SHOWERS OF LOVE, PEACE AND JOY

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Verse for Today
2 Corinthians 13:11 - Finally, brethren, rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.

Words of comfort, encouragement and benediction always flow to God's children through His Word. God often used men like Paul who experienced God's peace and love amidst severe tests, and channeled such words of comfort to others who go through tough times in life. These words of encouragement are God's mind for us each day. We all have every reason to be sad, or in confusion and discomfort in our daily lives, and cannot find peace on our own accord in our situations which are infiltrated by the enemy and his agents. Every effort is taken by these enemies to manipulate our lives and to take away our sleep and rest in the Lord. Our eyes are darkened by unexpected events and experiences and our hope is drained away. Thus when we lose peace, we would not be able to praise God and that is what the enemy wants to see in us. But the Word of Comfort comes from God through His people to us to encourage us to rejoice in spite of circumstances, and be comforted in times of severe persecution and oppression. We are granted these experiences of joy, peace and comfort, and at the same time we are admonished to take effort to achieve these by putting our trust in the One who is able to give these benedictions to us through His Spirit and Word. God who loves us in spite of our failures, weaknesses and thoughtlessness, forgives our failures and mistakes and extends His pure love to us. When we are in His presence, we will be able to enjoy this love just as a child enjoys the love and comfort from a parent in whose lap the child remains fearless and at perfect rest. This experience is ours positionally, and it is for us to claim by the asking. It comes and fills our hearts as we seek to experience the peace and love of God in a larger measure. When we are filled with the Spirit of God, and as He takes full control of our emotions and intellect, God will fill every column in our minds with His love and peace which will be visible as fruit in our behavior and actions. His Spirit will stand guard around our hearts so that the discouragements of the environment and the enemy will not penetrate our thoughts.

Dear friend, are you able to possess and experience the joy, peace and love of God in your present circumstances? If you are going through a rough patch in life, you have every right and privilege to go to the Father and drink from His reservoir of love, joy and peace and fill yourself to overflowing. When your thinking, emotions and volition are fully under God's control, you will know the coolness of His comfort to resist the heat of your rough circumstances. Knowing God and His peace in our lives is the greatest strength we have in facing our difficult situations. We will not be afraid of our circumstances and our enemies if God reigns in our hearts and emotions. When we are thus equipped with God's resources of love, joy and peace, we would be able to face any circumstance and come out victoriously. This was what David had when he was forced to run away from Soul in the wilderness for fear of his life. And these experiences made his heart flow with some of the most comforting hymns of peace and joy which we all sing and praise God. These kinds of songs of peace and love were in the lives of God's people like Jonah while in the belly of the fish, and people of Israel after they crossed the red sea and when the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt and commissioned. Just before the arrest of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, the disciples and Jesus sang praise to God. These praises are songs of joy and peace for all that God undertakes for us as we go through the valleys of life. Today let the songs of the redeemed be our songs of praise as we cross the difficult valleys of our lives. The Son of God's righteousness will shed His light into our hearts to lift us up and take us to the hills which are at the end of the present valleys.

Philippians 4:7 - And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Thought for Today
God's showers of blessing in the form of peace, love and joy will fall on us and soak us when we allow our hearts to be in full control by His Spirit.

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WEAK BUT BOLD

Monday, August 30, 2010

Verse for Today

2 Corinthians 12:10 - Therefore I am well content with weakness, with insults, with distress, with persecution, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

Contentment in low estate is a state of affairs that we attain through discipline of our desires and preferences. We get grace to be satisfied with what we have and what we do not have. Those who do not have this self discipline usually get tempted to search for and work hard for the things that they do not have and put all effort to obtain it in greater quantity and quality. But contentment in weaknesses, insults, distress, persecution and difficulties of various type require special grace. It comes from suffering for a cause that is worthy enough to go through. Often such lives end up in martyrdom for a worthy cause. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, Joseph, Paul, John and others went through such experiences of sufferings for the cause of God and His truth. They all considered suffering worthy of the cross they carried willingly. They developed a great satisfaction in suffering because they stood for the truth and felt it appropriate to lay their lives for the sake of the truth that they carried forward in their lives. It was a privilege for them to suffer for the cause of God. It was as if they were paying back to God in a minute way their gratitude for being made God's children and were called upon to serve and worship Him. It was for them a matter of great thrill and exuberance to go through persecution and sufferings made them exceedingly joyful. It is amazing to see that even in their weaknesses, they felt strong in their faith, convictions, trust and dependency on the Lord.

Dear friend, are you facing difficulties in your life because you stand for the truth? Do you consider it a privilege to go through these difficulties for the truth that you hold and bear witness to it? When you go through these difficulties, the Spirit of God who indwells you reassures your spirit that your sufferings are not a waste, but a response to the sufferings of the Lord Jesus on the cross for you. If you face shame for the Lord who faced shame for you, it is a way by which you are called upon to suffer shame for Him. But at such moments of weakness, you are able to experience great spiritual strength and boldness to go through it all. Thus these experiences make your faith firm and solid. That is why when we suffer for the Lord, we do not complain or murmur. When we are deprived of our rights for the sake of the Lord, we can also be silent like the Lord in front of the rulers and the mob, and praise the Lord for the privilege to suffer for Him. If He has gone through tremendous persecution for us, the least that we can do for Him is to suffer at least something for Him. The experience of being strengthened by Him in our spirits in the wake of sufferings is thus a great spiritual experience when we live by His strength and not by our strength. These sufferings thus make us patient and mature to endure the situations that we face. His Spirit will encourage us to go through difficult situations and come out spiritually victorious for His praise.

Philippians 3:8 - More than that, I count all things loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ.

Thought for Today
Divine strength in human weakness makes a spiritually powerful saint.

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SUFFICIENCY FOR ALL CHALLENGES

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Verse for Today
2 Corinthians12:9a - But (the Lord) said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness".

When we seek the face of the Lord in meeting a very deep need our lives, especially when it is much needed for the ministry of the Lord, we would naturally expect a positive answer from Him. For we seek the Lord for His glory to be demonstrated in something that is done by Him in and through us. But the Lord has different approaches to deal with this need of ours. There is nothing impossible with Him and so He can very well meet the need, whether it is money, health or dealing with opposition and persecution. But He does it all only according to His divine plan and program. In the case of Paul, his need for healing in order to be effective in the ministry was paramount. He was given ministry of healing as one of the marks of his apostleship. When he is used to heal others, what is so big about expecting healing for him? But the Lord chose to allow Paul's ministry to flourish even through his unmet health need. Instead, He gave Paul the grace to go forward in the ministry along with his physical ailment. The Lord gave Paul the grace to continue to suffer from his problem, but with the abundance of the Lord's grace to deal with it with patience and humility. In order for the ministry to continue, the Lord gave him able and willing assistants like Timothy, Titus, Epaphras, Silas and John Mark. As they helped Paul and his ministry, it was also an opportunity for these young brothers to be trained for ministry. In order for Paul to cope with the physical ailment, the Lord would not give healing, but allowed a doctor to travel with him, until he reached Rome and completed the writing of the second epistle to Timothy. So Paul had a choice to take either the healing or the grace of God. As a visionary missionary, Paul was contended with grace for which there is no substitute.

