"And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” "
2 Corinthians 12:9 (New King James Version)
When the Lord spoke to me regarding this verse for today I said "No Lord I have already sent this verse out before... Give me something else..." And like an adamant child I sat waiting waiting and it was obvious that I heard nothing beyond that for the next few hours... Then I said "Lord I am sorry ... Your ways are so much higher ... Teach me Your Word Lord " and praise the Lord that we have such a patient and forgiving Father.
His grace is sufficient for us !! How many of us say it and still ask for more ? As in , a lot of the times I have found myself saying "Lord , Your grace is all I need" and soon after saying that Im busy trying to figure out things on my own !
The Lord is telling us today "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness" ... We need to let the Lord have His way in us... we need to surrender ourselves to the Lord...and when He works in us you can be rest assured that its PERFECT !
What is God's grace ? Its the free gift of Jesus Christ that was given to us through the cross.
Romans 5 :15 says "But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many."
It is by grace that we are saved... Purely God's grace.... Whatever be the circumstance...whatever be the problem...whatever be the anxiety .... we need to understand that God's grace is all sufficient for us. There is nothing we can do that can make us worthy of God's favour... Its not by works but by grace that we are saved.
His Grace ... His Grace ... His Grace ... His Grace ... His Grace ... His Grace ... His Grace ...
Thats all we need.... So lets submit everything to the Lord , knowing that He is incharge of our lives and that His Grace is all that we will ever need....
No matter how the world spins , our eyes will always be set above at the throne of our God who reigns forever more.
Here is the music pick for the day... Your Grace is enough by Chris Tomlin
"Great is Your faithfulness oh God
You wrestle with the sinner's heart
You lead us by still waters and to mercy
And nothing can keep us apart
So remember Your people
Remember Your children
Remember Your promise Oh God
Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough for me
Great is Your love and justice God
You use the weak to lead the strong
You lead us in the song of Your salvation
And all Your people sing along "
God Bless
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
The First Commandment - Are you in love with the Lord?
"You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength"
Deuteronomy 6:5 (New King James Version)
This sunday as I was worshipping the Lord in church the Lord reminded me of my priorities.... Im a person who misses my family and friends a lot... I suddenly realized the number of times I have told them how much I miss them , how much I love them and how difficult a few days apart from them seems so difficult. The number of hours I spend on the phone doesnt seem to suffice.....
I soon started to realize how much more should my love for the Lord be... Do I miss spending time with the Lord ? Does 24hrs a day seem insufficent to listen to His voice.... Even if I spend an hour in His presence do I miss just telling Him how much I love Him during the rest of the day ?
The Bible says is Matthew 22:38 that this is the first and great commandment !
Do we love the Lord with
ALL OUR HEART
ALL OUR SOUL
ALL OUR STRENGTH
?
How much do we love the Lord ? How much are our priorities set right ?
For those who love music..here is a good pick...Paul Baloche : Falling
"I would like to walk this world with You always
Never want to be apart from You O Lord
I am some times overwhelmed by truth and Your ways
Could it be that I was made for You I'm blown away
I am falling I am falling in love
I am falling in love I am falling in love with You
I am falling I am falling in love
I am falling in love I am falling in love with You
Would You stay and listen for a while please stay
And let me talk of how You make me smile oh
I would like to leave it all behind my ways
But I get caught up in myself sometimes All I can say "
God Bless
Deuteronomy 6:5 (New King James Version)
This sunday as I was worshipping the Lord in church the Lord reminded me of my priorities.... Im a person who misses my family and friends a lot... I suddenly realized the number of times I have told them how much I miss them , how much I love them and how difficult a few days apart from them seems so difficult. The number of hours I spend on the phone doesnt seem to suffice.....
I soon started to realize how much more should my love for the Lord be... Do I miss spending time with the Lord ? Does 24hrs a day seem insufficent to listen to His voice.... Even if I spend an hour in His presence do I miss just telling Him how much I love Him during the rest of the day ?
The Bible says is Matthew 22:38 that this is the first and great commandment !
