Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Everlasting

“Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds”

Psalm 36: 5

His faithfulness is not dependent on our faithfulness. His righteousness is not dependent on our righteousness (which are filthy rags).

In this world, one of the greatest covenants a man/woman can make is that of a marriage. Marriage is life long commitment. And when a man/woman take their marriage vows they say ‘till death do us apart’.

Romans 8:38-39 , “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.

Wow ! Isn’t it awesome that we have the love and faithfulness of Christ which even death cannot do us apart !

“Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds”

God Bless

"Prayer is to a Christian what love is to marriage"

“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.”

John 15 : 4

My second nephew Aryan is 4 years old. I think the most difficult thing I could ever ask him to do is ‘sit quietly in one place’ . I can ask him to do this or do that and he would do it with utmost obedience. But sit still ? Pretty difficult. My oldest nephew Rohan is 8 years old and now as he is growing up its easy for him to sit quietly in one place. He understands why we ask him to do so , he understands him sitting down would make the younger one quiet down too.

I found myself over the last two weeks behaving like my second nephew Aryan. It was a struggle for me to sit down in quiet times with the Lord. It comes so easily for me to do things for Him but it became very difficult for me to sit down quietly in His presence and just listen .

There is a reason why we need to sit quietly in His presence. In His presence there is renewal , revival , restoration and revelation.

In today’s verse we read that a branch cannot bear fruit by itself. If we really want to be walking every step in accordance to His will then we need to be abiding in Him every step of the way J

And this constant communion with Him comes from a life of prayer

A wonderful man of God wrote “Prayer is to a Christian what love is to marriage: It is a decision. You choose to pray as you choose to love. And its not something you do for the first three months of your marriage. You must choose to love every good morning, every bad morning, every wonderful weekend, every tiring weekend; and endlessly. And so it is with prayer!

“Abide in me, and I in you” – For some of us God is calling us to be still and learn to enjoy just drinking from His heavenly throne. For some of us God is calling us saying ‘Don’t selectively leave me out on certain aspects of your life”. We cannot choose to have God in some areas of our life and then decide to push him out of our lives in certain other areas. If we believe that Jesus Christ is our Lord then this life that we live is ALL HIS!

The vine and the branch… Christ and us …. Is this truly how we are today ?

God Bless

"your faith has made you well"

““What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me recover my sight.” And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.”

Luke 18 : 41-42

When we read the entire passage from verses 35-43 we read of a blind man sitting by the roadside begging. And hearing a crowd going by, he asks what’s happening and they say Jesus of Nazareth is passing by. And he cries out “Jesus , Son of David, have mercy on me!” . People around him start rebuking him and ask him to be silent but he cried out all the more “Son of David have mercy on me.”
This blind man had heard about Jesus and when he hears of the fact that he is passing by he seizes the opportunity and cries out. People around were obviously upset. In their view “Jesus is passing by and this blind chap is creating chaos” But that didn’t stop him. He pressed on .And the reason why he never gave up was because he was sure of one thing – if there was anyone who could heal him , it was JESUS !And yes his cries didn’t go in vain. Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him . And He asks him “”What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me recover my sight.” And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.“”Wow ! Isn’t that amazing ? We read in verse 43 “And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him glorifying God. And all the people when they saw it, gave praise to God.”

· When we pray and cry out to Him , its going to sound foolish to others

Are you interceding in prayer for a friend ,for a family , for a community , for a state , for a nation ? Press on . People are going to say “You have been praying for 5 years for that family’s salvation… they are not going to change , why do you bother ?” . Press on … don’t give up. He is able there is no doubt about that ! Keep praying ! People are going to say “Oh if you pray for the state of Orissa do you think there will be a change just because you prayed ?” … PRESS ON !! Its not we but He who makes the difference. We cry what He places on our hearts .. we cry in obedience to His word … we cry because our hearts break for what breaks His heart.

· When the rebukes get loud make sure you cry louder !!