Dear friend, have you been praying for answer to a genuine problem you have been faced with? Do you find that the Lord is not answering you in solving your problem? Check around to see if He is giving you the same answer He gave Paul? Do you find enough grace to live with this problem and be a greater blessing to many rather than being a smaller blessing with the problem solved? If so will you be able to satisfy yourself with this better answer of grace that you probably never asked for, but is more than what you could have ask for? The question is whether you are satisfied with the grace of God to face your situation or not? Perhaps the Lord is asking you not to continue to pray for the need to be met, because the need has been met with grace according to the Lord's divine measure. Not only that, the way the Lord deals in grace with you has become a greater blessing to many around you. The answer the Lord gave to Paul has become a great source of comfort and promise for millions of saints throughout the last 20 centuries. When Paul was satisfied with the answer of the Lord, it has become a blessing to God's people and we all get to enrich our lives as we read and meditate this verse time and again. Let us therefore learn to thank the Lord for answered prayers which are specially filled with His grace. His reservoir of grace is like an ocean which will never run dry and will have enough for all of us to drink from it and be imbibed in it to enrich our lives. So it is impossible for us to complain to the Lord about any expectant answer to prayer while imbibing in His grace.

James 4:6 - But He gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."

Thought for Today
The fountain of God's grace falling on us continuously is sufficient for all our situations.

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BOASTING TO BROKENNESS

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Verse for Today

2 Corinthians 10:18 - For it is not he who commends himself that is approved, but he who the Lord commends.

We live in a world which enjoys commending itself about all its achievements. Yet every record and landmark achieved by one is broken in subsequent years. Someone always comes up with greater achievements, and the world goes after them. But man loves to boast about himself and his achievements all the time. We find wild atrocities expressed by a person and his supporters when one scores a goal, wicket or run. Soon they find that someone else has outclassed them. Nebuchadnezzar and Uzziah had this problem of boasting and God had to deal with them in sad ways to teach lessons in humility. This boasting and self pride is the original sin of Satan and those who belong to him continue to live in this sin of self esteem and ego. But God knows those who truly deserve commendations. He commended Abraham, Moses, David, Daniel and others who were men of faith against all odds. They obeyed God in everything and earned reputation even among heathen in the Hittite country, Egypt, Babylon and other places. But if we examine their lives, they all had great humility and never boasted or tried to earn or seek recognition from people around them. People like Paul who did tremendous things for the Lord felt that they were unworthy servants. They all had a spirit of brokenness and could not boast in any thing in themselves because they never found any thing good in themselves. They cried out like Isaiah about their unworthiness. This spirit continues even in Heaven where the elders around the Throne are seen casting their crowns at the feet of the Lord and worship Him, declaring that He is the only worthy one.

Our self desires recognition for itself and its achievements and that is why we are admonished to crucify and kill the self with all its desires continuously. We should not feed the flesh and give it any importance and continuously pray that the Lord break us in our self. Satan and the world will try to entice us to be boastful and seek recognition. This sin of pride is very serious even in the Christendom where we find people who seek after position, prominence, prestige and popularity. Our self gets gratified when it is given importance. So we need to pray that the Lord would spare us from the temptation to seek importance and must denounce all attempts at gaining recognition in this world or in the church. Even after serving the Lord to the best of our abilities and on the basis of our spiritual gifts, we must confess that we are all unworthy servants. Our self should be trained to fall prostrate in the dust and repent of our unworthiness and allow Jesus Christ to be exalted in and through us and all that we do for Him. We should seek the Lord's approval in what we are called to do and so must do everything only in the power of His Spirit and according to His Word. Our goals should always be the glory of God and not self seeking and boasting. When we do what would please Him, He would in turn give us all we need to serve Him because He is the true shepherd who leads us. When we are thus truly dead to our self, we would not react negatively to any one who tries to deprive us of any thing that we have or ought to get, and simply praise God for such experiences that He allows us to go through. There will soon be a day when we will stand before His bema when He will openly recognizes us for our service for Him. Let us wait for that blessed occasion to get recognition, and even then, as He gives us crowns, let us be prepared to cast it all at His feet.

2 Corinthians 10:16 - But let him who boasts boast in the Lord.

Thought for Today
Fear of the Lord, conviction of our own weaknesses and a true vision about the glory of the Lord will keep us far from ever boasting in ourselves.

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FORTRESS DEMOLISHERS

Friday, August 27, 2010

Verse for Today
2 Corinthians 10:4 - The weapons that we fight with are not weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

The world fights with the children of God with its weapons of gossip, slander, envy, betrayal, leg pulling, lies, misrepresentations, encroachments, revenge, logical arguments and the like. These are weapons manufactured by its master craftsman, Satan, and are sold in the vanity fair of this world for those who confess their allegiance to its master. These weapons are made available to Satan's slaves who work for him in this world. Unfortunately these weapons are some times used by God's children when they are succumbed by their fleshly nature. But these are not the weapons of God's people. God wants them to fight against Satan, world and flesh by using spiritual weapons which are Heavenly. These divine weapons are known as 'the whole armor of God' and are available to God's people who are perennially at war with Satan and his agents, the world and the flesh. We are constantly reminded that we are engaged in this holy war and we must fight on. Jesus is our commander-in-chief. We are permitted to only use the 'whole' armor of God (not 'part' of the armor) and forbidden to use worldly weapons. Each time we are engaged in a battle, we must examine to make sure that we are not using the enemy's weapons to fight with him, for such an attempt will deceive us to dive into his trap and total failure. Our weapons are divine and are powerful to demolish the most powerful satanic strongholds. We are to use weapons like faith, truth, evangelism, righteousness, salvation and the Word of God. Even though these are shapeless to the naked eyes, they are most powerful and penetrating and will go deep into even the strongly built fortresses of hindrances by Satan.

Dear friend, are you weary of war with Satan, world and your own flesh? Please do not be tempted to use satanic ammunition and fall into his trap, but get used to the whole armour of God. There is a weapon in God's armory for each aspect and part of your Christian life to protect you from falling into Satan's trap. Once this defensive ammunition is properly set in your Christian life, you won't fall or fail. At the same time, you have to use the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, to fight on. This strong weapon was used by the Lord Jesus Christ in fighting the enemy and He came out victorious, and guarantees to bring forth total victory for us also. As a matter of fact, we are already declared victorious even before we start the fight, but we need to win the various battles on a daily basis. But victory is for sure if we fight God's way. Our divine weapons can destroy the fortresses of unbelief, doubt, confusion, fear, anxiety, guilt, negative thinking, depression, rejection, failure and the like which the world, flesh and Satan build on our way so that our march towards Zion would be hindered. These hindrances to our life of faith will have to be destroyed and removed from our pathways as we go forward from victory unto more and greater victory on a daily basis. Our divine weapons would not fail nor would they go out of order because they are flawlessly made by the Master Designer to meet any challenge by any one any where. Today let us not be tempted to fight Satan, world and flesh with their own weapons, but let us use divine weapons and demolish the fortresses of hindrances we find on our way. Let us also not allow our hearts to tremble or be discouraged because of the hindrances. Our victorious Lord is walking with us and He is equipping us to fight as per His orders. We ought to listen to His directions and marching orders. The victory is ours by His grace to cause us to praise Him each step of the way.

Ephesians 6:11 - Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.

Thought for Today
Making us fall into temptation to use the weapons of flesh, world and Satan is the greatest trap the enemy prepares for God's children. Beware!

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RECEIVE, ACKNOWLEDGE AND RETURN

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Verse for Today
2 Corinthians 9:15 - Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.

