"And the disciples gave them to the crowds"

"Then He ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then He broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds."

Matthew 14:19 

God did the miracle of multiplying the loaves and fish but He gave them to the disciples and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 

What has God blessed and given into your hands that the crowds are waiting for ? Food ? Your home ? Your time ? Your car ? A ride ? Clothes ? Money ? Compassion ? A cup of coffee ? A kind word ? a prayer ? The message of the cross bringing hope and life ?

Every day when you look into the mirror you are witnessing a miracle ... Alive by His grace, ransomed by the blood of the Lamb, free in Christ , son/daughter of the Most High , with complete access into the Holy of Holies ... You are a miracle, You are a blessing... God has appointed you as His priest , as His ambassador.

The crowds are waiting... Will you go and give and share what God has given you ?

God Bless 

All to Him

"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."

Matthew 22: 21

Someone had tweeted : "The Great Commission is not going to be fulfilled by our spare time and spare change" . I couldn't agree more... Somehow we knowingly or unknowingly have slipped into this spare time and spare change mentality when it comes to us giving to Him. We pack our schedules with whatever concerns us and if there is spare time then we say "oh ok ..since my kid doesn't have this extra class today , I think I can make it to church" , "oh ok i have some free time today so I can make it for prayers... " . Even in our giving sometimes we get caught up in the technicality of giving to God that we let Mathematics of "one-tenth" drive our giving rather than the heart which chooses to honour God with all that we have.

We read in Luke 21 : 1-4, "Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and He saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”"

She put in ALL she had to live on. She had only those two copper coins...she was poor and a widow... but yet out of her poverty she put in ALL she had... Its not like she had a back up of groceries for a year that she could fall back on... Nope... We read that "she put in all she had to live on". 

That woman did an act in the quietness of her and God. And here we are reading about it 2000 years later... An act that puts most of us to shame. Do we have that same heart ? 

She went to place an offering unto the Lord and she gave all that she had to live on.

We know the commandment "You shall love the Lord your God, with ALL your heart and with ALL your soul and with ALL your mind."  We read in Deuteronomy 6 : 5 , "You shall love the LORD your God with ALL your heart and with ALL your soul and with ALL your might."

Do we find ourselves giving our ALL to Him ? 

God Bless 

Not my will but Yours

"And those who passed by derided them, wagging their heads and saying, "Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross! So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another saying, "He saved others, he cannot save himself."

Mark 15 : 29-30

The greatest way to honour God is to do His will. Jesus always sought the Father's heart. He always did as the Father directed. When soldiers came to capture Him, when He was crucified, when people mocked Him...He could have called for legions of angels to come , He could have performed wonders even at that moment... But He chose to say "Not my will but Yours be done". When He said "Father forgive them for they do not know what they do" , He showed the compassion of the Father. By doing the Father's will He conquered sin and death and we were ransomed by His blood and now we stand in freedom as His sons and daughters

A lot of times we will be faced with situations where will be in a position to do something. But here is the question ...Will we be found doing the Father's will or we will be doing our own ?

Have we lost the focus and become captivated by "See how God is using me" rather than showing the world "this is who my God is" and living a life that's focussed on Him ? Are we living a life that shows the Father's heart and His will ?

Lord teach us to love You , to honour You , to live for You , to do Your will

God Bless 

Help me see as You see

"He said to his men, "The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the LORD's anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the LORD's anointed."

1 Samuel 24 : 6

Those who honour God know to honour those around them. 

 I mean this was Saul... Saul who tried to kill David time and time again. And now here was what seemed like the perfect opportunity. The cave where David and his men were , Saul walks in unaware of them . David's men said "Here is the day of which the LORD said to you, 'Behold I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you"

Yet David said "The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the LORD's anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the LORD's anointed"

David chose to not see as the people saw.. He didnt look at Saul and say "There is the man who is trying to kill me, let me kill him now".. He saw the Lord's anointed.

May God help us see others as He does. When we look at people in our lives and those passing by do we see those ransomed by the blood of Jesus Christ ? Christ died so that all may be saved. Are we so self focussed that we are consumed by our own agendas that we have forgotten to keep our eyes set on Him in all circumstances ?

