Monday, February 28, 2011

NO FEAR; WILL HOLD!

NO FEAR; WILL HOLD!

Verse for Today: Monday, February 28, 2011
Psalms 41:10 - So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God, I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.

God presents Himself to His children each day in the context of their physical and emotional needs in their particular circumstances. He knows them and their needs in an out. All their thoughts and feelings are well understood by Him. He knows why we have such feelings and emotional ups and downs. He knows our capacity to cope with and respond to our circumstances and various challenges. He clearly diagnoses our strengths and weaknesses. He sees our fear and amazement at what is happening to us. He measures our weaknesses and our dire need for help to go forward. He also recognizes our failures in our thinking, planning, actions and coping. As we are His children, He comes rushing to us with His Word and His wonderful promises to help us face the realities of life. He wants to take away our fears of the unknown and the fears of the possible future turn of events. When we are amazed at the complications of life that we are faced with, He admonishes us not to be surprised and shocked in bewilderment. In our weaknesses and helplessness, He reassures us of the power of His right hand which is at work for us. He guarantees us that He will be with us in times of fear and when we are not sure as to what might happen to us in the near future. Even when the events around us shock us to disbelief, He asks us to trust Him to see us through it all. His strength which is poured into us far exceeds and compensates for all the weaknesses that we experience. The Hands which hold the stars, planets, solar system and the entire universe are freely made available to uphold us so that we would not get ourselves tangled in the mire of difficult circumstances. He admonishes us to be encouraged in Him. He commands us not to allow ourselves to be mutilated by the circumstances, but to simply trust in Him. If He is able to save our souls from perishing, He is also able to safekeeping our bodies and lives which He has purchased at Calvary.

Dear friend, are you facing a fearful and shocking circumstance which drains away all your courage? Do you feel that your difficult situation is draining you of your strength to go forward? But there is no need for you to be in bewilderment, but just look and see where you are seated. You are sitting comfortable in the Hands which have created you. You are seated in the Heavenly places with the Lord. His mighty hands which hold the universe with trillions of galaxies together is holding you also because you are His special precious possession. He has given you His Spirit who is not the spirit of fear, discouragement and confusion, but the spirit of freedom, strength, courage and peace. Every thing else comes from the evil spirit of Satan who is the enemy our souls. The Lord has abundance of grace for your every circumstance. No matter who is against you, the Lord is for you and He stands with you. Your God is capable and willing to change any of your circumstances for you so as not to hurt you. If He doesn't change the circumstance, He will change your mental disposition so that you will have the courage and strength to face any circumstance. Perhaps you are much burdened about the turn of events in the world and how it might affect your economic interests or job situation! It might be your family or health that concerns you most. It might be the slander that you face from your kith and kin of the earthly or heavenly family! Perhaps you are threatened by your boss or colleagues who try to get rid of you! There might be attempts to create false evidence or witness against you. No matter what the situation is, there is always hope in the Lord who has come to take away your fear, failures, weaknesses, anxiety or even guilt over forgiven sins of the past. The Lord is admonishing you to take courage in Him, lay aside every negative thought and submit all the complications of your situations to Him. So cheer up, dear friend, your Lord is at work for you in your difficult circumstances and He wants you to leave it all to Him and relax.

Joshua 1:9 - Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord, your God will be with you wherever you go.

Thought for Today
When you are in the mighty hands of the Lord, you are out of bounds with emotional entanglements like fear, anxiety, guilt, apprehensions, doubt, confusion and discouragement.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

STRENGTH FOR WAITING!

STRENGTH FOR WAITING

Verse for Today: Sunday, February 27, 2011
Isaiah 40: 31 - (But) they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