Do we love the Lord with
ALL OUR HEART
ALL OUR SOUL
ALL OUR STRENGTH
?
How much do we love the Lord ? How much are our priorities set right ?
For those who love music..here is a good pick...Paul Baloche : Falling
"I would like to walk this world with You always
Never want to be apart from You O Lord
I am some times overwhelmed by truth and Your ways
Could it be that I was made for You I'm blown away
I am falling I am falling in love
I am falling in love I am falling in love with You
I am falling I am falling in love
I am falling in love I am falling in love with You
Would You stay and listen for a while please stay
And let me talk of how You make me smile oh
I would like to leave it all behind my ways
But I get caught up in myself sometimes All I can say "
God Bless
Friday, March 6, 2009
Want to Serve God ? Just Follow Him !
"If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor"
John 12:26 (New King James Version)
A lot of us when we talk about serving the Lord have these fixed ideas in our heads... The first thing that comes to our mind is someone standing at the pulpit and preaching ...Thats not it... That is just one of the zillion ways that God uses someone....
The Bible says "If anyone serves Me,let him follow Me" . Wow ! Its as straightforward as that !! Serving the Lord is following Him...Following His commandments.... Following His Holy Word.
Now when we say we follow Him that implies we are not just listeners of the word of God but we are doers of the word of God. We implement and practice the gospel.
We read in Matthew 7:24 "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock"
Not just someone who hears, but those who do what the Lord has commanded....Only they are considered to be a wise man who built his house on the rock
For those of us who do not do what the Lord has commanded us...who do not lead lives as the Bible has taught us to be, are all foolish people , building our house on the sand ! And one day the rain is going to come and wash it all off.....
While we sit in our air conditioned offices and homes there are people that are dying for water !! Just regular water !! Did you know that all it takes is few hundred rupees to sponsor all the needs of a child per month !
I think I mentioned this reference a few days back ..."Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world"...James 1:27... Lets Follow His Holy Word and inturn Serve Him
Many of us have now entered into a season of lent,fasting or abstaining from something which we like...it can be gourmet food, chocolates,coffee,.... But above all that ...let this be the start of a season where we spend more time with the Lord and understand what it means to serve Him
Lets Follow the Lord !! No better way to serve Him than that !... And in following the Lord let the lives of those around us be blessed. Let us set aside an hour every weekend and visit an orphanage or an old age home and spread the joy of the Lord... .. Just 60 mins out of 10080 mins a week....
Let set aside something as small as Rs20/- a day or a $1 a day and at the end of the month let it be used to touch the lives of people ... we all are created in the image of God... Christ paid the price for us all....we all have one Father ... Lets not let our own flesh and blood suffer while we take things for granted.
"If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me"
God Bless
John 12:26 (New King James Version)
A lot of us when we talk about serving the Lord have these fixed ideas in our heads... The first thing that comes to our mind is someone standing at the pulpit and preaching ...Thats not it... That is just one of the zillion ways that God uses someone....
The Bible says "If anyone serves Me,let him follow Me" . Wow ! Its as straightforward as that !! Serving the Lord is following Him...Following His commandments.... Following His Holy Word.
Now when we say we follow Him that implies we are not just listeners of the word of God but we are doers of the word of God. We implement and practice the gospel.
We read in Matthew 7:24 "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock"
Not just someone who hears, but those who do what the Lord has commanded....Only they are considered to be a wise man who built his house on the rock
For those of us who do not do what the Lord has commanded us...who do not lead lives as the Bible has taught us to be, are all foolish people , building our house on the sand ! And one day the rain is going to come and wash it all off.....
While we sit in our air conditioned offices and homes there are people that are dying for water !! Just regular water !! Did you know that all it takes is few hundred rupees to sponsor all the needs of a child per month !