Its very easy for us to get caught up with our agenda for the day that we forget His purposes for us today and His desire... If we would set our eyes above constantly then even a trip to the grocery store, a ride in the subway, every day to college/school becomes a missionary trip. If our hearts are captured by the desire to honour God then our very reaction to everything around us will be different.

Lord help us.. Only You can help us live for You. May Your desires be our desires.. May our behaviour in our everyday be that to honour You and honour those around us for they are your children too.

God Bless

Are we hearing and obeying?

"Then He said to me, "Prophesy over these bones and say to them , O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD."

 

Ezekiel 37 : 4

 

Read the passage from verses 1 - 14 . We see that the Lord shows Ezekiel this valley of dry bones. And He asks him "Can these bones live?" . I have tried putting myself in Ezekiel shoes and wondered if God had showed me the same thing and asked me "Can these bones live?" what would have been my response ? Honestly the only thing that comes to my mind is going "ehhhhhhhhhhh.... I dont know... can i take a guess?".

 

Here is where Ezekiel's heart shows strong.., He responds "Lord You know". He relys on God's wisdom. And this is Ezekiel we are talking about. He was a prophet and priest. The first chapter of the book of Ezekiel starts with a vision of the glory of the Lord Himself. And here he is and his immediate response is not some smarty answer or a guess , but his reponse is that of "Lord onlyYou know"

 

Then the Lord tells him to prophesy over the bones and say "O dry bones hear the word of the LORD".

 

Now before the dry bones would live, before the dry bones could here the word of the Lord ,  here is the first crucial step.. Ezekiel had to hear the word of the LORD :) And He would have to step out in faith and obedience and prophecy.

 

Are we listening to the word of God ? Are we stepping out in obedience ?

 

It always amazes me that God loves to do things with us. It is He who brought life to the bones, but He gave Ezekiel the task of prophesying over the bones.

 

Lord help us listen to Your word, Help us step out in faith , Help us obey .

 

God Bless

No matter what

"The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of His Egyptian master"

 

Genesis 39 : 2

 

What was it about Joseph that he had such favour from God ? We read that even as a kid he saw dreams from God. When he was a slave in the Egyptian's house , he still had favour. When he was in prison, we read in verse 21 , "But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison"... God gave him the interpretation of the dreams, God gave him wisdom when he was appointed second to Pharaoh... God reunited him with his family after all those years...God used him to bless nations

 

What was so special about Joseph ?

 

We read that throughout his life, he was consistent in setting his sight on God. It didnt matter if he was in the comforts of his home, betrayed by his brothers, thrown in a pit, sold as a slave, faced with temptation, falsely accused, thrown in prison, received interpretations of dreams, forgotten by people, in the Pharaoh's court, prosperous, reunited with family, old... It didnt matter what the circumstance or the situation, Joseph stood strong in the Lord ! He honored God in all that he did. He gave God the glory, and even when he was old and close to dying , he held on to the promises of God given to generations before him and gave instructions for his bones to be carried.

 

Thats honoring God ! I pray circumstances may never dictate our faith. I pray that we will be found as a generation that chooses to honor God, that chooses to give God all the glory, that chooses to put our trust in Him and Him alone. His love is steadfast, may we grow to be steadfast too.

 

God Bless

Technicalities

"In the course of time Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering,"

 

Genesis 4: 3-4

 

By God's grace had a blessed vacation and got to spend awesome time with family. Geared up for the new year by His grace and for His glory . God has been leading me to understand what does "honor" mean. What does it mean to have engraved within us a culture of honor. And thats what we are going to be seeing over the week God willing.

 

Have you ever tried getting around things based on "technicalities" ? I know I have :)  Its kind of like if someone asked us something and we say "well Technically I didnt lie, I just left out some details so Im good" or we think "Well technically I read the Bible , I went to church , I paid my tithes...so Im good" and then we go about during the week losing our temper, not having a close walk with God and doing as we please. Or sometimes we "technically" say the right prayers "Lord I give it all to You , You are in charge, You take care" and then we spend the rest of the week worrying and pulled down with anxiety.