God is the greatest giver. He gives to all who go to Him with their needs. When they declare their depravity, it pleases Him to give out of His loving kindness to those who do not have any thing. God has enough to give to all who come to Him. His reservoir is inexhaustible. He has enough to give to the needy not only for the present life, but for the life eternal as well. There are gifts He gives to all, like air, water, sunshine and such other natural resources which are given to all and they are asked to take it and enjoy it. But some take more and others are given less on the basis of selfish desires and priorities. There are those who do not take what is given to them out of sheer laziness. But God gives it all to all human beings so that they can live in this world with the knowledge that it all comes from God. Unfortunately most people do not remember this and acknowledge God as the true giver of all things to them. God's eternal resources are given to those needy people who know the needs of their souls and acknowledge God as the only source for it. This necessitates the confession that they do not have any qualification for eternal life and must get it all from God who gives it all to them when they accept God's greatest gift of His Son. Those who do not accept God's Son will not be given any thing pertaining to a blessed eternity. This is because God's Son is the only cure to man's otherwise incurable sin sickness and eternal death. When such people receive the gift of God's Son, they receive eternal life and along with it, they also get the Spirit of God and the Word of God to dwell in their hearts and govern their lives here on earth. This ought to cause all who receive God's Son to praise God because this gift is indescribable and invaluable. Man does not deserve this gift, and it is given to man on the basis of God's mercy and grace. Any one who acknowledges this gift of Jesus, the Son of God, will be truly grateful to God and will praise and worship Him for His magnanimity and loving kindness. Such lives will be always indebted to God for the greatest gift of eternal life that they enjoy.

When God gives His Son as the great gift, He also gives all things that man needs to live a godly life here on earth. Such a life will be a happy and contended one, not in the abundance of earthly things, but the blessings of Heavenly things. They are thus grateful to God for all that they receive and use it all directly or indirectly for the glory of God. They do not have time or energy to complain to God for any selfish reasons. They won't compare what they have with others, but will continue to give thanks to God for all that is given to him in God's mercy. They will have the freedom to take all their basic needs to this Great Giver and ask for His help. When they ask, God continues to fill them with the peace that passes all understanding and joy unspeakable in all circumstances. They get forgiveness of all their sins of omissions and commission. Their hearts and minds will be continuously renewed and revived. They will be filled with the power of His Spirit and given God's enabling to accomplish great things for God here on this earth. They will be comforted and encouraged by the Spirit of God in all difficult circumstances. They are given companions for fellowship. When all of these gifts are continuously received by man, how can he ever stop thanking God? Naturally his life will be one of gratitude and worship. His whole life and all that he has will be always be on the alter as a sacrifice of praise. God doesn't accept utterances which are not supported by evidences that we are fully surrendered to Him. He expects us and all that we have, to be on the alter as an offering of true worship. Such is the true rich life which we receive from God along with the greatest gift of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our grateful hearts will move us forward with a passion to serve such a God, not only because of the gift, but because of who the Giver really is.

Romans 8:32 - He did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him for us all, how will He also not with Him freely give us all things?

Thought for Today
Receiving gifts from God but using it to gratify our own selfish desires is the greatest ingratitude.

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FAST TRACK TO DOUBLE LOSS

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Verse for Today
2 Corinthians 8:15 - As it is written, "He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little".

The world always prompts the children of God to go fast into its fields and gather as much material wealth as possible. It provides covetable avenues for investing these so that the returns will be several folds. But when they reach a time of evaluation, they would realize that even though they gathered a lot and used up all their time gathering more and more, their total is almost as much as any poor person who gathered very little. Those who did not have the fortune to gather a lot and lament over lost opportunities would find that they also get as much as those who gathered a lot. They all get to meet their daily needs and then they fly away from this world. So the question is whether it was wise to spend a lot of time and effort to gather a lot. These material attractions have the peculiarity that the more one gathers, the more one wants to gather and they would not know when to stop and rest. They often do not known how much they have and where all of these wealth are. All countries of the world report that there are billions of dollars or rupees which belong to people, but are never claimed by any one and so they all go to the public funds. There are those who gather a lot and invest it in stock markets and such other wise investment portfolios, but they do not realize that unless they loose, others cannot gain in the stock market. So there are innumerable people who invest in such ventures and try out their 'luck' and finally loose all that they have. But if we seek after the kingdom and God and its righteousness, all that we need will be given to us by our Heavenly Father to meet our daily expenses. He will enable us to gather enough to meet our needs so that we can continue to seek after God's righteousness in our lives and that of others.

The average Christian finds that he is given extremely attractive incentives by the world to go after more and more wealth and invest to double it every few years. But it is usually going to be like the extra manna Israelites gathered and found it to decay. When the basic need is met, the extra looses its value and become rotten so that no one can use it, or someone misuses it all. When God gave principles for Israelites to live together as a society, He instituted tithes so that the eleven tribes would work and give a tenth of their earnings to the Levites who were to work full time as priests in the temple. It seems the Levites got a bit more than everyone else. The idea is that we do not compare and try to establish a competitive system, but get what the Lord gives for our daily needs and be satisfied in it. When we know that the Father gives liberally to all who ask Him, there is no need for any anxiety about our needs, but to trust Him. So we are to dispel anxiety and greed and live with contentment by using all our extra time to serving and worshipping the Lord, and minding His business in this world. Actually a child of God is expected to live for God and His business and not just for one's own desire for gathering more and more material wealth. The Father who feeds the sparrows and dresses up the lilies will look after us also. But this does not mean that we do not work and become lazy. Let us confess our greed and passion for more of this world's wealth which will become rotten, and develop a passion for God and His Word while He meets our needs and makes us contended people.

1 Timothy 6:17 - Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.

Thought for Today
Those who try to gather more and more truly waste their time, effort, energy, skills and their existing resources in the process, not realizing that at the end they would not be able to carry these with them to their eternal home.

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POOR YET RICH

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Verse for Today
2 Corinthians 6:10 - Sorrowful yet rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

The world has very unrealistic perspectives about God's children. When the world looks at them, they are always sorrowful, poor, lonely, impostors, hypocrites, unpopular, beaten up by everyone, forsaken by all and having no status or position in this world. They are considered by people who create riot wherever they go, even though they cause revival. They are talked about as people who turn this world upside down. This is the qualification earned by the children of God in this world. Of course, these are true from a worldly angle, because these Christians live contrary to the principles and practices of this world. So they become unpopular among their neighbours. They do not have worldly company and all they have are a few friends who are 'weird' people like them. They do not make money and live for the wealth of this world and so are often considered as poor and having nothing. The world does not consider Christians as smart and intelligent people. They often shed tears and are looked like sorrowful and have no enjoyment and entertainment in this world. They are forsaken by all and are always a minority, because they cannot go along with the majority in all that they do and live for.

Yet if the world only tries to know who these strange people are, they will be astonished. Even though they are sorrowful and brokenhearted, they have an inner joy which money or entertainment cannot buy. They sleep in peace even when there is turmoil around them. They are poor in terms of the possessions and positions in this world, yet they live as the children of the Great King and possess all that is there in Heaven as their inheritance. More over, they think that this earth is created by their Father and so they are the true owners. Even though they are lonely and few in numbers in this world, they are surrounded by a large cloud of witnesses all through the centuries and have with all the saints all through the world. Yes, this is the true characteristic of the child of God who lives in Heaven, and passes through this world for a short time. They do not desire any thing that this world provides, but demonstrate Heavenly resources and blessings while living in this world. This is the joy of Christian life. It is not a life of complaints, but contentment. It is a life of a worldly minority with a Heavenly majority. It is a life that rejoices in spite of circumstances. It is a life that praises God and rejoices in sufferings. It is a life that makes them poor in this world, but rich in Heaven. It is a life with no investment in this world, but great investments in Heaven. This life is a prelude to the great Heavenly orchestra which is to start soon. It is a life of the shadow of the Heavenly bliss which is to follow. The child of God is always looking forward to it, rather than searching for the mirages of discontent that this world offers. Thus a Christian life becomes a great advertisement for Heaven. It is a life to be lived in its fullness here and now and is the preparation for the eternal life which is on its way, as a continuation of this life. So let us today praise God for all the experiences that we are allowed to go through with joy and contentment and make a bright advertisement for Heaven.

