“I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well”
Psalm 139 : 14 (New King James Version)
This morning as I looked all sleepy at the mirror and brushed my teeth, the Lord led me to take a closer look at my teeth. And I went wow ! Just look at all the time and planning that has gone into designing our teeth. I mean just think about it for one second …the molars , the premolars, the canine… Teeth in front that look good.. teeth in the back that are great for grinding our food… Wow ! Just look at the time that has gone into that . And the beauty is each one of us is made so uniquely. My front two teeth are nice and big so was nicknamed bugs bunny as a kid… But hey I’m perfect in God’s sight ! :-) Praise the Lord !
Everything about us is just so uniquely made… our hair , our height , our fingers…. Wow !! Praise the Lord for everything . The last part of the verse says “And that my soul knows very well” . Do you know that ?
Do we praise and thank God for everything that we are ?
Verse 17-18 say “How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake I am still with You”
Wow ! Our Holy Father… He loves us beyond what we could ever comprehend and His thoughts of us are more than our mind could ever understand and are innumerable. Wow !
Do we realize how special we are in God’s eyes ?
Some of us are so caught up proving who we are to the world in terms of worldly standards that we have forgotten who we are in God’s eyes and what His plans are for us.
Marvelous are His works. I pray that we will give Him all the glory and walk in accordance with His will and that we will praise Him for we are fearfully and wonderfully made.
God Bless
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Do we see the big picture ?
“Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him”
Matthew 4:11 (New King James Version)
Jesus is fasting and Satan tempts Him. Does this confuse you ? Wouldn’t you think when you are spending so much time in prayer that the devil would be more scared ? Satan knew what was coming up… See the bigger a threat you become to Satan the more the attacks, temptation from Him.
However let me be clear on one thing… we need to know where we are in God . If we are walking in accordance to His will then yes we know that every attack is from the evil one. However , if we are not walking in accordance to His will , then don’t give Satan all the credit. We are to blame for our choices of sin which results in turmoil around us.
The Bible says in I Corinthians 10: 13 “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it”.
We read in Matthew 4:10 “Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you Satan ! For it is written , You shall worship the LORD your God and Him only you shall serve.””
With that one final word the devil left Him. The devil tried everything he could… he even quoted the scriptures out of context… But Christ overcame all. And you know what happened ? Angels came and ministered to Him ! Wow ! Just try and picture that sight . Its better than any reward, gold medal ,… anything that the world could ever give. Are we overcoming temptation knowing that our God is our greatest reward ?
We are to crush satan under our feet . Are we doing that ? Or are we giving him access into our lives by giving in to the temptation ? are allowing the scriptures to be twisted to suit our worldly desires ?
We are to overcome temptation. We are to remember His name. We read in Psalm 20:2 that He will send us help from the sanctuary…
Satan sees the big picture and he is scared… he knows his end is near. Do you and I see God’s plan for us in our lives ?
God Bless
Matthew 4:11 (New King James Version)
Jesus is fasting and Satan tempts Him. Does this confuse you ? Wouldn’t you think when you are spending so much time in prayer that the devil would be more scared ? Satan knew what was coming up… See the bigger a threat you become to Satan the more the attacks, temptation from Him.
However let me be clear on one thing… we need to know where we are in God . If we are walking in accordance to His will then yes we know that every attack is from the evil one. However , if we are not walking in accordance to His will , then don’t give Satan all the credit. We are to blame for our choices of sin which results in turmoil around us.
The Bible says in I Corinthians 10: 13 “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it”.
We read in Matthew 4:10 “Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you Satan ! For it is written , You shall worship the LORD your God and Him only you shall serve.””
With that one final word the devil left Him. The devil tried everything he could… he even quoted the scriptures out of context… But Christ overcame all. And you know what happened ? Angels came and ministered to Him ! Wow ! Just try and picture that sight . Its better than any reward, gold medal ,… anything that the world could ever give. Are we overcoming temptation knowing that our God is our greatest reward ?
We are to crush satan under our feet . Are we doing that ? Or are we giving him access into our lives by giving in to the temptation ? are allowing the scriptures to be twisted to suit our worldly desires ?
