The Holy of Holies

" These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing"

Hebrews 9:6-8

 

As per the mosaic laws , the people would wait outside and worship there and only the levitical priests would go in to the holy place for the daily offerings and once a year on the day of atonement  the high priest would enter the Most Holy place with the incense cloud rising up and having sprinkled the blood of the sin offerings (bull, goat).

 

How blessed we are . that we are no longer limited to the outer courts. We enter into the Most Holy place through the blood of Christ ! Quite often we take His presence for granted. Now you can say , "Hey SS , arent we always in His presence, so what's the big deal ?" ... Very true , we are always in His presence , and isnt that awesome ! Our God, Holy of holies, Lord of lords, King of kings, He is in our midst ! Wow !

 

Having been ransomed by the blood of the Lamb is life giving ! We are alive and free in Christ ! When we call upon His name we call as a child calls his Father , Jesus ! And its amazing ! Its more than our minds can comprehend.

 

And by His grace we are now carriers of His presence ! I pray that we will lead testimonial lives and grow in our relationship with Him, after all , we now have access to the Most Holy place ! Let worship arise, let the prayers arise , let our lives be laid down at His altar, let us bind His word upon our hearts , let us remember that by His blood we have been redeemed, we are a chosen generation, we are a royal priesthood and let us live out loud !

 

God Bless

 

Simple Obedience

" Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him."

Genesis 6:22

 

We read in the previous verses of how God saw that the wickedness of man was great and he wanted to destroy them. And Noah found favour in the sight of God. So God gives Noah this whole set of things to do. Lets read verses 14-21 , "Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks. For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you. And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive. Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them.”"

 

Now seriously this is a lot of instruction. And its not like its an instruction like , "Ok go here and tell this person to repent" .. This is a lot, build an ark and also the specification for the wood and the size and the number of decks and then He spoke of how two of every sort of living thing were to be kept in the ark alive ! I mean seriously imagine if God told you this ... would you have a million question marks above your head ?

 

But here is the best part, verse 22 , " Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him." 

 

We have the living word of God... How are our hearts postured today ? Are we those whom God can say "he did all that I commanded him" , "she did all that I commanded her"  ? Its not complicated. God is looking for simple obedience

 

God Bless

 

With Him it is possible

 "The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions."

Matthew 19:20-22

 

We read from verses 16 , " And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions."

 

The young man went away sorrowful becuase he knew his life was so tied to his possessions. And just the thought of letting it all go and the following Christ was not something he could do left him sorrowful.

 

Sometimes we can be quick to judge and say , "What's wrong with that guy ? Christ gave him an invitation to follow Him and he just walks away ? What's the big deal ?" ... Its good to take a moment to introspect into our own lives and check and see where our life is wrapped around... what in our lives takes a higher priority in our life... Its easy to answer back saying "Christ is my highest priority", but when we evaluate our actions where do we stand ?

 

Now here is the best part, we read in verses 25-26 , " When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”"  The disciples were astonished with what Christ said and asked who then can be saved ? Because following Him seemed like a task of such great magnitutde that was beyond what a person could seem to handle. And this is what Christ says , "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible"  And this is the key. More than often we find ourselves striving on our strength to do the right things, to figure things out with our own strength. And you know what ? Trying it with our own strength solely will be impossible . And this is what God desires, to walk with Him for with Him all things are possible.We are saved by His grace !

 

We read His Word, sit in His presence, pray, do His will living out His word not by our own might , not by our own strength , but by His Spirit . WITH GOD - this is the key.

 

Have a wonderful blessed day walking with Him, growing in Him and trusting in Him.

 

God Bless

 

How are we shining today ?

" In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." 
Matthew 5:16

 

For His light to shine through us there is a need for us to surrender all to Him. Imagine a light bulb and on that we place different pieces of cloth here and there... The amount of light coming out of the bulb will surely be diminished.

 

God is calling us for a life of Holiness and Purity. These just make us more transparent to the watching world and His light shines through us. However if we choose to pick up pride , pick up different patterns of the world and place it upon us, these are opaque bodies that will hinder the light shining through us.