I think I mentioned this reference a few days back ..."Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world"...James 1:27... Lets Follow His Holy Word and inturn Serve Him
Many of us have now entered into a season of lent,fasting or abstaining from something which we like...it can be gourmet food, chocolates,coffee,.... But above all that ...let this be the start of a season where we spend more time with the Lord and understand what it means to serve Him
Lets Follow the Lord !! No better way to serve Him than that !... And in following the Lord let the lives of those around us be blessed. Let us set aside an hour every weekend and visit an orphanage or an old age home and spread the joy of the Lord... .. Just 60 mins out of 10080 mins a week....
Let set aside something as small as Rs20/- a day or a $1 a day and at the end of the month let it be used to touch the lives of people ... we all are created in the image of God... Christ paid the price for us all....we all have one Father ... Lets not let our own flesh and blood suffer while we take things for granted.
"If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me"
God Bless
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Do you like it when people correct you ?
"Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge,
But he who hates correction is stupid."
Proverbs 12:1 (New King James Version)
My kid sister has proved to be one of my greatest critics.... Work keeps me travelling and my sister had never heard me preach until this morning at our fasting and prayer service. The message was of course words which the Holy Spirit lead me and thereby no critics there... It was a blessing . At the end of the service as we got into the car my sister's comments were "Were you nervous...This one gesture of yours seemed to indicate it... Use more day to day examples.... I like people who walk around a bit and dont stand in one place ...." !!
Im sure you can understand my first instant reaction "Ouch !" She went on to say "Do want to learn and improve or not ? This is good correction...The more you use day to day examples the more easier it is to relate......"
My sister's correction did make a lot of sense , but it did dent my pride a tiny bit ! But then I realized how true the verse is.... We cant say we love knowledge without loving instruction. Its the instructions and corrections that improve our knowledge.
It may not be easy to take in corrections when people tell us the better way to do things ...be it in our work, our personal lives, our spiritual lives, .... But when they are for our betterment, it is a wise decision to learn and heed to them and make the required corrections.
Let us not be one who hates correction.
God Bless
But he who hates correction is stupid."
Proverbs 12:1 (New King James Version)
My kid sister has proved to be one of my greatest critics.... Work keeps me travelling and my sister had never heard me preach until this morning at our fasting and prayer service. The message was of course words which the Holy Spirit lead me and thereby no critics there... It was a blessing . At the end of the service as we got into the car my sister's comments were "Were you nervous...This one gesture of yours seemed to indicate it... Use more day to day examples.... I like people who walk around a bit and dont stand in one place ...." !!
Im sure you can understand my first instant reaction "Ouch !" She went on to say "Do want to learn and improve or not ? This is good correction...The more you use day to day examples the more easier it is to relate......"
My sister's correction did make a lot of sense , but it did dent my pride a tiny bit ! But then I realized how true the verse is.... We cant say we love knowledge without loving instruction. Its the instructions and corrections that improve our knowledge.
It may not be easy to take in corrections when people tell us the better way to do things ...be it in our work, our personal lives, our spiritual lives, .... But when they are for our betterment, it is a wise decision to learn and heed to them and make the required corrections.
Let us not be one who hates correction.
God Bless
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
United in Christ !
"I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all."
Ephesians 4 :1-6 (New King James Version)
This is something that the Lord has been teaching me more and more about over the past few months.... And its been a terrific learning process. The Body of Christ - The Church - which comprises of each of us has gotten so divided over the past decades.... I am so confused in the doctrine differences between each..... We need to realize that there are no man made rules that should interfere with the Biblical Truths of the Word of God. With the Bible as our guide , we need to join together in unity and pray for our cities, for our states , for our country , for the countries across the world....
We who believe that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Saviour and is the only way , the truth and the life,....we need to be bonded with the love of Christ and battle the evil one together.
Sometimes we try to defend our denomnation as more superior or righteous over the other.... and we tend to forget something basic as what we read in Isaiah 64:4 "But we are all like an unclean thing,And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf,And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away"
It would be interesting to see if someone can stand up and say "I am righteous." ! ..... Our God is such an awesome Holy God....Lets not let the divisions weaken the body of Christ.....
The Bible says in Psalm 9:10 that the Lord will never forsake those that seek Him and those who know His Name, put their trust in Him . Praise the Lord !! The Lord is forever faithful....however we become so judgemental at times !
