“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Galatians 2: 20
Ok we all know what a circle looks like . Generally a circle is used as a representation of completeness . With that perspective I feel that for many of us our application of a lot of scriptures to our life has been a semi circle :-) and I thank God that He is teaching us to apply the word in completeness.
Let me explain… I remember as a kid I went through this phase where I was afraid of the dark. Oh you should have seen the scriptures I would quote. Hey good lessons thought at home and at Sunday School – Greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world , Its no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me J
But I think even as grown ups or college kids we still are in the same habit of quoting scriptures in a time of need rather than living the scripture . When waiting for that exam result , when waiting for that promotion , oh we make sure we tell the devil not to mess with us because we are His and that Christ lives in us. And the moment we have our answered prayer where does that all go away ?
Are we living the word ?
· I have been crucified in Christ needs to be a 24*7 application in our lives.
· Its no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me needs to be a 24*7 application in our lives
Whether people hurt us, whether we get stuck in this terrible traffic jam and someone hits the car , whether people falsely accuse us , come what may… Do we live , do we react , do we speak , do we desire as Christ who lives in us ?
Are we just quoting scriptures or are we living them ? Its time to grow
God Bless
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Dare to be Foolish !
“And he divided the 300 men into three companies and put trumpets into the hands of all of them and empty jars, with torches inside the jars.”
Judges 7 : 16
This is something that the Lord has been pouring into my heart this week : His ways are not our ways :-) What the world deems as strategic to make an impact , what the world deems as successful is so drastically different from the way God works. The world goes by self… self strength , self knowledge , self strategies. The ways of God goes by His strength , His knowledge and His wisdom.
We all know the story of Gideon where from 32000 people God decided to use only 300. Think about it … 300 people instead of 32000 and then hand them trumpets and empty jars with torches in it !! Makes sense ? By worldly standards not at all !! But we read of the victory that God gave Gideon. Isn’t the ways of God so amazing ! We serve a creative God ! :-)
Now here are some key points…
· Gideon listened to the Lord
· Gideon did exactly as the Lord had commanded
Some of us want the victory but don’t want to listen to what God has to say. Rather we spend all our time telling Him what we would like Him to do .
Some of us listen to what the Lord says but don’t obey it to the dot. What if Gideon had said ‘Ok Lord I hear what you are telling me . Yes You will give me victory , but you know what Lord , 300 men is just too less , I’ll take 3000 Lord … See I’m not taking 32000 , but I will just take 3000’. See the difference ?
Are we willing to listen to the Lord ? Are we ready to do exactly what God asks us to do ?
Even our every day life may sound so foolish to the world . ‘You don’t go to clubs and dance ??? You don’t drink ???‘ , ‘You don’t give false bills for your taxes ? everyone does it , do you think you are some saint’?? , ‘You love praying and reading your Bible ‘ ????
Dare to be foolish to the world ?
God Bless
Judges 7 : 16
This is something that the Lord has been pouring into my heart this week : His ways are not our ways :-) What the world deems as strategic to make an impact , what the world deems as successful is so drastically different from the way God works. The world goes by self… self strength , self knowledge , self strategies. The ways of God goes by His strength , His knowledge and His wisdom.
We all know the story of Gideon where from 32000 people God decided to use only 300. Think about it … 300 people instead of 32000 and then hand them trumpets and empty jars with torches in it !! Makes sense ? By worldly standards not at all !! But we read of the victory that God gave Gideon. Isn’t the ways of God so amazing ! We serve a creative God ! :-)
Now here are some key points…
· Gideon listened to the Lord
· Gideon did exactly as the Lord had commanded
Some of us want the victory but don’t want to listen to what God has to say. Rather we spend all our time telling Him what we would like Him to do .
Some of us listen to what the Lord says but don’t obey it to the dot. What if Gideon had said ‘Ok Lord I hear what you are telling me . Yes You will give me victory , but you know what Lord , 300 men is just too less , I’ll take 3000 Lord … See I’m not taking 32000 , but I will just take 3000’. See the difference ?
Are we willing to listen to the Lord ? Are we ready to do exactly what God asks us to do ?
Even our every day life may sound so foolish to the world . ‘You don’t go to clubs and dance ??? You don’t drink ???‘ , ‘You don’t give false bills for your taxes ? everyone does it , do you think you are some saint’?? , ‘You love praying and reading your Bible ‘ ????
