Dont make Christ a stranger in His own home

“He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.”

John 11: 23 (New King James Version)

Picture this with me… You walk into your own house and then you see this bunch of strangers who are walking around in your home. And they are doing whatever they want. And when you ask them , “hey you cant do that… what are you doing?” and they start treating you like a stranger in your own house. You see your house become a mess before your very eyes, being used for purposes that are against your will… people who don’t belong there are dwelling in your place.

When God looks into our lives what does He see ? This heart is to be lifted to Him . This is His house. But when He looks into our hearts is He welcome knowing that this is His home , or do we treat Christ like a stranger in His own home. We have invited addictions into our lives , we have invited wrong relationships into our lives , our lives which were meant to be used for His glory is now being used for things that are not in accordance with His will.

Lets not treat Christ like a stranger in His own home. This life that we live belongs to Him. The greatest love story of all Jesus Christ came for us, He loved us first , he paid the price for our sins and He is seated at the right hand of the Father and He calls us His own . 1 John 4: 17, “Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.”

If we are not walking with God then we are walking against God. Its as simple as that. We cannot hold on to both. We read in the latter half of the verse , “he who does not gather with Me scatters”. If we decide to marry a non-believer because we say we love this person so much , do understand that we hold this person above the ways of God which is idolatry. We are walking against God !

If we decide that watching that sinful channel or surfing on those pornographic sites or reading those books and magazines is what we want to have dwell in our lives, understand we have pushed Christ away and have invited sin to reside.

Its time to kick out those actual strangers in your house and invite the true owner Jesus Christ to reside. Today is the day, now is the time. Enough of making so much provisions for sin and ways of the world to take ownership of our lives.

Lord, cleanse our lives, we invite you Father to take Your rightful place in our lives … You are Lord and Savior of our lives. Have your way in us. Cleanse us from all sin. Purge away all rottenness that we have allowed to dwell within us. Use us completely for Your glory. This is Your house Father. In Jesus Name, we ask, we believe and we receive. Amen

God Bless

Do not be wise in your own eyes

“Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil, It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones.”

Proverbs 3: 7-8 (New King James Version)

When I drive my bike , I think all the car and auto drivers are terrible drivers and are inconsiderate to two wheelers. When I drive the car , I think all the bikes are totally reckless and drive in the middle of the road without making way for the four wheelers to go. Strange isn’t it . How something so small as the vehicle we drive can make such a change in perspective. Now imagine how my life would be if I made all the decisions based only on my own strength ? What if I planned every aspect of my life based on what I think is right ? CATASTROPHIC ! That’s the apt word. When I was a kid I had these phases where I liked different colors . And all my clothes, my school bag, even my pencil box would be that color. There was these phase of yellow , and then purple… I remember when I was a kid that I even got my shorts for sleeping in purple. Now when I look back I wonder ‘what was I thinking!!’ :-)

We are so limited in our thinking and our understanding. In fact many at times we don’t even know what we really want. We think this is what we want. We think this is the way we would have things. 5 years down the line we go ‘Oh my… what was I thinking’.

Want the secret to a regret-free life ? Do not be wise in your eyes. Seek God. Seek His will in your life. And when He leads and when He guides its perfect. He knows us better than we know ourselves. He loves us beyond measure. Even when we ignore Him , He still is waiting for us to turn to Him.

It is important that we seek His will in all that we do and commit everything to Him. We read in the preceding verses Proverbs 3: 5-6 , “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” Beautiful ! Its like this step by step process. Are you lost ? Confused ? Stuck at crossroads ? Find yourself in a mess ? Gone astray from the will of God ?

Come before His presence, repent . His love is immeasurable. All we have to do is trust in Him ! (He is God , He is perfect , He cannot make a mistake – who better to trust ? ) Lean not on our own understanding. When we say we trust in Him then we need to let Him lead the way . Not we going ahead wherever we choose and say ‘Ok Lord now tag along with me just so that I am safe’. We have to lean totally on Him and Him only. In all our ways acknowledge Him ! If you are well and able to read this mail , have fingers to click your mouse , breathing in well by God’s grace understand how blessed you are. In everything you do give Him all the glory. Understand we cant even blink without His grace sustaining us

Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil, It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones.

God Bless

He is able to keep us from stumbling

“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 Savior, Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen.”

Jude : verse 24 (New King James Version)

Lets turn our Bibles to Matthew 26 : 33 , “Peter answered and said to Him, “Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble.”” Peter relied on his own strength and he said he would not deny Jesus. He relied on his own strength when he said he would not stumble.

There are some of us who think we can overcome sin by our own strength. We think ‘I will not fall when tempted… I know myself’ and that is dangerous. When we rely on our own strength , we will fall . And so was the case of Peter, he denied Christ three times.

