Monday, January 31, 2011

DEVOTION TO DELIGHT!

DEVOTION TO DELIGHT!

Verse for Today: Monday, January 31, 2011
Psalms 147:11 - The Lord delights in those who fear Him, who put their hope in His unfailing love.

God is looking for people who are totally devoted to Him and find Him as the Lord of their lives. He looks into their hearts to see if they genuinely fear Him. There are a lot of people who wear a mask of piety and show an external religion in their behavior. They appeal to the approval of people for their religiosity. But God is not pleased with such external religious acts for public appeal. He is looking for those who are sincere in their devotion to Him. Genuine devotees of God put their trust in Him for all that happens to them. They seek His will in all walks of life. They consult Him in making decisions even in the smallest things in life. They thank Him for all that they receive in life because they believe that all that comes their way is sent by God from above as part of His divine plan for them. They walk according to His laws which are given for their comfort, reproof and edification. Their ultimate goal in life is to please the Lord and to put their hope in Him alone. They know for sure that their Lord will meet all their needs and walk with them throughout their sojourn because His love for them is unfailing. It never ceases and doesn't depend on their faithfulness, but His faithfulness and promises. It is wonderful to find God's children whose lives are totally dependent on Him because He is delighted in such people. We find that God was delighted in the obedience and devotion of His children like Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Job, David, Moses and a long list of prophets who served Him and His interest throughout their lives. So God used them for His glory and accomplished His purpose through them.

Dear friend, how is the barometer of your devotion to the Lord who is the maker of heaven and earth? Even when you may not measure up to His level, would you measure up in your sincerity and simplicity of devotion to Him? Are you loyal to Him and His cause here on earth? Do you portray a life where your dependence on Him abounds day by day? Is He the source of all that you receive in life? Are you enjoying your fellowship with Him on a daily basis? Do you spend quality time with Him on a regular basis? Do you take your needs, whether small or big, to Him and expect Him to meet those needs? Do you regularly seek His kingdom and His righteousness? Are you looking after His business in this world while He looks after your needs on a daily basis? The Lord is seeking sincere devotees who declare their unadulterated loyalty and dependence on Him. If we depend on Him fully, He will be pleased with us because He wants us to trust Him alone for all our needs. If we exercise our faith in Him and expect Him to be our provider in the face of all our failures, inadequacies and shortages, He will come to fill our needs and desires. He will pour out His unfailing love and compassion over us and keep us in His peace. His delight is in those who seek and do His perfect will. He shows His delight in His children by honoring our needs and helping us with the various challenges that we are met with on a daily basis. Remember, there is no disappointment with the Lord who is delighted to shower His compassionate care on His children. His delight is our greatest strength to face the challenges and concerns in life on a daily basis.

Song of Songs 2:4 - He has taken me to the banquet hall, and his banner over me is love.

Thought for Today
If we delight in the Lord and His laws, He will be delighted in us.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

SINCERE APPEAL!

SINCERE APPEAL

Verse for Today: Sunday, January 30, 2011
Psalms 145:18 - The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth.

It is amazing to realize that the invisible God is in and around His children all the time. He dwells in their hearts and rules their lives. He is around them and all over them with His mighty presence. Only the spiritual eyes opened by Him will be able to see Him and experience Him. When we look at Him with our spiritual eyes of faith, He will be visible to us in His glory. His Word helps us to meditate on His glory and get thrilled about the great fact that the Almighty is our lives. He knows us from the outside, but His knowledge about us when He is inside us is an intimate experience which we learn in our souls. Every movement and thought of our hearts is known to Him. When our spirits commune with His Spirit, all our feelings, emotions and sensitivities will be instantly known to Him. So all our needs, whether they are physical, emotional or spiritual, are known to Him. This is why even those needs of ours which are not expressly told in a prayer are still met by Him in His infinite mercy. But God expects us to be truthful and sincere in our prayers to Him. If there is any insincerity or double-mindedness in our hearts, then our prayers and cries do not qualify to be heard by Him. So when we call upon Him, we are encouraged by His Spirit to confess any known and unknown sin and to reaffirm our love, allegiance and commitment to Him. There is no reason to try to hide any of our emotions to the One who knows the depths of our hearts. As we know the Lord, we know that He wants to help us and wants us to call upon Him. By calling upon Him with a heart of confession and repentance, we declare to Him our total helplessness. In essence, we are declaring that there is none else to cry unto and no one other than Him to listen to our cries for help.

Dear friend, are you able to sincerely cry unto the Lord for help in your difficult situations today? When you cry unto Him, He knows whether your prayers are sincere or not. He has perfect knowledge about whether you depend on Him and Him alone or whether you have a divided mind about trusting in your own might and the help you desire form other human beings. If we think we are capable, why should we expect the Lord to help us? If we have resources to meet the needs, why should we seek the face of the Lord? If we know the way, why should we ask Him to hold our hands? If we have the answer, why should we ask Him for a response? So let our minds be clear when we approach the Lord and place our sincere hearts before Him. Let us open our hands and our hearts before the Lord and tell Him that there is no other way and no other source to help us. Let us declare to him that He is the only source of help. Let us declare Him as our only Jehovah-Jireh. Let us live practically before him to show that we are desperate for His help to come to us and that without His help we can no longer go forward. Thus when we demonstrate our utter sincerity to Him and show that we are truthful in our cry for help, we can claim His nearness to us. He honors a truthful heart because He is the Truth. He doesn't appreciate our dependence on Him and something else at the same time. We must depend either on Him alone or on something else alone. Elijah warned the people at Carmel to take such a stand. Elisha's servant Gehazi, prophets like Baalam and believers like Demas tried to live in both the worlds and found themselves in utter failure in their relationship with the God of all provisions. Let us follow the path of the truly faithful, and sincerely call upon the Lord for help today and claim it by faith. Let us appropriate His blessings and live to enjoy it for His glory.

Psalms 145:19 - (The Lord) will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and will save them.

Thought for Today
Truthful prayer is single minded which focuses on faith in the Lord's capacity to help and on His resources alone.

Saturday, January 29, 2011

NO FALLING! NO BOWING DOWN!

NO FALLING! NO BOWING DOWN!

Verse for Today: Saturday, January 29, 2011
Psalms 145:14 - The Lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.

There is a concerted effort by the enemy of our souls and his agents to drag and pull God's children down. These agents of evil and iniquity create or manipulate situations to make us fall and try to trap us unaware. They complicate our situations to see to it that we fall and do not rise up again. Sometimes the enemy pushes us fast forward in our walk and make us trip down. At other times, he will pull us backward and make us drowsy so that we might fall. The world around would expect us to fall flat on our faces so that they can try to prove that our kind of faith is a failure. But the Lord would not allow His children to fall forever and are forgotten. He is with us to uphold us lest we fall. His hands are all around us to hold us firm. Our feet are on the Rock so that we would not be shaken. There are times when we loose hope when the mighty wind of destruction blows on us. But we must understand that the Lord is with us on the canoe in which we travel through this troubled sea of life in the turmoil of the ocean of the world. He even walks on the rough waters to come near us to quench our fears. The enemy might be preparing to celebrate our fall and might expect us to sink deep into the ocean. But Heaven will not allow it because Heaven has something precious at stake if we sink. The Lord has purchased us as His precious possession by His life on the cross of Calvary and He will not allow us to fall and get lost. The storms and the slippery places that we pass through are known to the Lord as He has gone through every trial or test that is known to man. He will give us the strength to go through the difficult places, to come out stronger. He will hold us by encompassing around us with His mercy. If we are bowed or bent down because of the heavy burden on our shoulders or back, He will help us to carry the burden. He will straighten our bowed backs and help us to lift our heads to look unto Him and get strength to keep going and keep holding on to Him.

