“Thus it happened, when the king heard the words of the Law, that he tore his clothes.”
II Chronicles 34 : 19 (New King James Version)
King Josiah became king when he was 8 years old and he reigned for 31 years in Jerusalem. Now Josiah unlike his father king Amon, did what was right in the sight of the Lord. We read in the previous verses that Josiah sought the Lord and he began to get rid of all the high places, wooden images, the carved images , and the molded images. And in the eighteenth year of his reign he began to repair the house of the Lord.
Now as they were repairing the house of God, Hilkiah the high priest found the book of the Law of the Lord given by Moses.. Now Shaphan the scribe brought the book to the king Josiah and read it before him. Now when Josiah heard the words of the Law he tore his clothes.
Why did he do that ? The Bible says he sought the Lord … we read that he did things that were right in the sight of the Lord…. He got rid of every idol and he even began repairing the house of God. Then why ? Why was he convicted so much when the words of the Law of the Lord were read ?
Because that’s how Holy our God is !!
We read in verse 21 that Josiah says “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for those who are left in Israel and Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found; for great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out on us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to do according to all that is written in this book”
Because the word of the Lord was not kept to do according to ALL that was written in this book. Wow ! What his fathers (generations above him) had not done… areas where he had failed …everything just became alive to him. The words of the Lord convicted him.
We might think ‘hey u know what I’m doing a lot of things right … so I’m good’…. We forget how Holy and spotless our Lord is. Sin is sin…doesn’t matter if its big or small… It doesn’t matter if it’s the very act of sexual immorality or a lustful message or an immoral desire… They are all counted equal in His sight… SIN !!
We read in James 2:10 “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all”
Be it anger, a lie , drunkenness, a lustful conversation , an immoral message , idle words, pride, …. CAST IT OUT ! It has no part in our lives ! If the internet connection at home is source of temptation and filth for you then CUT IT OFF !! If that relationship is causing immoral desires then cut it off !! If you think your circle of friends cause you to drink and smoke then cut them off !!
We serve a HOLY God !! As we read His word I pray that we are convicted of our sin . I pray that we humble ourselves in His sight and seek Him with all our heart and our soul.
We read in verse 31 ‘Then the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the LORD, to follow the LORD, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book.”
God Bless
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
Just a teaspoon of sugar
“And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.”
Exodus 17: 11 (New King James Version)
Whenever my mom used to make yummy goodies at home she always used to let me help out as a kid. Of course she would do 99.99% of the work :-) And then when she was all done she would make me feel important by saying ‘Now add this teaspoon of sugar and mix it all up’ . And would I be excited !!! And when the final treats were ready I would sit and eat it as though I had such a major role in the outcome of the final product. Praise the Lord for our mothers who shower us with so much of love.
Our Heavenly Father is so much more than that J And you know what ? He does not need us to do anything . But yet He lets us play this tiny role and makes us feel important . We are a crucial part of His plan. You need to understand that that one teaspoon of sugar though not a big thing was still vital for the whole recipe. So are you and I in God’s plan.
When we read today’s passage Exodus 17: 8-13 , we see that Joshua is heading the army and is fighting against the Amalekites. And Moses is standing on top of a hill with Aaron and Hur and he is stretching out the rod of God. And verse 11 says that while his hand was held up Israel prevailed, but whenever he let his hand down the Amalekites prevailed. Think about it … God could have given them instant victory in a fraction of a second without having Moses to do anything. God could have split the red sea just like that … He need not have asked Moses to stretch out the rod. Exodus 14: 21 says “Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided”
There are a couple of things that I want to share this morning…the first is we need to realize that God doesn’t need us …But yet He chose us to be used for His glory . What an honor that the great I AM would chose to use us as part of His plans. Our God is a God of wonders. All He is looking for is a heart that is willing to be used for His glory. He is looking for us to walk in faith and know that He is God. He is looking for a generation that will say ‘Lord, Here I am’.
The second is , we read that not all battles are won in an instant . They require us to constantly stretch out our hands towards the heavens and over the battle in His name.
Is there something that you have been praying for ? Is there someone for whom you have been praying for their salvation ? Keep your hands stretched out !! Continue to pray for them…. Don’t give up… The battle is the Lord’s. And you are part of His plan. You have to be on your knees and pray for whatever the need is…. You need to stretch out your hands.
The third is , have believers around you … you might become weary ! :) . Moses’s hands started becoming heavy. Aaron and Hur got a stone that Moses could sit on and they each held up one hand. Just imagine that sight . Aaron on one side of Moses and Hur on the other side . And all of them are united towards one goal. The Bible says that Moses’s hands were steady until the going down of the sun and Israel defeated the Amalekites. There are times when we become weary… when we have been praying for so long and we just become weary . Have believers around you who will support you in prayer that together your hands may be lifted up towards the heavens. And you know what ? The battle will be won.
We read in verse 15 “And Moses built an altar and called its name, ‘The-LORD-Is-My-Banner’” . In Hebrew its YHWH Nissi. The Lord is our banner. Are we willing to be used by the Lord ? Miracles can happen right in our rooms. All it takes is a heart that says ‘Lord use me’. When we pray our God listens. Battles can be won right in our homes . All we need to do is continue to pray and pray and pray and listen to His voice.
