow in Zarephath (whom Elijah visited) had only a small bowl of flour and a little jar of oil. But those contained the solution to all her family’s problems and saved her and her son from death. We too may have some ability that we don’t value and say, “I can’t do anything with that.” But that may be the very thing the Lord wants to use.

This jar of oil here is a picture of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes those who serve the Lord say, “I don’t have much money or knowledge. I am not gifted or clever. I don’t have any supporters to give me money. The needs are so great for the Lord’s work. What shall I do?” So you ask them, “Have you received the Holy Spirit?” “Yes.” “Then what else do you need?”

This woman did not realize that the solution to all her problems lay in that jar of oil. Elisha told her, “Go and borrow many large vessels from all your neighbours. Then go into your room, shut the door, and keep pouring from your jar into these vessels. They will all get filled up. Don’t let other people see this miracle. Do it in secret.” (2 Kings 4:3, 4). This was just like Jesus said, “Go shut the door and pray and fast and give your gifts. Don’t let anybody see you do these things.” (Mt.6:1-18).

A man of God must have a secret walk with God where he has dealings with God, before he can stand up in public. Shut the door and you can experience the Holy Spirit ministering to all your needs. Then open the door and share that with others. Thus you can clear your debt.

We have a debt to the whole world – to give them the gospel. Paul said, “I am a debtor to Jews and non-Jews, to the cultured and to the barbarians - to everybody - to give them the gospel of God.” (Rom.1:14)

We also have a debt to the whole church – to every believer – to show them love. The Bible says “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another.” (Rom.13:8).

How are we to clear this two-fold debt – to share the gospel with the world and to love every child of God? Is it money we need or human abilities primarily? No. We need the power of the Holy Spirit. That was what Jesus told His disciples to wait for (Acts 1:8). That is what Paul told Timothy to kindle afresh within him (2 Tim.1:6)

Shut the door and seek God in secret. Pursue after love and seek earnestly for the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit and especially for the gift of prophecy (1 Cor.14:1). You can then go forth and clear your debt. That is the message of this passage of Scripture.

That widow filled every vessel she could find. She not only cleared her debt with that oil, but blessed and enriched her neighbours too – for she must have sent those vessels back to them full of oil. That is our calling too – to bless our neighbours and everyone we meet. This is why we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Proverbs 15 :16

2009-06-15T19:25:00.000+05:30

Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith.

Get your priorities right! Solomon, who tried everything life can offer, compared things for us, so we can avoid perplexity and the pain of wrong priorities. What is better – being poor with the fear of the LORD, or being rich without it? The answer is simple! Make the fear of the LORD most important in your life, for it has great reward and will save you from trouble. In other words, “Godliness with contentment is great gain” (I Tim 6:6).

Who cares what’s in the bank, if you know the living God and His Son Jesus Christ? It does not matter what you are eating or wearing, or where you live! The fear of the LORD is a gift from heaven in your soul, for the world has none (Rom 3:18). Many thousands of martyrs burned slowly and painfully at the stake with great hope and peace, for their hearts were filled with the fear of the LORD. They would not bow to any man, confess any heresy, nor defraud their Savior or His scriptures of even one jot or tittle of glory.

What did Solomon conclude after testing every possible means for human happiness and purpose in life? Read it: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man” (Eccl 12:13). There should be no questions in your mind. This is the most important thing for you to find and keep.

This is no servile fear of miserable anxiety and debilitating intimidation – this is the awestruck reverence and overwhelming affection for the blessed and glorious God that fills the soul with confident joy! It leads to angry hatred for sin and passionate craving for holiness. It causes sober trembling before His blessed word and eager desire to learn more. It leads to a life of godliness and love with fruit the world can never bear.

The real issue here is the fruit of fearing God – godly living in truth and wisdom. Note the contrast with “trouble.” And compare these similar statements: “Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right” (16:8). “Better is the poor that walketh in his uprightness, than he that is perverse in his ways, though he be rich” (28:6). “A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked” (Ps 37:16).

Fearing God will bring peace and joy, confidence and contentment, and all the blessings of heaven (10:22; Ps 112:1-3; 115:13; 128:1-6; 147:11; 145:19). Guaranteed! Why would you want anything else? Treasure by itself is vanity and vexation of spirit, as Ecclesiastes describes in detail; but it is even more so with the trouble that comes from not fearing the Lord (12:21; 19:23). Even poverty can be okay, if you fear the Lord. If all this is true, and it is; then great care must be used to marry and live with one fearing the LORD (31:30).

The Hungry Birds

2009-05-23T16:40:00.001+05:30

Once as I wandered in the mountains, I came upon an outcropping of rocks, and as I sat on the highest rock to rest and look out over the valley, I saw a nest in the branches of a tree. The young birds in the nest were crying noisily. Then I saw how the mother bird returned with food for her young ones. When they heard the sound of her wings and felt her presence nearby, they cried all the more loudly and opened their beaks wide. But after the mother bird fed them and flew away again, they were quiet. Climbing down to look more closely, I saw that the newly hatched birds had not yet opened their eyes. Without even being able to see their mother, they opened their beaks and begged for nourishment whenever she approached.

These tiny birds did not say: “We will not open our beaks until we can see our mother clearly and also see what kind of food she offers. Perhaps it is not our mother at all but instead some dangerous enemy. And who knows if it is proper nourishment or some kind of poison that is being fed to us?” If they had reasoned thus, they would never have discovered the truth. Before they were even strong enough to open their eyes, they would have starved to death. But they held no such doubts about the presence and love of their mother, and so after a few days, they opened their eyes and rejoiced to see her with them.

Day by day they grew stronger and developed into the form and likeness of the mother, and soon they were able to soar up into the freedom of the skies. We humans often think of ourselves as the greatest living beings, but do we not have something to learn from these common birds? We often question the reality and the loving nature of God. But the Master has said: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” Whenever we open our hearts to God, we receive spiritual nourishment and grow more and more into the likeness of God until we reach spiritual maturity. And once we open our spiritual eyes and see God’s presence, we find indescribable and unending bliss.

--- Sadhu Sunder Singh

Spiritual Bankruptcy

2009-05-22T07:49:00.000+05:30

We all know times are tough right now. You can’t escape the news. We are in a recession. It is perhaps the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. Some are even labeling our crisis the Great Recession.

With all the media attention on our troubled time it is easy to get caught up in the gloom and doom. Focusing on negativity will not make things better, however, so I try to take a different tact. I believe that when you stop living in the problem and start living in the solution the problem goes away. Or at least you find a way to face the problem.

The big problem I see today is not so much that unemployment is on the rise and banks are foreclosing on homes (but please don’t think I’m minimizing the plight of anyone dealing with those challenges). The problem I perceive is that too many people are going bankrupt spiritually. A very large part of the population seems lost in a culture that emphasizes materialism, consumerism and egoism. These things never satisfy. Not ultimately.

The good news that sometimes comes out of the bad news of a great recession is that more of us get a wakeup call to what life is really all about. Life is more than getting our comfort. Money cannot solve all our problems. Yes, it is nice to not have to worry and fret over where the money is to pay the bills or where your next meal might come from. Still, the true hunger and thirst we have can only be satisfied from finding real purpose and meaning in life. Hitting bottom means there is only one way to go - up! To rise from the despair of our emotional and spiritual bottoms we must find an answer to our purpose and meaning.

The Great Message of Christianity

The great message of Christianity is that God cares, is present and does not require we be at a certain level of goodness or be worthy of assistance. God already knows we need help and that we aren’t perfect. That is why God came to us as a human – Jesus Christ – to save us and show us the way. God does for us what we can’t do for ourselves. And God does through us – with our cooperation and participation – great and wonderful things.

Don’t let any misconceptions about religion or Christianity or what you think you know about Jesus keep you from discovering for yourself the grace available to you. That grace is free. You only have to accept it gratefully and be willing to pay it forward. Doing for others is the model Jesus gave us. We can’t fix things on our own power. God can reveal solutions that we haven’t discovered without his help.

There is a way to deal with our very real problems during this recession. It is a spiritual solution.

By Tom Gilbert
source : www.livingthesolution.com

Be still and know that I am God

2009-05-21T07:43:00.000+05:30

“Be still and know that I am God!” is the first part of Psalm 46:10. Here, the word still comes from a Hebrew word meaning to “let go” or “release.” The meaning would be best understood to say “cause yourself to become restrained or to let go.” In other words, we need to come to a place where we are willing to submit ourselves to God and acknowledging that He is in sovereign control.

When we realize that we are truly incapable of controlling life, we can surrender our will to God’s will. It may be a matter of finally saying we trust Him. This will open the door so that we may experience the fullness of all God wants and has for us. After all, He is our Creator and has a perfect plan for us when we let Him orchestrate it.

Be still and know that I am God – How can we know it’s God?
“…and know that I am God” denotes recognition, acknowledgement, and answering God. First, we must know that God is God, the one and only Supreme Being who created all the heavens and earth (Genesis 1:1).

We can know Him by having an intimate relationship with Him. That does not come from knowing about Him, but rather getting to personally know Him by what He says (in His Holy Word, the Bible), recognizing the things He does in our lives, and by way of His Holy Spirit who comes to guide and comfort us. In John 14:26, Jesus says “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” (KJV).

When we read the Bible, we will learn to recognize the way God talks to us, the kinds of things He says, and the merciful love He offers.

God is:

Omniscient – all knowing
Omnipresent – universal presence at the same time
Omnipotent – all powerful
Holy, Faithful, and Sovereign
Infinite – without measure, forever

Be still and know that I am God – What is the next part of the verse?
“Be still and know that I am God; I will be honored by every nation, I will be honored throughout the world!” The KJV uses the word ‘exalted’ meaning lifted up. Honored means highly valued or glorified. We are being told in this verse that the entire world will someday lift up and glorify the Lord.

Romans 14:11 says, “As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow to me and every tongue will confess allegiance to God.’” And regarding Christ’s promised return, Revelation 19:16 says: “On His robe and thigh was written this title: KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS.”

source :http://www.allaboutfollowingjesus.org

Seek God

2009-05-20T07:28:00.001+05:30

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Matthew 6: 33

The Almighty God gives us the golden key here to unlock every earthly blessing that each one is after. Thousands across the globe are immersed in worries as to what they will eat, wear etc. Worry, fear and greed push them to strive harder all the time.

Many pursue wealth at the expense of their relationship with God, their families and their health. Such wealth is not long lasting. David, the King said, “I have been young, and now I am old, but I have never seen a righteous person abandoned or his descendants begging for food.”

God goes beyond the man or woman who earnestly pursues after Him. He blesses the generations that follow after you. None of us have been born to stay here on earth forever; but long after you have departed, God’s awesome presence will continue to abide with and lead your children and their children and theirs too! Let pleasing Him be your top priority.

source :www.jesusthejoyministries.org

Christian life - How to Live

2009-05-19T07:03:00.001+05:30

How to live the Christian life is a topic that is discussed in many Bible passages. One of the most notable discourses was between Jesus and Nicodemus. Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish council, went to Jesus during the night to discover how to live the Christian life. Jesus explains to Nicodemus that he must be born again: "…I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again" (John 3:3). Salvation is the beginning step in living a Christian life. In John 14:6, Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Jesus encourages all believers to grow in relationship, commitment, and obedience to Him. This is the essence of how to live a Christian life. Our relationship, commitment, and obedience are done out of love, not constraint. John 14:21 says, "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."

Living the Christian life is not abiding by an agenda or following a set of strict rules. Instead, the Christian life is characterized by:

Understanding that you are a new creation! 2 Corinthians 5:17 declares: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"
Transforming and renewing your mind. Romans 12:2 says, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will."

Treating others with love. Philippians 2:3-4 says, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others."

Living out the teachings of Christ. Jesus taught: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:3-10).

Sharing your faith. Matthew 5:14-16 says, "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."

Living the Christian life does not mean enjoying a life of ease and never experiencing problems. 1 Peter 5:8 says that there is an enemy who wishes to destroy us: "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." But we also read that Jesus has overcome the world!

No matter what opposition you face, living the Christian life is worth it! Enjoying a relationship with God and His Son Jesus, being confident of where you will spend eternity, and living in day-to-day fellowship with Him is far greater than any opposition you may face.

source : http://www.allaboutfollowingjesus.org

Don't Despise the Day of Small Things

2009-05-18T07:25:00.001+05:30

I remember the excitement in my boyhood neighborhood when somebody began to build a large home on a vacant lot at the end of our street. A concrete truck rolled up to pour foundations, and for several days we could hear the sound of vigorous pounding as carpenters framed the walls. Then everybody left. I never knew why. Not another nail was pounded. The bare frame stood spring and summer and Christmas season, too — as long as I lived there — a house of sticks and little more.

Some of God's projects stall, too. Five centuries before Jesus was born, the Israelites returned from exile to find Jerusalem in ruins and their beloved temple destroyed. With great enthusiasm they set about rebuilding it. However, Zerubbabel the governor, got little farther than laying the foundation before opposition set in. Neighbors fought the project tooth and nail, finally succeeding in getting a restraining order to halt construction (Ezra 4). Enemies mocked. Supporters became discouraged. For years the site stood silent.

Failure. Zerubbabel felt like a failure. Oh, there were plenty of other things to do. Zerubbabel set to work building his own wood-paneled home. But his grand dream had fizzled.

He was probably like the rest of us when failure looms. What little self-confidence we have ebbs away. We seal ourselves from more pain by denial. We meet further effort with skepticism. We protect ourselves from getting our hopes too high again. We look at the ground rather than the sky, at the past rather than the future.

And then one day a man of God, Zechariah, began to speak words that pierced Zerubbabel to the heart and filled him with fresh hope: "This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel," came the message. "Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty." Zerubbabel could feel his heart pounding as the message continued. "What are you, O mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of 'God bless it! God bless it!' The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple, his hands will also complete it" (Zechariah 4:6-7).