Dare to be foolish to the world ?
God Bless
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Dont let satan steer you off course
“He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except yourself, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?”
Genesis 39 : 9
A little background to this verse. Joseph having been sold by his brothers had been brought down to Egypt where Potiphar an officer of Pharaoh had bought him . When we read through chapter 39 we see of how God was with Joseph and the house of Joseph’s master was blessed because of him.
Now Joseph was handsome and we read in verse 7-9 , “And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house and he has put everything that he has in my charge. ”Potiphar had given Joseph command over everything . Whatever was his was Joseph’s.. We read in verse 9 “nor has he kept back anything from me except yourself, because you are his wife” Just that one thing. Now just picture this… You are doing your work as God would have you do . And then Satan comes around with some form of temptation and says ‘Just this … Try just this… This one thing only … Do this one thing…’ . Interesting isn’t it that its always just that one thing that can change the entire course !
When we read the Genesis chapter 2 we see how God gave Adam full charge of everything. Whatever Adam called every living creature that was its name. Very cool ! The only thing he withheld was the fruit of that one tree. And what did satan do ? Genesis 3 : 1-4 , “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said , ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden neither shall you touch it, lest you die. ‘ But the serpent said to the woman, “You will surely not die.” .
Living in the garden of Eden where God would go walking in the garden – wow can you just imagine that ! That one thing that would change that course … That one thing… Satan went ahead to tempt them.
Coming back to Joseph , that one thing that was withheld came to taunt him. In fact we read in Genesis 39 : 10 , “And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her.” Joseph was a man who honored God . God’s favor was so evidently upon him , yet he had to face this temptation day after day and conquer it every day. Satan wanted to change Joseph’s course . We read in John 10:10 that the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. We need to understand that very well. Whenever faced with temptation , whenever you get stuck at that crossroads we need to understand that nothing good can ever come from dishonoring God . NOTHING !! Satan has only one agenda and that is to steal, kill and destroy. He wants to rob you of the plans and purposes of God in your life. He wants to steer you off track as much as possible.
But you know what ? We have been called by the great I AM to overcome !! We read in Genesis 4 : 7 , “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you , but you must rule over it.”
God Bless
Genesis 39 : 9
A little background to this verse. Joseph having been sold by his brothers had been brought down to Egypt where Potiphar an officer of Pharaoh had bought him . When we read through chapter 39 we see of how God was with Joseph and the house of Joseph’s master was blessed because of him.
Now Joseph was handsome and we read in verse 7-9 , “And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house and he has put everything that he has in my charge. ”Potiphar had given Joseph command over everything . Whatever was his was Joseph’s.. We read in verse 9 “nor has he kept back anything from me except yourself, because you are his wife” Just that one thing. Now just picture this… You are doing your work as God would have you do . And then Satan comes around with some form of temptation and says ‘Just this … Try just this… This one thing only … Do this one thing…’ . Interesting isn’t it that its always just that one thing that can change the entire course !
When we read the Genesis chapter 2 we see how God gave Adam full charge of everything. Whatever Adam called every living creature that was its name. Very cool ! The only thing he withheld was the fruit of that one tree. And what did satan do ? Genesis 3 : 1-4 , “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said , ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden neither shall you touch it, lest you die. ‘ But the serpent said to the woman, “You will surely not die.” .
Living in the garden of Eden where God would go walking in the garden – wow can you just imagine that ! That one thing that would change that course … That one thing… Satan went ahead to tempt them.
Coming back to Joseph , that one thing that was withheld came to taunt him. In fact we read in Genesis 39 : 10 , “And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her.” Joseph was a man who honored God . God’s favor was so evidently upon him , yet he had to face this temptation day after day and conquer it every day. Satan wanted to change Joseph’s course . We read in John 10:10 that the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. We need to understand that very well. Whenever faced with temptation , whenever you get stuck at that crossroads we need to understand that nothing good can ever come from dishonoring God . NOTHING !! Satan has only one agenda and that is to steal, kill and destroy. He wants to rob you of the plans and purposes of God in your life. He wants to steer you off track as much as possible.
But you know what ? We have been called by the great I AM to overcome !! We read in Genesis 4 : 7 , “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you , but you must rule over it.”
God Bless
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