Sometimes the world wants to make us feel that we might fall because of the heavy burden that is on our back. It is important for us to realize that Satan cannot make us fall, but can only increase our burden and give us hopelessness. But we know from the Word of the Lord that He holds us when we carry burdens. So the Lord in essence holds us and our burdens too. If we have such a burden bearer who bears us also, why should we feel shaky? When we feel that all around is shaking, we need to simply hold on to the Lord and be firm. We are asked to cast all our burdens and cares on the Lord because He cares for us. If we are feeling shaky because of our failures, we can go to Him to help us to walk from victory to newer victory each day of our lives. If we are guilty of sins of omissions or commissions, we can go to Him to confess it all. Then He will help us to overcome the situations, do what we ought to do and keep away from those that we must keep away from. Many of our failures and losses are because we fall into the temptation of being too ambitious which comes out of our flesh and by succumbing to the traps of the vanity fare of the world around us. Often we are not satisfied with the mundane and leap forward for greater level of human achievements. When we thus leap forward, it often becomes a snare on our way and we get into storms and waves. So we need to guard our hearts and minds not to fall into the temptations to achieve great things for us. Our desire has to be to achieve greater things for the Lord and trust Him to lead us every step of the way by holding our hands. Let us today allow the Lord to lead us forward and let us not lean on to our own understanding. When we fully trust the Lord to take us forward, we will grow in greater faith to trust the Lord for our every need and thus be firm in Him who is the Rock of Ages. He will not allow us to fall and will help us hold our backs straight to lift up our heads towards Him for help which is guaranteed today and forever more.

Psalms 18:35 - You give me Your shield of victory, and Your right hand sustains me; You stoop down to make me great.

Thought for Today
The Everlasting Arms under us will keep us from falling down and will hold our heads to look up to Him.

Friday, January 28, 2011

GRACE FOR EVERY CHALLENGE!

GRACE FOR EVERY CHALLENGE

Verse for Today: Friday, January 28, 2011

Psalms 144:2 - (The Lord) is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues people under me.

Every quality of God that is described in the Word of God is directly related to the existence, growth, development and progress of His children. This is because all God's revelations of Him to His children are connected with their problems, difficulties, needs, aspirations, concerns and challenges in life. God appears to man to help, support and strengthen man to meet these realities of life. But these realities are only to prepare man for greater challenges in life which is God's process of strengthening His children. So God reveals Himself to man in His character, qualities and power to help mold and enable man to become stronger in His faith in God to be able to meet the existing and emerging challenges of life. All of God's qualities are to help man to essentially put his faith and trust in God and be transformed into the divine nature of Jesus Christ. This process is tough and rough, as it takes us through fire, waters, storms, waves, valleys, tears, weaknesses, darkness and troubles of various dimensions. Man cannot do it himself, and so God comes in to show man His deep and unfathomable love as he is taken through this metamorphosis. God's children are hidden in the fortress which is God Himself. In God, they can find a stronghold against all the powers of darkness. God comes to deliver him from all snares of the enemy of his soul. God works as a personal shield to cover him from the direct and indirect attacks of the enemy. God's wings are so wide and secure under which he can find refuge in all situations. God helps him to subdue all the enemies of his soul (world, flesh and Satan) so that he can live without fear and anxiety. In other words, God is sufficient in all our situations and circumstances to meet all our needs and challenges. Blessed are we when we know God to be the reality in all our situations and to get ourselves lost in the wonder and awe of Him and His ways.

Dear friend, if you are thirsting for love, you can find it in the Lord whose love is deeper than the deepest ocean. When people reject you, He will show His love to you. When you do not get the mercy that you desire and deserve from people around, you can go to the Lord who experienced rejection for you. He understands the pain you go through when you are rejected and despised. He will comfort you and show mercy to you in your situations of pain and desperation. If you are under attack and if you find it difficult to prove your innocence, your Lord who went through verbal and physical abuses and attacks will come to you as your strong fortress in whom you can hide and be safe. He will calm you down and put His nail-pierced hands on you to comfort you in your situations. If you are under the bondage of debt, failure, loss, habits, behavior, poverty, loneliness and mistrust, the Lord is your stronghold who will break the bondage and set you free. He will deliver you from the prison cells of suffering and sickness where the world has held you for years, and will set you free. No matter what your prison is, whether it is misunderstanding, mistrust, misinterpretation, gossip, doubt, confusion or envy, the Lord will come to open the doors of your solitary confinement and make you free. He will subdue your persecutors who ill-treat you and give you the grace to reach a peak far above the petty problems they create for you. The Lord is sufficient in all your situations and will give you the confidence to testify to His faithfulness in all that you go through. He is a present help in all your needs and His grace will far exceed the challenges you face today. So let us today focus on the Lord and His grace rather than on our petty situations.

Psalms 34:19 - A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all.

Thought for Today
There is grace from God to meet every challenge we face on all the days of our lives.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

STRENGTH IN DESOLATION!

STRENGTH IN DESOLATION

Verse for Today: Thursday, January 27, 2011
Psalms 143:4 - So my spirit grows faint within me; my heart within me is desolate.

When we go through difficulties and when our experiences become unbearable, and when there is no one else to see or listen, we still have the great confidence that our Lord is out there to see our real situation and listen to our cries. Nothing is hidden from His attention and He knows the depth of our desolation. He sees that our hearts are like parched land which seeks the cool shower of comfort from Him. There are occasions when our spirit sinks deep into distress and we feel faint because of our struggles. We reach a stage of barrenness as we slowly lose our capacity to even express our deep emotions. We sometimes become like a baby bird, sitting quietly, resting in the security of the hands of its owner to take refuge. But even in such low ebb, the Lord gives us songs to sing to praise Him and the freedom to express our emotions to Him. David had this grace to write such touching songs even while he was hiding in the cave. He had no idea whether he will see day light again and whether he will comes out of the cave or not. Just as the case of David, Joseph, Gideon, Job and other choice servants of God, the Lord uses these situations to teach us wonderful lessons about Him and His power to protect us. The Lord had to allow David to go through the rough patches of life, but he was given a series of great hymns to write which can be used by other servants of God to sing when they go through similar situations. These songs are sung, read and meditated upon by millions of His children throughout the last several centuries. Whether Jesus is with us in the cave physically or not, His presence is with us. Even when the boat is far away from the shore and caught up in a storm, and the Lord far away, He knows about it all and His children are still in His hands. He gives them the peace and comfort of His presence no matter where they are. There is a promise that they will not be hurt and will definitely be rescued to keep going to accomplish His purpose in their lives.

Dear friend, is your situation today similar to that of David or Joseph? There were times of utter hopelessness for them, at least in the eyes of people around. But the plan of God for them has already been revealed to them. In order to accomplish all that the Lord wanted through their lives, they were allowed to go through the furnace to temper them. They were made humble and crushed for remolding for the special purpose for which they were to be used by the Master. They were made helpless in themselves so that they will find strength only in the Lord. They were broken in their spirits, so that they will always be aware of their unworthiness to be of use to the Lord. The heat of the furnace in which they were kept was enhanced to see how far they could trust the Lord to take it. But when the Lord allows such fiery furnaces for His children, He reassures them that His loving hands are at the thermostat and He will control it. He will test the metal to see its strength and capacity to take pressure. If the enemy today is Saul, soon it will be all the rulers and kingdoms around you. But soon your area of service will be enlarged like that of Joseph and the demands on you will increase for which you need to be tempered. So dear friend, your present situation might be unbearable for you, but please remember that you are enduring it with the Lord's strength which is embodied in you. Let there be praise from your mouth and heart when the pressure makes you parched. Let your heart overflow with songs of comfort and strength instead of overwhelming with distress. Let your anchor be the Rock of Ages so that you will not sink in the overflow of stress around you. Hold on to the Lord and on to His promises firmly. Think and praise God for what He is going to accomplish for you and through you in the days to come. Draw from the great ocean of His grace, peace and love to make you what He wants you to be for His glory. Drink to the brim and get lost in the wonder and awe of the Lord and be amazed at the wonderful provisions the Lord has for you even today.

Psalms 46:1 - God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.

Thought for Today
When all hope is lost, there is an anchor for our souls in the Lord who will never fail us.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

DESPERATION TO INSPIRATION!

Desperation to Inspiration

Verse for Today: Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Psalms 142:6 - Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need; rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me.