The project had seemed like an immovable mountain, Zerubbabel thought. But now with God at work he knew he could finish the temple.

The final words of the prophecy jolted him. "Do not despise the day of small things. Men will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel" (vs. 10).

He had despised that early start. How weak, how insignificant, how naive he had been. Yet, in spite of all that, God had been in those beginnings.

How often our efforts for God are attacked by the enemy. We can get so discouraged we don't even want to try again. But God delights in taking the insignificant and making something out of it. Down through history we can see the pattern:

Moses' rod that delivered a nation from Egypt (Exodus 4:1-9),

The jawbone of an ass that in Samson's hand killed a thousand Philistines (Judges 15:14-16),

Five smooth stones that felled the giant Goliath (1 Samuel 17),

The handful of meal and a jar of oil that sustained a widow through years of famine (2 Kings 4:1-7),

A grubby stable that became the nativity place of the Christ Child himself on Christmas morning (Luke 2),

Five barley loaves and a couple fish that fed a multitude (Matthew 14:13-21), and

The mustard seed Jesus said would become a great tree for birds to find shelter (Matthew 13:31-32).

What little thing, what dream, what false start, have you despised? Your small church, your tiny Bible study, your hopes of ministry for Christ? Do you despise your failures? Don't.

Surrender them to the God who delights in taking human weakness and showing His strength. Take another look at your discarded dreams, this time through God's eyes:

"Not by might, not by power, but my Spirit says the Lord Almighty" (Zechariah 4:6). Oh, by the way. When I went back to my old neighborhood, someone had finished that house at the end of the street. It's beautiful.

By Dr. Ralph Wilson
source : http://www.livingthesolution.com

Angels & Demons - Are They Real?

2009-05-18T07:18:00.001+05:30

“If we had open spiritual eyes, we would see not only a world filled with evil spirits and powers – but also powerful angels with drawn swords, set for our defense.”

The Bible tells us that angels and demons are both real.

In popular culture, demonic forces seem to get more press than angels. They’ve been a favorite focus of Hollywood and literature for decades. Throughout history, in fact – from primitive cave art to modern movies – the portrayal of evil forces has evoked strong fear response. Maybe you’ve felt this yourself, reading a book or watching a movie.

In his second edition of the million-selling book, Angels, God’s Secret Agents, Billy Graham offers some perspective on the relative prominence of angels and demons in God’s Word:

“Bookstores and libraries have shelves of books on demons, the occult, and the devil…(But) angels have a much more important place in the Bible than the devil and his demons.”

The Bible tells us angels fill many roles in the life of the Christian. They guide, comfort, and provide for the people of God in the midst of suffering and persecution – and their unseen presence should reassure us in times of fear.

Do you fear the unseen forces of evil? Do you tremble at the notion of demons? Put your trust and faith in the living and sovereign God through his Son, Jesus Christ. Psalm 91:11 (NASB) says, “For He will give His angels charge concerning you to guard you in all your ways.” 1 John 4:4 reminds us “…greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.”

-Billy Graham
source :www.billygraham.org

Our Profession’s – A gift of God

2009-05-17T16:04:00.001+05:30

God has a plan for each one of us who have accepted Him. God chose us to be His people even before He formed the world. His plans are always for our well being. The Bible says in Jeremiah 29: 10-12 “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.” We need to understand that God chose our jobs too even before we were born. He fore knew what we will do in this earth from our birth to death. How comforting it is to be enlightened that God knows even very minute details of us!

The job that has been given to us is truly a gift of God. Ecclesiastes 5:19 says “Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work—this is a gift of God”. We could not have landed in our current positions by our own efforts. It is God’s grace that we are blessed with jobs when so many around us are broken because they don’t have work to support a decent living. We also need to understand that we have been put in our current positions with a clear purpose by God. It is not by accident that we are in our current jobs.

We are sometimes frustrated even though we are blessed with a well paid job. We find our work boring and we feel that we waste so much time in office during the week days. The work seems monotonous and boring. There are lots of self-help books and personality development seminars that tell us to choose jobs of our heart’s desire. We are really confused by the inspirational talks that we get from the world. These only add to our worries. There are some of us who think that all the jobs other than ours would be interesting. Some of us might feel that doing business would give us more ownership and flexibility to spend time according to our likings rather than to be bound under someone else.

There are other attributes that lead to frustration in job. We always want to improve our technical/managerial skills, some of us want to work abroad and earn a lot and when these do not happen, we are frustrated. Sometimes we start worrying too much about the future prospects of our jobs. We dream of promotions, hikes in salary and when we don’t get these we begin to hate our current organizations and want to jump out. We are also frustrated when we don’t have a good relationship with our superiors and co-workers.

Why this pain? Why can’t we be peaceful in our jobs? Is there a way by which we can enjoy the time that we spend in our office? Well, the answer is “Yes” if we have found Jesus Christ and “No” if we are far away from Him. When we find Jesus Christ, we have a clear purpose in our lives. We need to understand something very clear here. We would always be annoyed and frustrated with our jobs if we think to accomplish our selfish desires and purposes. The job will become a burden for us. We will always be bound by anxieties and fears.

We need to understand that it is God who has gifted us our current jobs. He has kept us here with a purpose. Joseph was placed by God in Egypt, because it was through him that God helped Israelites during the famine. There was a revival there. Similarly, we are placed in our organizations by God to do His work and bring a revival there. Remember it is “His” work all the time. He wants to use us instruments to speak to others and bring them into His kingdom.

All countries have an ambassador placed in other countries. His job is to build a relationship between two countries. We are all ambassadors for Christ in our organizations and our goal should always be to be to add people to the Kingdom of God. This should be our primary purpose in our work place. We need to be very sincere and honest in our work. Others should never be able to find fault in us. We should always walk in the light. Colossians 3:23 says “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men”

Every day we should be joyful in our work. We should bring peace and blessing into other people’s life. The best testimony is to live a life for Jesus in our work places. People should see the likeness of “Jesus” in each of our actions. The next time a negative thought comes in us about our jobs, let us not worry about it because it is God who has put us there, and He will take us out of it, when His purpose is accomplished through us.

Annoyance

2009-05-16T20:01:00.003+05:30

Annoyance is a tendancy that creates an irritation in us when we meet or have a look at certain persons whom we do not like. This might seem to be a very petty thing for us, but if left unconqured, it may rob us of our peace. Why do we get annoyed or irritated when we come across somebody?. Here are three reasons.

Selfish motives :The primary reason that I think for this behavior is that we have lot of "self" still left in us. When we are too selfish, we get annoyed when we think that somebody is of no use to us. We make use of people when they are needed, and when we no more need them, even looking at them annoys us. How selfish we are at times?. If we surrender our "self" to God, He would transform us and make us loving and caring towards others

Jealousy : In our workplaces and neighborhood, we are annoyed when we see somebody equal to us getting more successful. We could not digest that and we are so irritated that even the very thought about those people annoys us.

Aimless life : We would very often get irritated if we dont have an aim in life. If we just live our lives without a focus, we feel empty, discouraged and without hope. Only bitterness would be left in us and we won't have the confidence to face the world. This feeling of insecurity creates annoyance inside us.

We will miss so many oppurtunities in life if we could not get along with others without being selfish. An annoying person will never succeed in life. People will never like to have friendship with somebody who gets easily irritated.

Annoyance is a terrible sin and would lead to many more sins also. Only Jesus Christ can deliver us from this horrible sin. Jesus was always calm and gentle. He was never irritated, though He was mocked by many. He was even spat on the face at the cross of Calvary, but He never got irritated with those responsible for it. He said "Father, please forgive them for they do not know what they are doing". As followers of Christ, we have to overcome this by His grace.
Everytime when a situation arises that may lead us to get irritated, let us immediately ask God to take that away. We can surely be overcomers in Christ

NOT I, BUT CHRIST

2009-05-15T07:35:00.001+05:30

Lord, bend that proud and stiffnecked “I,”
Help me to bow the neck and die,
Beholding Him on Calvary,
Who bowed His Head for me.

The following are some of the features and manifestations of the self-life. The Holy Spirit alone can interpret and apply this to your individual case. As you read, examine yourself in the very presence of God. Are you ever conscious of:

A secret spirit of pride—an exalted feeling in view of your success or position; because of your good training or appearance; because of your natural gifts and abilities. An important, independent spirit?

Love of human praise; a secret fondness to be noticed; love of supremacy, drawing attention to self in conversation; a swelling out of self when you have had a free time in speaking or praying?

The stirrings of anger or impatience, which, worst of all, you call nervousness or holy indignation; a touchy, sensitive spirit; a disposition to resent and retaliate when disapproval of or contradicted; a desire to throw sharp, heated flings at another?

Self-will; a stubborn, unteachable spirit; an arguing, talkative spirit; harsh, sarcastic expression; an unyielding, headstrong disposition; a driving, commanding spirit; a disposition to criticize and pick flaws when set aside and unnoticed; a peevish, fretful spirit; a disposition that loves to be coaxed and humored?

Carnal fear; a man-fearing spirit; a shrinking from reproach and duty; reasoning around your cross; a shrinking from doing your whole duty by those of wealth or position; a fearfulness that someone will offend and drive some prominent person away; a compromising spirit?

A jealous disposition, a secret spirit of envy shut up in your heart; an unpleasant sensation in view of the great prosperity and success of another; a disposition to speak of the faults and failings, rather than the gifts and virtues of those more talented and appreciated than yourself?

A dishonest, deceitful disposition; the evading and covering of the truth; the covering up of your real faults; leaving a better impression of yourself than is strictly true; false humility; exaggeration; straining the truth?

Unbelief; a spirit of discouragement in times of pressure and opposition; lack of quietness and confidence in God; lack of faith and trust in God; a disposition to worry and complain in the midst of pain, poverty, or at the dispensations of Divine Providence; an overanxious feeling whether everything will come out all right?

Formality and deadness; lack of concern for lost souls; dryness and indifference?

Selfishness; love of ease; love of money?

These are some of the traits which generally indicate carnality in the heart. By prayer, hold your heart open to the searchlight of God. “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me” (Psalm 139:23-24).
The Holy Spirit will enable you, by confession and faith, to bring your “self-life” to the death (see Romans 8:12-13). Do not patch over, but go to the bottom. It alone will pay.

Oh, to be saved from myself, dear Lord,
Oh, to be lost in Thee;
Oh, that it might be no more I,
But Christ that lives in me.

“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10).
—Author Unknown

God's will

2009-05-14T07:41:00.001+05:30

John 13:13 "You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am"

He (the Spirit) will never lead you contrary to the Word of God. I hear people saying, “The Lord led me to do this. . . . The Lord told me thus and so . . . ” I am always a little suspicious unless what the Lord has said is in keeping with His Word. God never directs us to do anything contrary to His Word. The prophet Samuel once said, “Obedience is better than sacrifice.” The Scripture teaches, “He that willeth to do His will shall know the doctrine.” When you find yourself up a blind alley, not knowing which way to turn, if you are willing to do His will, He will reveal Himself. He conceals His will only from those who, before they consent to do His bidding, seek to know what He is going to say. Be an obedient Christian. Remember that “where God guides, He provides. Where He leads, He supplies all needs!”

source :www.billygraham.org

FACTS, FAITH AND FEELINGS

2009-05-13T08:40:00.002+05:30

I read this wonderful sermon in a blog. In addition to what I had blogged in the previous post, this would help us to ground more in faith. Please read prayerfully.

FACTS, FAITH AND FEELINGS

By Mark Snow
http://devotions4life.blogspot.com

Fact, faith and feelings; these three sometimes get confused in our world today when it comes to the things of God. Too often people do not find the facts and fix their faith accordingly, but will have a faith based on something other than the facts God presents in HIS Word. It is obvious that many religious organizations will base their beliefs on the feelings they can cause or arouse in people rather than giving the facts in God's Word as HE presents them. If a person has a feeling deep inside, too often that "feeling" becomes their basis of faith or belief that they are doing "IT" correctly. We all know however, that feelings are not always true. Allow me to give you a case in point from God's Holy Word.

In the Bible (Genesis 37) we read about Joseph and his coat of many colors. His father had showed a bit of partiality in giving him this special gift, which only served to make his neglected brothers even more jealous. We know the story of how these brothers sold Joseph into slavery because of their bitterness and jealousy towards him. Dipping his coat of many colors in the blood of a goat, they brought it to their father. The heart of poor Jacob was broken as he was overcome by grief. As far as he knew and was concerned, his favored son was dead. He believed that a wild animal had killed him and torn him to pieces. He actually "FELT" and acted as though his son had truly been killed. Many years later when word came that Joseph was actually alive and living down in Egypt, Jacob refused to believe it. He was so firmly convinced that his son was dead. The belief he had was not based on facts, but something completely untrue.

Experiences in religion within themselves prove nothing. A person's feelings are not a safe guide by which to gauge Godly things. A "THING" or idea can be taught so strongly that a few, or many millions for that matter, believe it so much and act on it as though it were true. This does not make it true by the standard set down by God in HIS Holy Word. Facts should produce the faith and the feelings should come as a result of doing the right thing by God and His standard. Romans 10:17 tells us, "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ." Hearing what God's word says is, according to the Bible, what brings true faith.

God took the time to put His Words down in written form and we should never accept anything but His Truth as it is written. NO MAN has the right to change one word, one comma, one period, one dot over an "I" or one crossing of a "T". We will all be judged on HIS WORD, how it WAS written, and not on the changes made to suppress sin so we feel good in our religious activities. Find the FACTS in GOD"S Words, put your FAITH in HIS Word, and doing it HIS way will bring the greatest FEELINGS man can experience, the joy of knowing we have salvation according to His Word.