Have you been praying for the salvation of friends or family ? Don’t give up … Keep praying . It is God’s will that all may be saved and have life eternal. Keep your hands stretched out. The Lord is our banner and His name will be lifted up on high.
God Bless
Exodus 17: 11 (New King James Version)
Whenever my mom used to make yummy goodies at home she always used to let me help out as a kid. Of course she would do 99.99% of the work :-) And then when she was all done she would make me feel important by saying ‘Now add this teaspoon of sugar and mix it all up’ . And would I be excited !!! And when the final treats were ready I would sit and eat it as though I had such a major role in the outcome of the final product. Praise the Lord for our mothers who shower us with so much of love.
Our Heavenly Father is so much more than that J And you know what ? He does not need us to do anything . But yet He lets us play this tiny role and makes us feel important . We are a crucial part of His plan. You need to understand that that one teaspoon of sugar though not a big thing was still vital for the whole recipe. So are you and I in God’s plan.
When we read today’s passage Exodus 17: 8-13 , we see that Joshua is heading the army and is fighting against the Amalekites. And Moses is standing on top of a hill with Aaron and Hur and he is stretching out the rod of God. And verse 11 says that while his hand was held up Israel prevailed, but whenever he let his hand down the Amalekites prevailed. Think about it … God could have given them instant victory in a fraction of a second without having Moses to do anything. God could have split the red sea just like that … He need not have asked Moses to stretch out the rod. Exodus 14: 21 says “Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided”
There are a couple of things that I want to share this morning…the first is we need to realize that God doesn’t need us …But yet He chose us to be used for His glory . What an honor that the great I AM would chose to use us as part of His plans. Our God is a God of wonders. All He is looking for is a heart that is willing to be used for His glory. He is looking for us to walk in faith and know that He is God. He is looking for a generation that will say ‘Lord, Here I am’.
The second is , we read that not all battles are won in an instant . They require us to constantly stretch out our hands towards the heavens and over the battle in His name.
Is there something that you have been praying for ? Is there someone for whom you have been praying for their salvation ? Keep your hands stretched out !! Continue to pray for them…. Don’t give up… The battle is the Lord’s. And you are part of His plan. You have to be on your knees and pray for whatever the need is…. You need to stretch out your hands.
The third is , have believers around you … you might become weary ! :) . Moses’s hands started becoming heavy. Aaron and Hur got a stone that Moses could sit on and they each held up one hand. Just imagine that sight . Aaron on one side of Moses and Hur on the other side . And all of them are united towards one goal. The Bible says that Moses’s hands were steady until the going down of the sun and Israel defeated the Amalekites. There are times when we become weary… when we have been praying for so long and we just become weary . Have believers around you who will support you in prayer that together your hands may be lifted up towards the heavens. And you know what ? The battle will be won.
We read in verse 15 “And Moses built an altar and called its name, ‘The-LORD-Is-My-Banner’” . In Hebrew its YHWH Nissi. The Lord is our banner. Are we willing to be used by the Lord ? Miracles can happen right in our rooms. All it takes is a heart that says ‘Lord use me’. When we pray our God listens. Battles can be won right in our homes . All we need to do is continue to pray and pray and pray and listen to His voice.
Have you been praying for the salvation of friends or family ? Don’t give up … Keep praying . It is God’s will that all may be saved and have life eternal. Keep your hands stretched out. The Lord is our banner and His name will be lifted up on high.
God Bless
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
The Reason for the storm
“And he said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me.”
Jonah 1 : 12 (New King James Version)
I’m sure a lot of us would have grown up in Sunday School listening to the story of Jonah. I remember even singing songs regarding this
“Jonah Jonah have you heard ,
Said the the Lord ‘go preach my word’
Jonah said its not for me ,
Took a boat and went to sea”
That’s exactly the background to what the current context is… The Lord asked Jonah to go to Nineveh and speak to the people there for they were dwelling in wickedness. However Jonah decided not to do it and he went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid his fare and started his journey to Tarshish. Now we read in Jonah 1 : 4 “But the LORD sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up”
I want to run a parallel here…so keep this picture in your mind and turn your Bibles with me to Matthew 8 : 23-27 .Here the disciples are travelling with Christ in a boat and we read in verse 24 “And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with waves. But He was asleep.”
How many of us run into sudden tempests, storms in our lives ? I’m sure all of us do. Suddenly out of nowhere this problem or situation arises and we think ‘we are gonna sink”… sometimes it not just us only … it affects those around us .
When we look at the reference from Matthew we see that what was needed to calm the storm was FAITH ! Believing and knowing that our God is above every situation and every circumstance. KNOWING THAT WHEN HE IS WITH US THE STORM WILL BE CALMED !!
Now lets get back to Jonah …. Here, what was needed to calm the storm was ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF SIN ! Jonah knew it was because he disobeyed God. He acknowledged his sin … he was repentant in his heart and he told the people in the ship to throw him into the sea.