 

We cannot choose to have patterns of darkness in us and say we are children of the light. We serve an amazing loving Father, He is so gracious.. He gives us strength beyond what we can imagine. It is He who cleanses us from all sin, It is He who gives us strength and grace to follow after Him.. It is He who gives us wisdom...

 

So lets rely on Him completely , lets surrender all and ask Him to chip away things that are in us that are not pleasing in His sight.

 

May this be our prayer , that our light  will shine before others, so that they may see our good works and give glory to our Father who is in heaven. May we truly be walking as children of Light

 

God Bless

God transform this for Your glory

 "Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion."

Psalm 84:5-7

 

A continuation from yesterday...

 

PIcture this with me..  On the heart are the highways to Zion.. and the inward desire to seek His face, and this inward desire is translated into outward actions of actually going before the Lord ! :)

 

A lot of times we tend to stop with just having the desires in our heart to read His word, to seek His face... but there is no translation into actions. The Psalmist says that as they (those whose strength is in Him, those in whose heart are the highways to Zion) go through the valley of Baca they make it a place of springs...

 

Isnt that just so beautiful... In the journey of just seeking His face , drawing closer to Him that even valleys of dryness become a place of springs. But here is the best part.. we need to go through it... and He sends the early rain and covers it with pools... How amazing is that ! And guess what.. we now continue to go from strength to strength ! There is growth..

 

A lot of times when we face tough situations or circumstances we instinctively pray "God get me out of this" , but guess what we can also pray , "God transform this for Your glory"...

 

It doesnt matter how dry the valley may be.. just know this.. as long as we are walking with our hearts focussed on Him, and outwardly actions of drawing closer to Him (not just thinking God is the centre of our life  but actually living a life where He truly is the centre of it all) even as we go through a valley not only will the valley be transformed to a place of springs but we will be found going from strength to strength

 

What a joy to love the Lord ! Such an honour to seek His face ! How powerful is His word. May He continue to transform us and may we continue to walk in complete surrender and obedience to Him

 

Have a wonderful blessed day

 

God Bless

Starting Right

" Blessed are those whose strength is in You, in whose heart are the highways to Zion."

 

Psalm 84:5

 

Ask anyone if skipping breakfast is a good idea the immediate response is "NO" . And for good reasons obviously. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. This is what a site said , "The consumption of an early morning snack increases the metabolic rate (how fast you burn calories) and kick starts your body into gear, telling it what to expect the rest of the day" . If breakfast can do that , how much more can starting one's day in His presence. Burn away every bit of self at the beginning of the day and telling our flesh it shall be subject to His Holy Spirit.

 

" Blessed are those whose strength is in You, in whose heart are the highways to Zion." . Its not just about the start of the morning, but its our very being trusting in Him. We place not our trust and hope in our jobs, in the stock markets or even our own ability to do things... We know our hope, our joy, our strength is in Him and Him alone. And if that is true, the very beat of our heart will be a longing to worship Him.

 

Praising Him is our delight, worshipping Him is a joy and an honour, staying in His presence is our dwelling place.

And this is my prayer this morning, that we may live lives pleasing to Him, that our very being will be an adoration of who He is, that truly in every way our strength will be in Him and our hearts set on worshipping Him.

 

God Bless

Rahab & the spies... A Lot to learn from them

 "And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the LORD your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath."

Joshua 2 : 11

Since we have been reading about Joshua , thought it will be great to finish the week with the same. In Chapter 2 we read of a prostitute called Rahab. Now Joshua sends two spies to check out Jericho and they came to the house of Rahab which was built along the city wall. Now when the king of Jericho found out about the spies he sent his men to search them out, but Rahab protected them by hiding them in her house and told the kings men that they had already left the city.

Verses 8- 11, " Before the men lay down, she came up to them on the roof and said to the men, “I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the LORD your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath."