Facts and feelings

2009-05-13T07:28:00.005+05:30

Do we not feel the urge of prayer sometimes?
Do we not feel that we are worshipping sometimes?
Do we not feel closer to God at times?

The list of negative feelings is endless....we may fill the blanks with all our personal feelings.

These are some of the situations and questions that we may go through if we live our Christian life by feelings and emotions. Let us understand this through an analogy. There was an argument between two brothers while they were looking at the sun. The younger one said "The sun is moving from the east to west and I can feel that experience visually". The older one said "No, it is only the earth that moves around the sun. The sun is stationary". The younger one asked the elder one about the reason for his claim. The elder brother said that "It is written in science books that Earth revolves around the sun".

Now let us come back to our topic. As seen in the above illustration, the proven fact is that the earth is the one which moves, and we never feel it. This perfectly applies to our Christian life too. Our spiritual life should always be based on the facts. The life through spirit is always factual and not a vanity of feelings. Feelings, thoughts and emotions originate in our soul. Here lies the secret of a victorious Christian life. The soul is the origin of passions, feelings, emotions, intelligience, and above all the "self". We will be always defeated by satan if we continue to live in our soul.

We must put our soul to complete death and live each moment driven by the Holy Spirit. How do we know that the Holy spirit is within us?. If we go by feelings, we will be deceived. It is an absolute fact that the moment we confess Jesus is God, and accept Him as our personal savior by repenting for our sins, the Holy Spirit enters us. Now all that we need to do is to live a life of complete dependence on the Holy spirit. We need to be united in Christ always through the Holy spirit.

Romans 10:9-11 says "If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with your heart you believe and are put right with God, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in Him will never be put to shame."

Martin Luther says

"We must not judge by what we feel or by what we see before us. The Word must be followed, and we must firmly hold that these truths are to be believed, not experienced; for to believe is not to experience. Not indeed that what we believe is never to be experienced but that faith is to precede experience. And the Word must be believed even when we feel and experience what differs entirely from the Word"

Luther further said

"I still constantly find that when I am without the Word, Christ is gone, yes, and so are joy and the Spirit. But as soon as I look at a psalm or a passage of Scripture, it so shines and burns into my heart that I gain a different spirit and mind. Moreover, I know that everybody may daily experience this in his own life."

This is the difference we need to understand. Only by grounding ourselves deeply in the word of God, and understanding the facts, we can overcome the feelings of the soul. Jesus dealt with satan always using the word of God. We fail in our spiritual lives because we are not strongly rooted in the scriptures. We spend most of the time going to worship in places where there is flamboyant music, and inspirational message that stir up our feelings and emotions. None of this would help us if we need a deep relationship with Christ.

It is only by reading scriptures and waiting on our knees, we could know God. It can be said that "Only our knees can achieve, what our intelligence cannot". How true it is, isn't it?. Today we may go through a tough time handling our feelings and emotions. We may be going thorugh a vigorous cycle of positive and negative impacts of emotions. But, let us not be discouraged. Let us look unto the cross, and ask God with an earnest heart to take away our "self". God is ready to do it provided we are ready to completely surrender us to Him.

George Mueller- A man of faith

2009-05-12T07:29:00.002+05:30

Called “An Apostle of Faith,” George Mueller was converted to Christ in 1826 at age twenty-one. Shortly there after, he sailed to England from Prussia without letters of introduction, money or recommendations – absolutely unknown and with a very imperfect knowledge of the English language. At that time, he wrote in his journal [his diary]: “My whole life shall be one service for God.”

Mueller began a ministry to the orphans of England, never asking help from anyone, never hinting that help was ever needed. In answer to his believing prayers alone, $7,500,000 was sent to him for building “God’s Orphanage,” for missionary enterprises and for the circulation of Scriptures. (It should be noted that these amounts were in the monetary values of the 1800s – the equivalents of which would be millions more in our generation. Mueller often was down to “only one cent left in my hands.” Still, he never told anyone. Instead, he prayed and the need always was met by a miracle.

“There never was a time when there was no wholesome meal,” he testified.

During a ministry of over seventy years, George Mueller trusted God to house, feed, clothe and educate over 9,500 orphans. He wrote, “God never failed me. It all came when it was needed. No man can say I asked him for a penny. We have no committees, no collectors [fund raisers], no voting, and no endowment. All has come in answer to believing prayer. I have trusted Him for one dollar, I have trusted Him for thousands, and never trusted in vain. Often and often I have placed myself in the position of having no means left at all, and two thousand one hundred persons not only at the table, but with everything else to be provided for. And all funds gone; one hundred and eighty-nine missionaries to be assisted, and nothing whatsoever left; about one hundred schools, with about nine thousand scholars in them, to be entirely supported and no means at hand; about four millions tracts and tens of thousands of copies of the Holy Scriptures yearly to be sent out and all money expended. Invariably, I have said to myself, “God who has led me to enlarge year after year, God who supported this work now for more than forty years, will still help and will not suffer me to be confounded, because I rely upon Him, I commit the whole work to Him, and He will provide me with what I need in the future also, though I know not whence the means may come.”

On September 4, 1869, George Mueller wrote in his journal, “Only one cent in my hands this morning. Pause a moment dear reader: Only one cent and nearly fourteen hundred persons to be provided for. You poor brethren who have six or eight children and small wages, may you not do what we do under your trials? Does the Lord love you less than He loves us? Does He not love all His children with no less love than that with which He loves His only begotten Son?”

George Mueller then affirmed that God loves all His people with the same love with which He loves them and testified to how God provides for all His people, as they trust Him to do so.

How Should We Wait for Jesus?

2009-05-12T07:20:00.002+05:30

"My son has always been on the hungry side. When he was 3, he would follow his mommy around in the kitchen when it was getting close to a mealtime. There was no point in telling him, “Dinner is in 10 minutes, dear.” He had no concept of 10 minutes or delayed gratification. He wanted food!"

By D.A. Carson

Sometimes I, too, was waiting for dinner. But my waiting was different. I was in my study, finishing work on the perennial dissertations that would come across my desk. I would think, Ten more minutes. Am I going to finish this in time?

The parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30 describes different ways that people wait for Jesus’ return. It says that believers are to wait for the Lord Jesus as slaves commissioned to improve their Master’s assets, to advance His Kingdom. In our waiting we are not to be passive. We are to grow, to carefully manage and to develop the resources God entrusts to us.

In the ancient world, slaves had diverse functions: manual laborers, household slaves, accountants. Some even ran the master’s industry or farm. The master assessed a slave’s ability and distributed tasks accordingly.
So we read in verse 14 that the Kingdom “will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents” (Matthew 25:14-15).

The word talent in the original text does not refer to skills and abilities. It is simply a unit of weight often used for money. A talent of silver was the equivalent of about 20 years of a day laborer’s wages—something like $800,000 today. A talent of gold was worth much more.

The man who received five “bags of gold,” as some translations say, immediately put his money to work and gained five more. A second man, who was given two bags of gold, also gained two more. But a third man, who received one bag, dug a hole in the ground and hid the money. Remember, these trusts were given according to the master’s assessment of each slave’s ability.

After a long time, the master returned and settled accounts. The man who had received five bags of gold said, “Master, you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more” (Matthew 25:20).

The man with two bags did the same. And the master answered each with the same words: “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” (Matthew 25:21, 23).

The reward in both instances was increased responsibility. In the first place, they were given quite a lot of responsibility—bags and bags of gold. But that is nothing compared to what they would be given. In the consummated kingdom, they would be given very large responsibility. Not only that, but they now share in their master’s happiness.

The man who had received one bag of gold says, “Master, I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you” (Matthew 25:24-25).

This servant charged the master with exploitation: Others did the sowing, but he reaped. The master replied, “You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest” (Matthew 25:26-27).

In the Western world, we’re not too keen on slavery. But Jesus was not sanctioning slavery any more than He was sanctioning theft when He talked about returning like a thief in the night. He was using a social structure that made His point. But there is another element.

In the New Testament, human beings are either slaves to sin or they’re freed from that slavery to become slaves to Christ. Slavery to Christ is a joyful slavery. It is a slavery that we delight in, because this Master is so good, fair and right. But make no mistake, it is a Master-slave relationship.

The third slave’s sin is that he thinks he has the right to make his own judgments. But if he is the slave of the master, not undertaking the task and instead putting the money in the ground is flagrant disobedience.
The other two slaves are delighted to serve this master. They act with faithfulness and immediately make their investments. This third fellow wants to go his own, independent route.

So the master judges him, not even on the deeper principle that the slave is supposed to obey the master, but on the fact that this chap is not only slothful, he’s wicked. He pretends that the problem is the master’s harsh attitude.

The master commands that the bag of gold be taken from him and given to the man with 10 bags. Those who have, because they’ve invested and made things grow, will be given more. Those who have not worked at all, even what they have will be taken from them. The worthless servant is thrown outside into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Our task while we wait for the Lord Jesus is not to improve our own assets. Oh, I know we have social and family responsibilities that are laid upon us in the Word of God. But if we focus all of our energy and attention on increasing our own assets, what will we have to show the Master when we die? We can’t take any of our own assets with us.

While we wait, we are to be laying up treasures in Heaven, where moth and rust do not corrode, where thieves do not dig through and steal (Matthew 6:19).

In the parable of the virgins, which precedes the parable of the talents, the foolish virgins failed by thinking their part was too easy. This third slave fails because he thinks his part is too hard.

What does faithful service look like? Well, four chapters later, Jesus gives the disciples the Great Commission: to improve the Master’s assets by proclaiming the Gospel.

The parable of the talents is not saying that somehow if you try hard enough, you will get into the Kingdom. Paul says it like this: We are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God working in us, both to will and to do His good pleasure (Philippians 2:12-13). That’s the glory of Christ: He gives us work to do and tells us how to improve His assets. When we’ve done it—through His strength and because we are His—then He says, “Well done!” We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, but grace and faith are ever at work transforming our character, so that we want to improve the Master’s assets.

If someone is waiting so passively for Jesus that he or she sees no obligation to improve the Master’s assets, whether through suffering, evangelism, loving brothers and sisters in Jesus or growing in conformity to Christ, that person is thrown outside, where there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth.

It’s not as if there are three kinds of people here—those who are willing, cheerful, fruitful slaves; those who are in rebellion; and those who are somewhere in between, waiting but not working. If you’re merely waiting, you’re not improving the Master’s assets. This is unthinkable for a real Christian.

So wait, then, for the Lord Jesus as slaves commissioned to improve the Master’s assets. We are talking about the end of the age. Jesus is coming back! If not in our lifetime, we will meet Him when we die, and we will give an account.

Donald A. Carson is research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Ill. He is the author or editor of more than 50 books.

source :www.billygraham.org

Free to live - Through death to self

2009-05-11T21:00:00.001+05:30

Where is the Blessedness?

"Where is the blessedness I knew
When first I saw the Lord?
Where is the soul refreshing view
Of Jesus and His Word?"

Do these words express the cry in your own heart? In private as you read this, what is your reaction to this verse? Here between you and this article, where no one else can hear or see, will you be honest about the state of your own spiritual experience? God yearns for you to be honest at this moment--to forget all the outward witness or the pretence you keep up. He is asking you to be yourself and really look into your own heart.

Jesus said this is where all our defeats and personal failures come from. In Mark 7:21, He said, “For from within, out of the heart of man, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries....” Many of us, who have been Christians for months or years, discover that the first flush of our devotion and gratitude to Christ, the first enthusiasm for prayer and Bible study, the first determination to go out and witness and give our whole future to Christ begins to dim. We find our zeal diminishing, our devotional habits becoming sporadic, our determination to give all of our life to God’s service diluted by the idea of giving part to ourselves.

So our Christian life begins to have valleys in it---long periods when God’s presence is not felt, when we even doubt if He has made us His children. Often we fight an unequal battle with our feelings, and more and more they break out in open sin. For a while we find it possible to suppress envy and self-centredness. But now we almost give up the “suppression business” and compromise with these evil impulses. Gradually we lower the standard of the converted life in order to convince ourselves that we are still in grace. But with this outward failure, inward tension and surrendered conviction comes almost a complete breakdown of any attempt at real witnessing. Indeed, we get used to a high profession and a low life, a high degree of tolerance and a low degree of excellence, increasing dislike for hypocrisy but greater scepticism for saintliness.

We begin to doubt the Bible promises and to suspect the personal experiences described there as poetic exaggerations. We comfort ourselves by saying this is the fight of faith in the twentieth century, or we run to a demythologised humanist theology which makes us feel there are others like us.

Is this your experience? It need not be! Why? Because you can go further with God. He has a further experience--a further step after conversion--another miracle which He works in your spirit. It may be that you either did not know of this step or that you did not fully take it. To be half healed of sin is like cutting off the decayed branches instead of exterminating the pest in the tree. As time passes the disease will only spread more irresistibly.

The Problem--Inward Sin
So the Bible throughout distinguishes between the disease and its symptoms, inward sin and outward sins, the heart and the life. As we see symptoms first and treat them, so in conversion we are conscious first of our sinful acts and words and thoughts. We confess them and repent and believe God’s word of forgiveness. He gives us His Spirit who regenerates us into spiritual life and gives us victory in the outward life.

But it is the heart where the real disease dwells. It is there where we are at ‘dis-ease’ with God. It is there that self still reigns. Deep down in the subconscious we still want to maintain a secret independence of God. Inside in our own ‘holy of holies’ we want to be god, and from that safe, secluded spot we control our surrenders to God’s will. Each surrender requires individual treatment and negotiation. Self has to be satisfied where self interest conflicts with God’s interest. And gradually, the reclamation begins, and self advances from its hideout in our motives, reactions, desires and tempers. Relentlessly it moves back into the sphere of acts and words and thoughts where once only God’s will was done. Holding back a disease brings pain to the face and tension to the body, and these are the marks of the defeated Christian who has not gone all the way with God.