But you know what happened ? Our God is so merciful … we don’t deserve it at all …but He is so gracious… We read in verse 17 “Now the Lord prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah . And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights”
Bottom line … God will calm the storm. However we need to understand that there are times when its our sin that causes the storm in the first place ! We are not where God wants us to be… We need to repent…. And we need to be willing to say “Pick me up and throw me into the sea” . You know what that line signifies ? A heart that says “I’ll do anything to get right with God ! “
Our God is merciful … He already has a fish that’s prepared ! It might take sometime to get back to Nineveh to complete God’s purpose. But if we humble ourselves and cry out to the Lord , our God is mighty to save. We read in Jonah 2: 9 “But I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed, Salvation is of the Lord”
Verse 10 , “So the LORD spoke to the fish and it vomited Jonah onto dry land”
God Bless
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Thine Strength or mine ?
“For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth. To show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.””
II Chronicles 16 : 9 (New King James Version)
For a little background concerning this verse , lets turn our Bibles to chapter 14 and read on from there….King Asa (King of Judah) did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord…He removed the altars of the foreign gods and the high places,… he broke all their sacred pillars…
One day however Zerah the Ethiopian came out against him with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots !! Now Asa had only an army with three hundred thousand men from Judah and two hundred and eighty thousand men from Benjamin. In other words his army was only half the size when compared to the army coming against him. Ever had problems rise up against you that were more than you could ever handle ??
We read in Chapter 14 and verse 11 , “And Asa cried out to the LORD his God, and said, “LORD, it is nothing for You to help, whether with many or with those who have no power; help us, O LORD our God, for we rest on You, and in Your name we go against this multitude. O LORD, You are our God; do not let man prevail against You!””
I want us to reflect on this verse for a second…
· “LORD, it is nothing for You to help, whether with many or with those who have no power
We need to understand this … Our God is above every circumstance and every situation … He is above every logical solution !! It does not matter what we see here physically … We need to have our eyes set on Him !!
· help us, O LORD our God, for we rest on You, and in Your name we go against this multitude
What did the people of Judah do ? They rested in Him ! They did not just pray and then quickly go and try and figure out a solution or an escape route or a Plan B ! No … They said “we rest on You” and what else ? They declared that they would go out against the multitude in whose name ? in His name !
· O LORD, You are our God; do not let man prevail against You!”
They didn’t just say “You are our God” and go about doing what they wanted … No no no they professed what they believed ! How many of us say “Lord You are my God“ but live nothing like it ? They walked in faith and prayed. They knew God was all able and He would never let those who trust in Him be put to shame.
As we keep reading we see that the Lord struck the Ethiopians and they fled ! Now when we come to chapter 16 we see that Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah. And what did Asa do ? We read in Chapter 16 and verse 2 that he brought silver and gold from the treasures of the house of the Lord and of the king’s house and sent them to Ben-Hadad king of Syria . Asa broke up the treaty between the king of Syria and the king of Israel and formed one with the king of Syria. Logical ? Yes . God’s will ? No ! He never sought the Lord !! Asa decided he would do the best logical thing ! He had tasted and seen how good God is and he had seen the victory that God had given him but yet he did not seek the the Lord ! He relied on his own wisdom and not God’s strength.God who defeated the Ethiopian’s army could have easily given him victory . But Asa decided to go with his own wisdom and strength this time.
Hanani the seer came to king Asa and said ““Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the LORD your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand. Were the Ethiopians and the Lubim not a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied on the LORD, He delivered them into your hand.For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.””
God would have given him the army of the king of Syria… he would have defeated them … What a turn of events !
So many many many times we are like Asa… We rely on Him when we have nothing .. and we see the hand of God in our lives …. But as soon as certain things start taking shape, then we begin to make decisions on our own ! I pray that the Lord will forgive our foolishness and I pray that we will seek the Lord and rely on Him and Him alone.
Verse 9 says that the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is what ? Loyal to Him !
The Lord will always always show Himself strong … however are we loyal to Him ? Who do we rely on ? Him or our wisdom ?
When Asa heard from the Lord he did not repent for his folly… instead he had Hanani put in prison !! At the end Asa became diseased in his feet and his malady was severe… yet yet yet he did not seek the Lord but sought the physicians …. And eventually he died. Isn’t that sad ?
What’s even worse is some of us who don’t recognize that we are in the same state of Asa ! I pray that we will set ourselves right in the sight of the Lord and rely on Him completely in everything and for everything.
God Bless
Testimony : I praise and thank God that we have completed 100 mailers till today by God’s grace. As long as we keep relying on God He does such wonderful things. When His word goes forth it accomplishes things ! Amen. Do continue to keep this ministry in your prayers. God is blessing this ministry to cause the birth of L.I.G.H.T. Ministries (Labourers In God’s Harvest Together). I pray that we will continue to grow in the Lord together and may His light shine forth brightly from within us that people around us may glorify our Father.