 

Here is the truth... Its not about technicalities. God sees the heart !  Abel and Cain both brought offerings...So "technically" they both did the right thing. Here is what happened though...God saw the heart. Whats on our heart today ?

 

In our lives , whether it be tithes, offerings, or our very lives, is it being lifted up to Him with a heart that honors Him , or is it  being done with a heart that just "technically" wants to do something off the checklist because its deemed correct.

 

When we wake up every morning and start a new day by His grace, its an honor to be alive ! He has chosen that we live this day by His grace and for His glory. Would we choose to honor Him and say "Lord nothing more important than You " and choose to live today in reflection to His word and His will ?

 

Has reading the Bible become a technicality in our life that we just have to do it, or does it come with a heart that knows what an honor it is to read of the living word of God and we choose to honor Him and read and sit in His presence and pray and hear and do the Father's will.

 

Do we choose to honor God in our every day lives ? Or has it been reduced to mere songs and wishful thinking ?

 

He knows our hearts. He know where we stand. And may we rise up to be a generation that honors God and truly loves Him with all our heart, mind and strength.

 

God Bless You

Hold on

"And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”" 

Genesis 50:24
This was a promise that God had promised generations before. Words spoken to Abraham, to Isaac and Jacob.

And here is Joseph saying, "hey God will fulfill what He has promised, so dont forget to carry my bones with you when you leave"

Wow ! That is awesome faith ! That is truly living out loud the fact that our God Almighty is a living powerful God and when He promises to do something He will do it.

I dont know how this year has been for you. I dont know how your walk with the Lord has been. But we do know one thing, what He has promised He will fulfill !

Hold on to His word, Hold on to Him ! Know that He is steadfast ! Seek His righteousness. Dont let tiny things like timeframes cause you to go "oh nooooooooo". Put all the questions of "when", "how", "why" to silence by saying "My Jesus rules ! He reigns, He is Lord over my life and thats all that I need"

Step into the new year with renewed faith knowing His faithfulness is steadfast !

God Bless You

No compromise

" But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this oath of mine; only you must not take my son back there.”"

Genesis 24:8

Now Abraham was very old and he wanted Isaac to be married. So he calls his trusted servant. Verses 2 -4 , "And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh, that I may make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell, but will go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”"

Now Abraham was very clear that the wife of Isaac would not  be from the land of the Canaanites. Verses 5-8, "The servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?” Abraham said to him, “See to it that you do not take my son back there. The LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my kindred, and who spoke to me and swore to me, ‘To your offspring I will give this land,’ he will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this oath of mine; only you must not take my son back there.”"

While having Isaac married was very dear to Abraham's heart , it was not worth comprising on what God had spoken over his life. He knew that God would go before his servant and even send his angel and would take care of all that is needed for choosing a wife for his son. And he went on to say even if the woman was not willing to come back, by no means would his son leave and go back to that land. Nothing is as important as obeying what the Lord has said. And God honoured Abraham. Isaac had a loving wife Rebekah.

Nothing is worth comprising on God's word and His promises. Not our work, the people around us, relationships... Nothing. May the greatest desire of our hearts be to walk in obedience to Him no matter what the cost. Because His rewards are everlasting !

God Bless

In His Holy place

"Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?

And who shall stand in his holy place?

He who has clean hands and a pure heart,

who does not lift up his soul to what is false

and does not swear deceitfully."

Psalm 24:3-4

Its pretty easy to take a stance of being critical and judgmental of others. It doesnt take a lot of effort to be indifferent towards people. In fact getting angry, losing our patience, thinking about whats best for just ourselves, selfishness is all so so easy to step into , but is not easy to stay out off.

The way to stay out of the ways of the flesh ? Surrendering all to Him ! :)

In some things my patience is just so super short. Keep me sleep deprived and see how cranky I get ! :) Its funny how things which dont matter from a perspective of eternity can consume so much of our brain space. 

Time to let things go. Time to shake off things of the flesh and gear up on things of the Spirit.

This is my prayer for myself , "Lord show me the plank thats in my eye. Give me clean hands and a pure heart"

May we be found as the generation standing in His holy place

God Bless

Moments in the secret place

"And whenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him."