The Bible Remedy
This was Peter’s problem when he was forced into open denial of Jesus by his fear of men. But when the Holy Spirit was allowed fully to take over his life on the day of Pentecost, Peter says in Acts 15:9, our ‘hearts were cleansed by faith.’ This was Paul’s problem when he wrote in Galatians 5:17, ‘The desires of the flesh(man’s desire for inner independence) are against the Spirit,’ and it was the solution to the problem when he realised in Romans 6:6 that ‘our old self was crucified with Christ.’

God’s salvation is a complete one; Christ’s remedy for sin is twofold. He saves us from sin’s guilt and also from its power. He saves us from outward sins and also from inward sin. He saves us not only from the symptoms but from the disease. He cleanses both the life and the heart.

God can give you a replacement for that old self. Jesus promised His arrival in His fullness. He said in John 14:16, “I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Counsellor, to be with you forever, even the spirit of truth.” Until now you have had the Holy Spirit! Will you now allow the Holy Sprit to have you? Unless you allow Him into the ‘holy of holies’ where the disease is nourished, you cannot enter into the second rest, entire sanctification, and the baptism with the Holy Spirit. Will you do it?

How To Be Freed From Self
FIRST, realise the Holy Spirit is a Person, Jesus’ agent in your life. Ask Him to search your heart--your self life--the central headquarters where the ‘real you’ lives, and to show you how rampant the disease is. This may take several weeks, for you have spent years ignoring and burying these attitudes and motives. Open your will to His work by looking at the signs of inward sin. Do you find resentment or irritation or anger rising up within, even though you may remain serene and smiling outwardly? Do you look for praise? Do you push yourself forward in conversation? Do you get comfort from self-pity? Do you like ‘feeling hurt’? Do you ever have bottled -up hostility or impatience which makes you sulk or refuse to speak to someone for hours? All of these spring from our desire to defend self or assert self, because we think we have the right to self.

SECOND, see the sinfulness of this pride, this controlled rebellion against God. Ask the Sprit to show you your real nature as God sees it. That ‘old self’ is the expression of the carnal nature--that inward bent to be personally independent of God. It is this inner attitude of selfishness which brings about outward or actual sins in our lives over which we were given control at conversion. But it is this love of self that shows our nature is still carnal even though we are Christians. While this disease is allowed to remain at the centre of our lives, we are God’s enemies. The carnal nature is rebellion against God. In Romans 8:7, the Bible says, “The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be.” This is why it is so dangerous. It loves religion, but hates God; it is invisible to us until we become Christians, yet for years it has been contaminating our lives from within. It cannot be beaten by suppression or law. It must be destroyed!

THIRD, realise that this is just what God has done with your ‘old self.’ Remember Romans 6:6, “Our old self was crucified with Christ!” Just as your sins were borne by Jesus but could only be forgiven when you believed, so your old self--your carnal attitude--was destroyed in Jesus on Calvary, but you can only know freedom from its influence in your life when you believe this. Just as God did a work in your life by regenerating your spirit at conversion when you believed, so in sanctification God will do a second work in your spirit by destroying the bent to sin--by rendering the power of self ineffective--when you believe. God has already in Jesus destroyed that root of bitterness from your life. It certainly was dead in Him, and all that He was for us we can be through Him. God has already done the work in Christ. Are you willing to stay in Christ and appropriate those benefits He has gained for you? Your carnal nature was nailed to the Cross with Christ. The question is, “Are you willing to let it go?” God is able by His Spirit to remove that root of bitterness from your life NOW!

FOURTH, have faith. It is through faith that God does this work in you now. Faith is two-fold--a vote of no confidence in self and a vote of confidence in God.

Are you ready to die to self? Really? Are you ready to be whatever God wants--not what you want, or what you prefer, or what you had planned? Are you ready to hand the future and the present over to His Spirit? Are you ready to be nothing for Him, if He asks? This is what it means to be ‘baptised into Christ’s death’--to have your name removed and in its place Jesus Christ’s, so that ‘I live, yet NOT I, but Christ lives within me.’ Are you ready to die? This is what giving up the right to self means--throwing yourself wide open, casting down the defences, dropping the guard, forever throwing away that private piece of personality you had planned to take into heaven, and making it public property for Christ to do what He wants with it. Are you ready to say, “I can do nothing good of myself--there is nothing good in me”? This is the first part of sanctifying faith--full consecration. Only when you have laid everything on the altar, only when the sacrifice is complete, will the Holy Spirit witness with your spirit that you have reached the ground of your heart--that you are at last utterly honest with God. You cannot believe for sanctification on top of an incomplete consecration. Faith is not the problem. It springs up in response to full consecration. Until the Spirit witnesses to the completeness of the consecration, allow Him to probe for the career, or the personal influence, or the pride which will not yield. Are you ready to ‘reckon yourself dead indeed unto sin,’ to have it truly said of you--”For you are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God”? Has the Spirit witnessed that you are ready to surrender all?

When you are ready for this, then you are ready to receive the gift of confidence in God. He has promised you the Holy Spirit, the Counsellor. He has already counselled you, or you would not be this far. But God has also promised that “He would cleanse your heart by faith.” The Holy Spirit is ready at this moment to take complete control of you and your life. Yield to Him now. Rest in His arms. Rely upon Him. Hand that ‘old self’ to Him for destruction. He is destroying its inner urge even NOW. Take Him by faith, trust Him and obey Him. He will faithfully do His work. He will guide you now. He will take care of the tomorrows. Your only concern now is to pay attention to the Spirit. Mind the Lord. Make no allowance for your own self-directions now. Follow the Holy Spirit’s commands at once and in every detail. Your life is now His to use as He pleases for the glory of our Saviour. Let Him bear His fruit in you (Gal. 5:22,23) and manifest His gifts through you (I Cor. 12:8-10).

Free to live--at last! Free from that slavery to self--no longer self defending its rights, but self hid with Christ in God. (Whenever you lose your life for His sake, you will save it.) In fact, when you at last lose yourself in God, you find you are at last free to be yourself!

by Ernest O’Neill

Personal humility

2009-05-11T20:49:00.002+05:30

I was reading through the devotions of Thomas a Kempis. It is very practical and I felt everyone of us need to read through it. I will publish one by one as I read and apply it in my life. Hope everyone reading this would apply it in our lives with the help of the Holy spirit.

Personal humility

Everyone naturally desires knowledge, (Aristotle, Metaphysics I,1.) but of what use is knowledge itself without the fear of God? A humble countryman who serves God is more pleasing to Him than a conceited intellectual who knows the course of the stars, but neglects his own soul (Ecclus.19:22). A man who truly knows himself realizes his own worthlessness, and takes no pleasure in the praises of men. Did I possess all knowledge in the world, but had no loves how would this help me before God, who will judge me by my deeds?

Restrain an inordinate desire for knowledge, in which is found much anxiety and deception. Learned men always wish to appear so, and desire recognition of their wisdom. But there are many matters, knowledge of which brings little or no advantage to the soul. Indeed, a man is unwise if he occupies himself with any things save those that further his salvation. A spate of words does nothing to satisfy the soul, but a good life refreshes the mind, and a clean conscience (I Tim 3:9), brings great confidence in God.

The more complete and excellent your knowledge, the more severe will be God's judgement on you, unless your life be the more holy. Therefore, do not be conceited of any skill or knowledge you may possess, but respect the knowledge that is entrusted to you. If it seems to you that you know a great deal and have wide experience in many fields, yet remember that there are many matters of which you are ignorant. So do not be conceited,(Rom 11:20) but confess your ignorance. Why do you wish to esteem yourself above others, when there are many who are wiser and more perfect in the Law of God? If you desire to know or learn anything to your advantage, then take delight in being unknown and unregarded.

A true understanding and humble estimate of oneself is the highest and most valuable of all lessons. To take no account of oneself, but always to think well and highly of others is the highest wisdom and perfection. Should you see another person openly doing evil, or carrying out a wicked purpose, do not on that account consider yourself better than him, for you cannot tell how long you will remain in a state of grace We are all frail; consider none more frail than yourself.

Thomas a Kempis in "The imitation of Christ"

Double - edged sword

2009-05-11T06:46:00.003+05:30

Hebrews 4 :12,13

"For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account"

We all know that we are made up of spirit, soul and body. The spirit is the inmost being that alone is capable of communicating with God. The soul is what makes our personality, our attitudes, emotions, thoughts intelligence etc..and the body is the one that is in contact with the outside world.

Let us pay close attention to the order of spirit, soul and body. We see that spirit comes first then the soul and body. If this is the way that operates in our life, then we are fine. But most of the time it is not this way. After we are born again, the Holy spirit dwells in us and we need to allow the Holy spirit to control us.

We should put our "self" which is the soul and the "flesh" which is the body to death. We should not be driven by anything other than the Holy spirit of God. But sadly in our lives, we are driven either by the flesh or the self even after we are born again. That is the reason why the spiritual lives of many of us are in a pathetic condition.

Whenever we hear a good sermon, or read an inspirational book, we feel a high and after some time we lose the passion. This is because we are driven by emotions, which again belongs to self or the soul. All our worships with the best of the musics would be of no use if we do not worship God in truth and spirit.

Let us not fool ourselves by living in flesh and self and experiencing an emotional high inspired by either our thoughts or the situations. Let us ask the Holy spirit of God to cut through us and examine us thoroughly. Let this spiritual surgery be performed on us by the Holy spirit of God. Let us yeild to Him.

We need to analyse our lives by comparing with the word of God. As we read in the above verse, God's word will pierce through us and divide our soul and spirit. It will analyze our deep thoughts, motives attitudes and all the filth inside us. We can never hide anything from God. Remember we can never out smart God.

Let us not be lukewarm Christians feeding our body and soul with all the filth and dirt of the world and then acting as though we are religious and Godly. God will womit us if we live a life like this.

Let us run to the throne of grace and ask for forgiveness.Let us allow the Holy spirit to teach us how to live. Let us be driven by the spirit and let us live a victorious Christian life which is pleasing to God.Let us never forget all through our life the fact that "Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account".

Does the Holy spirit live in you?

2009-05-10T07:08:00.001+05:30

"The Holy Spirit can come and indwell you right now. You can start over again. You can become brand-new, with the Holy Spirit pulsating spiritual life through you and in you. The Bible says, “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them” (Ezekiel 36:27). It is impossible to understand the Bible, Christian living, the structure of the church or our own relationship with God without understanding the Person and work of the Holy Spirit. "

The Holy Spirit is not an “it.” The Holy Spirit is a Person. The Bible says that He is not something, He is Someone. He is God. There are three Persons in the Trinity—God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit is all-powerful. We read in Micah 3:8, “I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord.” The Bible says that God is present everywhere. No matter where we go, He is there. “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?” (Psalm 139:7). The Holy Spirit can be in both your heart and my heart, even though we may live a thousand miles apart.

The Holy Spirit has all knowledge. The Bible says, “The Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God” (1 Corinthians 2:10). It is the Holy Spirit who teaches us and takes us deeper and deeper into God’s truth as we go along in our Christian life. We are to grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ, but we can grow only by the help of the Holy Spirit.

The moment that we receive Christ as Savior, the Holy Spirit comes to live in our hearts. Our body becomes the temple of the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit helps us live the Christian life. There is not a person anywhere who can be a Christian without the Holy Spirit. There is not a person who can follow Christ without the help of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit sees everything that goes on. He knows what goes on in our hearts. He knows what goes on in our minds. Nothing is hidden from Him. And in Hebrews 9:14 the Bible says that the Holy Spirit is eternal.

The Spirit is called holy. The Bible says, “Be holy; for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16). And one of the Holy Spirit’s ministries is to help make us holy. We ought to be more holy today than we were yesterday. We should always be conforming more to the image of Jesus Christ, and it is the Holy Spirit who helps us in this growing process.

Conviction of Sin
First, the work of the Holy Spirit is to convict us of our sin. Jesus said, “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” (John 16:8). The Holy Spirit uses a mother’s prayers, a tragic experience, a pastor’s sermon or some other experience to convict us of sin and of our need to turn our lives over to Jesus Christ. He points to us and says, “You are a sinner. You need to repent.” We don’t like to hear that, but that is the work of the Holy Spirit. Without that work we could never have our sins forgiven. We could never be saved. We could never go to Heaven.

New Life
Second, the Holy Spirit gives new life. The Bible says that we are dead in sins and trespasses. Our spirit within us, made in the image of God, is dead toward God. Mankind needs life. All have sinned. Therefore, all are dead toward God. The Holy Spirit gives us new life in Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). You must be born again. And the Holy Spirit is the One who does the work of making you a born-again person. It is a supernatural act.

Paul said to Titus, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5). Our good works and all the good things that we have done are not going to save us. We are saved by the mercy of God, by the grace of God. It is something I didn’t earn, something I didn’t work for. It is the gift of God, the gift of salvation.

Indwelling Spirit
Third, the Holy Spirit indwells us. Many of you are spiritually dead and are completely immersed in our hedonistic culture. God says, “I will put my Spirit in you. I will come to live in you.” Your body becomes the temple where God dwells by His Holy Spirit.

That is the reason we should never take anything unclean into our bodies. That is the reason we should discipline our bodies. God loves your body. He doesn’t want it polluted by fleshly lusts and the things to which you give yourself. The Bible says, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16).

Power to Serve Christ
Fourth, the Holy Spirit gives you power to serve Christ. “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me” (Acts 1:8). I couldn’t do the work I am doing without the power of the Holy Spirit. I am a communicator of God’s message. He called me and gave me that gift. What counts is the message that—according to Scripture—Christ died for our sins, He rose again, He is coming back again and He is ready to come into your heart by the Holy Spirit and make you a new person. That is the Gospel.