II Chronicles 16 : 9 (New King James Version)
For a little background concerning this verse , lets turn our Bibles to chapter 14 and read on from there….King Asa (King of Judah) did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord…He removed the altars of the foreign gods and the high places,… he broke all their sacred pillars…
One day however Zerah the Ethiopian came out against him with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots !! Now Asa had only an army with three hundred thousand men from Judah and two hundred and eighty thousand men from Benjamin. In other words his army was only half the size when compared to the army coming against him. Ever had problems rise up against you that were more than you could ever handle ??
We read in Chapter 14 and verse 11 , “And Asa cried out to the LORD his God, and said, “LORD, it is nothing for You to help, whether with many or with those who have no power; help us, O LORD our God, for we rest on You, and in Your name we go against this multitude. O LORD, You are our God; do not let man prevail against You!””
I want us to reflect on this verse for a second…
· “LORD, it is nothing for You to help, whether with many or with those who have no power
We need to understand this … Our God is above every circumstance and every situation … He is above every logical solution !! It does not matter what we see here physically … We need to have our eyes set on Him !!
· help us, O LORD our God, for we rest on You, and in Your name we go against this multitude
What did the people of Judah do ? They rested in Him ! They did not just pray and then quickly go and try and figure out a solution or an escape route or a Plan B ! No … They said “we rest on You” and what else ? They declared that they would go out against the multitude in whose name ? in His name !
· O LORD, You are our God; do not let man prevail against You!”
They didn’t just say “You are our God” and go about doing what they wanted … No no no they professed what they believed ! How many of us say “Lord You are my God“ but live nothing like it ? They walked in faith and prayed. They knew God was all able and He would never let those who trust in Him be put to shame.
As we keep reading we see that the Lord struck the Ethiopians and they fled ! Now when we come to chapter 16 we see that Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah. And what did Asa do ? We read in Chapter 16 and verse 2 that he brought silver and gold from the treasures of the house of the Lord and of the king’s house and sent them to Ben-Hadad king of Syria . Asa broke up the treaty between the king of Syria and the king of Israel and formed one with the king of Syria. Logical ? Yes . God’s will ? No ! He never sought the Lord !! Asa decided he would do the best logical thing ! He had tasted and seen how good God is and he had seen the victory that God had given him but yet he did not seek the the Lord ! He relied on his own wisdom and not God’s strength.God who defeated the Ethiopian’s army could have easily given him victory . But Asa decided to go with his own wisdom and strength this time.
Hanani the seer came to king Asa and said ““Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the LORD your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand. Were the Ethiopians and the Lubim not a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied on the LORD, He delivered them into your hand.For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.””
God would have given him the army of the king of Syria… he would have defeated them … What a turn of events !
So many many many times we are like Asa… We rely on Him when we have nothing .. and we see the hand of God in our lives …. But as soon as certain things start taking shape, then we begin to make decisions on our own ! I pray that the Lord will forgive our foolishness and I pray that we will seek the Lord and rely on Him and Him alone.
Verse 9 says that the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is what ? Loyal to Him !
The Lord will always always show Himself strong … however are we loyal to Him ? Who do we rely on ? Him or our wisdom ?
When Asa heard from the Lord he did not repent for his folly… instead he had Hanani put in prison !! At the end Asa became diseased in his feet and his malady was severe… yet yet yet he did not seek the Lord but sought the physicians …. And eventually he died. Isn’t that sad ?
What’s even worse is some of us who don’t recognize that we are in the same state of Asa ! I pray that we will set ourselves right in the sight of the Lord and rely on Him completely in everything and for everything.
God Bless
Testimony : I praise and thank God that we have completed 100 mailers till today by God’s grace. As long as we keep relying on God He does such wonderful things. When His word goes forth it accomplishes things ! Amen. Do continue to keep this ministry in your prayers. God is blessing this ministry to cause the birth of L.I.G.H.T. Ministries (Labourers In God’s Harvest Together). I pray that we will continue to grow in the Lord together and may His light shine forth brightly from within us that people around us may glorify our Father.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Unite my heart
“Teach me Your way, O Lord;
I will walk in Your truth;
Unite my heart to fear Your name.”
Psalm 86 : 11 (New King James Version)
A couple of days ago we were meditating on this aspect “Teach me Your way” . We learnt that its not enough that we pray ‘Lord show me Your way’ … we need to always continually sit at His feet and ask our Father to guide every step and to teach us how and when to take each step forward .
The latter half of the verse says “Unite my heart to fear Your name”… here the literal translation of the word Unite is ‘Give me singleness of heart’ . Now that’s a basic prayer we need to be asking God …. Let not our heart be divided among so many things….
Wow ! Singleness of heart ! I pray that this very moment as you read this , that each of us will examine ourselves and ask the Lord to forgive us and give us a singleness of heart to fear His name . That this heart will never be lifted up to another . That this heart will not be divided but will be lifted up in fullness to the Lord our God !
What happens when we have a singleness of heart ? We read in verse 12 “I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, And I will glorify Your name forever more.”