We are reminded today that there is absolutely no disappointment for those who wait upon the unchanging Lord. We are commanded to wait for the Lord and are guaranteed that there is no scope for frustration as we wait upon the Lord. Even as we wait, we will soar to higher spiritual vistas in our faith and hope that the answer to our prayers will come from the Lord at the right time. As we reach higher levels of faith, we will be satisfied with waiting and not even concerned as to when the answers will come. But there is the divine assurance that God's answers are on the way and that we are given the confidence to keep waiting for the Lord and for His perfect timing. When we run the race with hope, we are guaranteed that we will not be weary, but jubilant because each step we take in our race or walk is a step towards the fulfillment of our faith and hope in the Lord. When the Almighty has promised to answer our prayers, we do not need to wait in a stationary position, but can keep moving forward without weariness and fainting. As we run, the Lord fortifies our bodies and spirits without sagging. He keeps renewing our hope in Him and His promises. This hope is renewed each step of the way which makes our race quite enjoyable and exciting because we are running with the Lord and dashing into His purposes and plans for us. We are challenged not to retreat, but to ebb forward without regard to the discouraging environment around us. The enemy of our souls will try to make our going tough and clutter our circumstances, but if we look unto the the Lord who is the author and finisher of our faith, we would be able to run without weariness and walk without fainting.

Dear friend, perhaps you have been waiting for quite some time for the Lord to fulfill His promises to you. When the waiting is for long, it is likely that we go weary of waiting. The enemy of our souls will try to sow doubt and disbelief in our hearts to shake our faith and trust in the Lord. So as we run our race of faith, we need to make sure to focus our attention on the Lord who has called us into this race for Him. He helps us in our race and renews His promises to us to keep on waiting for His time to come. Any attempt to fast track will take us through detours which will defeat God's purpose in taking us through His pathway. Waiting is an act of faith. Only those who are matured can wait with faith for an unrevealed future. Waiting produces patience in us to keep waiting further. The more we wait, the more the strength that is poured into us to keep waiting further. The Lord's schedules are perfect and He is never late for a second. What He wants to accomplish in and through us will be accomplished at the right time. But His waiting might also means that we are not ready for the answers. So today if the Lord is waiting to answer you, it is because He is in the process of making you ready for the answers. The answers might mean that you need to be stronger to receive the answers and will know how to handle the answers in a matured way. So as we wait for the Lord, let us spend our time and energy to ask Him to make us more matured. Let us allow Him to make us stronger. Let Him use His Spirit to prepare us for the answers that He is readying for us. In the process, we will receive the peace that passes all understanding that He is not inactive while we are asked to wait. His delays, if any, are divinely appointed and the time we spend with Him in waiting is most precious for us in fellowship and hope. His answers are on the way and so let us prepare our hearts and wait patiently for Him to unfold the future events so as to take glory through it all.

Psalms 103:5 - (The Lord) satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

Thought for Today
Impatience will eat an unripened fruit which will sour in the mouth whereas waiting will eat a ripened fruit which will be sweet and aromatic.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

FROM WEARINESS TO STRENGTH!

FROM WEARINESS TO STRENGTH

Verse for Today: Saturday, February 26, 2011
Isaiah 40:29 - (The Lord) gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.

It is amazing to see how the Lord's attention is always on the needy. He is looking for people who are weak and weary. He focuses on those who are willing to admit their weariness and weakness. He wants to work on those who seek strength and power from Him. The Lord puts a premium on those who admit their weakness and powerlessness. When they cry unto Him for help, He comes down to strengthen them with His strength. When they seek His face in the phase of utter powerlessness, He pours His power into them. His strength and power are given to His weak and powerless children in order for them to do what He wants them to do. His strength in us is not to do what the world wants us to do. His power is to accomplish what He wants to accomplish in this world for His glory and honor. In other words, the Lord wants us to reach a point when we are totally empty of our human capacity and depend fully on His power and strength for everything. The world will always try to put some of its fleshly strength and strategies into us, but we will soon find that we will not be able to accomplish any thing for God with world's tactics. The first step in getting the strength and power of God is to look into our hearts and see how powerless and weak we are without the power of God in us. Secondly we go to Him in utter repentance of our situation of weakness which is because we have not appropriated the powerhouse that the Lord has kept open for us through His Holy Spirit. Thirdly we receive His power and strength by faith and start using it for His cause only. This process has to continue so that we can fly like an eagle and soar to greater heights through the Lord who strengthens us to do what He wants us to do here on this earth for His name' sake.