The Holy Spirit produces the fruit of the Spirit, which is “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). There are people whom you may not be able to love easily. But the Holy Spirit will give you the power to love them. Love is the greatest evidence that you know Christ. The Holy Spirit can love through you.

There are times I feel that I don’t have joy, and I get on my knees and say, “Lord, where is the fruit of joy in my life?” I find that the joy is there, down deep. It is a deep river. Whatever the circumstances, there is a river of joy.

The peace that passes understanding comes from the Holy Spirit. Whatever the circumstances, I have peace in my heart. I know where I am going, I know where I have been. And I know why I am here—by the Holy Spirit.

Do you know Christ? The Holy Spirit comes to magnify, to glorify and to exalt the Son. Jesus said the Holy Spirit shall not speak of Himself. He comes to magnify the Lord Jesus Christ. He comes to glorify Jesus Christ (John 16:13-14). And the Holy Spirit is pleased when you glorify Christ in your life.

It is the Holy Spirit who draws you to Christ. It is the Holy Spirit who convicts you of your need of Christ. There is only one way of salvation, and that is Christ. It is a dangerous thing to resist the Spirit. “Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?” (Hebrews 10:28–29).

I am asking you to give in to the call of the Holy Spirit. I am asking you to say, “I want Christ in my life, to be my Lord and my Savior.” I know thousands of churchgoers who need to come to Christ, led by the Holy Spirit. You need to say, “I want Christ in my heart.” Say, “I want to know I am going to Heaven. I want my sins forgiven. I want to start a new life.”

By Billy Graham
source :www.billygraham.org

Trapped in debt - Part 3

2009-05-09T07:39:00.004+05:30

Read part 1 - http://seeklifepurpose.blogspot.com/2009/05/trapped-in-debt-part-1.html
Read part 2 - http://seeklifepurpose.blogspot.com/2009/05/trapped-in-debt-part-2.html

In the last post we saw that God has to shake something that we think as the most valuable possession in life, so that He could get us back to turn to Him. Abraham was slowly losing focus on God after the birth of Isaac. He started to consider Isaac as the most precious thing for him. It is a natural human tendency to consider something very valuable when it was given after a very long wait. Abraham had to wait for a very long time to get Isaac. But, God wants us to give Him the first preference all the time. He tested Abraham by asking him to sacrifice Isaac.

Abraham was a righteous man. He obeyed God instantly. He believed that God could raise Isaac from the dead. He decided to sacrifice Isaac for God. God is so loving that He was moved by the obedience of Abraham. He stopped him from sacrificing his son, and blessed him. We believe that this incident would have made Abraham to put God in the first place all throughout his life.

Jacob too was a man who wanted to grab many things. But God had to shake him by touching his hip and dislocating him. He limped and walked, and it is during this time of weakness that he realized the need for God. He said "Lord I will not leave you unless bless me". God blessed him and thereafter he depended on God for everything in his life.

God had to take Moses out from the pleasures and honors of Egypt and put him in the wilderness so that he would depend only on God. He had everything in Egypt. Money, fame, education, luxury and everything were there in Egypt. It was the most powerful nation at that time. Maybe, Moses would not have known God intimately had he not been taken out of the luxury of Egypt. It is in the wilderness, when he was weak, he found God. He was turned into one of the greatest leaders the history has ever known after he surrendered himself totally to God.

The tower of Babel had to be destroyed by God and the language of people needed to be scattered so that they understood the power of God.Naaman had to be afflicted with leprosy so that he turned to God. Jonah had to be swallowed by a fish when he went to Darshish instead of going to Nineveh as God had told him. It was inside the belly of the fish that he learnt his lesson to obey and trust God.

In the Bible we find at many places that people turned to God when all the treasures of the world that they had put their trust were shaken by God. Today, during this period of recession when our mind is so disturbed with the fear of losing jobs or securities, God wants us to trust Him. May be He is shaking us as He did with great people of the Bible.He assures us that if we put our trust in Him and obey Him, no matter what the situation is, God would deliver us out of it.

Whatever we need to do is very simple. We need to ask Jesus Christ to come into our hearts and surrender ourselves to Him. He will wipe away all our debts. We would see His miracles in our lives. We need to trust God above anything else.

The chorus of a very popular christian song goes like this
"Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey."

There is only one security that we can trust in this world. It is God.

Share your deepest longings with God

2009-05-08T16:54:00.003+05:30

We all have several thoughts. We could share some of these with our family members and some more with our close friends. This is very common. Apart from these there are certain things that we could not share with anybody in this world. This could be certain habits, addictions, sins, fantasies and the list goes on...

We have to understand that it is these sort of unsharable things that create anxiety and depression in us. Our burdens seem a bit lighter when we share it with somebody we trust. But this too gives only a temproary relief. There may be some unknown fear deep inside our hearts that we could not explain to anybody. This may really tear us apart every day. We may live most of our lives ruled by these fears if they are not conqured at the earliest.

We long to find somebody to whom we can just pour out our hearts with a hope that we could get a solution. But none in the world could give us a solution. This is the longing that is there in each and every heart that has not found a friend in Jesus Christ.

I want to open your eyes to the fact that only Jesus Christ is able to satisfy our longings. Evey human heart has a vaccum that can only be filled by God and Jesus is God. He is God,friend and He is everything for those who have accepted Him by faith.Do you have a personal relationship with Christ?Do you talk to Him as talking with a friend?Do you have a passion for Him?

If not, it is not too late. He is now offering to be our friend and someone whom we can trust with all our heart. He is ready to listen to our deepest longings. He is ready to forgive the worst and wretched of the sins that we have commited. He says that He will remember our sins no more. He wants us to cast all our anxieties and burden on Him.

He wants to give us the living water, and to make us never feel thirsty and hungry. He was torn for our sins, whipped for our iniquities, trashed for our evil. He who knew no sin, became sin for us. He gave His life for us in the cross of calvary. It is because of Jesus we have hope for tommorow.

Why dont we give ourselves totally to Jesus today and receive His salvation? The Bible says "Jesus is the way truth and life". Jesus said "All you are weak and heavily ladden, Come to me and I will give you rest". All who have given their life to Jesus so far have never been ashamed.

It is only in Jesus we can find the most trusted friend who would love us unconditionally. No human being can love as much as Jesus. Let us also not forget the fact that a day will come when Jesus will come back into this world as a righteous judge. If we are not saved at that time, He would throw us into the hell. At that time we can never expect grace from Him. Even if we cry and confess at that time, it would be too late...

This is the oppurtunity Christ gives us today. Let us turn to him now. Today is the day of salvation.

12 Principles for personal progress

2009-05-08T08:33:00.001+05:30

1. Paradigm

A paradigm is the mental perspective or frame of reference we use to interpret reality. A synonym for paradigm is worldview which is both descriptive (how things are) and proscriptive (how things should be). God is the supreme realist and we are realistic only insofar as we see things from His point of view. The Bible is the blueprint of reality—it helps us, in some limited measure, to see as God sees. Our paradigm determines how we answer the four basic questions of human existence:

1. Where did I come from?

2. Who am I?

3. What am I here for? And…

4. Where I am going?

Our mental paradigms affect, not only the way we think, but also the way in which we feel (attitude) and behave (actions). The most important component of our worldview is our understanding of the nature and character of God. Our understanding of God depends on whether we allow God to define himself—in the Bible or whether we try and remake Him in our image—as a figment of our imagination.

2. Proactive

A proactive person is one who is willing and able to take initiative and assume personal responsibility; he would rather act than be acted upon. Proactivity is the key to being a victor rather than a victim. The opposite of being proactive is being reactive. Proactive people don’t play the blame game because they take personal responsibility. This is a key characteristic for leaders. They are willing to take initiative as they move toward a vision of a better tomorrow. It has been said that there are three kinds of people: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen and those who don’t know what’s happening. A proactive person makes things happen.

3. Purpose

People who make meaningful progress are those who have discovered God’s purpose for their lives, that is, they live purpose-driven lives. They invest their lives in time for eternity. Purpose-driven people realize that their lives were made by God and for God, therefore, they are committed to knowing, loving and doing His will. Knowing God’s purpose will help to reduce stress, focus energy, clarify decision making, add meaning to life and most importantly, help prepare us for eternity. A purpose-driven person has a blueprint for living—the Holy Scripture, which contains distilled wisdom on the essence of what life is all about. "Only one life twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last." Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:58, "Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."

4. Principles

Someone once said, "Methods are many, principles are few, methods often change, principles never do." Successful people are those who base their lives on the wise and loving principles of God’s Word (2 Tim. 3:16, 17).

God said, "Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful" (Josh. 1: 8).

Those who live by biblical principles base their life on a character ethic as the foundation of success—such principles as integrity, humility, fidelity, temperance, courage, justice, patience, industry, simplicity, modesty and the golden rule. The character ethic teaches that there are certain principles of effective living and people can only experience true success and enduring happiness as they learn to integrate them into their daily living.

Those who live by biblical principles have adopted a character-based definition of success. Success is when those who know you the best, love, trust and respect you the most. It is only possible to measure up to this definition of success by living a life of the highest moral integrity.

5. Plan

If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there. If you don’t have a target, you will hit it every time. Successful people not only have a worthy life purpose with an end in view but they also have a plan or an effective strategy to get them where they want to go. "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." Most people don’t plan to fail but many people fail to plan. A successful person realizes that a few minutes in planning can save hours in execution.

Successful people learn to think strategically. They identify and focus on what is most important. They have learned not only proper values but also proper priorities. The things that matter most must never be at the mercy of the things that matter least. Such people are not controlled by the tyranny of the urgent but by what is important but not urgent. In short, they are committed to doing God’s will God’s way for God’s glory. Nothing significant is achieved without a workable plan. God says that if we lack wisdom, we should ask Him and He will give it to us (Jas. 1:5).

6. Potential

This involves the idea that we can and should grow and develop our God-given abilities. We are all capable of being and doing more. Our greatest limitation is our unwillingness to try and do more. We don’t lack potential; we lack ambition, motivation and commitment. According to the Gospel, we were created for greatness; we are destined to become like Jesus (1 Jn. 3:2). If we make an effort to live up to our potential, there’s no telling what God can do in and through us (Phil. 4: 13). One thing is for sure, without Him we can do nothing of any eternal consequence (Jn. 15:5). Developing our potential involves character and relational development as well as developing our know-ledge, natural talents and spiritual gifts. What are you doing to develop your God-given potential?

7. Passion

We become passionate about those things that are important to us and the things to which we are committed and involved. A God-given vision evokes passion; there is no such thing as a passionless vision. A clear, focused vision of what God wants us to do and be allows us to experience ahead of time the emotions associated with our anticipated future. Vision is always accompanied by strong emotion and the clearer the vision, the stronger the emotion. Passion, in turn, helps provide motivation. The writer of Hebrews said that, "for the joy that went before Him, he endured the cross, despised the shame and is seated at the right hand of God." Christ’s passionate vision and purpose enabled him to endure the wrath of God on our behalf. What are you passionate about? Are you passionate about knowing, loving and serving God?

8. Power

Before Jesus ascended into heaven He promised His disciples power (Acts 1:8). Paul said God has not given us "a spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control" (2 Tim. 1:7). God not only gives us the knowledge and the desire to please Him; He also gives us the power to do it. Paul says that God is at work in his people to will and do His good will. This power is experienced when we let God’s Word dwell in us richly (Col. 3:16), and when we submit ourselves to the control of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 5:18). God’s Word in conjunction with God’s Spirit is the key to experiencing God’s power in our lives (2 Tim. 1:7). God’s power is given to us for the purpose of accomplishing His purpose. We cannot do God’s will, God’s way in our own strength, but we can with His strength (Phil. 4:13).

9. Persistence

Part of the good news of the Gospel is that God gives us the grace to "keep on keeping on." He who began a good work in us will continue to perform it until Christ returns (Phil. 1:6). Very often we become too easily discouraged. A setback only turns into a failure if we allow ourselves to become discouraged and give up. Here is a wise resolve: "When life kicks you, let it kick you forward." Anyone can start well but an important measure of our character is how well we finish.

Consider this "Code of Persistence":

1. Never give up as long as you are right.

2. Believe that all things will work for your good if you love and obey God.

3. Be courteous and undismayed even when the odds are against you.

4. Don’t permit anyone to deter you from your God-given goals.

5. Fight to overcome handicaps, hurdles, barriers and setbacks.

6. Try again and again until you accomplish your God-given goals.

7. Realize that other successful people had to fight defeat and adversity. Also…

8. Never surrender to discouragement or despair no matter what the obstacles.

10. Prayer

We must never underestimate the potential and power of God-directed prayer. Prayer brings about more things than this world can imagine. Fervent heartfelt prayer can move the hand of God. In prayer we learn to share our whole lives with God and relate everything to Him. Prayer is not so much trying to convince God to do our will but rather seeking His will and then asking that we could be part of the answer to our prayers. Prayer is important but it is never a substitute for obedience.

Just as it is important to have a balanced diet of food, so it is important to have a balanced prayer life. Instead of just selfishly asking God for things, we should praise God for who He is and thank Him for what He does. We should express adoration in song, confess our sins and not forget to thank God for answered prayer. We should pray for others as well as ourselves.

11. Pattern

For better or worse, we are all creatures of habit. We establish either healthy or unhealthy patterns of living and relating. To establish a habit we need to align our knowledge, skill and desire in the same direction. Knowledge tells us what to do. Skill tells us how to do it and desire gives us the motivation to want to do it. In order to establish good habits we initially need to be able to subordinate fluctuating feelings to God’s wise and loving principles. We must be willing to subordinate what we want now for what we want later. This process of developing healthy habits produces long term success and happiness. Happiness can be defined in part as the fruit of the desire and ability to sacrifice what we want now for what we want in the future. In order to establish good habits, we need to see the long-term consequences of our thoughts, attitudes and actions. The pattern for our lives is found in the person and example of Jesus Christ.