"I know that the LORD has given you the land" , "We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt" .... Wow ! With no instant electronic technology, yet the news of what God had done and is doing has reached the people of the land. And it was not like this was news that entered one ear and left the other... She goes on to say , "as soon as we heard it our hearts melted" and here is the best part... its not because they thought Moses and his army were super brilliant and all.. It wasnt because they thought the Israelites were excellent in warefare... she says , "For the LORD your God, HE IS GOD in the heavens above and on the earth beneath" ... Wow ! That is a testimony !! She knew without a doubt the true living God was with them and who can stand against God ?!

God is so cool ! As we read the rest of chapter 2 here are couple of neat things that I want to highlight.. We read of how Rahab asks the spies to spare her and her household (her father, her mother, her brothers , her sisters and all who belong to them) . She wasnt thinking just about herself.. She wasnt thinking "I need to be safe"... she looked for protection for her entire household. Now here is a fun thing.. The spies gave her a scarlet cord that she tied on her window to indicate to them to spare that house and destroy the rest. Isnt it interesting that the colour of the cord was "Scarlet" :)  We have something so precious over us right now... We have the blood of the lamb ! We have been ransomed , sealed and protected.. We walk in freedom in Christ , we have life in abundance , we have goodness and mercy that will follow us all the days of our lives as we dwell in His presence ! 

Now when the spies were leaving Rahab told them to hide for three days before they made their way back and we read in verse 22 that that is exactly what the spies did. They didnt let their ego be inflated when she ackowledged their victory over her land, they did not look down on her and say , "why should we listen to this woman..who is she to give us advice".... These are men who honoured God and knew it was all HIM ! When we truly know and believe with every fibre of our body that truly it is 100% Christ , it will overflow in our actions and there will be no place for pride, because to HIM ALONE belongs ALL the glory all the honor and all the praise

God Bless 

Want Success ?

 "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success."

Joshua 1:8

 

A little context to this verse... After Moses's death , the Lord is speaking to Joshua and this is what He says ... Lets read from verse 1 - 6 , "After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' assistant, “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them."

Wow ! Such awesome promises and assurances from God.

 

- Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you (Don't you just love the part where God says 'where your foot WILL tread , I HAVE given to you". God has already established it. He just needs to walk)

 

- From the wilderness and Lebanon, as far as Euphrates and the land of Hittites to the great sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory

 

- No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life

 

- Just as I was with Moses so I will be with you

 

- I will not leave you or forsake you

 

- Be strong and courageous for you shall cause these people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them (God is going to use him to fulfill the promises given regarding the promised land spoken to their forefathers.. wow )

 

And here is the best part. So in order for all of this to happen.. what did Joshua have to do ? Train day and night ? Go hire the best blacksmiths he could find and design the best weaponry ? Start forming alliances with other kings to make all of this happen ?

 

A lot of times we try to 'make' things happen and miss the most essential, the basic, the key to it all... Lets read verses 7-8, "Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success."

 

Isnt that amazing ! This is the key to success. And now you know why the first thing that the patterns of this world will cause us to compromise is our time with God. The first lie of the enemy is that , "Ah you dont need to read your Bible.. "

 

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success

 

God Bless

Just like Jesus

 "Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

Ephesians 5:1-2

 

Such a blessing to read all your emails and read and learn how we can walk in love ! Very true ! Walking as Christ did in love ! Knowing our inheritence in Him and who we are as His sons & daughters.. Walking in boldness and peace...  Amen

 

Lets read the previous verses (The previous verses ? Yes, when the books of the Bible were written they did not contain chapters or verse numbers. They were put in for easy reference and reading). In Ephesians 4 : 25-32 , "Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Isnt this amazing. This is what God desires of us. Does it seem like a tall order ? Does your work place, school , college or home seem like a hard place to live this life that God is calling us to ? Here is the key to it all...Trusting in Him ! Surrendering it all to Him and placing our trust on His strength and His grace to carry us through. But it comes down to this, do we desire and do we surrender all and say ,"Here I am"

 

I know I have mentioned this before, but here it is again, I find that is easier to say , "I want more of You Lord" than to say , "Take All of me" :) Sometimes we like to hold on to our current nature, we arent welcome to the the thought of changing  our ways or allowing God to work in us and change us to His likeness... Its time to surrender. Its time to let patterns in our life which are not of God be broken. Lets go back a few more verses and read from Ephesians 4: 17-24 , "' Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!—assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness"

 

God Bless

Made by God !