There is a place for the desperate child of God to go to and submit his petitions. There is a person who knows what it is to be desperate, and sympathizes with those who are in distress. There is a defense for the child of God when he is at his wits' end and has no place to turn to. There is a city of refuge for the afflicted and weary soul who needs a hiding place. This is our Lord Jesus Christ who has gone through every imaginable and unimaginable experience of persecution, rejection and distress to be able to fully understand and help those of His children who are pursued relentlessly by the enemy of our souls. Our Lord is with us through our journey in this weary land. He gives us living water to cool us down when we are gasping and our throat parched because of continuous cry. He gives us refuge under His wings so that we can be absolutely fearless and free. He is our shield when the enemy attacks us from all sides. When we are stuck in situations and are brutally stuck, He comes to give us release. When we are blocked from all sides, He shows us His way because He is our way. He listens to all our cries and words of desperation. He even understands the depth of our sighs and gasps, and comforts us like a mother comforts a crying baby. He holds us in His hands and keeps on reassuring us that He will take us to our destination safely. We have the freedom to cry before Him and keep telling Him all about our needs even though He understands our needs much deeper than we ever do. He knows the present as well as the future needs, and prepares to meet every need according to His riches in glory. He reassures us that He is far stronger than any of our enemies in the form of the world, flesh and Satan whom He has already defeated. Can there be any better encouragement for a weary soul than this!

Dear weary soul, it is time for you to gear up to continue to march forward. The enemies will always be around us to fight us, and they will use all their crafty strategies to slow us down or distract us. But our focus should not be the enemy but the Lord who has already been victorious over them. They can't do any thing to us but will only try to sabre rattle. Our enemy is a defeated enemy and is a chained dog. He can't hurt us or bruise us because we are safe in the arms of Jesus. We lean on to the Beloved and comfort ourselves with the safety and security that He gives us. When we are weary, we need to simply seek after the brooks of God to drink from and to keep moving forward. We have a pathway to tread for the Lord and a mission to accomplish. We are part of an eternal divine plan and need to focus on that plan as it unfolds for us each day to go forward. As we take each step forward, the enemy and his agents will do everything possible to distract or discourage us to either slow down or retract. But if we cry to the Lord and ask Him to hold our hands, He will take us forward and walk with us to alleviate all fears and apprehensions. He will build a wall of protection around us so that the darts of the enemy will not make us desperate, or intimidate and inhibit us in our sojourn. So dear friend, your future is secure in the Lord who is far greater in His strength and power than any of your enemies. Your situation is known to Him and He will shower His strength to rescue you from the snares of the enemy and take you forward victoriously according to His plan and schedule. Your desperation will turn into confidence and strength in the Almighty in whom you will have perfect rest and peace in spite of circumstances.

2 Corinthians 4:8 - We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

Thought for Today
Even when I am the weakest, the Lord fortifies me with His strength which is sufficient to meet the challenges of the enemy through circumstances.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

STRENGTH FOR A CALL!

Strength for a Call!

Verse for Today: Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Psalms 138:3 - On the day I called, You answered me; You made me bold with strength in my soul.

When we are continuously confronted by tough situations in life, it drains us of our energy and makes us weak. Often we lose our courage and become weak-willed. We say things that we should not be saying and think about the negative consequences of our situations. In turn, our situations will slowly exert control over us and make us slaves. We might even start doubting the past decisions that the Lord has made us take. Doubt and confusion will encompass around us and we easily get exasperated and discouraged. Our weakened minds will no longer able to support our bodies which also become weak and make us susceptible to several physical illnesses. But there is no need for us to go the negative way. If we are sure that the Lord has led us so far, there is no need to look back and feel sorry for the way in which we have trod so far. Let us not fall into the doubt trap into which the Israelites fell during the wilderness journey. When the circumstances try to strangle us in confusion and doubt, instead of looking into ourselves, we must look unto the Lord and call upon Him. If we confess our doubt and confusion to the Lord, He will answer us and remove our confusions and doubts. He will fill us with Himself and with the great things He will do for us. He will fill our hearts with His Spirit who will fill us with the ability to put all our faith and trust in the Lord and think positively. He will then lead us to be bold in every situation because we are emboldened by His Spirit. Our boldness doesn't come from our natural man, but from the Lord in a supernatural way. We will thus be revived to face any eventualities in life and to take bold steps of faith. Our inner man will thus be strengthened to live joyfully for the glory of the Lord.

Dear friend, are you feeling weak, weary and tired in your soul because of the constant battles you are engaged in? Do you feel all alone in your fight? Do you feel that all your strength is drained out because of the continued battle with the enemy of your soul? There is help available for you to appreciate and appropriate so that you can use it for your continued struggle against the gates of hell. Your help comes from the Lord who is at hand and nearby. He is the door you can always knock at and it shall be opened with a never ending spring of heavenly resources which you can use to keep going. He is so near you as to hear your cry and answer you. He hears your cries, sighs, gasps and groaning. He will fortify you with His strength. He will equip and enable you to face your present situation with courage and boldness. You can be like Caleb to climb the steepest mountain by renewing your strength in Him and soar like an eagle. Your weak eyes will be brightened with the honey from the honeycomb as in the case of Samson to keep going forward. You will be given heavenly bread and water as in the case of Elijah to run faster than the chariots of the powers of this world to reach your destination. When all hope is gone, you will be pulled out of the pit you are in and taken to a new destination where the greatest opportunities will be awaiting you to continue to serve God and to touch the lives of people for the cause of God. When God lifts you from out of the dungeon, your countenance will be brighter and your body and soul will be strengthened to perform the great ministries that the Lord has in store for you. You will go to newer distances and heights to serve the Lord's purpose with His might. So, dear friend, cheer up! Your Lord is with you and He will hear your petitions and empower you to keep going with bold faith to face the rough patches of life for His glory.

Psalms 27:1 - The Lord is my light and my salvation - whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life - of whom shall I be afraid?

Thought for Today
The confidence that the Lord hears all my petitions emboldens me to face life with courage and strength.

Monday, January 24, 2011

NO FORGETTING! NO FORSAKING!

No Forgetting! No Forsaking!

Verse for Today: Monday, January 24, 2011
Psalms 136:23 - (Give thanks) to the One who remembered us in our low estate for His lovingkindness is everlasting.

Our greatest comfort and consolation in this life is that no matter what we go through, we have a Lord who remembers us and performs wonderful ministries for us to be encouraged. He knows us and all our situations, and comes to us with His hands of lovingkindness at the nick of the time. He knows us when we are in the valley and comes to us to lift us up. When we are in a mountain top experience, He comes to help us not fall flat on our noses through pride. He doesn't abandon us when the world tarnishes us or pulls down our reputation and dignity. He values us so much to want to come to our rescue in all our struggles. He remembers us in our worst scenarios. He remembered Elijah when the brook was dry and the ravens stopped bringing in food. He remembered Rachael when she was agonizing with frustration and rejection in the family. He remembered Joseph when he was a forgotten prisoner in Egypt. He remembered Hannah and her low estate in her family situation. He remembered Naomi and Ruth when they both were destitute. He remembered and met with a dejected Peter to restore him. He remembered David when he was running for life and moving from cave to cave and from hills to forests. He remembered Noah and his family when they were in an arc during the flood. He remembered the people of Israel during their 400 years of slavery in Egypt. He is our God and He remembers us also in our times of struggles. No matter who forgets us, He will never forget us, but will come to us to rescue us. When the storm is petrifying and there is utter darkness in the fourth watch, He will come to take us safe to the shore. He will come to comfort and encourage us and to establish us on firm footing for His name sake. He shows lovingkindness to us and His mercy towards us is everlasting and will never run dry.