Dear friend, are you feeling weak and weary today? Do you experience powerlessness in your soul in what you are doing? Is your strength draining out because of the intense battle you are engaged in with the evil forces? Are you starting with the Spirit and ending with flesh in some ways? Instead of getting frustrated about it, it is time you sit in the presence of the Lord in retrospect and get yourself broken in your spirit about your situation. If you are not utilizing the power and strength that is made available to you by the Lord through His Word and Spirit, confess it to the Lord and ask to be filled with His Spirit who is the Spirit of power and strength. The Spirit will remind you of the power that is in His Word. The promises in the Word are to strengthen you to appropriate the power that is made available to you to believe and attempt great things for the Lord in this world. Your strength and power are not to be wasted in securing any thing for you, but to be used in glorifying the Lord in your life. His power will help you fight the battles of life and His strength will enable you to accomplish great things for Him. He knows when you are weary and weak because of the burdens you carry and the battles you fight against the powers of darkness and the forces of the world. But the power and the strength of the Lord will be sufficient to meet any challenge any time and any where. The power of the resurrection of the Lord is on you to rise up above any circumstance for the glory of God. When you rise up from the ashes the world thrusts upon you, you will be able to use all the power that God gives you to face the challenges of life and come out victorious.

2 Samuel 22:33 - It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect.

Thought for Today
When God empowers a weary soul with His strength, that person gets divine power to accomplish great things for God.

Friday, February 25, 2011

PERSONAL CARE!

PERSONAL CARE

Verse for Today: Friday, February 25, 2011
Isaiah 40:11 - He tends His flock like a Shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart; He gently leads those that have young.

We are fortunate to have the privilege to be led by the Lord as our great Shepherd. He doesn't lead His children like a cruel master or a military officer, but as a loving shepherd who knows His sheep intimately. He knows them so well to be able to distinguish them by their weaknesses, needs, capacity and prospects. He leads them as a holy fellowship under His leadership. He walks in front of them and leads them by His voice and presence. He knows those sheep that need special attention and emergency care. The younger ones are given special tender care by holding them in His arms, rather than dragging them to follow the elder ones in the fast track because He knows that they are weak and tend to be tired. They are close to His chest to enjoy the warmth, care and protection that they desperately need. He knows those who need to be led gently and those that might walk faster. Each one is led at his or her own pace. His leading is an indication of His special care because of His interest, commitment and loyalty to each of them. He doesn't leave any single sheep behind and none is left out. His heart is full of the interest, needs and burdens each of His sheep bears. He bears all these burdens and shows compassion and lovingkindness. His hand of discipline will be visible as necessary, but that is also need-based and positive rather than rule-based. We are fortunate to have such a tender, loving and compassionate Shepherd in our Lord. It is a great privilege to be led by this Shepherd because we are His personal possession that He secured by giving His life and blood for them to release them from the clutches of sin and Satan. It is our privilege and prerogative to take advantage of all the wonderful ministries that He renders to each of us to grow in His love and grace. There are thieves trying to take us away and wild animals to terrorize us to take detour rather than follow this wonderful shepherd and we need to beware lest we go astray.

Dear friend, aren't you glad that you are in the flock of the most loving and caring Shepherd you can ever get? He is your Lord who recreated you on the cross of Calvary by His own very blood and life. He has given you new life and has done everything needed to sustain you eternally. His very presence is a great strength to you. His arms are a great protection for you in all your situations. His voice is your greatest comfort in times of trouble. His heart warms you up when you are discouraged. His words are most soothing and full of lovingkindness. He instructs you and encourages you in your daily walk. He revives you when your spirit is sagging. He motivates you when you feel depressed. He warns you in times of danger and distraction. He is like the honey in the honeycomb even in the bitterest experiences of life. As you live in a hopeless world, He gives you hope for the brightest future. He guarantees perpetuity for you and promises to be with you all the way. His touch has given you healing from your sin-sickness and His hands help you to stretch your weakening knees as you struggle through the narrow way. When your shoulders ache because of the old rugged cross you carry, He helps you to carry the burden of the cross. He is the Good Shepherd who is with you in all situations and meet all your needs as you walk after the Man of Galilee who had no place to lay His head when foxes had their holes and birds had their nests. Walking in the edges of His ways with Him is the most exuberant way of life that is granted to you.