We are to overcome temptation. We are to remember His name. We read in Psalm 20:2 that He will send us help from the sanctuary…
Satan sees the big picture and he is scared… he knows his end is near. Do you and I see God’s plan for us in our lives ?
God Bless
Monday, October 12, 2009
Immersed or Floating ?
“Some trust in chariots, and some in horses;
But we will remember the name of the LORD our God.”
Psalm 20 : 7 (New King James Version)
“All to Jesus, I surrender; All to Him I freely give; I will ever love and trust Him, In His presence daily live”… I’m sure this a favourite hymn to many…
We read in today’s verse that some put their trust in chariots and some in horses , but we will remember the name of the Lord. Now here is a question … When do we remember the name of the Lord ?
When trouble arises and we have tried everything else and now we decide to remember Him ? When there is an issue at work do we first get so worked up/upset and wish we could yell at everyone and then after all that do we remember the name of the Lord ? Even if we don’t actually yell out our thoughts it still falls into the Master’s ear ! J He knows it all ! When promotions don’t come do we get so stressed out regarding it and then a week later remember the Lord ?
I love the line in the hymn which says “In His presence daily live”…. Picture this… There is a jug full of water and into the water I drop an egg . Now the egg is totally immersed into the water. It is surrounded by the water completely. Its just totally 100% submersed in the water. That’s the way we ought to be. Just so totally submersed in His presence. Totally 100% in Him.
This is funny… I just called up my mom to make sure my illustration was right – that an egg does go down when placed in water and not float. And this is what my mom said “If the egg is a bad egg then it will float in water and if its good then it gets immersed in the water. That’s how you check if an egg is good or bad”. Praise the Lord ! The Lord leads us to perfect illustrations J Are we fully immersed in Him or are we floating ?
Do we remember the Lord in the green pastures, besides the still waters , in the valley of shadow of death , in the presence of our enemies… do we remember the Lord 24*7 ? Is our trust in Him 100%. ?
“Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the LORD our God.”
God Bless
But we will remember the name of the LORD our God.”
Psalm 20 : 7 (New King James Version)
“All to Jesus, I surrender; All to Him I freely give; I will ever love and trust Him, In His presence daily live”… I’m sure this a favourite hymn to many…
We read in today’s verse that some put their trust in chariots and some in horses , but we will remember the name of the Lord. Now here is a question … When do we remember the name of the Lord ?
When trouble arises and we have tried everything else and now we decide to remember Him ? When there is an issue at work do we first get so worked up/upset and wish we could yell at everyone and then after all that do we remember the name of the Lord ? Even if we don’t actually yell out our thoughts it still falls into the Master’s ear ! J He knows it all ! When promotions don’t come do we get so stressed out regarding it and then a week later remember the Lord ?
I love the line in the hymn which says “In His presence daily live”…. Picture this… There is a jug full of water and into the water I drop an egg . Now the egg is totally immersed into the water. It is surrounded by the water completely. Its just totally 100% submersed in the water. That’s the way we ought to be. Just so totally submersed in His presence. Totally 100% in Him.
This is funny… I just called up my mom to make sure my illustration was right – that an egg does go down when placed in water and not float. And this is what my mom said “If the egg is a bad egg then it will float in water and if its good then it gets immersed in the water. That’s how you check if an egg is good or bad”. Praise the Lord ! The Lord leads us to perfect illustrations J Are we fully immersed in Him or are we floating ?
Do we remember the Lord in the green pastures, besides the still waters , in the valley of shadow of death , in the presence of our enemies… do we remember the Lord 24*7 ? Is our trust in Him 100%. ?
“Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the LORD our God.”
God Bless
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Spirit or Flesh
“But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”
Romans 8:11 (New King James Version)
We read in verse 8 “So then , those who are in the flesh cannot please God”… what does that mean ? Aren’t we all right now living physically as human beings in flesh ? Here its not about being physically in the flesh , but living according to the flesh. Well lets meditate together on this There are two roads right now in front of us. Lets look at both these roads.