1 Samuel 16:23

We read in verses 17-18 , " So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me.” One of the young men answered, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, and the LORD is with him.”"

And the Lord is with him ! David was known for his relationship with the Lord ! This is a man for whom worship was a lifestyle. And its interesting to note that his first step into the king's court was to play the lyre.

How is our heart positioned today ? Its the moments in the secret place that drive the moments in public places.

God Bless

Eating healthy !

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Having a balanced diet ! As a kid we don't really understand the concept all that well, our parents ensure that we eat a balanced diet . But as we grow, the responsibility and choices lies on us to eat a balanced diet.

A life that has all of these is very important - We need our spiritual food for the day which has all of these yummy essential factors which build us up.

- Rejoicing always

- praying without ceasing

- Giving thanks in all circumstances

Sometimes we are more inclined to one or more of these and find it hard to live all of the mentioned. It does seem like a tall order. But God never asks us to do something where He doesnt give us the strength and grace to do so.

He is 'God with us'. He is always with us ! Our awesome Holy most powerful God is always with us ! He knows our every thought, He knows our every desire, would we surrender all to Him, would we truly place our trust and confidence in Him and listen to His heart ? 

Help us Daddy to be all that You want us to be by Your grace and for Your glory . We lay it all at Your feet. In Jesus Name. Amen

God Bless

Posture of our hearts

"But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”

Acts 3:6

Can you just picture this ? God is just o so amazing ! In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk ! Its not about what Peter had physically (silver , gold, name, fame...), but his confidence rested in God.

Here is another verse that we are so familiar with , "Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied."1 Samuel 17:45

Our confidence lies not in who we are , but in who He is ! Our trust lies not in our abilities but in His name !

What is the posture of our hearts today ? 

"The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe." Proverbs 18:10

God Bless

It is good to give thanks

"It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night,"

Psalm 92:1-2

It is good to give thanks to the Lord ! "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16 . I pray the truth of His love for us will just resonate in and through our lives. We have a Father who loves us, we have a Saviour who paid the price for us, we have a King who calls us His sons and daughters.

Sometimes its easy to let circumstances overwhelm us, or let situations to bring doubt into our lives. God has given us the strength by His grace to crush it all and say "I know who I am because of who He is !". He is steadfast, He is Holy, He is faithful, His forgiveness, His mercy , His love is just so incomprehensible and He never lets us go ! We are safe in HIs hands.

So lets arise laying it all at His feet and rejoice ! He is so amazing ! Let us give thanks. Our identities are sealed in Him ! Praise the Lord !

God Bless You

Ultrasound our desires

" But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death."

James 1:14-15

Conception of a desire. Where does this come from ? When we  think unwholesome desires, we immediately tend to think of just sexually immoral thoughts... But there is more... To name a few , unforgiveness, doubt, pride, anger , bitterness, doubt...

Desire to get married ? Why ? Worried that your marriage is not yet fixed ? Why ? For some the desire to get married is an apparent solution to temptation. If we think that once we are married , temptation will cease then we are so so wrong ! The flesh will be subject to the spirit is a disciplined lifestyle we should have whether married or not. Some worry regarding their marriage more with every birthday that passes by... why ? "Im getting older, how will I have kids...  how old will I be when my kids are in high school...." , doubt gets conceived... doubt gives birth to ungodly fear and desperation . 

Sometimes desires get conceived in us from other ways... even without thinking our behaviour towards certain individuals may be different... Why ? Sometime somewhere along the line there was a hurt which was never forgiven... ego was bruised... and now that has given birth to pride, walls of unforgiveness.

Desire of looking out for self gives birth to selfishness. The world says look out for yourself or they will trample over you. The word of God says if someone asks you to walk a mile, walk two...

Before sin is birthed, its time we ultrasound our desires. 

God is so good... Like a child talking with his/her father, our Jesus is so sweet to tell us "Honey this is not right.." , "Son...this may not be the right desire to house within you.."

God Bless

Time to Overcome

"No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it."