2 Corinthians 8:9 - For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.

Thought for Today
It is exceedingly great to be poor and lonely in this world, yet at the same time live in the richness of Heaven.

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AMBASSADOR'S BUSINESS

Monday, August 23, 2010

Verse for Today
2 Corinthians 5:20a - We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us.

It takes a lot of holy boldness for any one to claim that he is an ambassador of Christ here in this world. But it also shows the confidence and conviction Paul had when he wrote these lines. It shows the extent of responsibility Paul felt about his role in the propagation of gospel. It indicates his concern and burden about doing what he was supposed to do with the certainty that he was entrusted with this great task by the Lord Jesus Himself. He felt the need to live like the ambassador of Heaven on earth and undertake what he was supposed to do. It was Paul's privilege to be an ambassador because some years before writing these lines, Paul was an enemy of gospel. But it pleased the Lord Jesus to make him an ambassador. Paul was chosen and given the strength and power through the Holy Spirit to be an ambassador. It meant that he was to live with the characteristics which personified gospel. It presupposes a life style with special goals. It meant that he was to live totally for the mission for which he was appointed and that he had to keep the decorum, dignity and status of the appointing authority. In other words Paul was to live for Heaven and not for himself. The old Paul could not be made visible in any thing that he did, but in every thing he had to promote Heaven and his new Master. These convictions changed the entire personality, goals, beliefs, attitudes, preferences, priorities, desires, likes, dislikes, aspirations, dreams, visions, appreciation and esteem of Paul as a brand new person. His speech, thinking, expressions and behavior had to be corresponding to the role as Christ's ambassador. He knew very well about the high calling and requirement for him to demonstrate the part he had to play in God's new dispensation of things.

Coming to think about this, it would be interesting to realize that all the children of God have this high calling and no one is exempt. All the resources of Heaven are made available for us to play the role of Christ's ambassadors while in this world. In fact, it would be important to remind ourselves that the appointing authority is keenly watching to see if we truly represent the interests of Heaven or are discarding the privileges and responsibilities and living the way we want. If we do not live up to the expectations of the role that is given to us by grace, we are guilty of not taking the appointment seriously. If we are not using the resources of Heaven to live and work as ambassadors of Christ, we are guilty of wasting away these resources and not utilizing the opportunity to use these resources. But if we use these Heavenly resources of the Spirit, Word and the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we would be sufficiently equipped to represent Heaven on earth. We would then live to demonstrate the quality of a life that is empowered by Heaven. This life style itself is a demonstration of the position of Christ's ambassador. As ambassadors, we can live as princes and princesses because we are children of the King of Kings. Our lives will then become reasonable worship and service for Heaven because we are royal priesthood. Our lives would then become rich in grace, love, mercy, patience, faith and contentment. We would carry the seal of Heaven in what we do and live at the 'Christ level' and not at the world's level. Let this rich life be ours even today as we represent Christ and His cause here on earth. We should not be seen tossed around, searching for the perishable things of this world and wasting away all our opportunities to live for eternity.

Ephesians 6:19 & 20 - Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly as I should.

Thought for Today
Christ's ambassadors have no business in this world except that of Heaven.

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THE UNSEEN AND THE INVISIBLE!

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Verse for Today
2 Corinthians 5:7 - For we walk by faith and not by sight.

The life of a child of God is by faith alone and not by sight. It is not a life of faith and sight together. Where there is sight, there is no more faith and where there is faith, it is not by sight at all. These two cannot be mixed together because they will not blend together. The life of faith is based on the unknown future in an invisible God. That makes faith a highly challenging experience, because it is beyond reason and logic. Unless one has faith in the invisible God, one cannot have faith in the unknown future. So faith comes with a personal knowledge and encounter with an invisible God who can be experienced intimately so that whatever this God has said can be believed in. It is in this context that we pray to the invisible God who is right in front of our eyes as we close our eyes and concentrate on Him. God is Spirit and cannot be seen. He has no shape which the naked eyes can see. He lives in unapproachable light. But He makes His nearness known and felt by His children through His presence. This God has planned the lives of His children based on the revelation of His person in His Word. His children are enabled to believe on His name and in all His promises which help them to believe in it to lead them forward. This is faith and when exercised, it ensures that whatever that He has promised will definitely take place without the shadow of a doubt. So when a person puts his trust in God and in His way of redemption through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, he is given the gift of faith to believe in all that is given in the Word. Thereafter the child of God walks by faith and not by sight. This makes the child of God different from other people around him, because such people live by sight and their lives are centered on what can be seen.

The test of faith in a person is whether that person believes all of what the invisible God has said and promised. Faith is unique, in that the believer cannot believe this God partially. Either God is fully believable or He is not believable at all. In other words, one cannot live by sight in a few areas of life and by faith in some other areas of life. But for the logical mind and the reasoning ability of man will make it very difficult for man to believe all that God has said. For him to believe, man needs the help of God. This help in believing comes to man by and through the Word of God. This is why it is important that a child of God believes in all that is said by God. Things concerning world events, persons and empires that God said thousands of years ago have already happened precisely and as per schedule. This helps us to believe when we want evidence. But whether we know these historical events or not, it is still possible to believe God provided we know who this God is and what His nature is. He keeps His promises perfectly. He has never gone back on His Word and His promises. He leads His children forward, some through the waters and some through fire, but all of them by His Word and His Spirit and lead them by His hand and eyes. But there are several areas of our daily lives which are not precisely written in His Word, but principles, examples and illustrations for guiding us in these areas are given for us to follow. By faith we are in this ocean called life, in a boat which is our life and Jesus is the anchorman who leads us through the rough waters of life. He has promised to take us to the other side of the ocean, to the haven of Beulah to be ushered into our eternal home. Trusting God to lead and guide us step by step is faith and it is a privilege to be led by this invisible God.

Hebrews 12:2a - Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.

Thought for Today
Faith regarding the unseen future is based on trust in the invisible God.

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UNCHANGING FATHER FOR A CHANGING WORLD

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Verse for Today
2 Corinthians 4:18 - For we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Man is always looking for evidence to believe in what is seen around. But quite often what is seen is changing rapidly. People are changing, by growing older day by day. The nature is changing due to climatic and environmental reasons. Opinions are changing according to circumstances and objectives of the people. People's character, goals, tastes, vision, interests, preferences, culture and thinking change over a period of time. Any thing that is seen around changes so fast that it is difficult to even keep track of changes. These frequent changes in everything around us make it difficult for us to cope with and trust in any thing that is seen, because it is going to soon change, often for the worst, but yet people run after such things. This lack of stability in any thing is the cause of the greatest frustration people experience in this life, but still they crave for change, sometimes, for the sake of change. They become disappointed at fixing their eyes on these that change often. In spite of it all, we often loose track of the fact that what is seen is temporal and there is no permanency in any thing around us. But there is some thing that is permanent, which is eternal also, and we call it Heaven. There is Someone who is permanent and He never changes no matter what else changes in this world, and we recognize Him as the creator and redeemer God. Any one who looks up to this God will never be frustrated, because He doesn't change His character. God gives people faith to believe and trust in Him and His Word. His Spirit helps us to believe in Him and His promises which have never changed even by a syllable. People who are frustrated about the changes around them are given the challenge in believing and trusting in the God who never changes.