"I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well."

Psalm 139:14

I am fearfully and wonderfully made ! Praise the Lord !

Why fearfully ? What does it mean when something is fearfully made? It basically means that when you see it, it is sooo overwhelming and you are in awe of the maker ! It brings a fear , not like something terrible is going to happen... but your heart is gripped with reverence and lost in amazement at the one who made it.. It is so special and set apart !

And guess what ? We are fearfully and wonderfully made !

Lets read verse 13 & 14 together shall we , "For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well."

I dont know what you think when you stand in front of the mirror.. I dont know if there have been past experiences that might have caused your self image to plummet... I dont know if you are trying to find worth based on what other people think...

But know this , You are fearfully and wonderfully made ! You have been set apart , God has so intricately knitted us to bring glory to His name ! We are the works of His hands !

Rejoice ! Praise the Lord !

"My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you."

Psalm 139:15-18
  God Bless

My rich Inheritance from my awesome cool Dad !

"And in the morning watch the LORD in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic, clogging their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. And the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from before Israel, for the LORD fights for them against the Egyptians.”"

Exodus 14:24-25

God has such a  brilliant sense of humour ! The context of this verse is the Israelites crossing the red sea after God parts the waters for them. We read in verses 21-22,"Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left." 

Isn't God absolutely amazing ! He is just so creative...He could have called down fire upon the Egyptians and burnt them up in a second... But He decides to make a way even through the sea allowing the Israelites to walk in the midst of the sea while the waters were a wall to them on the left and right ! Hey as long as God is with us we can just keep moving forward ! Following as He leads ! Its awesome ! Its brilliant ! Every moment is just so captivating

And in the morning when the Egyptians try following them God decides to clog their chariot wheels ! :) God is just so fun ! The Egyptians actually confessed with their mouths that "the LORD fights for them" ! Yes the glory shall belong to Him alone !

We serve an awesome , creative , fun God ! So have fun loving the Lord ! He is amazing ! Have fun serving the Lord ! Rejoice ! 

We read in Isaiah 11: 2,"And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. " This is our God ! And we being His children have such an awesome rich inheritance 

Whatever is your need today , an extra boost of creativity, the joy of the Lord , wisdom , understanding, the knowledge and fear of the Lord... know that we as His children have it and get to sit in HIs presence and grow more and more in Him ! We have an awesome rich inheritance in Him ! 

God Bless

iSurrender :)

"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

be acceptable in your sight,

O LORD, my rock and my redeemer."

Psalm 19:14

We serve an awesome God ! He is Holy ! He is perfect ! All creation sings His praise. Why would we sing any less ? 

I love the simplicity and power in this prayer and song , "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight". I love that its both .. words that come out and the thoughts that are in ... Sometimes we say , "oh that was not the intent of my usage of the word" but yeah we still use it... Or vice versa where we say all nice things but there is something not right in our hearts...

And here is David declaring how magnificent God is and how perfect is His law and testimony and also declaring the need for God to keep him from sin. And He ends the song surrendering it all to the Lord the Rock and our Redeemer.

No better way to start a day than by surrendering it all, that every thought , every word be acceptable in His sight, that He would guide us and lead us and remove any impurity from within us.. That we too shall declare His glory..

God Bless

Eat Well !

"But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh."

Galatians 5:16

Ever been so busy that you skipped a meal and by the end of the day you are so hungry that all you wanted is something to eat and even if it is junk food you gobble it up ?

When we starve the spirit , our fleshly desires tend to grow stronger and without our knowledge / with our knowledge we find ourselves reaching out to junk.