12. Promises

God can do anything, but what can we realistically expect Him to do? We can expect Him to always keep His Word. Specifically, we can expect God to keep His promises. Peter says in 2 Peter 1:4, God "has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires."

There is a familiar Christian song called, "Standing on the Promises." In the 2nd stanza we read these words: "Standing on the promises that cannot fail, when the howling storms of doubt and fear assail, by the living Word of God I shall prevail, standing on the promises of God…" The promises of God have always been the bedrock of the Christian faith. As we trust and obey God’s promises we become more conformed to Jesus Christ. What could be more important, exciting or successful than becoming more conformed to the character and conduct of Christ? (Rom. 8:28-9)

by Dr. Steven C. Riser
source : www.johnankerberg.org

Know God by yourself

2009-05-07T07:37:00.000+05:30

“Know ye that the Lord he is God; it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves . . . ”

-Psalm 100:3

Whenever anyone asks me how I can be so certain about who and what God really is, I am reminded of the story of the little boy who was out flying a kite. It was a fine day to go kite-flying, the wind was brisk, and large billowy clouds were blowing across the sky. The kite went up and up until it was entirely hidden by the clouds. “What are you doing?” a man asked the little boy. “I’m flying a kite,” he replied. “Flying a kite, are you?” the man said, “How can you be sure? You can’t see your kite.” “No,” said the little boy, “I can’t see it, but every little while I feel a tug, so I know for sure that it’s there!” Don’t take anyone else’s word for God. Find Him for yourself, and then you too will know by the wonderful, warm tug on your heartstring, that He is there, for sure.

source :www.billygraham.org

Certainty in an Uncertain World

2009-05-06T21:37:00.001+05:30

We are living in a changing and increasingly dangerous world. Everything is in transition. Jesus said, “And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken” (Luke 21:25-26). We are living in a period of social change, scientific change and religious change. Jesus asked, “Will there be any faith at all when I come back?” (Cf. Luke 18:8). In recent years we have seen upheavals in every area of life. And we are seeing it all over the world

Is there anything that we can hold on to? Is there anything that gives us meaning in our lives? In the midst of these changes, certain things never change.

The nature of God does not change. In all these centuries God has not changed. He said, “I am the Lord, I do not change” (Malachi 3:6). “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should [change]” (Numbers 23:19).

The Bible says that God is “from everlasting to everlasting” (Psalm 90:2). I can’t comprehend that. I cannot understand that God never had a beginning and will never have an end. I accept it by faith because the Bible declares it. There is “no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17) with God.

God is unchanging in His holiness. God is a holy God, a righteous God: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!” (Revelation 4:8).

God is unchanging in His judgment. A day is coming in which all of us will stand before the judgment of Almighty God to give an account of our lives; we will give an account of what we did with His Son, Jesus Christ, and of our response to Him when He said, “I love you, I want to forgive you, I want to change you, I want to be your Friend.” What will we answer? What will we do with Christ? The Bible says, “The Lord will judge the ends of the earth” (1 Samuel 2:10).

God is also unchanging in His love: “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). God loves us! God is interested in us. He has the hairs of our heads numbered. He knows all about us, and He loves us!

God loves us with a love that we do not understand. When we come to Christ and give our hearts and lives to Him, He will give agape love—His love—to us so that we can love people whom we usually don’t even like. Now we will love them. He will give us a supernatural power to love.

The Word of God has not changed: “The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever,” says the Bible (Isaiah 40:8). The Bible was given to us by God. The Bible is our guide, our compass through life.

The first question that the devil put to Eve in that encounter in the Garden of Eden was, “Has God indeed said?” (Genesis 3:1). He was questioning the word of God. The devil will do everything in his power to keep you from reading God’s Word, from studying it, because believing the message in this Book will change your life!

Human nature has not changed. The Prophet Jeremiah wrote, “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). Human nature is the same the world over. I have preached in all kinds of cultures and in all kinds of conditions, and I have learned that the human heart is the same everywhere. The Gospel meets the need of the human heart when a person turns by faith to Christ.

The Bible says,“all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). We are sinners. We have broken the moral laws of God. We are all sinners.

And the moral Law has not changed. God gave the moral Law to Moses who recorded it in the Ten Commandments.
•“You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3). Anything can become a false god.

•“Honor your father and your mother” (Exodus 20:12). Even when we no longer have to obey our fathers and mothers, we are to honor them.

•“You shall not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14). Adultery is thrown at us from every angle. I don’t know how people today can stay clean and pure in their moral lives without Christ. With Christ we can.

•“You shall not steal” (Exodus 20:15). Robberies, muggings—all kinds of things like these are going on; we read about them every day in the newspapers.

•“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:16). That’s lying.
These are from the Ten Commandments, and Scripture says that if we have broken one of those Commandments, we are guilty of breaking all of them (James 2:10). So we are guilty in the sight of God. That makes us sinners, and sin comes between us and God. We are separated from God by our sin. We all need Christ!

The way of salvation has not changed. You ask, “How can I be saved? How can I have a changed life?” The Scripture says, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).

Jesus said that we need to enter the narrow gate, to walk down the narrow road (Matthew 7:13-14). There is only one way, and that way is through Christ, who died on the cross for our sins, shed His blood for us and rose again. He is the living Christ. God is not calling us to a dead Christ on a cross. He is calling us to the living Christ. The Bible says that Jesus Christ is coming back and that the Kingdom of God will prevail.

The only way to God is through Christ. He is the only One in history of whom it is written, “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (John 3:36).

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). Christ will never change, but you need to change. And today, out of love, He offers you salvation. He can come into your heart right now and change you. That is the beginning of a whole new life.

It doesn’t mean that you will become perfect overnight. As long as you live on this earth, you will be imperfect. And you won’t find a perfect church. Only One who has ever lived was perfect: Jesus Christ.

There are three things that you must do. The first is to repent of your sins. The word repent means to change—to change your mind, to change your way of living, to change your attitude. You can’t do that alone, but God can help you to change. “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out” (Acts 3:19).

The Apostle Paul, when he preached his great sermon in Athens, said, “God ... now commands all [people] everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30). All men and women have been commanded by God to repent, to change. And if you are ever to get to heaven, if you are ever to have your sins forgiven, if you are ever to have assurance and peace and joy in Christ in this life, you need to repent.

Second, you need to believe. That word believe means much more than just head belief. It means that you put your confidence in Christ, you put the entire weight of your thought in Christ: “As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12). You need to put your confidence in Him. You need to commit yourself to Christ without reservation.

Third, you need to confess Him openly. “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).

Do you want to be saved? You say, “Well, I don’t even know what ‘saved’ means.” It means that you are saved from judgment. It means that you are saved from hell. It means that you have a new joy and a new peace in your heart, a new power to face the problems of your life. It means that when you die, you will go to heaven.

Without salvation, without knowing Christ, you can’t have that. But when you come to Christ, He changes you. “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus”—you do that today—“and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

If there is a doubt in your heart that you know Christ, say today, “I want to be sure. I want to be certain that Christ lives in me.” Christ can come into your life.

I am not calling you to a church. I am not calling you to an organization. I am calling you to the Person of Jesus Christ. Make sure that Christ lives in your heart.

By Billy Graham
source : www.billygraham.org

Trapped in debt - Part 2

2009-05-06T06:54:00.004+05:30

Please read part 1 of this series here "http://seeklifepurpose.blogspot.com/2009/05/trapped-in-debt-part-1.html"

We will continue from where we left yesterday. We discussed how a life lived on luxury through debt can ruin us and lead us into a state of despair and shock. Let us take our attention to another important aspect. How many of us were mindful of God when we had a good time and plenty of supply all around?. We must accept the fact that we gave least importance to God during those times. All our trust and confidence were on our money, jobs and investments. We failed to realize the necessity of God in our lives.

We started to drift far away from God by giving importance to the passions of this world. We never spent time with God. We just prayed for namesake, attended church just for the sake of taking off the guilty conscience. We were living a life of fantasy. We had believed more in power and authority of human beings.

It is when disaster strikes that we realize the importance of God. He is too big a person to be ignored. Let us never forget this. God is the architect of this world. All were formed by Him. He rules over this world. It is God who governs this world and not any human being.God is in charge of the world. He is the ruler, the supreme president, the king. Unlike human rulers, however, God always does what is best for his subjects. He is the kind of king you'd like to be ruled by. God rules the world because he made the world. Like a potter with his clay, God fashioned the world into just the shape he wished, with all its amazing details. He made it, and he owns it.

Hebrews 1:10-12 says
"In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
11They will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
12You will roll them up like a robe;
like a garment they will be changed.
But you remain the same,
and your years will never end"

We need to realize the fact that nothing happens in this world without God's permission. He permits certain things to happen in this world with a purpose. It is a great change that is taking place in the world because of the recession. Discipline is coming back into our lives. Our lavish spending habits are slowly going off. We have realized the need for God in our lives. We have started to bring God to be the center of our lives.

I believe that it is all God's plan to bring this recession so that a big change is made in the basic life style and thinking of everyone on this earth. Remember that God can shake anything in our lives. He can shake our health, our wealth, our treasures and everything if we fail to put God in center of our lives.

We will continue on this later...

Trapped in debt - Part 1

2009-05-05T20:54:00.004+05:30

We all have to work in this world in order to run our living. This is one of the punishments that God gave Adam after he sinned against God.Genesis 3 :17 says
"Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat of it
all the days of your life. "

We like it or not, the fact is that we need to work in this world to run our daily lives. There are different sorts of work that we can do in this world to make a living. We could work as doctors, engineers, scientists etc..or in the industry segments like finance, IT, mechanical etc..

Let us analyze as on what basis we chose our jobs. Is it due to passion for a particular job? or due to compulsion and family circumstances we forgot our passions and landed on jobs that paid us more.

I guess most of us chose certain jobs only for the sake of earning more. We might have dreamt to become a musician, but would have landed in IT or finance as there were hefty pay checks. When the market conditions were favorable, greed entered us and we purchased many things beyond our capability through various means of credit. We lived a life or luxury. Our body got used to luxury and what we forgot was the fact that it was somebody else's money (loans etc) that we have used for our flamboyant lifestyles.

We are so used to air conditioners, luxury cars and other materialistic things that we cannot even think of a life without these. We are now trapped in the pit of debts.
Let this be on one side. On the other side, we don't find our work interesting because we landed into these jobs only for money. We cannot even make a career change because we need to pay huge EMI's every month. What a pathetic state we find ourselves?.

During the times of recession, it is a different story altogether. We are sometimes forced to leave our jobs. Sometimes the very anxious thought of losing our jobs on seeing the happenings around us drives us mad. We hate to even think of living a life without the luxuries that we are used to. Amidst all these we think of a lot of plans like starting a business, doint this...that..but finally nothing materializes. Oh what a terrible thing to be in such a state....

I will write more on this later...

Look unto the Lord

2009-05-05T07:08:00.004+05:30

We are surrounded by many evil things around us. Many around us might be planning some sort of evil schemes to destroy us. This may anywhere, probably in the surroundings we live where our neighbors envy us and plan to destroy us for no fault of us. Also, this may happen in our work places where there may have some groups formed against us and plot some strategies against us.

We may be frightened by all these things. We may think that we are finished by these forces. We may not know what to do, and may be we are subdued by the mighty presence of our enemies. The word of God encourages us today that Deuteronomy 33:27
" The eternal God is your refuge,
and underneath are the everlasting arms.
He will drive out your enemy before you,
saying, 'Destroy him!' "

I came across this meaning for the word refuge "That which shelters or protects from danger, or from distress or calamity; a stronghold which protects by its strength, or a sanctuary which secures safety by its sacredness; a place inaccessible to an enemy". Imagine we are chased by wild tigers in a forest and we are alone. We run very fast for our life, and after sometime we don't have strength to run any more. It is now that we find a big cave. We enter inside it and shut the entrance. We would feel very safe inside insn't it?. What ever might happen outside, but we would feel absolutely secure inside.

God is the mighty cave for us today. When we are inside Him, nothing can penetrate us. No force or evil can harm us. He is our gaurd and protector. Dear friend, it will be all in vain if we try to solve all our problems by our own thinking and intelligience. We need God to help us and His help is just a little prayer away. All it takes is just to ask Him to come into our lives and fight our battles.

He is always ready to fight our battles.2 Chronicles 20 :15 says "Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's". What an assurance?. We need to believe in God's promises and surrender all our situations to Him. We can be assured that we will never lose any battle when the Lord is on our side. God bless you!

Vulnerability to sin

2009-05-04T21:42:00.004+05:30

Have you come across this experience where we think we are safely away from sin, and then all of a sudden fall into it?. This has been a big problem for many christians. If we do not commit a particular sin for sometime, we take things so easily and become over confident. We start to become so complacent that we dont spend time with God.

A pride creeps inside us and we think that we are more holy than others, because we did not commit that particular sin for sometime now. It is during these situations that satan topples us. Since we are not rooted strongly in God, and since we are not dependent on God, we fall even to a small temptation. Our vulnerability to temptation becomes so strong when we overlook the time that we need to spend with God.

Let me drive this point very clearly. We can never keep ourselves holy and pure in this corrupted world by our own strength. We need the grace and protection of God every moment in our life. It is the blood of Jesus that grants us victory over sin. We need to work out our salvation each day. Phillipians 2:12 says "continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling".It is not an easy walk,we need to fight a battle against satan every day. We will be easily defeated if we dont have Jesus on our side.