May the bonds of Christ unite us together that we may reach out to the heavens in one accord and change earth for His Glory.
"We will seek Your face Almighty God
Turn and pray for You to heal our land
Father let revival start in us
Then every heart will know Your kingdom come
Lifting up the Name of the Lord
In power and in unity
We will see the nations turn
Touching heaven changing earth"
---Hillsong Australia
God Bless
Ephesians 4 :1-6 (New King James Version)
This is something that the Lord has been teaching me more and more about over the past few months.... And its been a terrific learning process. The Body of Christ - The Church - which comprises of each of us has gotten so divided over the past decades.... I am so confused in the doctrine differences between each..... We need to realize that there are no man made rules that should interfere with the Biblical Truths of the Word of God. With the Bible as our guide , we need to join together in unity and pray for our cities, for our states , for our country , for the countries across the world....
We who believe that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Saviour and is the only way , the truth and the life,....we need to be bonded with the love of Christ and battle the evil one together.
Sometimes we try to defend our denomnation as more superior or righteous over the other.... and we tend to forget something basic as what we read in Isaiah 64:4 "But we are all like an unclean thing,And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf,And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away"
It would be interesting to see if someone can stand up and say "I am righteous." ! ..... Our God is such an awesome Holy God....Lets not let the divisions weaken the body of Christ.....
The Bible says in Psalm 9:10 that the Lord will never forsake those that seek Him and those who know His Name, put their trust in Him . Praise the Lord !! The Lord is forever faithful....however we become so judgemental at times !
May the bonds of Christ unite us together that we may reach out to the heavens in one accord and change earth for His Glory.
"We will seek Your face Almighty God
Turn and pray for You to heal our land
Father let revival start in us
Then every heart will know Your kingdom come
Lifting up the Name of the Lord
In power and in unity
We will see the nations turn
Touching heaven changing earth"
---Hillsong Australia
God Bless
Want Peace ?
“Great peace have those who love Your law,And nothing causes them to stumble”
Psalm 119:165 (New King James Version)
How true it is that whenever our focus is on the Lord and on His commandments that we are so at peace and so filled with joy that we feel nothing can ever bring us down. But when we shift our focus from the Lord and His law and look at circumstances, situations , problems of this world that we get perturbed, frustrated , angry….Its so easy to lose our temper , to lose our peace… Especially for me…Last evening all it took was one misunderstanding and I was all typical smoke coming from my ears like in the cartoons. But whenever I tried focusing on Christ and not on me , then my reactions to the situation was different. My voice was calmer, my speech was rational and above all even a message that I sent was with God’s blessings in it.Yup I still haven’t reached a point where I don’t turn into a cartoon with smoke fuming from my ears….But by God’s grace Im learning to calm down in few minutes which for me is good improvement The point being when we are so in love with the Lord, His law is well secured around our heart and as blocks might seem to be coming across our path, by the grace of God we get through with great peace…Nothing can cause us to stumble…No one and nothing can rob the peace of God within us as long as He is our focus and our love is His law
God Bless
Psalm 119:165 (New King James Version)
How true it is that whenever our focus is on the Lord and on His commandments that we are so at peace and so filled with joy that we feel nothing can ever bring us down. But when we shift our focus from the Lord and His law and look at circumstances, situations , problems of this world that we get perturbed, frustrated , angry….Its so easy to lose our temper , to lose our peace… Especially for me…Last evening all it took was one misunderstanding and I was all typical smoke coming from my ears like in the cartoons. But whenever I tried focusing on Christ and not on me , then my reactions to the situation was different. My voice was calmer, my speech was rational and above all even a message that I sent was with God’s blessings in it.Yup I still haven’t reached a point where I don’t turn into a cartoon with smoke fuming from my ears….But by God’s grace Im learning to calm down in few minutes which for me is good improvement The point being when we are so in love with the Lord, His law is well secured around our heart and as blocks might seem to be coming across our path, by the grace of God we get through with great peace…Nothing can cause us to stumble…No one and nothing can rob the peace of God within us as long as He is our focus and our love is His law
God Bless
Salt of the Earth
"“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men"
Matthew 5:13 (New King James Version)
I am on vacation for a week and went to my parents places for a break... My mom bought this big crystalized salt (not sure whats its called) and she handed it over to me and asked me to sprinkle it along the coconut trees that we have in the backyard. Though I found it weird, I did it ...and then she said to pour water over the salt so that the trees could absorb the salt. I found out from my Mom that apparently the salt helps the trees grow well and the yeild of the tree is much better.