The word of God is essential, its not optional. The more we feed ourselves with the word of God , the stronger we get , the closer we draw towards Him. And if we are drawing closer to Him, we are automatically drawing away from everything else that is a snare.

If you feel weighed down today by stress, anxiety , addictions , depression , any form of sin , here is the best weight loss program ever : Follow the diet of eating the word of God as much as possible, drink from the living waters and watch and see how light you feel !

God Bless

Doing things differently

"When He has brought out all His own, He goes before them, and the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice."

John 10:4

With reference to an earlier post (http://sparksablaze.blogspot.ca/2013/05/take-moment-to-listen.html) , referencing it below today's mail , so you can check it out for a recap.

Well yesterday morning as I stepped out of the house, I saw the bus coming again, and yes my first instinct was to bolt as fast as I could towards to the bus stop. But I remembered what happened last time and so this time as I took a couple of steps , I stopped and looked at the bus driver and guess what ? The bus stopped and I got in ! Lesson learnt from last time. And so this time I did things differently. Pretty happy about that :)

We read that the sheep know His voice. When we know His voice and we listen to Him, the way we do things changes. There is growth ! As we seek Him , as we read His word , as we draw closer to Him we become so familiar to His voice and so familiar to HIs ways that its no longer our ways but His ways that become a pattern in our life. There is a transformation that happens within us  as we draw closer to Him. And it does get translated into actions. Our life styles are different, the way we do things and react to things are different , our priorities are different... With every day there needs to be growth , old ways need to fade away.

We read in Romans 12: 2, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."   

Here the word "testing" basically means "putting into actual practice".  As we listen to His voice and renew our minds and actually put into practice following as He leads, living out loud His word we understand His will and what is good and acceptable and perfect

Have a wonderful blessed day and weekend as we listen to His voice and put into practice His way and His word. 

God Bless

Praying lets us see clearly ! Its changes us

"Therefore David blessed the LORD in the presence of all the assembly. And David said: “Blessed are you, O LORD, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name."

1 Chronicles 29:10-13

This is such a beautiful prayer ! Lets read it again...

- Blessed are You, O LORD, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever

- Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty

- for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is Yours

- Yours is the kingdom, O LORD

- You are exalted as head above all

- Both riches and honor come from You

- and You rule over all

-  In Your hand are power and might

- and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all

- And now we thank You, our God

- and praise Your glorious name

Prayers change us ! :) Even as we read this prayer and acknowledge who He is , how majestic He is , how He is above everything , how everything is in His hand and He gives strength to all, it is impossible to not take a moment and think, " Hmmm... God You are so awesome... Committing everything into Your hands... You are in charge Daddy ! Give me the strength I need to always look to You"  Every time we look to God something in us changes. We become stronger and draw closer to Him.

And may we together say , "We thank You , our God and praise Your glorious name"

Amen ! Have a wonderful blessed day !

God Bless

Seek, Listen, Obey

"Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.

Psalm 25:4-5

A desire to seek, a willingness to listen and obedience to live it out loud ! We need all three ! And He gives us the grace and the strength to do so.

"Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths"  - a yearning desire to know and walk in the ways of the Lord ! 

Now its always easy to ask but how often do we wait to listen ? Would we be able to say , "for You I wait all the day long" ?

"Lead me in your truth" - If He is leading us that means we are walking as He leads. Its not that He says "Ok go this way" and we stay where we are. There is an actual translation of action. He answers our prayer and we do not stop with just listening, but we actually obey

"Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long."

Love, Trust and Obey

"And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed an official for her, saying, “Restore all that was hers, together with all the produce of the fields from the day that she left the land until now.”"

2 Kings 8:6

Rewinding a little to 2 Kings 4 : 8:10 , "One day Elisha went on to Shunem, where a wealthy woman lived, who urged him to eat some food. So whenever he passed that way, he would turn in there to eat food. And she said to her husband, “Behold now, I know that this is a holy man of God who is continually passing our way. Let us make a small room on the roof with walls and put there for him a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp, so that whenever he comes to us, he can go in there.""