With ALL my heart …. With ALL my heart Lord , I will praise You . Let this be our prayer … that with singleness of heart… with all our heart we will praise Him and fear His name
And you want to know why our prayers will be answered ? We read in verse 13 “For great is Your mercy toward me, And You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.” Because great is God’s mercy towards us ! He has delivered us from the abode of death by paying the price of our sins on the cross. His blood has redeemed us and His mercy endures forever !
This morning as I knelt down to pray , the Lord reminded me that the first thing I need to do is ‘Him and me’ time ! Sometimes we get so used to having a big prayer list for ourselves or for others that we forget to have our exclusive one-one time with our Father.
I pray that the Lord will continue to grow us in Him and our every desire will be aligned in accordance to His holy will.
God Bless
I will walk in Your truth;
Unite my heart to fear Your name.”
Psalm 86 : 11 (New King James Version)
A couple of days ago we were meditating on this aspect “Teach me Your way” . We learnt that its not enough that we pray ‘Lord show me Your way’ … we need to always continually sit at His feet and ask our Father to guide every step and to teach us how and when to take each step forward .
The latter half of the verse says “Unite my heart to fear Your name”… here the literal translation of the word Unite is ‘Give me singleness of heart’ . Now that’s a basic prayer we need to be asking God …. Let not our heart be divided among so many things….
Wow ! Singleness of heart ! I pray that this very moment as you read this , that each of us will examine ourselves and ask the Lord to forgive us and give us a singleness of heart to fear His name . That this heart will never be lifted up to another . That this heart will not be divided but will be lifted up in fullness to the Lord our God !
What happens when we have a singleness of heart ? We read in verse 12 “I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, And I will glorify Your name forever more.”
With ALL my heart …. With ALL my heart Lord , I will praise You . Let this be our prayer … that with singleness of heart… with all our heart we will praise Him and fear His name
And you want to know why our prayers will be answered ? We read in verse 13 “For great is Your mercy toward me, And You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.” Because great is God’s mercy towards us ! He has delivered us from the abode of death by paying the price of our sins on the cross. His blood has redeemed us and His mercy endures forever !
This morning as I knelt down to pray , the Lord reminded me that the first thing I need to do is ‘Him and me’ time ! Sometimes we get so used to having a big prayer list for ourselves or for others that we forget to have our exclusive one-one time with our Father.
I pray that the Lord will continue to grow us in Him and our every desire will be aligned in accordance to His holy will.
God Bless
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
All in all !
“Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth : fornication , uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”
Colossians 3: 5 (New King James Version)
Lets have a look at the first half of the verse to begin with…..’put to death your members which are on the earth’… Wow ! Isn’t that amazing… Which means everything that we do…everything that we are … its all to be focused above (where Christ sits) and nothing of this earth is to be a part of us…. Nothing of this earth…absolutely nothing !!
Don’t get me wrong … I’m not saying don’t by a house or don’t wear Nike shoes. I’m saying our focus our every desire is to be of Him and things of Him ! Now if the desire to buy a house if what is driving us to work day and night and our focus has shifted off from the things of God then STOP ! Hit the brakes ! We need to set ourselves right with God and have our desires aligned to His will. Seek His kingdom first and seek His righteousness ! And then what will happen ? All these things shall be added unto us… What things ? Whatever God knows we need !
Getting back … we are to put to death our members which are on the earth… earthly desires and passions… What is to be done with them ? Put it to death ! They have no part in a life that is to be lived for God’s glory.
Fornication … Any kind of sexual immorality… not just actions…but even the smallest thoughts….. It needs to be put to death. Uncleanness… anything that is polluting His temple (did you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit )…. Lips which praise God cannot be used to drink alcohol and smoke and pollute His temple… There are no two ways about it…. Would you keep a bottle of alcohol in the middle of church ? No ! Neither can it reside in His temple which is U and I ! Passion …evil desire… covetousness... What is covetousness ? Greed… Materialism…. We need to be very careful about this…. This world is so materialistic and we need to be careful we don’t get carried away by it… Its not about the amount of jewellery we have or the bike or the car we drive… its not about anything of this earth…. Nothing of this earth is to hold any desire in our life. Its got to be 100% all about Him !
Some of us might be feeling “Oh ok … I think I am good… I haven’t committed any sexual sins… No evil desire…no unwarranted passion and yeah I’m not materialistic..” Wait.. there’s more… we read in verses 8,9 ‘But now you yourselves are to put off all these : anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth, Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds”
Whoa ! That’s an eye opener isn’t it. All of these things are deeds of the old man …
And who are we now ? we see in verses 10,11 “and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all” … We are new beings in Christ ! Our old man and his deeds have been put off and we are now to lead lives where Christ is 100% all !
Are we doing that ?
We read in Jude1 :24-25 “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy , To God our Saviour Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty. Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen”
We cant do anything on our own strength… its not by our works but by His grace that we have been saved !