Dear friend, are you weary, tired and feeling so dejected about your situation and wonder how you will escape? Do you feel so frustrated as to want to quit? Are you feeling so depressed as to sink into dejection like Jacob? The Lord comes to you today to show you from His eternal Word that He always remembers His beloved children who are forsaken, rejected and ignored by all who are around them. Even if their father and mother reject them, the Lord will never. When the whole world refuses to understand them, their Lord will always understand them fully and properly. He knows His children and their real situations very well and will never pay attention to any gossip of the enemy about them. He knows their real inner needs. He knows what they are hungry for and how deep their thirst is. He has enough resources to quench their thirst and to satisfy their desires. If they open their mouth wide, He will fill every desire. He will never break a bruised reed, but will set it properly and allow it to heal and strengthen further. He will not snuff off a smoldering wick, but will fan it to flame again for His glory. The Lord will never give up on us, but will always come back to us to put us back into circulation. He gives us opportunities again and again so that we can shine for Him. Every child of God is given second or third chance because He is kind and merciful to us and would not give up on us. He knows that we are dust and weak, and so He will pour His power and strength into us to revive our sagging spirits to once again use us for His glory. Let us today gather encouragement from knowing this Lord more intimately and thank Him for remembering us. Let us allow ourselves to be revived by His Spirit to get going on the pathway marked out for us by the Lord, soaring from strength to strength and from victory to victory.

Isaiah 54:10 - "Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed", says the Lord who has compassion on you.

Thought for Today
Though all around us forsake, reject and denounce us, the Everlasting Arms will still be around us to keep us binding to Himself.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

A COMPASSIONATE VINDICATOR!

A Compassionate Vindicator

Verse for Today: Sunday, January 23, 2011
Psalms 135:14 - For the Lord will vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants.

In a world where we do not often find justice, truth or sincerity, it is seen that God's people are often deprived of their rights. The world doesn't stand with them when God's people are denied their rights. The enemy often sows the seeds of injustice in the case of God's people and they end up loosing their job or seniority at work place, property, right to speak, opportunity to live and work or even worship their God without fear. They are not only denied the right to grow and develop in their spheres of activities, but even denied the right to exist. When they are troubled by the enemy and the world system, even their friends do not stand with them. In such times of trouble, loneliness and even loss of dignity, they have a wonderful promise from their Lord that He will vindicate them. God wants His people to understand that this world is not the final appeal court for them, and that there is a higher authority to decide whether they are right or not. There is a righteous judge who rules the whole Universe and He will one day sit at the Throne and judge each of His children. At that time, He will exonerate His children and declare them righteous. He has already given His people His robe of righteousness. He also gives them His grace to go through deprivation because Jesus went through it once and knows all about it. He was lonely, friendless and had not even a place to lay His head when foxes had their holes and birds had their nests to rest. Nobody wanted Him and no one cared for Him when He was unjustly dealt with. Even His closest associates ran away when He was arrested. His treasurer betrayed Him for the price of a slave. Yet He is the King of kings and Lord of lords and the creator of this universe. Considering what the world had done to the Prince of Heaven, what would they not do to His followers! So let us expect deprivation in this world because we follow that Man of Galilee who was a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief for us. Let us await His time to vindicate us for His name sake!

So dear friend, if you are friendless and lonely today, go to the Lord Jesus and He will fill your heart with Himself and the grace to go through your present difficulty of deprivation and denial of your rights. Please also understand that your Lord gave up all that He had for you and want you to consider it your privilege to give up something for His name' sake. Giving up your rights and privileges today is your response to all that your Lord gave up for you. He has promised that He will vindicate you and spread abroad your testimony. You are going to rule this world with Him during the millennial kingdom. You are already declared a ruler and He is preparing you to become one by giving up the mundane for the pinnacle of God's blessings in the literal sense. Remember where you are seated now! You are already seated in the heavenly places. So this is your time to start enjoying the position the Lord has placed you in rather than wallowing over the crumbs that you lose here on earth. But as you go thorough depravity and loss here on earth, the Lord will show you compassion and fill your heart with His joy which will be your strength to go through the bitter experiences this world gives you. He will fill you with His joy in spite of loss, friendlessness, loneliness or depravity. Even when you are misunderstood or misinterpreted by the world, it is important to remember what He thinks about you. If your heart is right with the Lord, there is no need to try to spend your energy and time to prove yourself right. That will be done by the Lord as necessary, but it is best to leave it with the Lord and be at peace with it thinking that the Lord knows about it. One of these days, we will all stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ (Bema) where the Lord Himself will pronounce a verdict on you and reward you for all that you would have done for Him while one earth and at that time you will be fully exonerated. Let us today praise God because He is our vindicator and is compassionate towards us.

Psalms 136:23 - (Give thanks to the Lord) who remembered us in our low estate, for His lovingkindness is everlasting.

Thought for Today
God will put His robe of righteousness on us through Jesus Christ to vindicate us against the wiles of the enemy.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

HANDLING A TREASURED POSSESSION!

Handling a Treasured Possession!

Verse for Today: Saturday, January 22, 2011
Psalms 135:4 - The Lord has chosen Jacob to be His own, Israel to be His treasured possession.

Jacob was an ordinary man with human emotions, feelings, needs and behavioral ups and downs. He has had his own share of mistakes and failures in life. At times, he was fearful and had to run for life. Wherever he went, he found opposition, struggle, competition, insecurity and instability. He had to shift his abode several times throughout his life. Even in the old age, he was persuaded to travel abroad, and had to instruct that his earthly remains be buried in the Promised Land. In Jacob, we find a restless man who had to handle issues and concerns one after the other and never had a chance to settle down and rest. But his life is a great illustration of how God had chosen him for a special purpose. God had to remind him often that he was a chosen vessel and was precious to him. God had to change his name to be a prince with Him. But in order to make him behave like a prince, God had to even break his thigh. All the while, Jacob was in the hands of the Almighty. God treated him as His own special child who was God's treasured possession. God did not condone Jacob's mistakes and had to allow him to pick up the consequences for his sins. But these did not hinder God's plans for him to be accomplished. God used him as a channel for His blessings to the whole world through Jesus Christ who was born in Jacob's family. All the mistakes Jacob made were his, but Jacob was God's specially treasured possession. This is because Jacob was chosen by God before the foundation of the world was laid and that He had a wonderful plan for Jacob which is being fulfilled even today. Jacob as a treasured possession of the Lord has been scrubbed clean several times by the Lord so that he would shine and glitter like gold because Jacob was God's chosen vessel. The scrubbing was tough and rough sometimes for Jacob to endure, but it was all for his good and for the glory of God. Such a Jacob could even bless Pharaoh who was the head of the great Egyptian civilization at one time.

Dear friend, when you meditate on Jacob, the special treasured possession of God, it would encourage you to praise Him because you are also a treasured possession of God. This is because God so loved you to the extent to which God was willing to allow His only begotten Son to die on your behalf. God gave you life once when you were born, but gave you eternal life when you were born again. God treats you as the apple of His eye, and keeps you as a highly prized and treasured possession in His hands. You may probably wonder why there is pain and misery in your life in spite of your position as God's special possession! As you meditate on this, you will realize that the mistakes you made, the failures you encountered and the sins that you committed are like stains and spots on you that the Lord would want to scrub clean. Jacob had to go through it and experience the pain of the scrubbing by His hands. But this painful process is for you to shine for Him in this dark world. The more He scrubs you, the more painful it will be, but the better you will shine for Him. If you have committed sin, He will forgive you as you confess it. Your desire to be set apart for Him as a vessel of honor will be honored by Him through the process of sanctification. God had to do this act of scrubbing for Abraham, David, Job, Peter, James, John, Mark, Paul and all other choice treasured possessions of His at different times in their lives and ministries. It was all for their good and for His glory. Let us today thank the Lord that we are scrubbed by the Holy and loving Hands of the Almighty. Let us praise Him for His care and love for us in spite of our failures and weaknesses. Remember, we are in His hands for His glory. Let us commit ourselves for Him to use us the way He wants. Let Him increase in and through us and let us decrease as we get ourselves used up for Him.

Isaiah 43:4 - Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life.

Thought for Today
You as God's precious and honored possession are handled with utmost care by His mighty hands.

Friday, January 21, 2011

WAITING FOR THE BEST!

Waiting for the Best!

Verse for Today: Friday, January 21, 2011
Psalms 130:5 - I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His Word I put my hope.