Whatever that gives us hope is helping us to wait for the hope to be fulfilled. God gives us that hope and He is the God of hope. But the temporal things in this world take away our faith and trust in it and its systems which are created by the world because these systems change and some times prove that all that the system did in the past were wrong. Technology has failed time and again and created unbelievable destruction in most of its applications. There is nothing in this world which has not failed, and will only leave those who believe in it to be more and more frustrated and sink them in utter hopelessness. When man experiences these hopeless and non-trustworthy systems of the world, and thus helps to develop disillusionment around him, God is calling man to go to God and believe in Him. There is certainty with God concerning everything about Him. He loves sinners always, but hates sin. He accepts everyone if they go to Him and confess their sins. He cares for His children and meets all their needs according to His riches in glory. His plans for the whole world as revealed in His Word are being fulfilled according to His schedule without an iota of change. Any one who believes in Him will not be turned down and that their faces will shine brightly. He gives peace and joy to all who trust in Him. His program for His children is also being fulfilled in this world on a daily basis. There is no disappointment with Him and His Word. You and I do not need to see Him to believe in Him, but we can experience Him in and through His provisions and promises for both our physical and spiritual life. He offers every one an invitation to go to Him, become His children and be a part of His unchanging eternal plan.

Hebrews 13:8 - Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Thought for Today
If we belong to the unchanging God, we would all be part of an unchanging state forever.

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MOMENTARY MISERY AND ENDLESS BLISS

Friday, August 20, 2010

Verse for Today
2 Corinthians 4:17 - For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

When we go through enjoyable times, the normal feeling is that time flies very fast, but the opposite is true when we experience disinterested times or times of trouble. So when things are not favourable, we tend to complain and murmur and feel that it has been a long time since we started going through it. But Paul was comparing the forthcoming glory in Heaven with the sufferings he was going through for the sake of the Lord and His gospel. As he was always meditating on the surpassing glory that he was going to get in Heaven, he felt that the sufferings on earth were so light and momentary. It certainly is momentary when a life time of a human life is compared with eternity which is billions of years and cannot be numbered. He also felt that the intensity of the sufferings was so light when compared with the vastness and depth of the glory which is awaiting him in Heaven. This blessed hope kept him going without feeling weary in times of troubles. Paul learned this lesson from the Lord Jesus who endured the bitter experience of the cross, because of the joy that was awaiting Him as he would see the faces of millions of people who would be saved through His sufferings and death. In other words, Paul didn't look at the present sufferings and didn't focus on it, as though it was a big deal. His mind was not on what he was going through, but rather on what he was going to become. His eyes were not on his immediate circumstances which were painful and miserable, but on that which was lying ahead with the intensity of its joy and the glory attached to it.

It is where our heart is there our feelings, emotions and thoughts will also be, and this will guide our present behavior and outlook. If our heart is on what is going on around us, we would be discouraged and under great stress and tension. So we need to take our eyes off what is around us and fix it on what lies ahead of us. We need to meditate on what the Lord has in store for us in glory rather than what we are going through at present. Here we are threatened by circumstances and the powers of darkness. Here our confidence is drained away day by day and moment by moment by the volume of uncertainties that we are faced with. Here we are under fear and tension about what is going on and what might or might not happen a moment later. Here we are under fear and anxiety about the present and the immediate future. But if we focus on what are going to become in Heaven and what kind of reception we are going to get there, it would take our eyes and attention away from our present struggles, and give us a hope to always look ahead to the joys of the eternity. But sadly we are all so badly conditioned to look down and look around where there are only discouragements. If we want to make progress in our daily walk, we cannot keep looking at each of our steps, but look far ahead and walk forward by faith. It is true that we take a step at a time by faith, but that step is not to be taken by hesitatingly looking around, but by looking at a distance where our hope is. Today as we walk our steps of life, let us look at the author and finisher of our faith who is waiting to usher us into eternity. If we look at the Lord Jesus and the glory we are going to be part of, all our troubles today will pass away in a moment of time, and our troubles are insignificant in comparison with the glory that is going to be ours. This sublime thought ought to guide us to go forward, and then we will forget about ourselves and our troubles, and will praise God.

1 Peter 4:13 - But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when His glory is revealed.

Thought for Today
The eyes which truly gaze upon our awaiting glory will not have time to dwell on the momentary earthly sufferings.

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RENEWAL THERAPY

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Verse for Today
2 Corinthians 4:16 - Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

We live in this world where there are discouragements every where for the children of God. They face opposition of various kind from the enemy. They are oppressed and suppressed in their daily walk by the forces of darkness and these forces use people, things and circumstances to brutally deal with God's people. So there is every reason for discouragement if we look at these circumstances and cruel treatment by the people around. This affects our emotions, faculties and even our bodies, through which we become frustrated and lose heart. These attacks are direct as well as indirect, and many are behind our back. But if we look at the Lord Jesus who is the author and finisher of our faith, we would not be discouraged. When we look at Him and speak to Him about our situation, He will renew our hearts and minds with Himself through His Spirit. The Spirit will fill our hearts with refreshing thoughts about the glory of our Lord which we are also going to get when we meet Him soon. So the Spirit is asking us to look at the Lord Jesus on a daily and moment by moment basis so that we would experience the renewing of our minds continuously. Today we see Jesus in the Word and also in our meditations on His glories. Thus when we see the glory of the Lord Jesus revealed before our inner eyes, it strengthens our faith and our weak and weary souls. It will increase our faith and trust in Him and His promises. It will fill us with the blessed hope of His return to take us to glory soon. It will comfort us that there will be an end to our sufferings, oppressions and suppression. But in the meanwhile, He gives us strength to handle our daily cares and concerns in a spiritual manner.

Dear friend, it is more important that our inner person gets renewed and strengthened to handle our situations, for our basic human faculties are not equipped to handle discouragements and frustrations in life. No matter how strong we are physically and intellectually, we won't be able to withstand the pressures of the world and Satan. But if we are strengthened in our spirits, it will help us to face the tensions and difficulties that blow against us in the form of mighty wind and strong waves. Our courage and confidence to face the unknown tomorrows come from the Spirit of God on the basis of the written Word. As we read and meditate on these verses and spend time in the presence of the Lord, it will fill our hearts with joy and peace that passes all understanding even in the worst situations. We should also understand that discouragement is one of the strongest weapons used by the enemy of our souls to depress us so that we will go out of focus with the spiritual goals set before us. Discouragement is also a contagious emotion and will spread fast from one person to another in geometric proportion. God has not given us a spirit of timidity and confusion, but a spirit of joy in spite of circumstances. So we need to look at the risen and victorious Lord Jesus and His cross which is a place of victory and confidence. Even though the cross was considered a place of shame and failure by the world, it was a place of victory for us because it was on the cross that our Lord gained victory over sin, Satan, world and death. Let us therefore look at that old rugged cross and be strengthened by the victory of our Lord for us which will make us face difficult and discouraging circumstances and come out with praise to the Lord in our mouths.

Isaiah 40:31 - But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Thought for Today
When we get drained out in our courage because of the unfavorable circumstances, we can go to the Lord to renew our minds by recharging our spiritual batteries.

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LIGHT FROM A BROKEN PITCHER

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Verse for Today
2 Corinthians 4:7 - But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of power will be of God and not from ourselves.

