Recipient of His Mercy

"Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice"

Luke 17:15

We read from verse 11 that on the way to Jerusalem Jesus was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as He entered a village, He was met by ten lepers,who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” 

Have Mercy on us ! Mercy ! Webster's dictionary defines mercy as "compassion or forbearance shown especially to an offender" . Lepers in those days were considered unclean and were kept away from the city. So here are these ten lepers who see Christ and they are pleading "Jesus, Master have mercy on us." They know there's nothing they can do or that they are that entitles them of Jesus's attention, so they plead for mercy. We read that when Jesus saw them He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan.Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well."

The Samaritan when he saw that he was healed turned back and praised him with a loud voice and fell at Jesus's feet and gave thanks. This person had received the same healing as the others. What was the difference ? His heart was conscious of the fact that all he had received he did not deserve, but yet it had been graciously showered upon him.

Jesus said to him," Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well". The literal meaning for the word "well" in this context is "saved" (same Greek verb) . It was more than a physical healing. It was inward transformation.

Lets take a moment to reflect upon the gracious love and mercy that God continues to shower upon us... none of which we deserve but yet He having loved us, having called us His own, having paid the price on the cross for us and redeemed us , as our Father showers His mercy upon us. May our hearts forever be lifted up in gratefulness to the one who deserves it all.

God Bless

Faithful

"Then the high officials and the satraps sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom, but they could find no ground for complaint or any fault, because he was faithful, and no error or fault was found in him."

Daniel 6:4

One of best things of growing up in a small town is you get to see the simplicity of things. My church growing up wasn't filled with scholars or great theologians. But it was filled with amazing men and women of God who simply loved the Lord with all their heart , mind and strength. They may not know how to read or write, they may not know a lot of things of the world, but they know the heart of God and they give God their all. Every time I think about them I am so overwhelmed by the honour of growing up with them , those who poured into me and continue to cover me in prayers. Servants of the Most High King. Im so humbled by God's favour.

Being faithful. Daniel and the lions den is one of the most love sunday school stories of all. Daniel 6:4 says the high officials and satraps tried to find a ground for complaint against Daniel but they couldn't because he was faithful ! All that God had entrusted to him , he did it faithfully. 

He always prayed to the Lord 3 times a day. Now when the decree had come saying people were not supposed to pray to any other god beside the king, we read in verse 10 , "When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously."

Faithful. Circumstances never dictated his time with God. Even a law that would have him be put to death never deterred him. And we all know the amazing things that followed after. Out of the faithfulness of the little God will rise things as a testimony to a nation. 

In honouring God above everything else, great things will overflow. If the devil tries to deter us from our daily time with God, take it as a hint... There's something powerful thats there and he doesn't want you to have it.  

I pray by His grace we will be found faithful. Faithful in seeking His face and walking in His ways. Its about knowing His heart.

God Bless

Just look to Jesus

"Those who look to Him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed."

Psalm 34:5

When I heard this verse as a kid, the first image that popped into my mind was someone looking at the sun.  Growing up in India we were never short of sunny days :)  Step outside and there it is... shining brightly. Keeping it simple, couple of things that are an automatic outcome of looking at the sun... Well for one, you are automatically covered in the light of the sun ! Its radiance is all over you.  Stand there long enough and theres transformation thats happening that cannot be seen with our eyes but its still happening.. what is it ? Vitamin D formation in our body. Yeah grade 4 science... The Sunshine Vitamin. The body makes Vitamin D when the skin is exposed to the sun allowing the body to absorb calcium and phosphate better which is key for bone formation.  

Now this is just the sun. Imagine the gravity of looking to Jesus Christ the founder and perfecter of our faith !!! Oh wow ! The transformation that takes place within, being covered in the radiance of His glorious presence ... walking in victory !

"Those who look to Him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed."

Have a wonderful blessed day and weekend

Everything

"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.  "

1 Peter 2:9

Last year when I was on vacation , one morning I sleepily staggered upstairs to be wonderfully surprised to the sight of some of my church family busy baking cakes and cupcakes :) Its the best sight ever :) Kids whipping stuff , some looking on , while there's the watchful eye of  a friend who's our baking whiz ensuring all goes well while checking on the oven.  The cake and cup cakes had all these amazing colours from within that flowed out... It looked terrific. Now what if I said , "Well though the cake was made by them, Im going to call out this lil chunk out of the cake and say that no this specific part wasn't made by them"   ... You would probably look at me and say "Go back to sleep. You need rest. You are not making sense"  Yes it does sound absurd. It was a cake made with great love by amazing people. To demarcate certain portions of it and call it anything less would be a meaningless statement with absolutely no point or purpose.