Waiting is one of the most difficult things to do for man. He is interested in the sudden gratification of all that he wants. We live in an era of instant (fast) food and drink, fastest travel, Internet with lightening speed, iPod and the like. Man characteristically hates to wait and is impatient. At the same time, we can see that Impatience is the inability to wait which is a mark of immaturity. On the other hand, God waits and watches everything growing at its pace. He allows all things in nature to take its own time to grow, fruit and mature. Likewise, He expects man to be born and matured in time. God expects His children to wait patiently for His time to come in everything. But we are often tempted to travel ahead of God in our matters of interest. Our minds can travel very fast and we expect our bodies and businesses to also travel that fast. But God doesn't expect us to go that fast. He wants us to grow slowly and mature by taking time to assimilate what we learn from His Word. He has trained His people to wait for His time to come in everything. God took time to give Abraham and Sarah a promised son. God gave Joseph 13 years to mature to see his dreams fulfilled. David took a long time to finally get the throne in Israel. Nehemiah took 52 days to refurbish the walls of Jerusalem. Noah kept preaching the message of warning for almost 120 years and simultaneously built the arc. Paul prayed and prayed for a long time for God to act in His ministry and in His body. As we grow and mature in the Lord and His Word, He helps us also to wait for His time. Waiting is not wasting of time, but time used in maturing in faith and trust in the Lord. Trusting God for our needs and waiting for His time is far more important than getting the needs instantly met. As we wait for the Lord, He strengthens us to put all our hope and trust in His unchanging Word. He has promised to meet our needs and will never relent. He will give it to us only when we are ready according to His assessment. He is like a benevolent father who knows what to give to His children at what age and maturity so that they will know how to use it for His glory.

Dear friend, are you feeling tired of waiting for the Lord to act in some special areas of your life? It might be in the areas of physical and emotional healing, food and shelter, family and children, ministry, employment, finances, relationships at the work place and the like. You might feel that you have prayed for a long time and that you are running out of patience. Watch out because when you run out of patience, the devil will take advantage of your unstable emotions and make you take some initiatives of your own and take action by yourself. But the Lord wants you to wait for Him. At the right time, just as He gave Isaac to Abraham, He will give you what He has promised you. But if you run ahead of God, you might end up with Ishmael. God wants you to have far more than what the eyes have seen and the ears have heard. He is preparing you to trust God for the special way by which He wants to touch your life. When He opens the package at His time, you will surely be amazed at His thoughtfulness for you. At that time you will realize that it was better that the Lord didn't answer your prayers earlier. Perhaps you would have prayed like Elijah, but must now be feeling gratified that the Lord had not answered your prayer. This is our Lord who knows the inns and outs of all that we meddle in and do what He pleases for us for our good. He wants us to wait patiently for Him so that we can get what He has designed for us. Waiting for the Lord is our way to renew our strength, trust, faith, hope and confidence in the Lord. .

Psalms 27:14 - Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

Thought for Today
Waiting for the Lord is a great spiritual exercise which strengthens our faith and confidence in the Lord.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

RESCUE FROM DEPTHS!

Rescue from Depths

Verse for Today: Thursday, January 20, 2011
Psalms 130:1 - Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord.

There are times when a child of God is clogged into the most difficult problems in this life and feels like he has gone deep down into the depths without any hope for a return. It is a feeling of suffocation and strangling by the circumstances. It is a situation of utter darkness around. It is like traveling through the cold and lonely pathways which gets colder day by day. There is no one to speak to or share with and no sympathizer around to comfort. But even in such situations, the Lord is near to His child to listen to the cries of anguish which come out of him. It might be sighs and sounds of intense pain, but they are heard by the Lord. It might be the thoughts which flow from his heart to the Lord in inexpressible words. It might be the most painful expressions of intense struggle with gasp for life. It might be the struggle to hold on to a straw to keep going. But even these struggles are understood by the Lord and He is there with His child to give him hope for a brighter future. The Lord hears all these expressions of sufferings of His child even from such depths of life. Our greatest comfort in such situations is that we have our Lord to look unto. He is available for us to communicate even from such depths of struggle. His ears are not shut that He cannot hear our voices of cry. His eyes are still able to see the deepest parts where we cry unto Him. He comes to help us in ways which are unknown and unthinkable for us. He will deliver us from the seemingly impossible situations. As we cry unto Him, His Spirit echoes His words of comfort and hope in our hearts which are the greatest strength for us to hang in there until He comes to rescue us. Perhaps He is waiting for us to be totally broken and to realize that there is no more strength in us. At that time, His strength will abound in us. When all hope is gone, He comes in with His ray of hope. When all our strength vanishes, His strength is poured in to our hearts to keep holding on to the Lord.

Dear friend, are you going through a time of intense pressure to the extent to which there is no strength left in you to hold on? Do you feel that you are in a hopeless situation? Remember, it is better to be in darkness if the Lord is taking you through it rather than in artificial or imaginary light. Even if you go through darkness, you are resting in the hands of the One who is the Light of the World. Even when there is no strength in you to keep crying to the Lord, your inner being will be able to express your anguishes to the Lord in inexpressible forms of sighs and sobs. Even such emotions are understood by the Lord. He wants to reassure you today that He knows all that you are going through, and He is fully aware of the intensity of your sufferings. Perhaps you are going into the depths of such sufferings, but the Lord is there with you even in such situations. Perhaps you feel like you are in a room which is shut from the outside and there is no knob for the door from the inside. Even then, the Lord is with you and His eternal words of comfort are echoed in your ears to strengthen you. One of these days, the doors to your dungeon will be opened and the Lord will usher you into greater glories. Joseph found his prison door open on a seemingly hopeless day, but that day was ordained of the Lord to fulfill His purpose for the entire humanity. Daniel found the den open for his release. The Jewish young men found the door to the fiery furnace open one day. David got a release from his situations which made him write about his experience of depth from which he cried to the Lord. The same Lord is with you today to listen to your cries and to give you His answers of hope and comfort. Perhaps He is delaying to answer you so that you will grow in your faith and trust in Him. But if we wait for Him, He will renew our strength and give us the peace that passes all understanding to keep crying to Him until His answers come to rescue us which is an eternal reality.

Psalms 106:9 - He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up; He led them through the depths as through a desert.

Thought for Today
When God's people go through intense struggles, their God is out there to hold them in His hands and to listen to their cries.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

CHALLENGE FOR THE SLEEPLESS TOILERS!

Challenge for the Sleepless Toilers

Verse for Today: Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Psalms 127:2b - For He grants sleep to those He loves.

We find a reality of life among many people who work so hard and toil vigorously in the name of making a living. They often deprive themselves of sleep, and work so hard for long hours. The Word of God admonishes such people to acknowledge God to be the builder of their lives and livelihood. If we do not allow God to build for us, we toil in vain. But if we try to build it ourselves, we would find it so difficult to sleep because of the anxiety about our future. But a child of God must understand that it is the Lord who works for them. Even when they sleep, the hand of the Lord is at work for them. Their plants grow while they sleep because it is the Lord who watches over it. This is true about their jobs, business or all their affairs for themselves and their families. The Lord knows that we need sleep and rest for our bodies and minds from a day's work. So He gives us sleep as a gift so that we can cast all our cares on the Lord and go to sleep. If we refrain from sleep, and toil and worry about our future, we won't be able to add an iota of element to our reservoir. We must realize that unless the Lord gives us, we won't have enough to meet our needs. But the enemy of our souls will come to advise us to use our own efforts to make more and more, even by depriving ourselves of sleep and rest. We are often challenged by the enemy to use our intelligence and 'farsightedness' to invest all our energies, sleep, time and other resources to make more. The Word of God admonishes us to know when to say 'no' to the craving for more and more. If we deprive ourselves of basic needs for our bodies and minds and work hard without saying 'no' to this craving for more, we would invariably accumulate more and more for ourselves. But when would we have opportunity or time to enjoy what we have? It is also true that a large part of what we make will finally go to the world to enjoy. When we look around, we can see how the financial problems of the world have eaten away the value of what God's people claim to have been 'gift from God' to them! Let us not fall into the temptation to spend for the world so that the world would enjoy what the Lord has given us. Let us allow the Lord to work for us while we rest and sleep, and let us allow the Lord to strengthen us to do what He wants us to do as we recognize that the Lord is the builder of our lives and our affairs. Let Him build us and our families so that we can work for the Lord.