Be prepared for satan to be up to his slimy tricks of saying “He is God ! who are you that he will listen to you ?? Don’t you remember all your sins ? You YOU YOU of all people are praying for breakthough ? Ha ha ha …”

Make sure you shout back even louder “I have been ransomed by the blood of the Lamb, sealed by the Holy Spirit , I am a son/daughter of the Most High , I am an ambassador of Jesus Christ . My God has washed away all my sins and as far as the east is from the west so far have my transgressions been removed . And He will answer my prayers not because I am righteous but because He is righteous . I am who I am because of the great I AM in me !!”

· Have faith not because of what you see but because of who you know – Jesus !

This man was a blind roadside beggar. All he knew was probably what people spoke about as they walked. But that was enough for this man to have undoubting faith . He didn’t have to see a sign or a miracle to know that Jesus could heal. He knew all he had to do was cry out beyond the rebukes and he would have his healing that day , because hey Jesus was there !!

· Glorify & Follow Him

He not only had faith but he was also faithful . He followed him and glorified him. And when all the people saw it they gave praise to God

God Bless

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Grain or Chaff?

“But King David said to Ornan, “No, but I will buy them for the full price. I will not take for the Lord what is yours nor offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”

I Chronicles 21: 24

The entire passage from verses 18-30 is about how the Lord commands Gad to tell David to build an altar on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite and how David pays the price for the land though Ornan asks David to take it with no cost.

An Altar on a threshing floor

Of all the places where God could have commanded an altar to be built , He chose a threshing floor. Why a threshing floor ? A threshing floor is a place where sheaves of grain would be spread across the threshing floor. Pairs of donkeys or oxen (or sometimes cattle, or horses) would then be walked round and round, often dragging a heavy threshing board behind them, to tear the ears of grain from the stalks, and loosen the grain itself from the husks. After this threshing process, the broken stalks and grain were collected and then thrown up into the air with a wooden fork-like tool called a winnowing fan. The chaff would be blown away by the wind; while the heavier grain would fall at the winnower's feet.

Wow ! Isn’t that what an altar is for ? It’s a place where we die to self. It’s a place where we say “Lord here I am … separate me from the husk of the world…”. Its a place of sacrifice ! It’s a place where we are consumed completely by Him !

It is going to cost us

David said He would not offer to the Lord anything that costs him nothing . Wow… I pray that really hits us today. We have somehow gotten ourselves to a form of convenience. We pray ‘when its convenient’ , we attend church services ‘when its convenient’ , we help people ‘when its convenient’ , we decide oh I’m not of this world ‘when its convenient’.

Presenting ourselves as living sacrifices to Him , laying ourselves out on the threshing floor - laying ourselves on the altar is not going to be convenient – that’s why its called a sacrifice J Its going to take a lot out of us…

Matthew 3: 12 , “His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.

Are we going to be found as separated grain at His feet or will we be found as chaff?

God Bless

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Quoting or Living ?

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Galatians 2: 20


Ok we all know what a circle looks like . Generally a circle is used as a representation of completeness . With that perspective I feel that for many of us our application of a lot of scriptures to our life has been a semi circle :-) and I thank God that He is teaching us to apply the word in completeness.

Let me explain… I remember as a kid I went through this phase where I was afraid of the dark. Oh you should have seen the scriptures I would quote. Hey good lessons thought at home and at Sunday School – Greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world , Its no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me J

But I think even as grown ups or college kids we still are in the same habit of quoting scriptures in a time of need rather than living the scripture . When waiting for that exam result , when waiting for that promotion , oh we make sure we tell the devil not to mess with us because we are His and that Christ lives in us. And the moment we have our answered prayer where does that all go away ?

Are we living the word ?
· I have been crucified in Christ needs to be a 24*7 application in our lives.
· Its no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me needs to be a 24*7 application in our lives

Whether people hurt us, whether we get stuck in this terrible traffic jam and someone hits the car , whether people falsely accuse us , come what may… Do we live , do we react , do we speak , do we desire as Christ who lives in us ?