Never take salvation for granted. We need to work on it every day. We need to pray and meditate on the word of God daily. We need to daily ask God to help us to overcome temptations. We need to run away from places where we are tempted. Joseph overcame temptation by running away from Potiphar's wife.

This is the key to overcome sin. Ask God for strength every day, and flee from places where there is temptation. We can surely be overcomers with the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Avoiding Sexual sins

2009-05-04T21:31:00.002+05:30

You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. (Matthew 5:27-30).

In the Sermon on the Mount, the Master announced the standard of righteousness of the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:20). It is the highest standard ever known to man, a reflection of the moral nature of God (Matthew 5:48). Whereas the Jewish leaders, quoting directly from the Ten Commandments, condemned adultery, the Lord Jesus Christ condemns the attitude and action that leads to adultery. It is so important that we avoid this sin in the heart, eye, and hand, that we must take what ever action, regardless of how radical, to avoid it.

The English word "pornography" means "Sexually explicit pictures, writing, or other material whose primary purpose is to cause sexual arousal" (American Heritage Dictionary). I am not interested in the definition given by civil courts but in that stated by the Lord. Any material - photographs, magazines, movies, music, books, web sites, chat rooms, etc. - that causes one to sexually desire anyone other than his/her God approved marriage partner, must be torn from our lives.

Pornography has always been with us, but in no other age has it been so readily available as today. Consider these 2006 statistics for the United States: There are 4.2 million (12% of total web sites) overtly pornographic web sites, 68 million (25% of total search engine requests) daily pornographic search engine requests, 2.5 billion (8% of total e-mails) daily pornographic e-mails, and 1.5 billion (35% of all downloads) monthly pornographic downloads (peer-to-peer). 42.7% of American Internet users view porn. Internet pornography sales were $4.9 billion. The average age of first Internet exposure to pornography is eleven years. The largest consumer group of Internet pornography is the 35-49 age group. 80% of 15-17 year olds have had multiple hard core pornography exposure. 90% of 8-16 year olds have viewed porn online, most while doing homework. 40 million American adults regularly visit Internet porn sites (Family Safe Media).

Undoubtedly, some who are reading this article have been committing this deadly sin, and others are severely tempted by it. What can you do? Here are ten steps, taught by the Lord, to sexual purity.

1. Guard your heart (Proverbs 4:23). This is the key. Determine to be pure (cf. Genesis 39:7-12; Daniel 1:8).
2. If you are guilty, truly repent, confess your sin to God, and pray God for forgiveness (Acts 8:22; 1 John 1:9). If you really repent, you will turn from your evil way (Matthew 12:41; Jonah 3:10).
3. If other Christians know, confess to them and ask for their help in avoiding this sin (James 5:15,19-20).
4. Make an agreement with your eyes that you will not use them to arouse sinful lust (Job 31:1). "So put to death your worldly impulses: sexual sin, impurity, passion, evil desire..." (Colossians 3:5, ISV). Do whatever it takes - get rid of the computer and the TV, don't go to the movies, etc. - to rid your life of this spiritual cancer (Matthew 5:29-30).
Spend much time in prayer seeking strength and avoidance of temptation (Matthew 6:13; 1 Thessalonians 5:17).
5. Spend more time studying the Bible rather than seeking amusement in TV, Internet, magazines, and movies (Psalm 119:97,99; 1 Peter 2:1-3). You must replace the evil with good, or the evil will return even stronger (Matthew 12:43-45).
Discipline your mind to think on proper things (Philippians 4:8). This is possible if you take seriously the previous steps.
6. Choose your friends wisely. Choose to have friends who will help you go to heaven rather than lead you to hell (1 Corinthians 15:33; Proverbs 12:26; 13:20; 14:7).
Be in all the classes and worship assemblies of the church to encourage others and to be encouraged by them (Hebrews 10:24-25).
7. Turn your attention to helping others rather than seeing those of the opposite sex as sources of sexual gratification (Matthew 22:34-40; Romans 12:9-13; Galatians 6:1-2,9-10; 1 John 3:14-18).

8. As soldiers of Christ, put on the whole armor of God (2 Timothy 2:3; Ephesians 6:10-18). You can overcome this sin through the power of God working in you.

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. (Philippians 2:12-13).

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21)

By Keith Sharp
source :www.christistheway.com

Your walk with God

2009-05-04T21:15:00.002+05:30

What we need, is a man who knows how to walk with God.

One who is in active fellowship with God can achieve great things in his life as well as in his church. He can also change whatever adverse situations that are prevalent around him. The life of David as a boy is the greatest example of what our daily walk with the Lord can do in our lives and ministry. We read in I Samuel.17:11& 52, the totally demoralized Israeli army under the leadership of King Saul, was turned into a victorious one, because of what David did to Goliath.

David was not a soldier; neither he knew any thing about the warfare at that time of his life. But he knew the Lord very personally. The lonely hours of taking care of those sheep in the wilderness, helped him to be in touch with God all the time. When the lion and the bear came, he did not have to prepare himself specially to fight with those animals. By then he had known the Lord very much. It came naturally in him to defeat those animals and save those few sheep, because he was fully ready for any event. The reason is that in the wilderness, he was praising, worshipping, praying and walking before God, while he was tending the sheep. That quality time with the Lord, developed David as a warrior, soldier, psalmist, song writer and more. The Bible calls him prudent in I Sam.16:18. Yes, the Spirit of the Lord in him, gave him prudence in all matters. So he became smarter and valiant day by day.

When our walk with the Lord is clean and steady, we will become vibrant in all matters. No matter we live in cities or in villages. We will be ready for any opportunity that the Lord would graciously grant us to have. Goliath was an opportunity for David given by God. How we handle the opportunities, that will propel us up to higher glory. Yes, David was not physically stronger to defeat Goliath; but spiritually he was. It is the spirit in Him that made him a victor, clubbed with his confidence in God that God helped him in the past with those animals and He would do it again. His victory over Goliath came because of his walk with the Lord. Because of the victory, even the fearful Jewish army under the leadership of a backsliding king, became a victorious one. Do you know that you can turn your church members into a mighty army for God? Your walk with the Lord will determine the growth of your church and the increase of your blessing even in finance.

Do you want you to become victorious in all the ways?
Do you want to be prosperous in whatever you do?

Please read Psalm 1:3 “ Whatsoever he doeth, shall prosper”. Your walk with the Lord will decide that. Do not blame others. It is not worth blaming any body else for success. It is not the money, the contacts that you have, your organization or any other thing that will determine your success. It is your clean, unquestionable and committed life that will set the trend.

So it is time for you to tighten the loose ends of your life. Some of you may have to stop doing certain things for a season that you have been doing all these years, and seek the face of the Lord for a period of time. May God bless you and make you a blessings for otherts! “Be ye holy, for I am holy”.

source :www.victorychurchesofindia.com

Priorities

2009-05-04T07:18:00.001+05:30

A professor teaching on the subject of time set out a large wide-mouthed jar. Into the jar, he put a dozen fist-sized rocks. He asked, "Is this jar full?"

His class said, "Yes."

He poured and shook in gravel, filling in the spaces between the big rocks. Next, he dumped and shook in sand between the rocks and gravel. Finally, he poured water to the jar’s brim.

Then he said, “If you don’t put the big things in first, they’ll never fit in.”

The big rocks represent our big priorities. Unless they get first place, the smaller priorities will pour in, consume our time, and leave no room for what’s most important—in the high calling of our daily work.

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."

Living Prayer

2009-05-04T07:10:00.001+05:30

Prayer is a conduit through which God's power and provision flows.

One of the questions people often ask about prayer is: "If God knows what I need, why do I need to ask Him for it?" Jesus tells us, in Matthew 6, that we do not need to worry about things because the Father knows everything that we need.(1) He says, "Your Father knows what you need before you ask him."(2)

Yet Jesus teaches us to pray: "Give us today our daily bread."(3) In even stronger terms He says, "Ask and it will be given to you."(4) Jesus assures us that God knows everything we need, yet He tells us to ask God for it. Consider why God has set up things so that prayer releases into our lives what He knows we need and what He wants to give us.

God Wants Our Hearts
It's simple for God to meet your needs. Everything in the universe is His. Everything is at His command. God could easily do for you and provide for you everything you need without waiting for you to ask. But that is not how He has structured His relationship with us.

God loves you with a passion that you cannot begin to comprehend. He desires to live in intimacy with you. Prayer is much, much more than the words you say that come sandwiched between "Dear God" and "Amen." Prayer is the continual interchange of love between you and the Father. Prayer is an openness to and an awareness of His presence and power in your life. He wants full possession of your heart. He wants you to live in the experience of His love for you.

Imagine what it might be like if God met your needs without engaging you in the process. His provision would be like a coincidence or "just the way things happen." But because you have the privilege of seeing Him meet your needs in response to prayer, you begin to understand how much He cares about you. You see how He provides for you even in the smallest details. You learn that He will provide in unexpected ways—ways that take you by surprise. You learn that a life lived prayerfully is a life lived beyond your limits.

In petitioning God, you are recognizing Him as the Source of everything: "Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."(5) God tells you to ask for what you need because this interaction keeps you aware that He is your Source. No matter what method God uses to supply your needs, He is the ultimate Source of all that you receive.

Sometimes God is waiting for you to ask because until you see your need, you will not recognize His supply. He waits until the need is real to you. He waits until you have come to the end of your own resources; until you have tried everything you know to try. He waits for you to turn to Him as the one and only Source.

Prayer Is a Relationship
The foundation of a prayerful life is knowing God. God has made many promises in His Word, and when you know the Promiser, you can trust His promises. When your focus is knowing God, you will come to trust His promises and the power of prayer will become your reality.

How do you come to know God more personally and intimately? Soak yourself in His Word. Absorb its truth and wisdom into your heart. Live in uncompromising obedience to Him. Set aside a time each day to focus on Him without distractions. Be in fellowship with other believers who have your passion for knowing Him. As you keep your life open to God through these disciplines, you will come to know Him intimately, and you will come to trust in Him. Peace will be a natural state of your soul. And you will find that you have moved from "saying prayers" to "living prayer."

By Jennifer Kennedy Dean
source (www.billygraham.org)

A Passion for Jesus Christ

2009-05-03T15:51:00.002+05:30

We are all passionate about so many things in life. We have a passion for cars, houses, fame, money, job and many other things. Some of us have a passion for sports and dream ourselves to become great sports persons. Some of us have passion to become leaders, and to become greatest business magnets of this world.

Let us take a moment to analyze about our passions today. What are we so passionate about. We may think that if we can accompolish our passions, our life would be complete and happy. Let me tell you something different. All these passions are temporary and they pass away like a wind. They can never give us the happiness and peace we desire in our lives. The Bible says that the world and its ways are evil.

King Solomon was one of the most powerful kings to rule over Israel. He was the wisest man to have ever lived in the earth so far and for the days to come. He had all the riches, fame and honour. He was a handsome man. He had enjoyed everything under the sun. It is King Solomon who says “Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?” · Ecclesiastes 1:2-3 .

Such is the vanity that the passions of this world can bring to us. We can never be satisfied by all these because there is only one passion that could make our life wholesome and meaningful. "A passion for Christ" is the need of the hour. It is what can renew our minds and transform us into wonderful people that God desires us to be.
Jesus Christ was so passionate on you and me that He gave Himself on the cross for you and me. Though He is the King of Kings, He became a humble servant for us and carried our sins to the cross.

This is the passion that Christ had on us. Phillipians 2:6-8 says

"Who, being in very nature[a] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
"

Let us be passionate for Jesus from today. Apostle Paul was so passionate for Jesus Christ, that he says in Phillipians 3:8 “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord”
Let us be passionate in knowing more about Jesus, to grow more into His likeness. My dear friends, I want to tell you that it is the passion for Jesus that would liberate us out of all our bondages, addictions and evil clutches, and set us free.It is the passion for Christ that would give us the joy and peace that we desire. Will you start to have a passion for Christ?. Will you surrender your lives to Him?. All other passions in this world are vanity. Follow Jesus alone and your life will be transformed.

Never reject salvation

2009-05-03T07:08:00.003+05:30

I want to discuss a very important topic today with a simple illustration. We all know about pigs. Pigs are always found in mire. They are dirty and always like to be in dirty surroundings. Whenever a pig walks on the road, if it finds a mire nearby, it jumps into the mire and enjoys that environment.

This is how we lived before we accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as our savior and received our gift of salvation. David says in Psalms 40:2

"He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand. "

Jesus Christ lifted us out of the dirty life that we were living once. We did not come out of it, but it was God's grace and mercy that took us out. God changed us from living like pigs into lambs. Let us look at the characteristics of a lamb. Lamb is first of all innocent. It always follows the shephered. It likes clean surroundings. Even if it is pushed into mire, it gets out of it immediately.

This is the difference that we can find in our life if we are born again truly. Not just for namesake, but I mean being born again with true repentence and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the good shephered. The world may still push us into the dirty mire, but we would get out of the dirt immediately by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Let us keep this in mind through out our life. Hebrews 2:3 says "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation". We received salvation not by any of our works, but by the greatest sacrifice of God for us. It is too great a thing to be rejected. A time is coming where God would throw all who have not received salvation into hell. It would be even greater agony on the day of judgement for people who received salvation and then lost it for the pleasures of this world.

Let us not take the grace of God lightly. We need to pay the ultimate price if we reject God's free offer of salvation. Don't wait for tommorow. We never know whether we would get a tommorow. All that we have is now. "Now is the time of salvation". Accept Jesus Christ today and receive the glorious expericence of salvation.

How do you know that you are saved?

2009-05-02T19:00:00.003+05:30

Salvation is an amazing experience which is offered free to us by Jesus Christ. Each and every one of us should be born again to enter the heaven in eternity. Following are some of the ways by which we can find identify the genuine experience of our salvation

1. After experiencing salvation, we have absolute peace and joy in the heart through the Holy Sprit. Even though we experience trials and tribulations, the peace of God that is above all understanding fills our heart.