1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV

Picture this with me :  Someone is there in a pit , and there is a rope there to get out, but the person still shouts "God save me..." and then a ladder comes . But this person still goes on saying " Are you not listening to my prayers ? Please get me out of this" ... And then an escalator appears and this person is still shouting "God get me out of this situation"...

Sometimes we are not willing to put the effort to climb up the rope, or climb up the ladder or even move and place our feet on the escalator.  We expect God to do that for us and get us out. Not that God wont do that or cannot do that. He is able o soooo able ! He is a God who can just make that pit disappear and we can go "Huh where was that pit I was in ?".

But there are many times where we dont see what God has provided us. We dont see His provisions . We dont see His way. And we keep on praying for something that has already been provisioned and provided.

God loves to partner with us. He told moses to lift his rod and He split the red sea. Why did God need him to do that ? He can split the red sea without Moses having to do that . He looked for obedience and faith in Moses.

When David had to face Goliath, he didnt know how the exact specifics of how Goliath would be defeated. He had his sling with him. But he didnt have stones. Now he didnt cry and say "Oh God , if only you had provided me the stones then I would have gone forth and fought Goliath, but since I dont have the stones, I guess You will send someone else" . The Bible says he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook. He went to the brook and he piked five smooth stones. He had no idea how many stones it would take. Its not like God revealed to him that "You will defeat Goliath on the very first swing" in that case he would have taken just one stone. 

God is faithful ! His love steadfast ! Jesus loves us ! I pray this truth keeps our feet steady on Him and our hearts forever filled with joy and peace.

"No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it."

No matter what the circumstance or situation you are facing today, remember God is faithful. He never gives us more that what we can handle by HIs grace. He always provides His way (He will never allow us to be in a situation where the only choice is a sinful way. Never)

God Bless

Guard with Vigilence

"Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life."

Proverbs 4:23

I read a passage which states , "Heart in Proverbs regularly refers to the center of one’s inner life and orientation to God, from which a person does all thinking, feeling, and choosing. Taking words of wisdom into the heart is vital (they are life, v. 22), and wisdom’s presence in the heart is worth guarding because out of the heart flow all the thoughts and words and choices of a person’s life "

 

What have we allowed to dwell in our hearts today ? What makes our heart glad ?

 

God has purposed every bit of us for greater plans and purposes that we can ever imagine. When we say "Lord I give myself to You" , we are saying "Lord here I am, consecrate me, set me apart for You".

 

What the Lord has consecrated, let us guard with vigilance. We have been ransomed by the  blood of the Lamb. Cant get more precious than that ! :)

 

God Bless

Praise the Lord

"From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the LORD is to be praised!"

Psalm 113:3

Woke up this morning with this verse on my heart. He is worthy of all praise. The Psalm starts and ends with the same theme 'Praise the Lord' ! From the rising of the sun to its setting , the name of the Lord is to be praised. From all over the world, every tribe , every nation .. the name of the Lord is to be praised.

Verses 4-5, "The LORD is high above all nations, and His glory above the heavens! Who is like the LORD our God, who is seated on high,"

Who is like our God ? :) Who can compare to Him ? :) Such joy in knowing our heavenly Father ! Our Daddy is with us throughout every micro second of our day and night... He is always with us... Praise the Lord !

Verse 1, " Praise the LORD!

Praise, O servants of the LORD,

praise the name of the LORD!"

God Bless

More than a song

"Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the LORD, saying,

“I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously;

the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.

The LORD is my strength and my song,

and he has become my salvation;

this is my God, and I will praise him,

my father's God, and I will exalt him."

Exodus 15:1-2

Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord after they had just crossed the red sea and had seen God save them from the Egyptians. But as we continue to read the chapter, we see that they went into the wilderness and after 3 days of finding no water they began to complain.

I know its easy for us to point a finger at them and say "How ungrateful could they be.. God saved them out of Egypt..They saw all the plagues that God sent and the red sea crossing...What more could they need to see of how faithful God is..."

A lot of times as we make our journey, we do the same thing... We forget of all the awesome things He has done.. we forget of His constant hand of love and protection that is upon our lives even right now and we choose to look at the circumstance and doubt/grumble/be discontented/decide to take matters into our own hands.