The Shunammite woman recognized Elisha to be a man of God. She would provide him food whenever he passed by. Now she wasn't just satisfied with what she was doing. She didn't do a mathematical calculation and say , "ok so I have done my good deed for the day and so God is pleased with me.. " , its not like she had a to do list and this was something she checked off a list.  It came from her heart. And when something comes from the heart it is not limited by boundaries. She went a step further. She spoke to her husband and had a room made for him and furnished it for him so that when Elisha would pass by he would have whatever he needed. 

- When we say we love God and choose to honour Him we don't live by check lists or weigh out what we have done. We desire the more

Now as we continue reading in Chapter 4 we see how Elisha prophesied that she would have a son though her husband was old. And by God's grace she did. However we read that her son actually died. We read in verse 20, "And when he had lifted him and brought him to his mother, the child sat on her lap till noon, and then he died."  Whoa.. wait wait ... wasn't this still the woman who honoured God ? Wasn't this a child of promise ? Yes ! And see what she did... She didn't start cursing God.. she didn't wail or weep or consider it the end of everything. She did what she knew... she went to Elisha and there she poured her heart out. And we read in verse 35 of how God answered Elisha's prayer and restored the child back to life. How cool is our God !

- Even in circumstances that are challenging , remember this , our God is still God ! :) Our hope, our trust is in Him. We don't live our lives based on circumstances which forever change.. We live based on the word of God and in Christ who never changes !! Such joy to live in such certainty knowing our lives are in His hands

Coming to chapter 8 we read in verse 1 , "Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Arise, and depart with your household, and sojourn wherever you can, for the LORD has called for a famine, and it will come upon the land for seven years.”" She listened to the word of God and obeyed. What she heard was translated into action and she left. And guess what happened when she returned after seven long years...As she appealed to king , guess who was talking to the king at that time ? Gehazi - Elisha's servant. He was telling the king of all the things that God had done through Elisha and yes that is the moment the Shunammite woman makes her appeal to the king. Isn't it so  beautiful what God prepares for us way ahead of us !!

And that's not all guess what happened then .. Not only was all the land that belonged to her restored but also all the produce of her fields till that moment ! She was given more than what she asked. Verse 6 , "And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed an official for her, saying, “Restore all that was hers, together with all the produce of the fields from the day that she left the land until now.”"

- Our part is to listen and obey Him ! He prepares the way for us. He is Jehovah Rohi ! He is our shepherd, we wont be in want !

Its not a one time activity or thing to do. Its a life of loving Him and listening and obeying His voice.

God Bless

Those who overcome

"For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?"

1 John 5:4-5

The world may say there may be a million reasons to be overwhelmed , to feel like 'this is too much for me" or "I cant handle this" , there may be a dozen things that may be a struggle -  guilt , addictions, trying to break through certain patterns of lifestyle - procrastination, complacency ...

But here is one thing that overcomes it all - Jesus is the Son of God ! When we know and believe Jesus is the Son of God there is transformation. We have been ransomed by the blood of Christ. We no longer stand as orphans, we do not stand as those still slaves to sin. Christ is victorious over all. And by His grace and by His blood we are free ! 

Christ has overcome the world. And by faith in Him so are we :) We are those who overcome ! 

Never let the lies of the devil sway you away from the truth of God ! 

Let us walk in victory, in joy and in freedom knowing Jesus is Lord and knowing who we are in Him ! Let His word change our lives !

God Bless

What do you see ?

"Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest."

John 4:35

"Lord open my eyes that I may see" - This is a constant prayer of mine. All too often I have seen how the routines of the day to day and the ways of the world can cause scales to form over our eyes. Here is an example , at work or college someone purposely tries to show themselves better than you or tries to put you down.. what do we see ? For me unfortunately all too often it would be my bruised ego that I would see. However if we were to ask God open my eyes, He would show us that there is a person who is hurt and is doing things from a place of hurt and if we were to reach out to them in love can you imagine the testimony it would be to those around us.