Road ‘Flesh’ : Where we walk according to Flesh. In this road as we stroll along we give in to the desires of the flesh… things of the world… lust, greed, pride, anger, lies , filthy language…
Road ‘Spirit’ : Where we walk according to Spirit. In this road we walk in accordance to His will… we walk according to the desires and will of God… Our minds are not set on things of this world… but our minds are set on things above
Verse 5 : “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit”
Verse 6 : “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace”
Verse 7-8 : “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
We see that there is absolutely no connection between these two roads. They are disjoint. Quick check : Which road are we walking on now ?
We read in verses 10-11 , “And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”
Now anything that is of the flesh is put to death. This flesh which acts in conflict to the Spirit is put to death. Why ? because now Christ lives in us. Life and death are opposites… Jesus Christ and Sin are opposites. When we look into our lives what do we see ? Do we see Christ in us ? Or do we see sin ?
When we walk in the Spirit , Christ gives life to our mortal bodies through His Spirit . Because of His Spirit this mortal body now has true life and is to be used for His glory. Everything about us … our body , our thoughts , our desire is to walk in subjection to the will of God .
I’m sure a lot of us must be familiar with the quote “ Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country” . How many of us wake up in the morning and say “Lord , how may I be used for Your glory today “ instead of having a big list of asking God to do things. Don’t get me wrong . I’m not saying don’t ask God for things … but have we gotten so lost in our needs that we have not even taken the time to seek Him and His will. How many of us have a heart which says “Lord Here I am !”. How many of us are walking according to the Spirit ?
God Bless
Romans 8:11 (New King James Version)
We read in verse 8 “So then , those who are in the flesh cannot please God”… what does that mean ? Aren’t we all right now living physically as human beings in flesh ? Here its not about being physically in the flesh , but living according to the flesh. Well lets meditate together on this There are two roads right now in front of us. Lets look at both these roads.
Road ‘Flesh’ : Where we walk according to Flesh. In this road as we stroll along we give in to the desires of the flesh… things of the world… lust, greed, pride, anger, lies , filthy language…
Road ‘Spirit’ : Where we walk according to Spirit. In this road we walk in accordance to His will… we walk according to the desires and will of God… Our minds are not set on things of this world… but our minds are set on things above
Verse 5 : “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit”
Verse 6 : “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace”
Verse 7-8 : “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
We see that there is absolutely no connection between these two roads. They are disjoint. Quick check : Which road are we walking on now ?
We read in verses 10-11 , “And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”
Now anything that is of the flesh is put to death. This flesh which acts in conflict to the Spirit is put to death. Why ? because now Christ lives in us. Life and death are opposites… Jesus Christ and Sin are opposites. When we look into our lives what do we see ? Do we see Christ in us ? Or do we see sin ?
When we walk in the Spirit , Christ gives life to our mortal bodies through His Spirit . Because of His Spirit this mortal body now has true life and is to be used for His glory. Everything about us … our body , our thoughts , our desire is to walk in subjection to the will of God .
I’m sure a lot of us must be familiar with the quote “ Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country” . How many of us wake up in the morning and say “Lord , how may I be used for Your glory today “ instead of having a big list of asking God to do things. Don’t get me wrong . I’m not saying don’t ask God for things … but have we gotten so lost in our needs that we have not even taken the time to seek Him and His will. How many of us have a heart which says “Lord Here I am !”. How many of us are walking according to the Spirit ?
God Bless
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Dont Labor in Vain
“Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it ; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain.”
Psalm 127 : 1 (New King James Version)
Picture this… There is a major storm that’s started and all you see ahead of you is this tiny place of shelter made from dry leaves. Having no other choice, you run and take shelter there. How safe would you feel ?
After a couple of minutes you look up and see the hand of God holding it up for you . Now how safe would you feel ?
When something is in the hands of God it takes a whole different meaning altogether . A lot of us are familiar with the passage from John 6 , ‘Feeding the Five Thousand’. We read in John 6 : 9 , “”There is a lad here who has five barely loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?”” They were right… In their hands what was it among so many ? But when given to the Lord what happened ? We read in John 6:11 , “And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise the fish, as much as they wanted.”