We read in John 21 , that Peter had gone back to his fishing. And we read in verses 15-17 that everytime when Jesus asked , “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter replied , “Yes, Lord ; You know that I love You.”

Do you see the difference ? The first instance we saw , we read of Peter and confidence in himself. However here we see the humbless and submission of Peter to God. He says , “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” . Wow ! Not even ‘Yes of course I love you’ or ‘how could you ask me Lord !! Don’t You know that Lord ??” … no no no. Peter said “You know that I love You.” . Its what the Lord saw in Him that mattered and not what he thought of himself.

And that’s what we ought to do . The reason why many of us stumble and fall time and time again is because we try to overcome with our own strength. Yes we love the Lord ,but then we try in our own strength to keep ourselves from stumbling. But that’s not how we ought to be.

We have been called to rely on Him for He is faithful , we have been called to lean on Him and His understanding , we have been called to look to Him and focus on things of Him. And when we focus of Him and open our lives completely to Him and when we rely on Him and on His strength , He keeps us from stumbling and He presents us faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling ! Not we ourselves… but His strength. When faced with temptation just look to Him . He is able to keep us from stumbling.

We read in Psalm 94 : 18-19 , “If I say, “My foot slips,” Your mercy, O LORD, will hold me up. In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul.”

How do we choose ? His way or ours?

“And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.”

Genesis 15: 4 (New King James Version)

We read in verses 1-3 , “After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying , “Do not be afraid Abram, I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” But Abram said, “Lord GOD, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!”

Now Sarai was barren and hence Abram had no heir. We read in verse 4 the promise God gives Abram , “And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.”

Now as time passes by we read in Chapter 16: 2, “So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the LORD has restrained me from bearing children. Please go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai.”

We were talking about freedom yesterday. And that is part of this morning’s meditation as well. Freedom to choose whose voice do we listen to . God had promised Abram . And Abram had the freedom to choose to listen to God’s voice and wait for His appointed time. Or Abram could decide how he thought the promise ought to work and be fulfilled and listen to voice of Sarai. Freedom to choose !

Abram made the wrong choice and we see its results even today. With regards to Ishmael, in Chapter 16: 12 , “He shall be a wild man; His hand shall be against every man, And every man’s hand against him. And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.”” This was the consequence of making the wrong choice . We see this being true even today.

God had bigger plans… Plans beyond what Abraham could have imagined. Isaac, the son of promise would be born to him when he was one hundred years old. We read Matthew 1:1 , “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:” Wow !!!! So high are God’s thoughts and plans for us. Wow !!

A lot of us are like Abram . We know God’s promise for our lives , but we choose to not listen to His voice . Instead we twist His promise and try and see its fulfillment with our own strength. Wait on the Lord ! In His appointed time things will come to pass by His grace and for His glory and not by our strength or our limited thinking.

Some people say , “God himself said it is not good for man to be alone , so I am going to choose whom I marry … I like this guy/girl , who cares if he/she is a believer… I like , I will marry.” Some people say “The Bible itself says what goes in doesn’t defile a man but what goes out so I shall drink and smoke as much as I like.” … Twisting scriptures to suit needs… be careful. The word of God is powerful and is life. It cannot and should not be twisted to suit our context.

We are children of the Most High. And we have been given the freedom to choose. Choose to listen to His voice and His word or choose to be yoked to the ways of the world.

Its our choice today. What have we decided ?

God Bless

Do we understand Freedom ?

“For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.””

Romans 8: 15 (New King James Version)

I was listening to a classmate of my sister complain how she does not have the freedom she wants. Freedom to go around with any guy she chooses without being spotted by her parents or relatives , freedom to live life as she would like…

This is the cry of most people today. ‘Oh I want freedom to go and party ‘ , ‘Oh I want freedom to drink and smoke’ , ‘Oh I want freedom to have any kind of relationship I choose’ , ‘Oh I want freedom to read and watch any kind of book , TV program and site on the internet’. Take a couple of steps back and look at these choices … they are all yokes of sin ! They come in the deceptive name of so called ‘freedom’ but what it does is bind one to sin . People don’t realize that in all this they just get deeper and deeper into the bondages of sin. In fact they are spiraling away from freedom.

Jesus Christ gave us the greatest freedom of all . He conquered sin and death and He has set us free. We now walk in the freedom of being children of the most High. Every choice we make takes us closer to one of these ‘Eternal Death’ or ‘Eternal Life’ . We were bound by sin and lost to eternal death. But Christ came and He broke the yoke of sin over our lives and now we are free ! Free to choose eternal life and walk in the victory of Christ. For all our sins, Christ paid the price for us on the cross. Having been ransomed by His blood we are free.