On Sunday we sing songs like "Jesus You are more than enough for me"... Do we truly mean it ? Do we live a life that reflects that ?

To live a life that trusts in Him completely requires His grace :) It requires us to lay it all down at His feet and say "Daddy I surrender all...my eyes will be fixed on You and You alone". 

May praises arise from our heart , may our eyes be fixed on Him and may circumstances never dictate our faith.

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38-39

God Bless

Not a magic formula

"Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied."

1 Samuel 17:45

 

This is a passage that most of us are familiar with. We have either heard it at church during service or for those who have attended sunday school this is one passage that definitely grabs everyone's attentions.

 

Now there were seasoned warriors present. Saul himself was a warrior. The entire army of Israel were there. Im sure they were pretty skilled. But no one could rise up.

 

Now here is David. He says to the Philistine "You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts...". He is basically saying it doesnt matter what you have with you... I come in the name of the Lord.

Now what does that mean ? "I come in the name of the Lord".  Can anyone just say that ? Is it like "Abracadabra" or like "Bionics on !!" , one of those magic statements that just gives one super powers ?

 

I cannot walk into a building and say "I come in the name of the president of XYZ country".  I surely dont know the president and he/she surely doesnt know me.

 

There is a relationship required here. David had an intimate relationship with God. He knew who God is and he knew who he was in Him. This didnt come out of nowhere. Though he was anointed as king years ago and nothing majorily changed from a world aspect, he didnt let that affect his relationship with God.In fact he grew in the Lord. He had bears and lions come his ways and he got rid of them by His grace. He was growing and getting prepared for what is to come.

 

God is calling us to have an intimate relationship with Him. He is calling us to grow in Him.

 

May we keep growing in Him and look at anything that may come up that is not of God and say "I come in the name of the Lord of hosts". May it come from a place of knowing God and not as a magic formula that we think may work.

 

God Bless

 

Daily Discipline

"For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come."

 

1 Timothy 4 : 8

 

 

We read in the latter half of verse 12 . "be an example to the believers in the word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity."

 

Bodily exercise is not a one off thing.. Ask anyone who is into exercising.. its a daily discipline. How much more godliness ?

 

Its this fun balance of being broken of self and built by Him (broken yet built)... Its this fun balance of surrendering all yet pursuing Him, pursuing His holiness.

 

My mom always told me this as a kid..she would say "The Bible says run your race looking unto Jesus. So be sure never to set your focus on anything or anyone else. Because people disappoint, things fail.. But Jesus never fails"

 

Sometimes we start running looking unto Jesus and along the way get side tracked and though we are still running we are looking somewhere else :)

 

Whats our focus today ? What's the pursuit of our heart ? Are we disciplined for godliness ? Or are we fillling ourselves with junk food ? ;)

 

His grace ! His Love ! His mercy ! We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. He never asks us to do the impossible .

 

God Bless

Press on

" Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own."

Philippians 3:12

 

"I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. There is a balance of faith and works, of God’s call and the believer’s response."

 

I called up my sis a few days ago and our conversation went like this . I said , "Wow, you are up till midnight in prayers and also wake up early for prayers? Since when ? How come?" for which she responded , "Well if I want to grow somethings gotta change !!".

 

And its so true.. If we want to grow in Him , something has to change in the way we do things, in the way we prioritize or set up our schedules.

 

Press on. 

 

Verses 13 - 14 , " Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

 

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Its very purposeful ! Forget about what lies behind and strain forward to what lies ahead.

 

God loves us ever so much beyond comprehension. Even as we slept and woke up , His grace is just so abundant. Have you ever watched a baby sleep and wake up ? When my nephew was a baby, I would just wait in such anticipation to see his morning wake up smile... such an adorable smile he would give me and then stretch his arms out to me. Awwwww....

 

What's the response of our hearts this morning?

 

We are alive today and walk in such freedom and grace for His purpopses.What's our response ?

 

Press on. Press on to an intimate relationship with Him.. May we press on and live in the fullness of Him... May we press on and marvel at His love and His grace.