As I continued sprinkling the salt across the other trees the Lord reminded me of this verse. That we are the salt of the earth... A couple of things regarding it ... The first being that we (the salt of the earth) need to have the flavour of salt. As it says in the verse, if the salt loses it flavour it loses its purpose.
The next being that the salt has a purpose .... No matter how much flavour the salt has it fulfills its purpose only when used...When I sprinkled the salt at the base of the tree that was putting the salt to use. We as the salt of the earth need to be instrumental for the spiritual growth of others, in lending a helping hand,...in short...In being the way God wants us to be. The Bible says do unto others as you would have them do unto you... Our actions need to be the very gospel that we preach... Our lives need to reflect Christ... We are to be used for the glory of His name being a blessing to others. In James 1 :27 we read "Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world"
Here comes the best part... There was a mediator between the salt on the ground and the roots of the tree.... It was the water being poured out on the salt..... The water disolves the salt crystals and changes it into a form that the roots can easily be absorbed. Every word that we speak, every action that we do needs the anointing of God upon our lives if it is to be fruitful. The Bible says that its not by might nor by Power but only by His Spirit. When we are sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit , He will guide us and teach us what we ought to say to others or what we need to do. When we try telling others about Christ by our own strength and our wisdom , the results are disasterous...we might end up pushing people further away than bringing them closer... But when we are sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit He puts the words in our mouth , He gives us wisdom and understanding ... In otherwords He changes us into a form that the other person can easily understand and listen .
We are the salt of the earth.
God Bless
Matthew 5:13 (New King James Version)
I am on vacation for a week and went to my parents places for a break... My mom bought this big crystalized salt (not sure whats its called) and she handed it over to me and asked me to sprinkle it along the coconut trees that we have in the backyard. Though I found it weird, I did it ...and then she said to pour water over the salt so that the trees could absorb the salt. I found out from my Mom that apparently the salt helps the trees grow well and the yeild of the tree is much better.
As I continued sprinkling the salt across the other trees the Lord reminded me of this verse. That we are the salt of the earth... A couple of things regarding it ... The first being that we (the salt of the earth) need to have the flavour of salt. As it says in the verse, if the salt loses it flavour it loses its purpose.
The next being that the salt has a purpose .... No matter how much flavour the salt has it fulfills its purpose only when used...When I sprinkled the salt at the base of the tree that was putting the salt to use. We as the salt of the earth need to be instrumental for the spiritual growth of others, in lending a helping hand,...in short...In being the way God wants us to be. The Bible says do unto others as you would have them do unto you... Our actions need to be the very gospel that we preach... Our lives need to reflect Christ... We are to be used for the glory of His name being a blessing to others. In James 1 :27 we read "Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world"
Here comes the best part... There was a mediator between the salt on the ground and the roots of the tree.... It was the water being poured out on the salt..... The water disolves the salt crystals and changes it into a form that the roots can easily be absorbed. Every word that we speak, every action that we do needs the anointing of God upon our lives if it is to be fruitful. The Bible says that its not by might nor by Power but only by His Spirit. When we are sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit , He will guide us and teach us what we ought to say to others or what we need to do. When we try telling others about Christ by our own strength and our wisdom , the results are disasterous...we might end up pushing people further away than bringing them closer... But when we are sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit He puts the words in our mouth , He gives us wisdom and understanding ... In otherwords He changes us into a form that the other person can easily understand and listen .
We are the salt of the earth.
God Bless
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