Dear friend, do you realize that even while you sleep, your Lord is working for you? Yes, He is at work without sleep or slumber not only to preserve you, but also to prepare for your basic needs. He wants you to work in the way He leads you while you recognize that He is your builder and watchman. He wants to give you enough sleep and rest for your bodies and minds and to give you enough time to spend with Him during the day or night. If you keep working without enough of sleep or rest, when will you have time to spend with the Lord? He has promised to give you the basics of life so as to enable you to be His witnesses in this world. He wants you to seek Him first and foremost and far above all the glittering things this world offers. He wants you to realize that all the glories this world offers you will vanish here itself. None of our worldly achievements will be in the account book of the Lord. So no matter what we earn or amass, it will have no acknowledgement in Heaven. Only what we do for the Lord will be accounted for by Him. Let us focus on what the Lord will make us do for Him as He helps us to work and earn a living. Remember, even while we sleep, He is working for us and preparing for our needs. Let us give our bodies and minds to Him to work on. Let us enjoy the sleep and rest that He wants us to have so that we will be rejuvenated to work for Him, and also to work in His hands as instruments of righteousness in a sphere of His choice primarily as His witnesses and then on to earn a living to live for His glory and honor.

Like 18:27 - And Jesus said, "The things which are impossible with men are possible with God".

Thought for Today
God does great things to meet the needs of His children while they enjoy His gift of rest and sleep.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

TEARS END AT REAPING!

Tears End at Reaping!

Verse for Today: Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Psalms 126:5 - Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting.

God's people are sowers of God's love wherever they go. For them the whole world is their field and their prime concern is to sow the seeds of love, peace, joy, patience, goodness, gentleness and such other seeds of the fruit of God's Spirit which are entrusted with them. But the enemy is out and out creating hindrances to sowing. The enemy knows that if these seeds are sowed, they will sprout and grow, and so he tries to see to it that sowing is hindered. The enemy tries to make the lives of God's people filled with grief, pain, misery, sickness, loss, distress and the like so that their attention will be drawn away from their primary purpose in life. Many are drawn away through shifting their focus from the spiritual to the material, and from heavenly to the earthly. Those who overcome these hindrances and sow are often challenged to sow in spite of their rough experiences in life. They are often persuaded by their love for the Master to hold the plow with one hand and wipe their tears and sow with the other. They hope that one of these days the Lord will send rain their way so that the field will be soaked to help the seeds to sprout. Often the enemy comes to tell them that these seeds won't spout and grow because the environment is unfavourable. He will also bring to their attention the past failures of God's people in sowing. In spite of it all, there are those who sow from their hospital beds, sick beds in solitary confinements or surgical tables. There are those who sow even while they are hungry and thirsty and do not have any thing to eat. Some go to the field to sow amidst threats of danger, misrepresentations, misunderstandings and criticisms from co-sowers which make it extremely difficult to keep moving forward. Yet some of God's children sow and trust in the Lord to sprout their seeds as they continue to sow with tears in their eyes. They have a hope that if they sow, the Lord will allow their seeds to sprout and grow to become the kind of plant that the Lord would want it to be. They are promised great results which will make them reap plenty of crops and come home with shouts of joy.

Dear friend, are you discouraged by the environment of hatred, rivalry, conflicts, groupism, competition and disunity while you sow the seeds the Lord has entrusted with you? Is there an air of discouragement around that tells you that perhaps there won't be any result for your hard work and toil? Are you often broken hearted by the difficult situations created by the enemy which make your eyes filled with grief and tears? But these unfavourable situations need not discourage you because the Master of the Fields has asked you to go and sow His seeds around with the guarantee that if we sow in His name, He will give us fruit. These are fruit not for us to enjoy, but for us to submit to the Master for His glory and honour. The field is His and the seeds are His. Moreover, we are His and we go at His commandment. He has reassured us that we shall reap what we sow and that some of the seeds will bring forth crops of several folds. Let us today use our tears to soak the field. Let us also soak the sees in our tears so that they will sprout at the right time. He will help us to wipe our tears and keep our hearts at peace with Him so that we can go forward to sow with courage and confidence. The result is guaranteed by the Lord of the Fields. If we cry before the Lord, He will come to our aid and strengthen us to sow with the hope that He will give us the increase at the right time. While we go to sow, our physical, emotional and spiritual needs are looked after by the Lord. He will be our shade when the sun is hot and will cover us under His wings when the rain or snow falls on us. He will keep us under His shadow when the mighty winds of opposition and hindrance will try to batter us. He will walk with us when we go to sow and guide us about where to sow at what time. He will also fill our hearts with the blessed hope that one of these days we will see the crops which will help us to shout with joy.

Ecclesiastes 11:4 - Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.

Thought for Today
The tears of the sower are dried by the hope of the joyful brightness of reaping.

Monday, January 17, 2011

GENUINE GLADNESS!

Genuine Gladness

Verse for Today: Monday, January 17, 2011
Psalms 126:3 - The Lord has done great things for us, whereof we are glad.

In spite of the difficult situations that a child of God passes through, he is seen to be glad and rejoicing in life. He has the peace that the world doesn't have. He commits all his affairs to His Lord and lives without anxiety or fear. He casts all his cares upon the Lord and relaxes in His presence. He is able to rejoice in the Lord in spite of situations, tests, trials, tribulations and adversities. This often intrigues the people around and they wonder as to how the child of God can be glad in spite of difficulties. The people of this world think that gladness in life depends on favourable circumstances. But the circumstances are growing worse in the world and everywhere we look, we can see pain, misery, natural calamities, terrorism, health problems, family issues and a procession of emotional distress of one kind or another. So the people of the world conclude that it is not possible to be glad, and they search for gladness in securing possessions, positions, power, prestige, prominence and popularity. But they soon realize that these create a thirst for more of these and will never satisfy. The more they have these earthly things, the more problems they end up with. Any diminishing of these earthly achievements will develop frustrations of different dimensions and end up in conflicts, fights, competition, rivalry, resentment and resultant emotional and physical problems. But if we ask a child of God why he is glad, he will answer that the reason for all his happiness in life is what his Lord means to him in spite of circumstances, things and people. He is satisfied with what the Lord has given him. He is not bothered with quantity or quality, but the availability of basic things to meet his daily needs. He will testify that all of these including the salvation of his soul is what has been done by the Lord for Him which make him glad.

It is not difficult to see how the Lord provides for all the needs of His children. He has secured the salvation of their souls. He has made available all the Heavenly resources for His children to draw from. He protects them day and night and guides them in the difficult situations. He leads them through the dark valleys of life and brings them to light. He feeds their souls with heavenly food and fills them with the water of life from the Heavenly Spring. He helps them to grow in their faith and trust in the Lord through His Spirit and Word. He teaches them great lessons of life on a daily basis. He walks with them lest they get distracted and go on detours. He corrects them if they err. He is their refuge and tower of strength in times of the attack of the enemy. When a child of God experiences all of these blessings, he will be able to say that he is glad and rejoicing because the Lord is doing all of these great things for him on a daily basis. He will also be able to testify that the Lord has a great plan for his life here on earth and will accomplish it in spite of the circumstances.

Dear friend, it is a great challenge for you to be glad and rejoicing in all circumstances. This is possible only if you let the Lord run your life and handle your affairs His way. Let us today hand over the steering wheel of our lives to the Lord and travel with Him and exhibit gladness in all our expressions for the world to see. Your expressions of happiness will also be a great encouragement for the people of God around you who find the going very tough. Let us today say with the Psalmist that we are glad only because the Lord has done great things for us and has brought us so far. He will surely take us to the end and then translate us into his presence.

Lamentations 3:57 - You came near when I called You, and You said, "Do not fear".

Thought for Today
Gladness is not a mask that we wear to put up a nice disposition, but a spontaneous overflow of response to all that the Lord has done for us.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

SURROUNDING FIREWALL!

Surrounding Firewall

Verse for Today: Sunday, January 16, 2011
Psalms 125:2 - As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people both now and for evermore.