 

God Bless

Do we look like our Dad ?

"Therefore be imitators of God as dear children."

 

Ephesians 5 : 1

 

There is something about a friday morning that gets me in this kid like playfullness mode. As the current generation says "Its Chillax time" ... Supposed to be a combination of chilling and relaxing.

 

I love this verse "Be imitators of God as dear children" .. another version uses the word beloved children. He is our Daddy and we are His children. Its fun whenever I look at my nephews and I see that some of the stuff they do is a reflection of their dad. Or some of the stuff my brother and I do people say its like my Dad. im sure my Dad beams with pride when someone comes up to him and says "They are just like you"...

 

Would we be imitators of God ? Would people around us see Him through us ? What would Jesus do today ? If He came to your office what would He do ? What are we doing today differently that He would do ? How are we reacting differently than what Jesus would do ?

 

The next verse goes on to say "And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God"

 

This is not a burdensome task. Its a fun filled awesome joyful lifestyle of being like our Daddy. His grace carries us through. If you are feeling tired and weary and pulled down today , its time to Chillax ! We are carried by His grace. His love is incomprehensible ! He loves us before we even knew Him let alone loved Him. Thats our Daddy !

 

Have a Jesus Day ! :)

Do your remember who you are?

"Now therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God"

 

Ephesians 2 : 19

 

This week after a nice long thanksgiving weekend, I had my road test scheduled (for my drivers license).  Now since this is not the country Im from, my earlier license from home does not hold valid. The road test was its own fun. By God's grace cleared the road test and now have a license to drive in this country ! Now how often I drive here or not is a different question all together but it still does give such a sense of freedoom. I can now rent a car and drive around if I need to go somewhere. Yes, I am super ecstatic about it :-) Praise the Lord !

This little plastic card called a license gives me a right to drive anywhere in this country.

 

I couldnt help but stop and think, if this can give me so much joy, how ecstatic should I be as I am a fellow citizen of heaven, Im a member of the household of God ! Such unbelievable freedom ! Picture this with me... Picked up from a mud pit (once covered in all dirt) and now absolutely squeaky clean ! No more chains no more burdens weighing us down, no more entagled with the snares of sin... Freedom

 

And here we go one step more... We now have rights :) We get to trample over the head of satan and his schemes... We get to pray and as a song well says "Touch heaven and change the earth" we get to praise and sing as sons and daughters of the Most High... we get to read the word of God as fellow heirs in Christ ... we get to lay everything all down and say Consume me Lord .. here I am a living sacrifice to You... We get to grow in spriritual stature as mature sons and daughters in Him knowing the Father's heart and doing His will... 

 

Do we know our rights ? Or have we allowed the cares of the world to side track us and make us forget who we are ?

 

Lets not let anything/anyone make us forget who we are in Him !

 

"Now therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God"

 

God Bless

God is able to keep us from stumbling

"Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen."

 

Jude 1: 24 - 25

 

I was listening to a sermon yesterday where the preacher said something so simple yet so profound. He said when crossing the road with his 5 year old son, the saftey of his son lies not in the grip of his son's hand on him, but in the grip of his hand upon his son. As a father, he holds his son's hand tightly.. and say if his son were to trip while walking , the father's grip gets only tighter !

 

God is able to keep us from stumbling. Isnt that awesome ! How often to we allow a sense of striving and self work to overwhelm us and weigh us down ?

 

He is able to present us blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy ! The presence of His glory !! Us blameless ? Yes, only through Jesus Christ ! That's how awesome is our Father.

 

Going back a few verses we read in verses 20 - 23  "But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh"

 

May this be our prayer, that we live lives of complete surrender to Him and not be passive , but build ourselves up in faith and pray in the Holy Spirit, keeping ourselves in the love of God. And not be swelled up with self pride, or the attitude of "who are they to tell me" or "i am so much better than them" or "how could they be like that !" . but be compassionate and patient. May we not be found just sitting in our homes and rooms, but go forth making a distinction , snatching those who doubt from the fire, and hating even the very garment stained/defiled by the flesh

 

Praise the Lord for the love He showers on us

 

God Bless