It has pleased God to deposit His glory in our hearts as a great investment and treasure through Jesus Christ. The treasure is in the earthen vessels which are our weak, frail and fragile bodies. This treasure makes our lives the greatest powerhouse and it works in our hearts to guide and control our lives to go forward according to God's eternal purpose. God's purpose in investing this great treasure in our hearts is to see to it that the investment grows and enlarges in its impact and influence. It is not at all in God's plan to allow the earthen vessel to grow and become better. It is like any of us depositing money in a bank, and we want our money to grow and not the bank building. We are least bothered about improving the bank building and get it painted and made more decorated, but to see to it that our investment becomes bigger. So is the case with God, with regard to His treasure in our earthen vessels. So God is not doing any thing to improve our earthen vessel and its environment, but only to sustain it temporarily, to protect and provide for it so that this earthen vessel is kept safe and secure. When God is helping us to multiply the impact of the treasure in our lives and around us, it is our responsibility to submit the vessel for God to use it as a vehicle for Him to accomplish His purpose in and through it. The vessel is not important, but the treasure is, and it should become brighter and impact the lives around us. We are expected to use God's resources to see to it that the treasure expands for the glory of the Lord.

Dear friend, are you spending most of the resources and time God has given you to strengthen and improve the earthen vessel in which God has put His great treasure? Remember, this earthen vessel is decreasing in its glory day by day and one day. There will soon be a time when the growth of this treasure will be examined at the Bema and that's when we will find out how we have used all the time, treasure and talents the Lord has given us to work to allow the treasure to grow in us. Will we be embarrassed and ashamed at that time? Will the Lord find us grown in faith, love, grace, patience and goodness? Or will He find us neglecting the treasure and adore the treasure house? Today is the time to be concerned about it and to do something to make use of this treasure in us. God wants us to grow in faith and love so that we would show forth His power through our lives rather than become more groomed physically and have more material enjoyments. God wants us not to involve much in earthly matters and try to promote our self, but He expects us to put all our efforts at facilitating the growth of our inner man in faith, grace and love. Let us learn not to give the earthen vessel undue importance. Let it not be promoted for its own glory, but allow it to have the role of a container in which God's treasure dwells. Let us be wiling to allow the vessel to go through tests, sufferings and shortages of continuous clean-up so that our inner person will grow more and more in faith to trust God to accomplish what God wants us to be. Just as it was when Gideon and his army of three hundred broke the earthen pitchers, we need to experience brokenness in our spirits for the treasure in us to be seen to the outside world as a powerful light through which those in darkness will see the light of God. When we are truly broken in the shape, colour and strength of our self, the glory that is inside will become visible to others. This is what we should seek to accomplish in this life which is given to us as a gift from God with His purpose embodied in it.

Psalms 51:17 - The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.

Thought for Today
Lord! May it please you to continue to break my earthly pitcher so that your light and power in me will be visible to the outside world.

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ENABLED, EQUIPPED, ENRICHED & EMPOWERED FROM ABOVE

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Verse for Today
2 Corinthians 3:5 - Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.

When man is strong and fit, he makes a lot of claims about himself and his capability to accomplish things for himself. But this scene soon changes to total depravity when he has health problems, and starts clamoring for help from others and gasping for breath. He quickly realizes that he is nothing but a breath and that he is like a grass which withers when the sun heats up during the day. The same weak man comes back to health and then becomes boastful and proud and makes claims about his competencies. God only sympathizes with man in his boasting, but offers him help so that he can always trust in God in weaknesses. When God controls a man's life and heart, he will change his attitude towards himself and God. He will then realize that he is not capable of any thing meaningful. He cannot extent his life for a moment more than what is determined by God, though man will try in futile. God wants to come into the lives of men and give them new purposefulness and enabling. Then we can all say that our competency and sufficiency are from God and will be able to depend on God for using us as fit instruments in His mighty hands to accomplish things for His glory. When man trusts God, he will know his inadequacies and weaknesses, but will not need to be frustrated about it because God fortifies and strengthens him to do what God wants him to do in this life. This empowerment from God comes through His Word and His Spirit. Whatever man accomplishes through his human abilities and capabilities will vanish in this life, but whatever he achieves through the power of God will have impact even in eternity.

When we examine the Bible, we see illustrations of seemingly capable and powerful men like Nimrod, Nebuchadnezzar, King Soul and scores of others who tried to achieve great things for themselves. They were boastful about what they could do, but those things did not last for long. But God used people like Abraham the shepherd, Jacob the schemer, David the forgotten shepherd boy, Gideon the fearful, Moses the timid, Jeremiah the weeping prophet, Peter the fisherman, William Carey the cobbler, Moody the shoe salesman and such others to accomplish great things which have lasting impact in the lives of people. They were all ordinary men and women, with very little formal education and poor resources, but they accomplished great things for God. They obeyed God and used God's resources to work in and through their lives with lasting results. They all acknowledged their sufficiency and competence in God and did what God enabled them to do. They never tried to accomplish great things for themselves, but attempted great things for God. Their pathway was what God showed them and they used God's methodologies to accomplish things. These men and women of God were least bothered about their material needs and worldly reputation, but focused on God's kingdom and righteousness and so God met their basic needs and used them mightily. The same challenge is before us today to see whether we want to waste our lives and energies on the temporal things of this world or put it to use as enabled by God for His purposes, honor and glory. Thus when we are in God's hands, like Paul, all that happens to us and all that we pass through are as ordained by the Lord so that we do not need to be anxious about it, but to trust in the Lord and lead a life of contentment and great expectations.

2 Corinthians 9:8 - And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance of every good deed.

Thought for Today
When God puts His ability in you, you become a mighty warrior of faith for God to accomplish great things.

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VICTORY STAND ON EACH STEP

Monday, August 16, 2010

Verse for Today
2 Corinthians 2:14 - But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ, and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him.

Christian walk is not an occasional success of a huge magnitude, but a series of small victories which come continuously. The world might count us as perennial failures because the parameters of victory considered by the world are very different from that of the Bible. For the children of God, each day is a day of victory when the Lord gives them their daily bread, and they thank the Lord and are satisfied. He takes care of all their emotional, physical, intellectual and spiritual needs throughout the day which causes them to continue to praise Him. They acknowledge that all their affairs are ordained of the Lord and that they are given Heavenly resources to meet these needs and situations. They believe that all that happens to them is to help them have a closer walk with their Lord day after day. Each day, they expect to walk the edges of His ways and enjoy their fellowship with Him. They desire spiritual growth each day and grow in the knowledge of the Holy. Their daily lives are preparation for their soon-coming life with the Lord in His Heavenly Abode. They try to communicate these truths directly or indirectly with all whom they meet and thus proclaim a testimony to the world that they live for the Lord and not for themselves. Their lives are a series of triumphs in Jesus and these victories come in procession for the praise of their Lord and for the strengthening of their future walk with Him. This great blessing day by day and moment by moment causes them to live in continuous praise of the Lord. As they live for Him each day, their lives are used by the Lord for the spreading of the knowledge of the glory of the Lord and His kingdom.