The loaves and the fish were still distributed by the disciples to the people. What was the difference ? It passed through the hand of God first. That makes all the difference !
We read in today’s verse that unless the Lord builds the house , those who build it are laboring in vain. Unless the Lord guards the city there is no point in the watchman staying awake .
Have we lifted up everything and surrendered everything into His hands ? Are we letting God have His way in our lives or are we laboring in vain ? The job that we work at becomes meaningless unless we lift it up to the Lord and we say , Lord have your way in my workplace. The car that you drive … what difference does it make ? Surrender that into the hands of the Lord and see how He uses that as an instrument for His glory. That half an hour that you get a break in the afternoon … are you thinking ‘what is half an hour among such a busy schedule ? ‘…. Surrender it to our Lord and you will be amazed at what He will do with it.
Many at times we are living our lives in vain… why ? Because we have shut the Lord out . We rely on our own strength and wisdom to see us through. If God is not a part of it, anything we do will be in vain .
God Bless
Psalm 127 : 1 (New King James Version)
Picture this… There is a major storm that’s started and all you see ahead of you is this tiny place of shelter made from dry leaves. Having no other choice, you run and take shelter there. How safe would you feel ?
After a couple of minutes you look up and see the hand of God holding it up for you . Now how safe would you feel ?
When something is in the hands of God it takes a whole different meaning altogether . A lot of us are familiar with the passage from John 6 , ‘Feeding the Five Thousand’. We read in John 6 : 9 , “”There is a lad here who has five barely loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?”” They were right… In their hands what was it among so many ? But when given to the Lord what happened ? We read in John 6:11 , “And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise the fish, as much as they wanted.”
The loaves and the fish were still distributed by the disciples to the people. What was the difference ? It passed through the hand of God first. That makes all the difference !
We read in today’s verse that unless the Lord builds the house , those who build it are laboring in vain. Unless the Lord guards the city there is no point in the watchman staying awake .
Have we lifted up everything and surrendered everything into His hands ? Are we letting God have His way in our lives or are we laboring in vain ? The job that we work at becomes meaningless unless we lift it up to the Lord and we say , Lord have your way in my workplace. The car that you drive … what difference does it make ? Surrender that into the hands of the Lord and see how He uses that as an instrument for His glory. That half an hour that you get a break in the afternoon … are you thinking ‘what is half an hour among such a busy schedule ? ‘…. Surrender it to our Lord and you will be amazed at what He will do with it.
Many at times we are living our lives in vain… why ? Because we have shut the Lord out . We rely on our own strength and wisdom to see us through. If God is not a part of it, anything we do will be in vain .
God Bless
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Blessing to Abomination
“I brought you into a bountiful country, To eat its fruit and its goodness. But when you entered, you defiled My land And made My heritage an abomination.”
Jeremiah 2 : 7 (New King James Version)
The Lord led Israel through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and pits , through a land of drought and the shadow of death, through a land that no one crossed. The Lord brought Israel into a bountiful country. God brought them there as a blessing. The country was a blessing to the people of Israel. But what did Israel do ? They defiled it !
They transformed a blessing into an abomination !
How many of us find ourselves in that very same situation today ? What God ordained as a blessing we have turned it into an abomination ! That relationship which was supposed to be for the glory of God has now become sinful in nature, that job which is to be a blessing has now become an idol , the house which God blessed you with which was supposed to be a house of prayer now has alcohol and sin residing in it … What have we done !!
We read in verse 11 “Has a nation changed its gods, Which are not gods? But My people have changed their Glory For what does not profit” . The Israelites traded their Glory for what does not profit. What are we doing today ? See how the Lord says “My people”… We who are His people… have done what ? Changed our Glory…the glory of God that is to reside upon us, within us , to shine through us… what have we done ? We have traded it for what does not profit.