Psalms 78:52 - But He led forth His own people like sheep and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.

Thought for Today
The sheep of the Lord find perfect peace and rest in times of trials when they realize that they are in the everlasting arms of their great Shepherd.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

COMFORT UNLIMITED!

COMFORT UNLIMITED!

Verse for Today: Thursday, February 24, 2011
Isaiah 40:1 - Comfort, comfort My people, says the Lord.

Our God is and has always been a God of all comfort. He comforts us like a mother comforts her young ones. He has the right comfort for each situation that His children pass through. His Word is the word of comfort loaded with promises. He comes to wipe our tears when we cry. He strengthens us when we are weak. He is with us when we go through trials and tribulations. He is also like a loving father who comes to comfort his children while they go through His discipline. When they experience loss, He comes to reassure them that He can and will turn their loss into gain at the right time. He reminds us that the loss on earth is not a serious matter and that the real loss is what we might loose in Heaven, and so He admonishes us to consider how not to be losers in the kingdom of God. He is the best comforter when we are lonely, rejected, despised and isolated. He comforts us with His Spirit who is the Spirit of Comfort. The Spirit comes to encompass our hearts and fills us with noble and positive thoughts about what is yet to come rather than wallow over what has been lost. He always helps us to focus on the future and the Heavenly rather than the past and the earthly. As He comforts us, our Lord asks us to comfort others who go through a tough time. Only those who experience God's comfort and possess it in abundance can pass it on to others who go through similar situations. Not only that, God is concerned about all His children who are the sheep of His pasture and sends His comfort to them all at the right time through His own sources. Today let us search the comforting mind of the Lord through His Word and allow the words of comfort to saturate our hearts.

Dear friend, are you in need of comfort in your heart today? Are you going through grief, rejection, dejection, despondency, resentment, despising, loss or failure? It is possible at times as these for you to probably wonder what the meaning of life here on earth is? Your life is a gift to you by the Lord who is your creator. He recreated you on the cross of Calvary through His death. So you are doubly the precious possession of your Lord. He lives in you and lives for you. He reigns in your heart to govern your thoughts, aspirations, feelings, emotions and desires. When you are hurt through your own guilt or because of the actions of others towards you, or even due to the interplay of circumstances and things in your situations, what you need is comfort and strength without which it is difficult to go forward. It is at this time that the Lord comes to you with His words of comfort. He is primarily asking you today to look unto Him for comfort. You will find Him in your heart, and if you make Him the Lord of all your situations, He will give you the comfort and peace about what is going on in and around you. He will work on your emotions to give you comfort. He will speak to you through His Word which will give you power over your situations and the destructive thoughts which try to take control over you. He will fill you with the power of His Word to overpower the negative thoughts which come from your circumstances. He will help you to hope against hope in the Lord that He will bring your situations to pass and take you forward. He will rule and overrule your circumstances to give you comfort and hope for a brighter future. He will fill your heart with Himself and His Spirit so that your hearts and minds will be filled with His comfort. But you need to allow Him to comfort you through full surrender of your situation to Him. Allow the Lord to govern your thoughts and feelings and make His promises your mainstay in going forward. Let us today hold on to the Lord and His Word because He has made His comfort available to us today through His Word. Let us avail and appropriate the comfort that He wants to give us today and live as people of comfort.

Matthew 11:28 - Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort.

Thought for Today
God's comfort is the never ending and bottomless ocean to which we are all invited to dip deep and enjoy its abundance for every need every day.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

THE SCHOOL OF AFFLICTION!

THE SCHOOL OF AFFLICTION

Verse for Today: Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Isaiah 30:20 - Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teacher will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see him.