Our God provides personal protection for all His children. He surrounds them with Himself so that they will enjoy utmost protection and safety. He cares for His children especially because they are His chosen ones. He has paid the greatest price that has been paid for any transaction in the Universe to secure them for Him. He gave the very life of His Only Begotten Son to purchase them from the clutches of sin and Satan. He has made them His personal precious possession. They are in His hands and His firewall is around them to keep them safe from all forces of evil while they are in this world. God chose us out of His sovereign will and eternal plan to make us His special people to love and cherish and for continued fellowship. His protection and care of His children is illustrated through various means by the Lord including His dealings with the people of Israel. He has chosen them and promised to protect them. He has marked out Jerusalem as His city of peace where His temple existed. He chose to dwell among them in the Temple at Jerusalem. So He had great plans for Jerusalem's protection. It was surrounded by mountains which is an illustration of the insurmountable firewall of God Himself. Jerusalem as the earthly illustration of the Heavenly City was marked out for this purpose by God before the foundation of the world was laid and its protection and safety have been guaranteed. One day soon, His Son will rule the world from Jerusalem as His earthly capital. Through God's plan for Jerusalem, God speaks to His children that He is the protection for Jerusalem as well as for His people. When God is our protection, there is no scope for us to be fearful and anxious about our future or our security. We need to be confident and courageous about our future and our safety as we look at God's plan for Jerusalem. We can also see that God is fulfilling His great plan for His children everywhere and He preaches the message of safety, security, care, protection, providence, progress and promotion for us to gain confidence in Him and His power for victorious daily living.

Dear friend, as God is your protection, you will see God in His glory around you. If you life up your eyes and look around, you will see the wall of protection God has erected around you. It is not a wall that divides, but a circular wall that keeps you inside. It is the best wall of safety any one can get while in this world. This wall of protection is God Himself. When God protects you, the power of God in His ultimate strength is encompassing around you all the time. This protection is a gift God has given you because you are His chosen child. He has great plans for you in this life and you will be able to accomplish it in a fearless atmosphere because Heaven has taken charge of your safety and providence for daily living. But for you to enjoy His protection, you need to open your spiritual eyes to see the presence of God in your life. You will be able to feel His presence only if you live in a continuous life of repentance. Thus when you are living in unbroken fellowship with God, you will enjoy spiritual vision to see God's presence and protection around you. It is a spiritual exercise of faith on a daily, hourly and minute-by-minute experience that has to be renewed through continuous brokenness by the Spirit of God. Such a child of God will be humble before God and continuously thank Him for His care, and enjoy it by faith. Let us today lift up our eyes and see by faith the firewall of God's person and protection around us. His presence with us and around us will give us the awareness of our total inadequacy, and will help us to live in utter brokenness and repentance and thus enjoy the fellowship that He wants to have with us. Such lives will see and appreciate the safety of the presence of God with us, and experience the truth that He is our Immanuel and Ebenezer moment by moment.

Psalms 31:20 - In the shelter of Your presence You hide them from the intrigues of men; in Your dwelling you keep them safe from accusing tongues.

Thought for Today
Our awareness that we are in God and in His dwelling place will guard us against doubt, confusion, fear and anxiety.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

MOUNTAIN OF THE MOUNTAINS!

Mountain of the mountains

Verse for Today: Saturday, January 15, 2011
Psalms 121:1 - I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from whence shall my help come?

When we go through times of distress and trouble, it is only natural that we look for help from all possible sources. When we look up, we can see a lot of mountains from which we hope that help might come. So we look at these mountains with great hope and expectation. But we often find that these mountains are unable to help us. They are a great temptation to go to and put a lot of expectations on. They come in the form of people with influence, possessions of various kinds, kith and kin, qualifications, expertise, experience and the like. But they are unable to see and understand your emotions and desperation in its gravity. They give an impression of having a towering personality and glitter in their attitude to help. But they are quite incapable and inadequate to render any help. As we are denied help from one mountain, we look around for another mountain which might be taller than the first mountain. Thus we look around for help in utter desperation and find ourselves in despondency. But there is a person who is is greater than all the mountains that are around us. He is our Lord and He never gives false hope. He is the citadel of all hope and the place of perfect help, support and strength. He never disappoints. There is no shadow of turning with Him. His promises are eternally fresh and full of His power. He can do all things that are required to get you out of the distress you are in. If you look up, you will be able to see Him as your strong pillar and tower, above all the helpless and unwilling mountains. He comes near you to give you total help and support. He understands your emotions and heartaches. He wipes your tears and gives you the kind of release that you so desperately require. He gives you victory and helps you to cross the Red Seas and the Jordans of your life. He strengthens you to climb the mountains of difficulties that are on your pathway and take you to the other side. He travels with you in your sinking boat and takes you through the storms to the other side of the sea of this world. When you know Him, there is no need to go to any other field to glean, because He has enough and more to meet all your needs and is willing to give you abundantly to meet the challenges of all your circumstances.

Dear friend, are you looking for help today? Are your eyes on the tall mountains that are around you? Do you feel that they are too far away and the more you walk towards them, the more they are unreachable? Are they only mirages which give you false hope and expectation? Are you looking around wondering from where your help might come? There is a place of quiet rest from where all the help you desperately need will come, and He is your beloved Lord. His Help is made available for the asking in earnest and with importunity, to show how serious you are for His help. He has promised and will never change His word, for His word is as true as His name and Himself. He knows your needs and will give you in abundance to meet the need in its fullness. He wants you to know that you don't need to go to the mountains around you which are only using verbatim to want to help you, but they only want to create a dependency which has no element of strength in it. Their promises are hollow and bubbles without substance because they are unable to meet your needs in its desired quality. They are often the agents of the enemy of your soul to try to detract you from going to the right and most powerful Mountain who is your Lord Himself. You probably need to train your eyes of understanding not to be tempted to go to this world's mountains which are only writings on a smokescreen. Let us instead depend upon the Lord Almighty whose reservoirs will never replenish and will overflow for you and all you need to do is to take what you need from His treasure house by faith. Your help comes from the One who created this whole Universe. He is the owner of the cattle of a thousand hills and all the gold in the goldmines of this Universe. Let us today trust Him and look unto Him only for help, for He will never disappoint.

Psalms 121:2 - My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

Thought for Today
Any one who creates an impression to want to help will be proved by what he or she can deliver in the right quantity and quality at the right time and place.

Friday, January 14, 2011

LESSONS FROM TROUBLES!

Lessons from Troubles!

Verse for Today: Friday, January 14, 2011
Psalms 120:1 - In my trouble I cried to the Lord, and He answered me.

Tremendous truths are embodied in this stanza of the hymn of the people of God. First of all, God's people have troubles in this world. They are put into distress by circumstances, people and things who are all agents of the enemy of their soul. The trouble is normally intended to distract God's people and shake them from their faith in the Lord. It is aimed to sow the seeds of discouragement and distress in their lives and create desperate situations to see if they would run away from the true pathway created for them by their Lord. The enemy knows very well that if the faith is shaken, even the strongest might fall. He tried to sow the seeds of unbelief in the lives of many of the greatest servants of the Lord and found many of them having feet of clay rather than steel. But the Psalmist has the right remedy when it comes to situations of trouble and distress. Troubles and persecutions are powerful means to create doubts, confusions and mistrust in the minds of a believer. Let us be sure to know that the enemy will try all of the means at his disposal to weaken our faith. But his means are weapons of flesh, and are dubious. What should the righteous do at such times of trouble? There will be temptations to quit or go back from the pathway of God. Often the enemy will deceive the child of God to follow the path of the flesh and the world by taking detours to circumvent the trouble. But the Word of God admonishes us to go to the Lord in prayer and supplication and cry unto the Lord who is our refuge. He is already aware of our situation and has a plan to help us in our trouble. But He expects us to go to Him in utter desperation to admit our total inability to handle the difficulty that we are going through. When we cry unto Him, He will definitely answer us. He will help us to get out of the trouble if it would destroy our spiritual life. But if the trouble will increase our faith and build us up, He will help us to go through it, but would guarantee that it would not hurt us in any way. These experiences would thus increase our dependability on the Lord without anxiety or fear.