Perhaps we are all looking for big bangs of spectacular victories a few times a day or week in our walk with the Lord. Perhaps we get frustrated if we do not get such victories to celebrate. We are often like little children who would like to have a birthday celebration with fan fare each day. But the Lord gives us so many reasons to praise Him each moment for the way He leads us a step at a time to go forward with Him. It is because He gives us victory each day and each step of the way on a daily basis that we continue in this walk. The enemy of our souls is trying to ambushing us at each step and is ever so vigilant to see how we can be shot down. So the protection, care, security, love and compassion that the Lord pours on us and the ability He gives us to possess it all and enjoy it moment by moment is far greater victory that we experience. This is why we are admonished by the Lord to give thanks for all things and for all that happens in our lives which work together for His glory. This is how our lives become a triumphal procession of victorious experiences we have with the Lord which are a series of adventures of faith. Some times we are like Prophet Elijah or Moses who wanted to quit or give it all up because the heat of the walk too much to bear, and the battle too heavy for us to handle. Some of us would have prayed like Elijah asking for a release from life itself. But aren't we glad that He has not answered such prayers of frustration, and brought us so far? He denies us such prayers and grants us a series of newer and newer triumphs to take us to greater heights of Heavenly joy and peace and keep us going to accomplish greater things for Him than in the past. These testimonies demonstrate about the fragrance of the knowledge of the Lord among those who deal with us on a daily basis and see the working of the Lord in our lives. Let it be like this even today as we walk with the Lord in the edges of His way.

Psalms 92:10 - But you have exalted by horn like that of the wild ox; I have been anointed with fresh oil.

Thought for Today
Christian life is a series of new victories day by day which cause us to continuously praise the Lord.

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FATHER'S 'YES' AND CHILDREN'S 'AMEN'

Sunday, August 15, 2010
Verse for Today
2 Corinthians 1:20 - For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us.

Our God has given us innumerable promises which are recorded in the Bible. There are specific promises for specific occasions and situations and at the same time those that cover every occasion and need. Every promise carries with it a great responsibility on our part to believe in it so that we can be led by them to go forward in our daily walk. God expects us to walk by faith, believing in Him and His might to lead us. He wants us to claim His promises and leave our future in His hands. Such a life will be governed by absolute and unconditional faith in Him. As God is truth, all that He promises are also true and they will definitely be fulfilled. But if we do not believe in it, we would take our lives in our own hands and go as we feel best and as led by human intelligence, capacity and strategies. Such a life, managed by the self, does not bring glory to God because it keeps Goad outside. God expects His children to crucify their self and allow Jesus to be made the King of their lives. Once Jesus is the Lord of our lives, He will run our lives on the basis of the promises of the Father and will give us the strength to believe in the Father. When we believe Him, we will not take our lives in our own hands, but will simply say, 'Amen' to all the promises of God irrespective of what happens. As we wait upon God to keep His promises to us, His Spirit will bring the continuous message of reassurance that all His promises are a divine 'yes' from Heaven. This reassurance makes us keep a strong grip on the promises and develop the confidence to wait until the promises are fulfilled, no matter how much time it takes to fulfill it.

When we read and meditate on these promises in the Bible, the Word of Truth, the Holy Spirit who is the writer of these promises will work in us to generate faith and enable us to believe it without any doubt or question. This is the faith which surrenders our will to the Father which is a mark of our love to Him. Even when waiting for these promises seem tough and tedious, the Spirit gives us patience and joy, the fruit of the Spirit, and strengthens us to keep holding on to His promises and rest in Him. This kind of faith is seen in the lives of Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Daniel and other heroes of faith, and the same faith has been governing the poor unknown saints all over the world for their daily needs. The Spirit says, 'yes' His promises will be fulfilled, and expects us to say, "Amen, Lord, I believe". While we wait, He says to us that He is behind the scene for it to work out at His perfect timing. Remember, there is no disappointment with waiting for the Lord to fulfill His promises. If we have patience which the Spirit will give us provided we allow Him to take full control of our minds, hearts and emotions, we will continue to trust Him. When we thus dwell in the Spirit, Word and the Lord, we sometimes encounter situations where we need to wait for a long time for the promises to be fulfilled, for which we are equipped continually by His Spirit. Waiting in hope is a joy and experiencing the fulfillment of the promises is a greater joy. Let us today keep a stronger grip on Him and His promises. Let us demonstrate to Him that we love Him for what He is which includes all His promises to us.

Hebrews 10:23 - Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

Thought for Today
Promises of God carry His signature and seal and so are definitely fulfilled at His schedule.

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MERCY MULTIPLIED

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Verse for Today
2 Corinthians 1:3 - Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of all mercies and God of all comfort who comforts us in all our afflictions.

We are privileged to enjoy the highly personalized ministry of compassion that we receive from our Heavenly Father on a daily basis. He knows us and our situations and see us with compassion, mercy and love. It is His desire that His children do not go weary and without comfort in this world, as if they are orphans. He sends us His comfort in different ways. His presence goes with us. His Spirit and Word live in us. His love encompasses around us. His grace flows to us continuously like a never-ending stream. His messages come to us through His messengers, like Paul, who receive it from Him for us. He touches our lives through others around us who are touched by Him. He listens to our prayers and cries as a patient father. He has abundant resources in His reservoir to minister unto our every affliction. He deals with us in compassion and understands us even when we feel lonely and are rejected, forgotten and forsaken by those around us. When we go through afflictions of one kind or another, He knows all about it and comes to us to fill us with Him and touches us in a special way. He strengthens us to go through our situation so that we can come out of it stronger in our faith. Each of our situations is our opportunity to taste and see Him and His grace to us. So as we go through each of our our situations, we are able to learn to trust Him more and more to keep us going and face new situations with courage and confidence. When we have such a Heavenly Father who is full of compassion and comfort, there is no reason for us to live in misery, feeling that all hope is gone. He welcomes us to go to Him with all our pain and suffering and tell Him all about it. But even before we tell Him, He knows all about it and prepares ways for us to face every situation. But as His children, He expects us to tell Him about our situations and leave it with Him to sort out.

Dear friend, you and I are blessed with such a Heavenly Father who feeds the sparrows and all the other living creatures. We know that all His creation is working for us so that we can live comfortably. His power is made available for us to draw from, in order to use it for our needs so that we can live for His cause here on earth. When there are snags on our way to follow Him, we do not need to stop and fret about it, but submit it to the Father who helps us to walk through these hindrances to continue to walk towards our destination. He is with us in the trouble and affliction and will not leave us nor forsake us. He comforts us as we face tough situations and encourages us to go through it rather than retreat. In His mercy, He carries us through the situations and brings us stronger to face greater troubles in the future. Our life is thus a series of new situations which are known to the Father ahead of time. His mercy never runs dry and it is on us as a divine fountain. In sorrows, He is our comfort and in troubles, He is our shade and shield. Under His wings, we can find peace, love, joy and strength. These experiences equip us to live stronger day by day and make us ministers of His mercy and compassion for the sake of His other children who are going through such afflictions. Our experienced hands in the stream of seemingly never-ending troubles need to touch those who are weak in faith, and strengthen them to experience the strong hands of this same Father of all comforts. May we find comfort in this loving Father and turn around to become comforts to our co-sojourners?

2 Corinthians 1:5 - For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.

Thought for Today
When comfort is shared, it multiplies several folds and becomes a source of courage and strength to the weary souls around us.