When the Lord gives us something, He gives it to us with a great purpose. He is interested in accomplishing His purpose in and through us. So sometimes, He gives His children bread of adversity to eat and water of affliction to drink as they go along. Sometimes God's children lament day and night and seem to drink their tears all the time. There are some who are called upon to taste pain, misery, poverty, ridicule, rejection and resentment throughout their lives. They are called to walk on the Calvary Road where their Lord trod in the past. He was the Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief. He wants His children to follow His path which led Him to the cross. When we follow Christ, the world will be so irritated with our kind of faith and try to persecute us. If we live truly to please the Lord, we will have to sometimes displease the people around. Watching our life of faith with divine principles, the world will try to make our lives difficult. Our Lord allows such lifestyle of sufferings for His children which is a way by which they would be able to follow the lifestyle of their Master. But during such times of persecution and difficulties, they would certainly find the Lord in His glory to strengthen them. Joseph, Daniel, Jeremiah, John the Baptizer, Paul, Peter, James and scores of others have gone through such experiences in the past. The history of the church is filled with the pain that God's people have endured for their Lord. They ate the bread of adversity and drank the water of affliction all their lives, but were grateful receiving such experiences for their Lord who suffered for them. When they were given the drink of sorrow and pain, they gladly accepted it, like the Lord Jesus, and thanked the Lord for the privilege given to them to follow His life and experiences. But He gives revelations of His glory to them during their adversities to strengthen them and gave them the reassurance that they will receive the martyr's crowns when they see the Lord in glory.

Dear friend, are you experiencing the bread of adversity and water of affliction in your life lately? Remember, it is a special gift given to you by the Lord out of His special love to you. He knows your willingness to taste it for His sake. The Lord will give you the grace to accept the fact that He has a great purpose to accomplish in and through your life as you walk the path of the cross. Afflictions are often the instruments the Lord uses in the lives of His people to draw them closer to Him and to give them the experience of brokenness in them. Thus afflictions lead to patience, maturity and a willingness to suffer for the Lord. If the Lord Jesus Christ has suffered so much for us, it is only fitting that we respond to His sufferings by our willingness to suffer for Him. All His disciples suffered for Him and the account of their sufferings crowd the columns of church history. We find all the righteous children of God suffering in their walk of faith even during the Old Testament times. Job, Jacob, David, Joseph and the prophets are good illustrations of lives which went through unexplainable sufferings. The apostles considered sufferings as a great privilege given to them by the Lord. It purifies us of our ego, pride and self worth. Sufferings make us trust in the Lord totally in everything. Sufferings increase our dependence on the Lord and make our own abilities worthless. Sufferings increase our faith. But through it all, we experience the presence of God with us to teach us wonderful lessons about Him and His grace to us. Remember, the Lord is never far away from us when we suffer. He is with us and He fills us with Himself and gives us the strength and courage to go through it all and learn lessons to trust Him more day after day.

Psalms 119:50 - This is my comfort in my affliction: that Your Word has revived me.

Thought for Today
The comforts of the Lord insulate us as we go through the fiery furnace of afflictions.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

MUTUAL WAITING!

MUTUAL WAITING!

Verse for Today: Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Isaiah 30: 18 - Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him.

Our God is gracious unto us because we are His children. He has blessed us positionally with all the blessings of the Heavenly Places, but we need to appropriate these blessings. We can claim these promises when we give up our own ways of living and confess our sins and shortcomings to Him and go to Him asking for Him to shower His blessings upon us. God waits for us to be right with Him so that His blessings can flow towards us. We cannot expect to live the way we want and desire God to give us all that He wants us to have. We cannot have our ways and at the same time His ways. Either we should choose to have our way and pick up all the consequences of it, or surrender ourselves to have God's way completely fulfilled in us. So God is looking at us and see if we would confess our sins and go to Him with our requests and supplications. In other words, God longs to show grace and mercy to us and He expects us to meet Him at His terms. We do not need to bribe God or give Him any thing in order for Him to be gracious to us. He is a gracious God and wants us to be blessed, but will do it only when we go to Him and confess our sins. He wants to show us His compassion and waits for us to go to Him with a surrendering and willing heart to receive what He wants to give us. When we confess our inadequacies, emptiness and incapability in managing our affairs our way, we need to wait for Him to acknowledge our sincere faith and confession and to receive His grace and compassion. Thus when we wait in His presence for Him to bless us, we become truly blessed people. As we wait, He fills our hearts with peace that passes understanding that He is at work for us and at the right time His help will come to meet our needs and to strengthen us in the challenges we face on a daily basis. In other words, our relationship with Him is mutual. We respond to His grace by our confession and He responds to our confession by pouring out His grace upon us.