Dear friend, when you are confronted by the troubled realities of life, how do you respond to it? Are you seeking the mind of the Lord to see if the trouble is to purify you further so that you would be drawn closer to the Lord? Is it to increase your dependability on the Lord in all that you go through? Would it increase your faith and trust in the Lord or would it tare you down? Will you be tempted to seek help from the world and its methodologies or intelligence? When you are unable to handle the troubled situation, you are urged by the Word of God to go to the Lord and pour your heart out in His presence. There is a divine guarantee that He will answer you. But the answer might be in ways which are quiet unexpected. If we trust Him and hand our situation of trouble over to Him, He will see to it that it will help build you up and teach you great lessons in life to trust the Lord. Sometimes, He will let you go through the trouble like Daniel and his Jewish brothers, but will bring you out unhurt, and equip you for greater adventures in faith. Sometimes, you might go through a shipwreck, but you will not be hurt. At other times, He will guard you from getting deep into the trouble, but will get you out of the troubled situation as in the case of the Red Sea experience of the people of Israel. But the divine plan to allow you to learn from your situation is far more important than insulating you from trouble. The Lord's answer to your cries is for Him to allow you to grow spiritually and depend on Him totally. Sometimes He will take us out of the trouble immediately, but at other times He will delay His answers so that we will grow in our trust in the Lord. This is how He proves to us that He is our Jehovah-Jireh! So we can be absolutely confident that the Lord is with us and will shield us whether we are in a storm, den of lions, fiery furnace, shipwreck, dungeon, deep pit, at the dried out brook, dark tunnel or at a life-threatening situation. Let us today trust in the never changing promises of the Lord and keep marching forward.

Psalms 65:5a - You answer us with awesome deeds of righteousness, O God our Savior.

Thought for Today
The awesome answers to the prayers of His children reveal the loving heart of our Heavenly Father.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

PANACEA FOR THE FAINTHEARTED!

Panacea for the Fainthearted!

Verse for Today: Thursday, January 13, 2011
Psalms 119:50 - This is my comfort in my affliction, that Your word has revived me.

This world promises comfort, but gives more and more afflictions in the soul and body. The world's philosophy is that the smart and intelligent people can use their human ability to avoid suffering, and so concludes that only the unintelligent suffers in this world. But even the smart people have a lot of sufferings in this world, largely because of sin. But they do not find comfort during their sufferings because their abundant resources and smartness cannot give them soothing words or touch. They can use their wealth to buy physical comfort. Their only companion in pain is the pill that they take. Their sole happiness is from the entertainment or the substance that they can buy with their money, but all of these are empty pitchers which cannot hold lasting joy and consolations. But when the world and its agencies put the children of God in afflictions of various kinds, their faces glow with the comfort that the God of All Comforts gives them through His Word. Even when the child of God is deep in trouble and feel faint, the promises and comforts of the Word which are poured into his heart by the Spirit of God will revive him to get out of the rut created by afflictions of various kinds. Thus they are able to comfort others who are in distress even when they themselves are in trouble. Afflictions of various kinds have brought forth the greatest hymns of comfort throughout Biblical account and the history of the Church during the last two millenniums. These hymns are sufficient to revive even the faintest believer. These hymns have attracted millions to the gospel of comfort and they have come to Jesus to receive His Comforter to be with them forever. Israel's hymn book has 150 hymns of comfort which they are still singing and are the songs of the children of God in all circumstances to revive them out of the distresses that they all go through.

Dear friend, are you going through a time of distress and misery in your body or soul today? Are you finding it difficult to sleep because of the burdens in your heart or body? Do you suffer because of debt or business failure? Have you been unemployed and finding it difficult to feed your family? Is there unbearable pain in your body which no painkiller helps to take away? If you find your situation beyond solution, there is still hope for you. That hope is in the Word of God which is eternally secure in Heaven. This Word is the Living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the author and finisher of your faith and all the promises of God. In Him, there is no denial of any comfort. The comfort that the Lord gives is more qualitative than simply quantitative for a short period of time. It strengthens your bones and nerves to go through whatever situation that you are faced with today. It shifts your attention from your sore spots to the Lord Jesus who endured hardship and afflictions for you. He knows it all in its intensity and depth. He knows all about the heavy and unbearable burden that you are carrying. Remember, when the Lord carries you in His hands, He actually carries your burdens as well. He praised the Father and sang a hymn just minutes before He was arrested to be brutally crucified. He had the purpose of God in focus while He went through Gethsemane, Gabbatha, Calvary Road and Golgotha until He pronounced the finishing line of His race for you because He loved you so much. When we suffer which is as per His knowledge, often to teach us great lessons in dependence on the Him, He is with us accompanied by a whole procession of His great promises in His Word which are sufficient to revive you to keep going. Your soul is revived like the bones and joints of the crippled at the Temple Gate called Beautiful to leap and dance in praise. When He gives you a revival in your soul to focus on the promises of God, it certainly is the greatest comfort and strength as He allows you to be purified like gold in the furnace.

Psalms 119:92 - If Your law had not been my delight, then I would have perished in my affliction.

Thought for Today
God's comfort through His Word works mightily even when the best medicines of the world fail to accomplish results.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

THE BLINDFOLDED LIGHT!

The Blindfolded Light!
Verse for Today: Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Psalms 118:27a - The Lord is God and He has given us light.

This world is groping in darkness without direction. Its leaders are trying to desperately find a way out of the problems while still in darkness and find that all their efforts are in vain. When they solve one problem, scores of other problems prop up in front of them and they are at a loss. Their promises are like pictures drawn on water. But that is not the case with the children of God. They have God Almighty living in their lives. Once their eyes were blind and they were in darkness, without direction and hope. But the God of the Universe has become their Lord who gave them spiritual vision and insight to see the way created for them by Him. Their lives and pathways are lighted by the Heavenly light so that they can see the way God has carved out for them. They are given faith to trust in the Lord to keep going forward. They are not concerned about what lies ahead because they have put their trust in the One who knows what lies ahead. It is like traveling in an ocean liner through the vast ocean, putting all our trust in the captain of the ship. When God's children put all their trust in the Captain of the Universe to take them forward, they can relax and travel joyfully. Even when they do not know what would happen the next moment, they would enjoy the peace that passes all understanding and stay confident. They are able to live in the light, and at the same time they are made light for others to see the Light of the World. They are taught to pray for their daily bread and to trust their Lord to supply their every need on a daily basis. They receive daily grace to enjoy each day and keep going in the light that is shed abroad in their hearts by their Lord.

Dear friend, are you seeking direction and guidance for your daily life? Are there instances when you do not know right from wrong? Are you concerned about important matters in your life and desire divine guidance? The Lord Jesus went through darkness in this world in order that your eyes might be open to see the way He has made for you to pursue today. He was blindfolded so that you would see His light. His light is shed into your heart through His Spirit who lives in you and help you understand His Word which is your travel manual in your sojourn in a world of slavery, misery, darkness and confusion. All you need to do is to commit your ways unto the Lord who is your light in life and He will show you the way. When your circumstances are made dark by the enemy, you don't need to be anxious, but to allow the Lord to hold your hands to take you forward. But you need to watch out for the traps of the enemy on your way to distract you from the pathway marked out by the Lord for you. The enemy will give you so many reasons to think that the way shown by him is the right way and if he fails in that, he will confuse you to choose the wrong way. So when you and I need guidance and light, let us look unto the Light of the World and see His light to guide us to go forward. His way is the way of the cross and not the broad way of the world which is after popularity, prestige, possessions, positions and power. He walked the Calvary Road for us carrying the old rugged cross, taking all the shame, mockery, rejection and despising. We are asked to follow Him in His lifestyle. Let His goals be our goals and His desires be ours today and all the days of our lives. He shed His light on the way of the cross for us to go forward and let us rejoice as we see His light on His way, for He is the way, the truth and the life.

Psalms 36:9 - For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light.

Thought for Today
When our circumstances blindfold us, we can hold the Hands which hold our future and walk boldly.