Are we willing to surrender ourselves totally to Him and say “Lord forgive me for all my sins… for falling short of the mark so very often… There is nothing Lord that I can do on my own strength…Only you Lord can make me whole… Only You Lord can keep me from falling ….Lord let my every action, thought and desire be in accordance with your Holy will …In name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ , Amen“
Some of us might be struggling with addictions , some of us are stuck in a relationship which we know is drawing us further from God…. Some of us are just so prone to idle talk …. For some of us lies or anger just comes out in a split second…. Do you desire to be set free from all of this ? All it takes is for us to be willing ! And when He sets us free we are free indeed ! We are already dead to the things of this world… Christ took it all on the cross for us… It is finished… The more we draw closer to God the farther are we from the things of this world !
God Bless
Colossians 3: 5 (New King James Version)
Lets have a look at the first half of the verse to begin with…..’put to death your members which are on the earth’… Wow ! Isn’t that amazing… Which means everything that we do…everything that we are … its all to be focused above (where Christ sits) and nothing of this earth is to be a part of us…. Nothing of this earth…absolutely nothing !!
Don’t get me wrong … I’m not saying don’t by a house or don’t wear Nike shoes. I’m saying our focus our every desire is to be of Him and things of Him ! Now if the desire to buy a house if what is driving us to work day and night and our focus has shifted off from the things of God then STOP ! Hit the brakes ! We need to set ourselves right with God and have our desires aligned to His will. Seek His kingdom first and seek His righteousness ! And then what will happen ? All these things shall be added unto us… What things ? Whatever God knows we need !
Getting back … we are to put to death our members which are on the earth… earthly desires and passions… What is to be done with them ? Put it to death ! They have no part in a life that is to be lived for God’s glory.
Fornication … Any kind of sexual immorality… not just actions…but even the smallest thoughts….. It needs to be put to death. Uncleanness… anything that is polluting His temple (did you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit )…. Lips which praise God cannot be used to drink alcohol and smoke and pollute His temple… There are no two ways about it…. Would you keep a bottle of alcohol in the middle of church ? No ! Neither can it reside in His temple which is U and I ! Passion …evil desire… covetousness... What is covetousness ? Greed… Materialism…. We need to be very careful about this…. This world is so materialistic and we need to be careful we don’t get carried away by it… Its not about the amount of jewellery we have or the bike or the car we drive… its not about anything of this earth…. Nothing of this earth is to hold any desire in our life. Its got to be 100% all about Him !
Some of us might be feeling “Oh ok … I think I am good… I haven’t committed any sexual sins… No evil desire…no unwarranted passion and yeah I’m not materialistic..” Wait.. there’s more… we read in verses 8,9 ‘But now you yourselves are to put off all these : anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth, Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds”
Whoa ! That’s an eye opener isn’t it. All of these things are deeds of the old man …
And who are we now ? we see in verses 10,11 “and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all” … We are new beings in Christ ! Our old man and his deeds have been put off and we are now to lead lives where Christ is 100% all !
Are we doing that ?
We read in Jude1 :24-25 “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy , To God our Saviour Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty. Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen”
We cant do anything on our own strength… its not by our works but by His grace that we have been saved !
Are we willing to surrender ourselves totally to Him and say “Lord forgive me for all my sins… for falling short of the mark so very often… There is nothing Lord that I can do on my own strength…Only you Lord can make me whole… Only You Lord can keep me from falling ….Lord let my every action, thought and desire be in accordance with your Holy will …In name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ , Amen“
Some of us might be struggling with addictions , some of us are stuck in a relationship which we know is drawing us further from God…. Some of us are just so prone to idle talk …. For some of us lies or anger just comes out in a split second…. Do you desire to be set free from all of this ? All it takes is for us to be willing ! And when He sets us free we are free indeed ! We are already dead to the things of this world… Christ took it all on the cross for us… It is finished… The more we draw closer to God the farther are we from the things of this world !
God Bless
Sunday, September 6, 2009
What’s your indicator showing ?
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law”
Galatians 5:22-23 (New King James Version)
I guess this was a couple of months after I first started driving a car…And as I was driving, the accelerator just went phzzzzzz ! In the sense, no matter how much I hit the accelerator the car was just not responding . By God’s grace the car slowed down by the side of the road instead of just freezing right in the middle ! J
I tried calling the mechanic but he was not picking up and it was a really hot day . So there I am with the car parked on the side of the road and I am sweating and trying to figure out what might be wrong with the car… “Did a wire get cut ?” , “Has the battery gone dead”,… And then a cop came by and asked me whats wrong … and I explained the problem to him … and he said “I think you are out of petrol” and then I said “No that cant be right …” And I quickly ducked back into the car and looked at the indicator and said “see there is a gap between the needle and Empty. Little did I know that it was actually empty …And that I had no idea that that was the maximum that the needle would go down. So I went got the fuel in a bottle and came back to the car and Vroooooom ! The car was A-Ok !
There are a couple of things here that I want us to think about …
1.Do we know how to read our indicator?
I didn’t realize the car was totally dry ! That’s because I didn’t know how to read the indicator correctly. I thought I still had some time before the needle would hit ‘Empty’ and before that I could fill it up ! Many of us are like that ! We know how we run when we are fully fuelled up in the Lord ! And unfortunately we have been becoming dry along the way … We might be thinking “oh I will make things right with God soon …. I still have time”…. Careful !! It might become too late . Every day we need to make sure that we are right with God…we need to submit ourselves entirely to Him…. Hurry up…before its too late !