Dear friend, have you been seeking the grace and compassion of our Lord for long? Are you getting tired of waiting? First of all, ask the Lord to give you the patience to wait for His time and enjoy His peace in the process. Secondly, look into your own heart to see if there are any wicked ways in you and confess it before the Lord. If there is any lack of surrender and consecration of your life to Him, it is time to do it right now. If you do not take time to do these, it would remain as a hindrance for you to appropriate the grace and compassion of our Lord. He wants you to express to Him your total inadequacy to run your life through your own wisdom, knowledge, experience, expertise, resources and with the support of world's latest technology. When you don't give God first and foremost place in your life, you are not ready to receive the best that He wants to give you. He wants to give His best to only those who want to make Him the Lord of all areas of their lives. He wants to trust you to possess His resources if only you are patient and matured to handle it for His glory and not for your exaltation. At the same time, He is the exalted God who waits patiently for you to go to Him and confess to Him that you are poor, wretched, broken and empty. As you confess, He wants you to wait patiently for Him to give you His best at His best time which He has designed for you. As we reach a stage when He has you completely surrendered in His hands, He pours out His riches for you to enjoy on a daily basis. He gives you victory on a daily basis and all the grace that you need to fight your battles and enjoy the fruit of His Spirit which includes patience, peace and joy. This is the true way to spiritual blessings as we wait for the Lord and for His time. May that be our experience even today to meet all the challenges we are faced with! Then waiting for Him itself becomes a joy and true blessedness.

Isaiah 40:29 - He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.

Thought for Today
God waits for His children to straighten out their lives for His blessings to flow on to them and expects His children to wait for Him and His time to receive His blessings.

Monday, February 21, 2011

RIGHT HANDLING BY THE LOVING HANDS!

RIGHT HANDLING BY THE LOVING HANDS

Verse for Today: Monday, February 21, 2011
Isaiah 28:29 - This also comes from the Lord of hosts, who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working.

The way the Lord handles His children is amazing. He knows the basic characteristics, strengths, weaknesses and sensitivities of each of His children and will give them experiences to build them up and not tear them down. He knows the limit to which each child can handle different life experiences and gives them experiences according to their capacity to take each experience. His desire for them is to make them come out stronger from each experience. He is aware of our capacity and has different handling methods for each of us. He acts through His wonderful counsel and knowledge about each of us. He is like a mother who knows the tastes and requirements of each of her children. He is like a shepherd deal with each sheep according to their peculiar capabilities, strengths and weaknesses. His dealings with each of us are thus according to His intimate knowledge of each of us. It is amazing to realize that He chooses experiences for each of us and allows us to go through it. This is why some go through fire, but not all and some are put in lion's den and not all of His children. Some go through ship wreck and storms, while others have milder experiences. But through it all, His intention is that His children come out victorious. We might go through painful experiences, but His loving hands are underneath us so as not to hurt us. The experience in itself can be tough and rough, but we are in His loving hands and will continue to enjoy His lovingkindness, mercy and grace to enable us to grow in our relationship with the Lord. It is all done according to His wise counsel which guides us in the way His plan works for us.

Dear friend, perhaps you feel that you are brought through tough experiences in life which are at times unbearable. But please know that even though you are threshed, it is done in a special way so that it will not hurt you or pressed beyond your capacity. He is only using a staff or rod to thresh you and not a threshing instrument and its cartwheel. He will not allow you to be ground with a horseman. This is because He knows that you are soft and thin in your emotions, and will not be able to bear the heavy and sharp instruments on you. This is the hand of the Lord who loves you so much as to care for you like a mother cares for her little ones. You can see that different believers are allowed to go through different experiences to groom and develop them. All the Bible characters have different experiences which the Lord allowed them to go through in order to learn great spiritual lessons. How glad we should be when we all go through different experiences in life which the Lord gives us in His infinite wisdom and wise counsel! He knows what is best for each of us and what we can bear with. We are all taught through different experiences at different times in our lives. When we are new believers the experiences He gives us are probably less tough as compared to what is given to those who have known Him for a longer time. When we are allowed to go through the heat of the wilderness, He allows us to lean on to Him so as not to feel the heat and the thirst which we find there. So let us be thankful that the Lord gives us only what we can take and what He knows to be of great spiritual value to us.