Time and time again God has been reminding me how even more important it is for me to be a testimony to those around me at work. .And Im not saying from a point of fake smiles and fake gestures. No, but asking God to change us from the inside out so that those around us will truly see His love and His joy in us.

We are Christians not by who we are in church for a few hours :) We are His children 24*7 ! And the first people who need to testify of that are our family and our work/college people because they spend the most time with us. Do they see the "going the extra mile" , do they see the "even if unjustly treated will still take off the coat and give" attitude , do they see the fruit of the Spirit - patience , gentleness....

Do people know we are children of the Most High by what we say or how we live ?

A lot of time we keep saying , "Oh God use me" , "Lord send us the harvest , we will go out for you" , sometimes we keep thinking that the day to day has no purpose .... we couldnt be more wrong. This is what Christ said , "Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest." There are people already reaping. What is stopping you and me ?

Have we lost sight that everyone around us is a soul precious in His sight ?

The harvest is ready ... What are we doing ?

God Bless

Keep Moving Forward

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few."

Matthew 7:13-14

So picture this with me ... There is a narrow gate and once you get through the gate there is a way that you must walk which is hard and its leading you life !

A lot of times we find ourselves happily positioned at the entrance of the gate just very content in knowing what it is...Sometimes we walk a few miles down and find a comfortable spot and sit there... 

In our actual day to day lives we forget we are on this wonderful journey of following Christ, every day every moment is a step forward towards Him. Sometimes our desire to grow in Him, to draw closer to Him tends to hit a a line which we draw saying "yeah this is fine"... for some of us that line may be just going to church every sunday, for others it may be just contentment saying , "Ah yes this is all that I need to know.. Im good..." ... for some of us its resting on past laurels, "Hey I have journeyed so far ok... That is more than enough ! Now I am on a break/ Im busy with other responsibilities and I will stay where I am"

Its not enough to reach at the gate or to walk a few steps ahead and say "I'm here".. Its the WAY... There is a destination to reach... Which means we need to keep moving forward.. walk, run , pressing on.

God Bless You

A wise man listens to advice

"When the turn came for Esther the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her as his own daughter, to go in to the king, she asked for nothing except what Hegai the king's eunuch, who had charge of the women, advised. Now Esther was winning favor in the eyes of all who saw her."

Esther 2:15

Sometimes its so easy to get carried away with an attitude of , "I know what's right". And it can even be in an area that you are so accustomed to or so familiar with that you easily dismiss the wisdom of others.

Just the other day when I was talking to my mom regarding an online banking transaction I was super quick to dismiss what she was saying. And guess what , I didn't do it just once.. but I made the same mistake twice in two consecutive days !! :) And yes Mom was right and I was way wrong .  Praise the Lord for parents with great patience and for God who loves us so much that He corrects us and grows us as our Father.

Now we see something beautiful about Esther.. While she was beautiful in form she was also beautiful in nature. We see it consistent across the book of how she listened to those whom God had placed around her in positions of wisdom.. and we know for sure that her trust and her hope rested in God above all.  Now its not like she did not have a mind of her own. We see that so well in how she called for a fast and trusted in God and how she approached the King.  But we also see her listening to Mordecai and in the initial chapters in verse 15 which is quoted above, we see that she took the advise of Hegai. She knew Hegai had a great deal of experience and that his advise would be wise.

Its easy to get lofty about things very easily that we shun what people have to say very easily. We look to taking advise as a sign of weakness when it is actually that of wisdom. 

"The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice." Proverbs 12:15

God Bless You

Stuff may cling, but lay aside EVERY weight and RUN

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."

Hebrews 12:1-2

I remember when I was probably five or six years old there was a running race in school where we had to run to a table, eat this yummy sweet treat completely and then head on running towards the finish line. History has it that when I reached the table with the sweet treat I decided to keep it safe in my pocket for a later point in time to eat . Well obviously I did not win because my goal shifted from running the race to planning regarding my new found sweet treat ! 