2.We begin to hate sin and evil. Before our salvation, we always fed our bodies with passions of the world. We kept sinning to gratify our flesh. Now as the sprit of the Lord resides in our body, we are driven by the Holy Sprit and He gives us grace and power to overcome temptation and sin. We are not interested in dirty/unGodly talks now. We are not interested in any ugly thing. All the past lust and passion has become nothing now and we are only interested in Christ.

3. We have a longing for God now. We always want to meditate on the Bible, like to pray and have fellowship with other believers. Earlier we used to read Bible and pray just for namesake, but now we read each and every scripture with an earnest desire to quench our spiritual thirst. We look into the Bible to lead our daily life, we pray very often for even small things and ask God for help. We are not afraid or worried about anything now as we have put our faith on God

4.We are at peace with everyone. We used to quarel earlier with our neighbors and family members for petty things. Now we have more patience. We love every one and we forgive others. Earlier we used to give something to others with the expectation of getting back some favors, but now everything is unconditional and given with an open mind. At the end of every day our conscience is clear before God and human beings.

5. We want to share the gospel with others. This is the greatest sign that we are born again. We would never be able to be quiet. We always want to do something for God. We want to share our salvation experience with others. All the worldly things become boring to us and we are only interested in spiritual things.

Let us take some time to analyze our salvation experience. If we lack something, or at fault at something, let us look unto the throne of Grace and cry out to God for help. Be sure that the Lord Jesus is waiting to help us in every area of our life.

What are you relying on?

2009-05-02T07:13:00.003+05:30

People today like to think of themselves as being independent. But who really is? Most people depend on money, jobs, other people or material things to make them happy. Or they become dependent on drugs or alcohol and so make a shambles of life and relationships. We all depend on something; why not depend on the only One who can give eternal, abundant life and true satisfaction?

People in this generation are just as they were in Solomon's day, trying to find fun, amusement, pleasure, knowledge, security, love. It seems that almost all the people I meet are on a quest of some sort. Solomon had it all. But as recorded in the Book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon said, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity" (Ecclesiastes 1:2). Basically, he said, "It's all just a bubble that bursts."

Though he had more material possessions than perhaps any other man in history, at the end of his life, Solomon said, "Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth" (Ecclesiastes 12:1).

Solomon had attained great knowledge. In 1 Kings 4:30 we read that "Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the men of the East and all the wisdom of Egypt." He said, "And I set my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is grasping for the wind. For in much wisdom is much grief" (Ecclesiastes 1:17-18). "Vanity of vanities; all is vanity" (Ecclesiastes 1:2). It is all a bubble that bursts.

Scripture has a lot to say about the mind. Jesus said we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind. But you cannot come to Christ with your mind alone. Our natural minds have been affected by sin.

Even if you have all knowledge and all wisdom, you still cannot find God with your mind. The Bible says, "The world through wisdom did not know God" (1 Corinthians 1:21).

The Scripture says, "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2:5). Do you have the mind of Christ? The Bible says, "Be transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Romans 12:2). Your mind is important, but you cannot think your way to God. You come by faith, and then your mind will support your faith, as you study the Scriptures and prove them to be true.

Solomon gave himself to pleasure. In Ecclesiastes 2:1 he says, "I said in my heart, 'Come now, I will test you with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure.'" So he drank the finest wines from golden goblets. He had 700 wives and 300 concubines. He had every pleasure--everything at his beck and call. Hundreds of servants and every exotic food from around the world.

He could afford every sensual pleasure that you can imagine. Yet in the end he said, "It's all a bubble that bursts. It doesn't satisfy." Permanent pleasure and happiness are not found anywhere except in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Solomon was the richest man in the history of the world. His gold came by the ton. He had a stable of 40,000 horses. He sat on a throne of solid ivory overlaid with pure gold.

Solomon had great power. No nation dared defy him. He had more power than any other man in his generation. He had the greatest navy in the world. He looked upon his mighty military power and said, "That too has not satisfied."

Solomon tried the aesthetic life. Surely all those beautiful objects of art that he had, those beautiful gardens that he built, those musical recitals that he had, would bring the peace that he longed for. But they didn't. He said, "I looked on all the works that my hands had done and on the labor in which I had toiled; and indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 2:11). It doesn't satisfy.

Solomon had religion. He built the greatest temple the world has ever known. It took 150,000 men seven years to build Solomon's temple. It was called one of the seven wonders of the world. He overlaid the temple with pure gold, including the floor.

But God warns through Isaiah the Prophet, "Bring no more futile sacrifices; Incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies--I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting" (Isaiah 1:13).

Some of you have religion, but you don't have the Lord Jesus Christ. You do not know Christ for yourself. You have depended on your parents' religion, or you have depended on a church relationship, or you have depended on a religious exercise that you went through. But somehow, deep in your heart, you know that you are a long way from God and that sin is in your heart.

Religion without a personal encounter with Christ will not save your soul or bring the peace that your soul longs for. Millions are searching for God through religion and not finding Him.

Where is peace? Where is fulfillment? Where is happiness? Solomon said, "Fear God and keep His commandments. -- For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil" (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14). Solomon warns that there is a judgment coming. His experience and experiments led him back to God. He said, "Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth" (Ecclesiastes 12:1).

You need to find real pleasure, real joy, real satisfaction, in Jesus Christ. In Matthew 12 Jesus said, "Indeed a greater than Solomon is here" (Matthew 12:42). The One who is greater than Solomon in every area is the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32). He said, "I am ... the truth" (John 14:6). Can you imagine anyone making such a statement as that? "I am the embodiment of all truth. I am the truth. Come to Me."

The Scripture says, "In [Jesus Christ] are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Colossians 2:3) -- all the things that you read about Solomon, all of his wisdom and knowledge. You don't really have knowledge and wisdom until you come to know Christ.

The Bible says that when one person repents of sin, there's joy in heaven. Jesus can become the source of your joy. When you come to know Christ, the Holy Spirit produces joy in your heart, a joy that the world knows nothing about.

You can find wisdom, you can find joy, you can find riches. The Bible says, "Though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich" (2 Corinthians 8:9). He has riches beyond anything Solomon ever dreamed of--spiritual riches, glorious lasting riches that you can lay up in the bank of heaven right now.

There is power in knowing Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth" (Matthew 28:18). All the power that is in all those stars and planets, all the power upon earth is His--in heaven and earth. And He offers it to you. There's a power and a boldness in Jesus Christ. That's the reason Paul could say, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16).

All the wisdom, all the joy, all the riches, all the greatness, all the power, are in Christ. And He offers Himself to you.

You ask, "But what do I have to do?" First, you must repent of your sins. You say to God, "Lord, I have sinned." Second, you must be willing to turn from your sins. Change your value system and your way of living.

Third, you must come to Christ by faith. That means you trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation and forgiveness and fulfillment. Fourth, you promise to obey Him, to follow Him, to serve Him; you promise that He will be your only Lord, your only Master.

When you live that kind of life, you will have joy, happiness and satisfaction. I am asking you to trust Christ, to receive Him. Come while you can, because tomorrow may be too late. The Bible says, "Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2).

By Billy Graham

Fear, Anxiety and worry

2009-05-01T20:28:00.001+05:30

“An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up” (Proverbs 12:25, NIV).

“I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears” (Psalm 34:4).

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6-7) (Also see Psalm 55:22-23)

“Then Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?’” (Luke 12:22-26, NIV). (Also see Matthew 6:25-34)

“Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God” (Psalm 42:5).

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones” (Proverbs 3:5-8).

“…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. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:26-28).

“And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).

“I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13).

The apostle Paul found his strength in God, He reminds us that, “I …have …been in prison …frequently, been flogged …severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. …I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. …Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. …I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. …[God] said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 11:23-12:10).

“So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’” (Hebrews 13:6).

“…put your hope in the LORD both now and forevermore.” (Psalm 131:1)

Also read: Psalm 139:1-23

The possible causes of anxiety and fear are many: Conflict, health problems, dangerous situations, death, unmet needs, spiritual problems, false beliefs, etc.

“According to the Bible, there is nothing wrong with realistically acknowledging and trying to deal with the identifiable problems of life. To ignore danger is fooling and wrong. But it is also wrong, as well as unhealthy, to be immobilized by excessive worry. Such worry must be committed to prayer to God, who can release us from paralyzing fear or anxiety, and free us to deal realistically with the needs and welfare both of others and of ourselves.” (Dr. Gary R. Collins, Christian Counseling, p. 66.)

Some general, common sense suggestions for those weighed down with fear, anxiety or worry…

SIN IN YOUR LIFE - Sometimes fear and anxiety are the result of one’s own sin and guilt. If you have committed a sin or done anything evil, your fear and anxiety is probably God and your own conscience trying to get your attention. You need to repent, confess your sin, seek God’s forgiveness, and set it right.

SLEEP - Humans generally need 8 or 9 hours of sleep per day. Sleep deprivation can increase anxiety. Get enough rest. If you cannot sleep, you may need to seek God’s help and perhaps that of a physician.

BE MORE REALISTIC - Many people are worried and anxious about events that will never actually will happen to them. Relax. Focus on today. Take life one day at a time.

LISTEN to relaxing, soothing music. There is some great Christian music available that can help you focus on God and leave your fears and worries behind. It may also help to listen to good Christian speakers and teachers.

FUN - If at all possible, do something that you enjoy. It is good to get some recreation on a regular basis. Take a break. Get your mind off your fears and worries, and have some fun.

TALK to someone. Don’t hold all the anxiety inside. It can be a big relief to share your fears and worries with someone else—a friend, relative, pastor or counselor. If fear and anxiety is an ongoing problem in your life, schedule a regular time each week to talk with someone.

TAKE ACTION - If there is something practical and wise that you can do to alleviate the problem or avoid needless danger, take action. Don’t put it off. Procrastination will generally raise your anxiety level.

EXERCISE - Medical studies show that exercise can help lower anxiety. If you are healthy enough to exercise, try it. Regular brisk walks, running, swimming or other exercises can be a real stress reducer.

PROFESSIONAL HELP - There are various organizations which provide help for people with anxiety attacks, including the Midwest Center for Stress and Anxiety (stresscenter.com) which provides self-help. You can search for information and assistance on the Web using keywords such as: anxiety, panic attacks, agoraphobia. You should be able to find local help by consulting you pastor or physician.

“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work” (2 Thes. 2:16-17).

Author: Paul Taylor, Eden Communications.

Beware of missing God's plan for your life

2009-05-01T20:23:00.001+05:30

It is possible for a believer to miss God's perfect will for his life. Saul was chosen by God to be king over Israel, but eventually as a result of his impatience and disobedience, God had to reject him. True, he remained on the throne for some years more, but he had missed God's will for his life. Solomon is another example. He pleased God in this earlier years, but fell away later through marrying heathen women.

Twice in the New Testament we are exhorted to take a warning from the example of the Israelites who perished in the wilderness. God's perfect will for them was that they should enter Canaan. But all except two of them missed God's best through unbelief and disobedience (1 Cor. 10:1-12; Heb. 3:7-14). Many believers have similarly missed God's perfect plan for their lives through disobedience and compromise - often in marriage or in the choice of a career.

G Christian Weiss in his book, `The Perfect Will of God', tells of a teacher in a Bible School who told his students one day, "I have lived most of my life on God's second best". God had called him to be a missionary in his younger days, but he had turned aside from that calling as a result of marriage. He then began a selfish business life, working in a bank, with the primary purpose of making money. God continued to speak to him for a number of years, but he refused to yield. One day his little child had a fall from a chair and died. This drove him to his knees, and after a whole night spent in tears before God, he put his life into God's hands completely. It was too late for him to go to Africa now. That door was closed. He knew that had been God's best for him, but he had missed it. All that he could do was to ask God to put the rest of his life to some use. He became a teacher in a Bible School, but could never forget that this was only God's second-best.

Weiss continues to say, "I have since met numerous people who have borne similar testimony. Usually these testimonies have been bathed, or at least marked, with bitter tears. For while, thank God, He has ways of using even those who have sinned and have gone past that single entrance into the channel of His perfect will, life can never be the way He originally intended it. It is a tragedy to miss the perfect will of God for one's life. Christian, mark well these words and this testimony lest you too miss His first choice. God, doubtless, will use any life that is submitted to His hands, anywhere along life's pathway, but let us be among those who have sought and surrendered to His will at the outset of life's journey, and thus avoid those painful and shameful detours along the way."

We just cannot live the victorious life or be of maximum use to the Lord, or be a blessing to others in any place we choose. Some may feel that they can choose their own career and their place of residence and then seek to be a witness for the Lord wherever they are. The Lord may in His mercy use such believers in a limited way. But their usefulness in God's vineyard will be only a fraction of what it could have been had they earnestly sought His plan and remained in the center of His perfect will. Stunted spiritual growth and limited fruitfulness are but the consequences of a careless disregard of God's laws.

If you have disobeyed God in some matter, turn to Him in repentance now, before it is too late. It may yet be possible for you, as in Jonah's case, to come back into the mainstream of God's plan for your life.

Each of us has but one life. Blessed is the man who like Paul, can say at the end of it, that he has finished his God-appointed task (2 Tim. 4:7).

"The world and all its passionate desires will one day disappear. But the man who is following God's will is part of the Permanent and cannot die" (1 John 2:17-JBP).

"Live life then with a due sense of responsibility, not as men who do not know the meaning and purpose of life, but as those who do. Make the best use of your time, despite all the difficulties of these days. Don't be vague but firmly grasp what you know to be the will of God" (Eph. 5:15-17- JPB).

by Zac Poonen