Psalms 92:5 - How great are Your works, O Lord, how profound Your thoughts!

Thought for Today
Even when we are allowed to go through threshing instruments and cartwheels of life, it is wonderful to know that we are in the loving arms of our beloved Lord.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

WISE COUNSEL FOR THE WAY!

WISE COUNSEL FOR THE WAY

Verse for Today: Sunday, February 20, 2011
Isaiah 30:21 - Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it."

It is amazing how meticulously the eyes of the Lord follow His children in their daily walk! He has chosen the way of the cross for them to walk in it and He is keen that His children walk in it. He walks with them, but instead of forcing them to walk the way He wants them to walk, He guides them and gives them wise counsel about their route and pathway. God's children have to make a choice about the way they walk. If they choose the wrong path, they would have to bear the consequences of such choices. But even when they stubbornly choose what they want, the Lord speaks to them about the right way. He speaks to them through their conscience and the written word and the teachings based on it by His servants. He also speaks to them through circumstances. He opens doors through which His children should go and closes some other doors so that they would know God's "stop sign" and move away to the right path. But when God closes a way, if we force it open, we would have to pay the price to follow that wrong way. In spite of the spirit of rebellion that prevails over the hearts of men, God continues to speak to man and gives him guidance about the way to follow. He speaks continuously in spite of our disobedience, resistance and rebellion. He shows grace to speak to us in spite of our unwillingness to follow the warnings issued by God for our walk. He speaks out of His mercy and compassion towards us so as to help us to go His way and not our way. His willingness to counsel us is a mark of His continuous love, interest and commitment to us and our cause because we are His children.

Dear friend, are you sure you are in the perfect will of God in all aspects of your earthly life and ministries for Him? Have you gone according to your own thinking which is right in your eyes? Have there been times when you heard the voice of the Lord in your conscience guiding you in your decisions? Have there been times when you follow your own thinking rather than the Lord's thinking because your thoughts give you some earthly advantages? But it is likely that your temporary earthly advantages will thwart greater blessings from God which are eternal. God always has His best for you and will give it to you if you walk in His ways. His ways for you are ordained of Him for your blessings and for His glory. Even when the walk might bring forth hardship and toil, it is the way of the cross which your Master has trod as He carried the cross to die for you. God wants you to carry the cross and walk after the Man of Galilee and thus respond to the love He demonstrated for you. He wants you to know that the way of the cross only will lead to crowns which the Lord gives to His children who give up the bubbles of luxurious and prestigious paths of this world. The best honor that the Lord wants to give us in this world is to have the privilege to walk after Him on the way of the cross and thus to demonstrate our indebtedness to Him. If you are on any other way, it is a detour and will lead to total disappointment, dissatisfaction and destruction. If we are on the wrong way, the Lord will speak to us today through His Spirit who indwells in us on the basis of His written word which is our travel guide for the walk. When we walk with Him, we do not need to go weary because we have the privilege to lean on to the Master who takes away all our weariness. He wants us to enjoy the walk because this is a joyride with the Lord.

Psalms 73:23 & 24 - Nevertheless I am continually with You; You have taken hold of my right hand. With Your counsel You will guide me, and afterward receive me to glory.

Thought for Today
The best way not to loose the way is to follow the guidance given by the Lord and to hold on to His hand.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

A ROCK TO TRUST FOREVER!

A ROCK TO TRUST FOREVER!

Verse for Today: Saturday, February 19, 2011
Isaiah 26:4 - Trust in the Lord for ever, For the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal.