2. What is our indicator showing ?
What if I gave you a choice of 3 cars one with the tank quarter filled with fuel, the other half filled and the third one completely filled ! And I say “You need to make a drive for 100km” … which one would you pick ? Even if it was just a 100km drive we would still pick the one which is completely filled ! Why ? So that if we need to go beyond the 100km we can !
What is your indicator showing so that God can use you for His glory ? Will He pick us ?
I love this verse… We read in verse 16 “I say then : Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh”. And what is the fruit of the Spirit ? Remember it is fruit (singular) not fruits ! . So if we say we walk in the Spirit this is the fruit we ought to bear “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control “…If even one of these elements are missing then we are not bearing fruit !! Its as simple as that … Would really like to talk about each of these…but will try and keep this curt and end with a couple of examples…
Faithfulness – Are we giving God our First & our Best ? Growing up I would always see my dad do just one thing first in the morning … Sit with the word of God. He would finish his bath and be all fresh and he would just enjoy reading the Bible… As a kid I used to wonder why would my dad’s face be just so lit up when he reads the Bible… Now I know…. There is joy in His presence … Its amazing just to say “Lord nothing of this world matters to me…I want to come to You first before I give my time or energy to anything or anyone else”
Gentleness (Meekness)…Self-Control … Does it show in the way we drive ? J Or is it that a moment that someone zips in front of us that we cant stand it and zoooom way ahead of them ? Does it show in the way we talk ? …. Are we bearing fruit ?
God Bless
Galatians 5:22-23 (New King James Version)
I guess this was a couple of months after I first started driving a car…And as I was driving, the accelerator just went phzzzzzz ! In the sense, no matter how much I hit the accelerator the car was just not responding . By God’s grace the car slowed down by the side of the road instead of just freezing right in the middle ! J
I tried calling the mechanic but he was not picking up and it was a really hot day . So there I am with the car parked on the side of the road and I am sweating and trying to figure out what might be wrong with the car… “Did a wire get cut ?” , “Has the battery gone dead”,… And then a cop came by and asked me whats wrong … and I explained the problem to him … and he said “I think you are out of petrol” and then I said “No that cant be right …” And I quickly ducked back into the car and looked at the indicator and said “see there is a gap between the needle and Empty. Little did I know that it was actually empty …And that I had no idea that that was the maximum that the needle would go down. So I went got the fuel in a bottle and came back to the car and Vroooooom ! The car was A-Ok !
There are a couple of things here that I want us to think about …
1.Do we know how to read our indicator?
I didn’t realize the car was totally dry ! That’s because I didn’t know how to read the indicator correctly. I thought I still had some time before the needle would hit ‘Empty’ and before that I could fill it up ! Many of us are like that ! We know how we run when we are fully fuelled up in the Lord ! And unfortunately we have been becoming dry along the way … We might be thinking “oh I will make things right with God soon …. I still have time”…. Careful !! It might become too late . Every day we need to make sure that we are right with God…we need to submit ourselves entirely to Him…. Hurry up…before its too late !
2. What is our indicator showing ?
What if I gave you a choice of 3 cars one with the tank quarter filled with fuel, the other half filled and the third one completely filled ! And I say “You need to make a drive for 100km” … which one would you pick ? Even if it was just a 100km drive we would still pick the one which is completely filled ! Why ? So that if we need to go beyond the 100km we can !
What is your indicator showing so that God can use you for His glory ? Will He pick us ?
I love this verse… We read in verse 16 “I say then : Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh”. And what is the fruit of the Spirit ? Remember it is fruit (singular) not fruits ! . So if we say we walk in the Spirit this is the fruit we ought to bear “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control “…If even one of these elements are missing then we are not bearing fruit !! Its as simple as that … Would really like to talk about each of these…but will try and keep this curt and end with a couple of examples…
Faithfulness – Are we giving God our First & our Best ? Growing up I would always see my dad do just one thing first in the morning … Sit with the word of God. He would finish his bath and be all fresh and he would just enjoy reading the Bible… As a kid I used to wonder why would my dad’s face be just so lit up when he reads the Bible… Now I know…. There is joy in His presence … Its amazing just to say “Lord nothing of this world matters to me…I want to come to You first before I give my time or energy to anything or anyone else”
Gentleness (Meekness)…Self-Control … Does it show in the way we drive ? J Or is it that a moment that someone zips in front of us that we cant stand it and zoooom way ahead of them ? Does it show in the way we talk ? …. Are we bearing fruit ?
God Bless
Friday, September 4, 2009
Do we know the difference between bitter and sweet ?
“A satisfied soul loathes the honeycomb,
But to a hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet”
Proverbs 27 : 7 (New King James Version)
My sisters were watching an interview on a gospel channel at home and they told me about this testimony that a woman shared. And at the end of her testimony she said “There is no high like the Most High !” J Amen to that ! No getting high on drugs, alcohol,… can ever ever compare to the joy of having Jesus Christ as Lord of our lives.