Are we just quoting scriptures or are we living them ? Its time to grow

God Bless

Dare to be Foolish !

“And he divided the 300 men into three companies and put trumpets into the hands of all of them and empty jars, with torches inside the jars.”
Judges 7 : 16


This is something that the Lord has been pouring into my heart this week : His ways are not our ways :-) What the world deems as strategic to make an impact , what the world deems as successful is so drastically different from the way God works. The world goes by self… self strength , self knowledge , self strategies. The ways of God goes by His strength , His knowledge and His wisdom.

We all know the story of Gideon where from 32000 people God decided to use only 300. Think about it … 300 people instead of 32000 and then hand them trumpets and empty jars with torches in it !! Makes sense ? By worldly standards not at all !! But we read of the victory that God gave Gideon. Isn’t the ways of God so amazing ! We serve a creative God ! :-)

Now here are some key points…
· Gideon listened to the Lord
· Gideon did exactly as the Lord had commanded

Some of us want the victory but don’t want to listen to what God has to say. Rather we spend all our time telling Him what we would like Him to do .
Some of us listen to what the Lord says but don’t obey it to the dot. What if Gideon had said ‘Ok Lord I hear what you are telling me . Yes You will give me victory , but you know what Lord , 300 men is just too less , I’ll take 3000 Lord … See I’m not taking 32000 , but I will just take 3000’. See the difference ?

Are we willing to listen to the Lord ? Are we ready to do exactly what God asks us to do ?

Even our every day life may sound so foolish to the world . ‘You don’t go to clubs and dance ??? You don’t drink ???‘ , ‘You don’t give false bills for your taxes ? everyone does it , do you think you are some saint’?? , ‘You love praying and reading your Bible ‘ ????

Dare to be foolish to the world ?

God Bless

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Dont let satan steer you off course

“He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except yourself, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?”

Genesis 39 : 9

A little background to this verse. Joseph having been sold by his brothers had been brought down to Egypt where Potiphar an officer of Pharaoh had bought him . When we read through chapter 39 we see of how God was with Joseph and the house of Joseph’s master was blessed because of him.

Now Joseph was handsome and we read in verse 7-9 , “And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house and he has put everything that he has in my charge. ”Potiphar had given Joseph command over everything . Whatever was his was Joseph’s.. We read in verse 9 “nor has he kept back anything from me except yourself, because you are his wife” Just that one thing. Now just picture this… You are doing your work as God would have you do . And then Satan comes around with some form of temptation and says ‘Just this … Try just this… This one thing only … Do this one thing…’ . Interesting isn’t it that its always just that one thing that can change the entire course !

When we read the Genesis chapter 2 we see how God gave Adam full charge of everything. Whatever Adam called every living creature that was its name. Very cool ! The only thing he withheld was the fruit of that one tree. And what did satan do ? Genesis 3 : 1-4 , “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said , ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden neither shall you touch it, lest you die. ‘ But the serpent said to the woman, “You will surely not die.” .

Living in the garden of Eden where God would go walking in the garden – wow can you just imagine that ! That one thing that would change that course … That one thing… Satan went ahead to tempt them.

Coming back to Joseph , that one thing that was withheld came to taunt him. In fact we read in Genesis 39 : 10 , “And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her.” Joseph was a man who honored God . God’s favor was so evidently upon him , yet he had to face this temptation day after day and conquer it every day. Satan wanted to change Joseph’s course . We read in John 10:10 that the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. We need to understand that very well. Whenever faced with temptation , whenever you get stuck at that crossroads we need to understand that nothing good can ever come from dishonoring God . NOTHING !! Satan has only one agenda and that is to steal, kill and destroy. He wants to rob you of the plans and purposes of God in your life. He wants to steer you off track as much as possible.

But you know what ? We have been called by the great I AM to overcome !! We read in Genesis 4 : 7 , “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you , but you must rule over it.

God Bless