"and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith"... sometimes we forget why we are running , our sights shift from Christ to other things ... May our eyes be lifted to Him always... 

This is such a beautiful passage flowing from chapter 11. However, for today lets look at this line , "let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely,"  

Lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely. We are relatively quick to identify obvious sin but sometimes slow to lay aside weights that we have involuntary picked up getting confused between the rat race of the world and the race we are called to run in Christ. Sometimes we pack our days with so many things (which may not be necessary) and let God take a back seat in our lives. We pack our kids schedules with so many things but when it comes to church related stuff we let it take a back seat. Maybe its time to get our priorities right in our lives and even in our children's lives.

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God

God Bless 

To Love as You Love

"And He said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”"

Matthew 22:37-40

Ok lets take a little walk down to the book of Jonah. So God told Jonah to go to Nineveh because the city had fallen into evil ways. Now Jonah did not listen and tried running away. But we all know there is no escaping God  :) So, when Jonah did go to Nineveh he spoke as God said, but guess what happened ... We read in Jonah 3 : 4-5 , " Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. "

And it didn't stop there. But the king also joined them in fasting and repenting and gave a decree to everybody.  Now we read in verse 10 , "When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it."

Now what was Jonah's reaction to all of this ? He was mad. He was mad at God for relenting from disaster. Chapter 4 is a beautiful chapter where God explains to Jonah His heart. Encourage you to read it.

Now here is the thing , sometimes we can be Jonahs. We forget God's heart in doing things. We go to school. college, work , take care of the home like a mundane thing.. And we forget God's heart in it all...  When we wake up every morning , does our heart abound in love for Him who set us free ? As we walk into where God has placed us by His grace and for His glory, do we God's heart in it all ? Do we see His purposes and plans for where we are ? Do we understand His heart ? Or are we so consumed with ourselves or in the technicality of "doing things" that we miss the point of it all ?

And this is my prayer , Lord teach us to love You with all our heart, soul and mind. Lord teach us to love our neighbour as ourselves.

For those interested in reading chapter Jonah Chapter 4 , here it is : 

"But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. And he prayed to the LORD and said, “O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” And the LORD said, “Do you do well to be angry?”

Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city. Now the LORD God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.” And the LORD said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?” "

God Bless You

There is Freedom !

"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."

2 Corinthians 3:17

This is the word of God. And we know that the word of God is truth , it is living , it is powerful ! And this is what the word of God says, "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."

Going back a book to 1 Corinthians 3:16 , " Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?"

Do you not know this ? You are His temple and His Spirit dwells within you and hey , where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom ! 

It doesn't matter what lies the devil has whispered or convinced you to believe till this day..Stomp it all out. Declare and live this out loud, where the Spirit of the Lord is , there is freedom! And Jesus Christ is Lord of our lives !

We walk and live and breathe in freedom ! We are free ! In freedom there is no bondage.. there is no bondage to addictions, there is no bondage to pornography , there is no bondage to sin in any form ...

Whatever be your struggle know this , there is freedom in Him ! Walk in freedom today.. Its ours... Purity , Holiness by His grace and for His glory

Rejoice ! We walk in freedom !! FREEDOM ! Jesus reigns.

God Bless

The lost

"“Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”"

Luke 15:8-10

In the parable prior to the this and one after this , we see the heart of God for the lost. The joy in heaven when the lost is found !  We read in Luke 19: 10 , "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”"  

Now we read that a woman had ten silver coins, so the coin lost was hers,  in the parable of the lost sheep just before this in Chapter 15 we read that a man having a hundred sheep... so the one that was lost was his. Can you understand the longing of the heart of his own or her own being lost ?

We are all His children. He paid the price for us ALL ! Can you get a glimpse now into the joy when your son, your daughter chooses eternal life ?

As we go through the day and come across so many people , do we see them as our brothers and sisters for whom the price has already been paid ? Does our heart long with the compassion that Christ desires of us that they may come to know Him ?

God has blessed us with a whole new day to live by His grace and for His glory. Lets live out loud ! 

God Bless