We read in verse 13 “For my people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, And hewn themselves cisterns – broken cisterns that can hold no water.” They have forsaken God who is the fountain of living waters ! Just imagine that … walking away from the fountain of living waters. And hewn what ? Broken cisterns that can hold no water . My dear brothers and sisters in Christ , are we in the same state ourselves ? Have we turned God’s blessing into an abomination ? Have we traded in Glory for something of no profit? Have we forsaken God, the fountain of living waters and now find ourselves with broken cisterns ?
What happens if we do not repent and do not seek His forgiveness but continue in this sinful path ? We read in verse 19 “Your own wickedness will correct you, And your backslidings will rebuke you. Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing That you have forsaken the LORD your God, And the fear of Me is not in you.” Says the Lord God is hosts.”
God Bless
Jeremiah 2 : 7 (New King James Version)
The Lord led Israel through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and pits , through a land of drought and the shadow of death, through a land that no one crossed. The Lord brought Israel into a bountiful country. God brought them there as a blessing. The country was a blessing to the people of Israel. But what did Israel do ? They defiled it !
They transformed a blessing into an abomination !
How many of us find ourselves in that very same situation today ? What God ordained as a blessing we have turned it into an abomination ! That relationship which was supposed to be for the glory of God has now become sinful in nature, that job which is to be a blessing has now become an idol , the house which God blessed you with which was supposed to be a house of prayer now has alcohol and sin residing in it … What have we done !!
We read in verse 11 “Has a nation changed its gods, Which are not gods? But My people have changed their Glory For what does not profit” . The Israelites traded their Glory for what does not profit. What are we doing today ? See how the Lord says “My people”… We who are His people… have done what ? Changed our Glory…the glory of God that is to reside upon us, within us , to shine through us… what have we done ? We have traded it for what does not profit.
We read in verse 13 “For my people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, And hewn themselves cisterns – broken cisterns that can hold no water.” They have forsaken God who is the fountain of living waters ! Just imagine that … walking away from the fountain of living waters. And hewn what ? Broken cisterns that can hold no water . My dear brothers and sisters in Christ , are we in the same state ourselves ? Have we turned God’s blessing into an abomination ? Have we traded in Glory for something of no profit? Have we forsaken God, the fountain of living waters and now find ourselves with broken cisterns ?
What happens if we do not repent and do not seek His forgiveness but continue in this sinful path ? We read in verse 19 “Your own wickedness will correct you, And your backslidings will rebuke you. Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing That you have forsaken the LORD your God, And the fear of Me is not in you.” Says the Lord God is hosts.”
God Bless
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Dont make God your Genie
“And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”
Matthew 21:22 (New King James Version)
At my current firm we have a service called “Genie” . So if you are too busy with work and need to buy a gift or send flowers then you call “the Genie” . And Genie will do the needful. If you are so tied up that you have no time to pay your EB bill or anything, what do you do ? Call Genie. If you want to go somewhere for a trip and want some guidance on good tour trips and packages just call Genie !
Have we made God our Genie ??! Do we look to God only when we are too busy with other things and need something desperately done ? We get stuck in a traffic jam and need to get to this important meeting and we start rubbing the magic lamp and say “Lord …plz plz let me get to the meeting on time…. I know i did not pray today or pray this entire week… but plz just get me there in time… “ and then we go about quoting every passage of scripture we remember.
God is not our Genie that we keep asking things to be done while we are so involved with things of this world. No no no
He is our GOD ! He is the alpha and the omega… He is the great I AM… He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He is Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour who paid the price for our sins on the cross.
A lot of us love quoting this verse when we need something… We say “Lord I believe so please do it “.
But here is a key… what things do we ask in prayer ? Lets turn our Bibles to John 15 : 7 “If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.”
Wow ! This is to be our relationship with our God… we abiding in Him and His words abiding in us ! That’s a relationship ! And when we have such a relationship with the Lord, what do you think the desires of our heart will be ? In accordance with His will ! And It will be done !!
I pray that we will be loosed from all the bondages of the world that have turned us away from our God ! Anything that prevents us from spending time in His presence and with His word is an idol and needs to be cast away. We need to give God our first and our best !
God Bless
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