Now there are a lot of us who take this freedom in Christ for granted. We forget we are joint heirs in Christ. We forget what it means when we now called God as our Father. Now as sons and daughters of the Most High we carry His banner wherever we are and whatever we do. Do our actions reflect who we are ? Do people see us as a follower of Christ by the testimonial lives that we live or do they figure that out just by our names ? Do we choose to read thrash , spend hours on the phone , spend hours at work and things of the world and have we forgotten that we have been called to stand in the gap and intercede for others in prayer ? Have we taken the true freedom that we have to read His Holy Word which is life for granted ? Have we decided the freedom to sleep as long as we like is more important than the freedom to grow in knowledge of His word and dwell in His presence ?

Galatians 5: 1 , “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.”

God Bless

Look beyond the walls

"So the people shouted when the priests blew the trumpets. And it happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down falt. Then the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city"

Joshua 6: 20 (New King James Version)


We read in the beginning of chapter 6 that the Lord said to Joshua that He had given Jericho (a city) into Joshua's hands. He instructs Joshua to march around the city once for six days and the seven priests would bear seven trumpets of rams horns before the ark. But on the seventh day they were to march around the city seven times and the priests were to blow the trumpets. We read in verse 5 , ""It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him.""

So picture this... There is this city in front of you. And the Lord instructs you. And you think , 'Hmmm Go around the city walls for six days , on the seventh day go around the city seven times and then shout as the trumpet is blown, and the walls will come crashing down." Now here is the issue with a lot of us. When God promises us the city, we are so focussed on the wall ! We keep thinking 'Ok look at me 'and look at the wall... is this really going to come crashing down ?' We forget that what we ought to be believing is 'No wall or barrier is too big for my God". Our focus should be to look beyond the wall. Our focus is to be the city that God has promised us.

In short , God gives us instructions and His promises are true. All that is required from us is walking in faith and focussing on Him.

We read in verse 16, "And the seventh time it happened, when the priests blew the trumpets, that Joshua said to the people: "Shout, for the Lord has given you the city!"

When the people shouted praises they shouted in joy for God had given them the city. It was the final victory that they rejoiced about. They did not worry about how the walls would fall , or if it fell would it fall on top of them , or would an earthquake come ... no no no. They looked beyond the wall. They rejoiced because God had given them this city. God took care of the walls. All He wanted was obedience and faith from His childrem

And that is what God is telling us this morning. Look beyond the wall ! Obey God's word and walk in faith. He will bring the walls crashing down. Lets not get so worked up or worried about the walls or how would they fall flat. No no no . God has called us to look at the city. And that where our focus should be.

Are you waiting for a certain breakthrough in your life ? Walk in faith and obedience to our God . Look beyond the walls ! God will take care of every barrier and every wall that is there in front of us.

God Bless

Dont Outsource your Prayers

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you."

Matthew 7: 7 (New King James Version)

How many of us knew the reference to this verse by heart ? :-) I remember when I was in New York , it was around christmas time and I wanted to pick up a tshirt for my brother . So I entered into this typical American brand store and picked up this nice tshirt for him. You can imagine my shock when I looked at the label and saw the words "Made in India' . What followed then on was me visiting a lot of stores only to find branded American clothes with labels 'Made in Burma' , "Made in Taiwan'

We live in this outsourcing age where work is shipped off to another location for cheaper labor , cost effectiveness , better management,...

Unfortunately a lot of us have this tendency with our prayers as well. Rather than sit in God's presence and ask Him and seek Him and knock , what we have cleverly arrived at, is a way for outsourcing our prayers. We tell elders , people at our church , websites to pray and we choose to sit back and relax.

Dont get me wrong , its wonderful to have people upholding us in prayers, infact its very necessary. However if we stop praying ourselves and outsource the prayers then thats wrong.

We think , "Oh my parents are praying for my marriage so I need not pray" , "Oh I know people in Church are praying ...I dropped a prayer request so I can sit back and relax"

Thats not it. We need to sit in His presence and seek His will . Ask for His strength and His grace to sustain us. Surrender to Him.

I have mentioned this before... Its a quote I read on a site a couple of years ago , "Prayer is not we changing God's mind to match ours. But its a time when He changes our hearts to match His". The joy of being in His presence is incomparable. As we seek Him and submit ourselves to Him we find our desires get in line to His will. Unwanted desires, confusions get stripped away.

We read in verse 8 , "For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened."

Music Pick for the Day by Lenny Le Blanc

Down at Your feet, O Lord, Is the most high place,
In Your presence Lord, I seek Your face, I seek Your face..
There is no higher calling, No greater honour,
Than to bow and kneel before Your throne,
I'm amazed by Your glory, Embraced by Your mercy,
Lord, I live to worship You

God Bless