Only God can satisfy ! When we have filled ourselves with Him , the word of God says that such a soul will trample (literal translation) the honeycomb. Can u imagine the difference ?
Satisfied soul -> Tramples the honeycomb itself
Hungry soul -> Perceives even bitter things to be sweet
Isn’t that sad ! Unfortunately many of us find ourselves in this sad sorry state. By satisfying our soul with things of this world…things which are an abomination to our God. Examples ? Love of Money, Sexual Immorality (remember to think lustfully is as good as committing the act itself !), Alcohol, drugs, smoking, impure or immoral desires, … giving anything or anyone else higher priority over God … and here is the best one “trading our Biblical principles to satisfy people of the world”
Every conversation is not ok, every behavior is not ok… Does what we believe in and stand for show wherever we are ? Or have we literally turned into Sunday Christians ? Only in church people know oh ok ‘this person believes in Christ’ and when we come to work not a single action of ours speaks for His glory…instead we turn to pleasing people of this world by getting involved in unwanted conversations, passing inappropriate comments , lying, …acting as though ‘oh im cool with everything ‘…
Are we satisfying our soul with things of this world ? Knowing they are actually bitter , have we drifted so far from a personal relationship with God that even the bitter things taste momentarily sweet ?
The Bible says in Proverbs 28: 13 “He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy”. It does not stop with confessing … it continues to forsaking those sins !
I pray that we will fill ourselves with things of Him, that we will be satisfied souls for His glory.
God Bless
But to a hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet”
Proverbs 27 : 7 (New King James Version)
My sisters were watching an interview on a gospel channel at home and they told me about this testimony that a woman shared. And at the end of her testimony she said “There is no high like the Most High !” J Amen to that ! No getting high on drugs, alcohol,… can ever ever compare to the joy of having Jesus Christ as Lord of our lives.
Only God can satisfy ! When we have filled ourselves with Him , the word of God says that such a soul will trample (literal translation) the honeycomb. Can u imagine the difference ?
Satisfied soul -> Tramples the honeycomb itself
Hungry soul -> Perceives even bitter things to be sweet
Isn’t that sad ! Unfortunately many of us find ourselves in this sad sorry state. By satisfying our soul with things of this world…things which are an abomination to our God. Examples ? Love of Money, Sexual Immorality (remember to think lustfully is as good as committing the act itself !), Alcohol, drugs, smoking, impure or immoral desires, … giving anything or anyone else higher priority over God … and here is the best one “trading our Biblical principles to satisfy people of the world”
Every conversation is not ok, every behavior is not ok… Does what we believe in and stand for show wherever we are ? Or have we literally turned into Sunday Christians ? Only in church people know oh ok ‘this person believes in Christ’ and when we come to work not a single action of ours speaks for His glory…instead we turn to pleasing people of this world by getting involved in unwanted conversations, passing inappropriate comments , lying, …acting as though ‘oh im cool with everything ‘…
Are we satisfying our soul with things of this world ? Knowing they are actually bitter , have we drifted so far from a personal relationship with God that even the bitter things taste momentarily sweet ?
The Bible says in Proverbs 28: 13 “He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy”. It does not stop with confessing … it continues to forsaking those sins !
I pray that we will fill ourselves with things of Him, that we will be satisfied souls for His glory.
God Bless
Show Me... Teach Me
"Show me Your ways, O LORD; Teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day."
Psalm 25 : 4-5 (New King James Version)
Praise the Lord ! Its been a long time since the last mail was sent out. My apologies for the same. I currently find myself in a new job and in new locations by God's grace . Some times things happen in ways that we dont imagine and dont understand. We may not like the situation we are in or things might be happening the way we expected but there is still always uncertainity that is associated to it.
Here is what the Lord is teaching us today...It does not depend on our cirumstance or our situation :) Our very focus should be towards the Lord. I love verse 15 where it is said "My eyes are ever toward the LORD,For He shall pluck my feet out of the net". In other words it does not matter even if you find yourself stuck or trapped or in a place that you just dont understand why .... As long as our eyes are 'ever toward' the Lord... that is constantly ...in everything looking to Him and Him alone then He shall pluck our feet out of the net ! We dont have to worry at all. He will take us to the place where we ought to be.
Sometimes we are allowed to head towards nets to see what we will do ... Do we start fidgetting and struggling to get out on our own strength or do we just continue trusting in Him who is ever faithful to take care of us and pluck our feet out ? :)
A lot of us have this predefined notion of what we want our life to be or how should this or that work out ... we have formed this thinking pattern that we think 'ok this needs to happen and God you better do it !' ;-)
Want to know a better method ? We ought to stop telling God what we think 'the way' should be and start trusting in Him completely and asking Him to show us 'His way'.
Wanna know why it says 'teach me your paths' ? Because we dont understand His way ! His ways are just so unimaginably perfect !! Just so high that we cant comprehend it. Which is why once the Lord shows us His way we need to wait on Him and ask Him to teach us His path . With teaching comes instruction and correction !
Let this be the desire of our hearts... that we wait on Him all day asking Him to lead us in His truth and teach us.
God Bless
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