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GRACEFUL BEHAVIOR and

PEACEFUL RELATIONSHIPS

Friday, August 13, 2010

Verse for Today
1 Corinthians 1:3 - Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is unusual for a person to write a letter to some close friends and give them grace and peace. If we understand the world in which the writer and the receivers of the letter lived, it would be easy to realize the significance in extending grace and peace. It was a time of lack of grace in behavior and dealings. Because of this, things around were so unpredictably chaotic. There were threats and challenges in life because it was a life of faith which the enemies of gospel did not like a bit. They were not willing to allow peace to prevail. They treated these early Christian believers brutally. They were deprived of their personal belongings and were made homeless. Even their relatives were unwilling to accept them because of their faith. They were not enjoying peace around them and this has affected their inner peace in no small measure. Knowing their situation very well, the Spirit of God enabled Paul, the writer of this letter to greet them with grace and peace. They were reminded by Paul that they could enjoy graceful dealings by the Lord because He treated them as His dear children, in spite of their circumstances and situations, and over and above their weaknesses and failures. He also reassured them of the peace that passed all understanding in spite of their situations. Today we can read these lines in Paul's letter to the Church at Corinth as if it has been written to us, because we live in a world where we do not find graceful and peaceful dealings among people. Most people wear various kinds of masks suitable for the occasions and purposes, and 'act' their parts out rather than dealing with each other in grace. Even those who have received the grace of God in their lives seem to have not been able to produce graceful behavior and conversations. Thus peace is rarely enjoyed by people, because those who got peace from God are not living in peace and passing a peaceful aroma around.

Perhaps you are craving for graceful and peaceful atmosphere where you live, and getting exasperated in not being able to find peace. But we know from the Bible that we can have peace and grace from the Lord Jesus Christ which ought to transform our lives and behaviors. Peace and grace of the Lord ought to trickle down from our whole being so that it would soothe the wounded lives which are around us. Our dealings need to be salty so that it would heal the wounds in others. We should drip drops of consolation, comfort and joy to cool down the dry lives which we encounter each day. When peace and grace abound in us, we should overflow with kindness to touch the painful lives of others around us. As we share the peace and grace of the Lord with others, we abound in it more and more by the working of the Spirit of God in us. This would enable to touch more and more lives. If we abide in Him, we would never run dry, but become full to overflow continuously. This is possible only if we cultivate grace and peace in our lives, for which our lives ought to become fertile fields soaked in tears of continuous brokenness. Grace and peace will grow a hundred fold only if the field is soaked with tears of repentance and brokenness. Remember, we need to allow God's peace and grace to lay hold of us in a dynamic manner so that it will produce fruit which others will be able to enjoy. All trees are for others and all fruits are for others to enjoy and so is the life of a child of God. Today let our lives be the reservoir of peace and grace which will flow from us towards the dry lives around us so that there will be similar fruits in those fields for the glory of God.

James 4:6 - But He gives us more grace. That is why the Scripture says: "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble".

Thought for Today
If we do not share the grace and peace given to us by God, we are hiding it under our flesh like the man who got one talent.

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HERALD OF HIS PEACE

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Verse for Today
Romans 15:29 - I know that when I come to you, I will come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ.

Whenever we get godly visitors, it is a great blessing to us because it gives us great opportunity to have fellowship. It is a time of joy and sharing of concerns. It is also a time to discuss matters related to the Lord and His Word. It helps us to pray together and share the joy of the Lord. We often forget our problems and difficulties when we have God's children visit us. They often have words of comfort and encouragement for us. Some times, they need encouragement from us also. So godly visitors are God's gift to us for a time of mutual edification and strength. If they are people who live in the fullness of the Holy Spirit, it will be all the more beneficial because they come with the full measure of the blessings of Christ. They are often sent by the Spirit to us to encourage us. They have quite often short message from the Lord, which are much linked with their experiences. They come as Christ's ambassadors to us. They are the heralds of the Lord who are sent to meet our spiritual and emotional needs.

Dear friend, have you had some such visitors lately? When they come, do you take advantage of their visit by talking and sharing spiritual things? On the other hand, have you been visiting some needy Christians lately? Are you going for a chat with a weary saint, or is your visit part of formal obligation because they also made a visit to your place some time ago? Are you going to gossip or criticize others? Or are you going with the express conviction that you are being sent by the Lord as His ambassador to convey some messages of comfort from the Lord? Of course, if you want to be of use to the Lord in the lives of needy people around, you should have such a desire to have a ministry of visitation. Paul had such a ministry and he kept going from place to place and wherever he went, he carried the full measure of the blessing of Christ. The fullness of the blessings of Christ in Paul was not a quality in him because of his apostleship, but because of the intimate time he has spent with the Lord and because he was receiving comforting words from the Lord to be given to others from the Lord. If we want to follow the example of Paul, we need to sit in the presence of the Lord in sweet fellowship and learn at the feet of the Master. When you thus share in the glory of the risen Lord in His presence, you will be filled with His glory in a great measure which you will be able to pass on to the needy people around you. People would then consider your visit as that of an angel, as was the experience of some believers in the early church. We all could be angels to others, which literally only means that we are messengers to others. What better ministry can we have here on earth other than becoming angels of the Lord to convey His love, care, concern, joy, encouragement, comfort and love to others around us? Shall we also thank the Lord for sending some angels our way to strengthen us so that we will not get unduly discouraged by the circumstances and situations.

Isaiah 61:1b - He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.

Thought for Today
It is a great privilege to carry messages of comfort and encouragement to the weary and the downcast.

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PERSECUTORS MIGHT BECOME SAINTS!

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Verse for Today
Romans 12:14 - Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.

All who want to live a godly life in this world will have persecution. This is because our godly lives are based on God's righteousness and grace which is diametrically opposite to that of this world. Thus when we follow God's pattern for our lives in this world, we are in essence challenging the standards of this world and turning this world upside down. This was how the Lord Jesus lived on this earth. He did good throughout His earthly life and continued to do good even when persecuted. He kept suffering mockery even in the pubs of Palestine and in the hands of the religious leaders who were trying to practice the Book which was written about Him. The people who ate the bread He broke and distributed shouted out against Him and were willing to trade Him for a riotous Barabbas. Even then He did good till the end. He prayed to the Father to forgive the people who brutally killed Him. He gave eternal life to a thief minutes before His death. When His beloved disciples John and James asked Him to bring down fire from Heaven to burn all His oppressors, He only rebuked them. He also warned His disciples that they will be persecuted because of Him. His message of forgiveness was practiced by Stephen when he also prayed for the Lord to forgive the religious mob which stoned him to death. But it is likely that we develop thoughts of revenge and curse because of the cruel things that people do against us. In the wake of gossip, slander, character assassination, oppression, suppression, misrepresentation, denial of justice and truth and ganging up against us, we might development thoughts about calling fire from Heaven to destroy those who oppose us. But such thoughts are not from the Spirit of Jesus. Instead, we are expected to pray that they be blessed by the Lord and not treated according to their acts of vandalism.

Have you been tempted to curse those who wronged you? Instead, ask God to forgive them and bless them. When you develop thoughts about curse or punishment for them, you have to recognize that such thoughts are from the enemy and not from the Lord. His desire for us is that we bless them and pray that God would bless them. If we try to convict them of their wrong doings, they will not become repentant. The only person who can give them repentance is the Spirit of God. If they have grieved and quenched the Spirit, it would be difficult to get convictions from the Spirit. So we will have to pray that they would get convicted by the Spirit through brokenness from the Lord so that they will feel sorry for their acts of unrighteousness against us. Let the Lord deal with them according to His mercy because if He deals with them on the basis of their wrong doings, it would grieve us also about the terrible predicament they would be in. Let them enjoy mercy and grace from the Lord to live a spiritual life and serve the Lord. If our oppressors are unsaved people, let us pray that they get saved so that their old life with its sinfulness will be forgiven and wiped away by God and that they will become saints. The Bible teaches us about the experience of Job and Paul who prayed for their oppressors and those who judged them wrongly. Let us use such examples to remind ourselves of our own failures and weaknesses and get ourselves cleansed so that our daily walk with the Lord will be without hindrance.

2 Timothy 4:16 - At my first defense, no-one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them.

Thought for Today
It is for us to pray that God deals with our oppressors graciously rather than to call judgment on them.

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