Sometimes though, we tend to apportion our life and say "Well this aspect of my life is God's... but this part of me God cant use that.. This is not God's"  We are created in His image , set apart for Him. All that we are is His.  Sometimes we focus on our spiritual gifts and become poor stewards of the natural gifting that God has given us. Sometimes we focus on doing things that are visible to the world and lose out on developing a Godly Character.  ALL that we are is by Him and for Him ! God is interested in every aspect in every area of our life.  We are called to a life of complete surrender. We are called to put away things that are dishonourable and be set apart for Him. And we do this not by might but by His Spirit. He gives us the grace and the strength to pursue Holiness. God is as interested in our university life/work life/family life just as much as He is our church life :)

This is who we are : "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.  "  and I pray by His grace every area of our life be a reflection of this truth

God Bless

Seek Him

"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."

Matthew 6:33

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied"

Matthew 5:6

Yes, decided to have two verses today :) 

If you were craving cheese and I said "Here you go, here's a cheese sandwich... Try it"  Its as simple as taking a bite into the sandwich and knowing how good it is. 

In His presence there is fullness of joy. When we hunger and thirst for righteousness the word of God says we WILL be satisfied (not maybe, but definitive).  And in the laying of everything at His feet , in the seeking FIRST His kingdom and His righteousness, all other things that God knows we need will be added to us.

We read in Psalm 34:10 , "The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing"

Let our every day be a reflection of giving God our first, our best , laying it all at His feet. Let's do it. 

Have a wonderful beautiful awesome blessed day by His grace and for His glory.

Pressing on Toward the Goal

"I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus"

Philippians 3:14

Boxing day here is meant to be a day for great sales and shopping. I needed to pick up a gift for a dear friend of mine. Now I knew the store I wanted to go, had already checked out the store timings, when I woke up I got to meet up with my church family and their kids , the moment the clock struck 9am I was out the door on my way downtown. Now there are tons of shops to go to on boxing day, like literally every place is buzzing with some offer or the other. While the temptation to swing by a few other stores was always there , but I knew my goal.  So drove straight to the store, by God's grace God showed me exactly what to buy and I was back home in just over an hour :)  

A wonderful man of God once said "How do you know what's a distraction unless you know what your goal is ?" :)

Now this is something so small. But yet knowing my goal directed my choices. It changed what would consume my time. 

Paul writes "I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus". In fact in the previous verse he says "But one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead"

The upward call of God in Christ Jesus ! I pray this be the goal that rises from within us... The very reason for our existence is to live by His grace and for His glory.

May that drive our choices , may that cause us to think and choose and live differently.

God Bless

The Day to Day

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness."
Lamentations 3:22-23 

It is great to get back to the groove of writing and wrapping more discipline around my schedules by God's grace :)  One of the many things that God's been impressing upon my heart is the intimacy and specialness of a daily walk with God. 

Those who know me know how much I love spending time with my youth. However , what captures my heart is not this one off big dinner (though those are terrific and valued too), its the day to day.  I love knowing what tea or pizza topping they love. I love knowing how their day went. I love the day to day. I love knowing how their classes went, listening to them just share anything. I love holding the toddlers and seeing them recognize me.  The day to day ! Its the heart behind it all.  And this is just me as a flawed human being :) If my heart can recognize this, just imagine the day to day with God. If I being human with all my flaws and imperfections, would love to listen to one my kids just talk their heart whatever it may consist of (be it food, the weather, hair styes, lip balms,  theology, Word of God, issues, school papers...) , can you imagine the heart of God !

There's something just so intimate about the day to day. Often our mind is warped around this and we have turned our relationship with God into a ritual.

Its time to get back to being real and enjoy this awesome daily walk with God. No relationship as important as His ! Created by Him and for Him.  

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning;

great is Your faithfulness."

 

God Bless