Rock is a picture of a stable, strong and immovable object. Even if you tremble, if you are on a rock, the rock will not tremble. It will protect you and stabilize your feet. That is why the Prophet Isaiah compared the Lord with a rock. The Lord is like an eternal rock which doesn't move or destabilize. If we trust in the Lord, you can be rest assured that He will not change His character of being absolutely trustworthy. His promises do not change. His mercy is always extended to you. He shows compassion which never comes down in quality and depth. His words of comfort always linger with His children. The Lord is eternally faithful to His children in all that He has promised to them. We may find that our health, wealth, family, friends, positions that we hold and relationships that build up all our lives might slip away from us in times of critical needs. But there is no disappointment with trusting in the Lord. Even when the whole world turns us down, the Lord will not turn us down. He is the same yesterday and today and forever. His power doesn't diminish over time, and His presence is always with us no matter what the circumstances are. Not only that, He invites us to trust in Him for all our needs and situations. No matter what our crises are, we can trust Him to help us resolve it. Even when the whole world hurt us, our Lord will heal our wounded feelings and pour in oil and wine to soothe us. He turns our storms into quiet moments of fellowship with Him. No matter who or what is against us, the Lord will be for us and with us. His invitation for us to trust Him stands forever and there is no shadow of turning with Him.

Dear friend, are you feeling frustrated with those things that you trusted because they turned you down? Are there promises that people made to you that they went back on? It is likely that when you are in trouble and when most of your trusted friends pull back from you, you tend to loose your faith in them. There is a limit to the extent to which you can trust human beings. Their commitments to you have limitations. But that is not the case with the Lord. He lives for you and cares for you because He purchased you with His very life. You are His precious possession and so He takes special care to see to it that you grow in your relationship with Him. The Lord has made promises to meet all your situations and needs because He has immeasurable resources for every need of all His children at all times. Seasons may change, people will come and go, business cycles will keep rolling forward and there can be unexpected turn of events in this world in which you live. But none of these need to frustrate you because the Lord has resources for you to meet all your ever changing situations. In a changing world, Jesus is the only unchanging reality. He is the Rock of Ages who doesn't change with changes in the larger environment. Over the past centuries, He has proved to His children that He is absolutely trustworthy. He guides His people through difficult terrains, deserts, fire, water, hills, valleys, sunshine, rain, darkness and even wars and in all these situations, He strengthens His children with His presence and fellowship. There is an answer to all our problems and situations in Jesus Christ. There are no disappointments with Him. All the experiences that we go through are His training ground for us to learn to become rulers. Today His grace is sufficient for you to weather any situation you might be in. You can trust Him today and on all your tomorrows because He is the eternal rock.

Psalms 71:3 - Be to me a rock of habitation to which I may continually come; You have given commandment to save me, for You are my rock and my fortress.

Thought for Today
Rock of Ages remains forever as the stronghold for His children when all other sources of strength flow away in the currents of situations.

Friday, February 18, 2011

PEACE FOR TRUST!

PEACE FOR TRUST

Verse for Today: Friday, February 18, 2011
Isaiah 26:3 - You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You.

We experience peace in mind when we keep all elements which take away peace out of our minds. Peace is linked with our thought process which is influenced by so many internal and external factors. When we allow our minds to be influenced by these factors, we are plunged into fear, anxiety, distress and disillusionment which take our peace away from us. They allow our minds to be controlled by the consequences of the events or circumstances which make us fearful or anxious. This is how we loose our peace of mind. But the Bible gives us a way to avert these negative feelings which is to keep our minds steadfast on the Lord who can control all the fear and anxiety factors. Our circumstances could be disastrous and destructive with a lot of negative consequences. But these would not affect us if we keep dwelling under the shadow and wings of the Lord. Our God can avert these eventualities and give us deliverance from it all. But even if these happen, they need not bother us because the Lord can avert their impact from us. For our minds to be kept in perfect peace in the worst scenarios of life, all we need to do is to keep our minds fixed on the person and the promises of the Lord. When we fix our thoughts and trust on the Lord, we are fixing it on His power, strength, deeds, mercy, benevolence, blessings, grace and other attributes which are all working for His children all the time. His promises are eternally secure in Heaven. They do not change and are true as surely as He lives. He never changes and is the same yesterday and today and forever. So when we trust in the Lord, all His promises work for us irrespective our circumstances and the things which try to take away our peace. As we trust Him, He stands guard in our hearts to see to it that we dwell in peace which He gives to us as a gift. He gives us peace in all circumstances, but we need to appropriate His peace by faith and make it our special asset so that we can live without anxiety or fear about our circumstances.

Dear friend, is your mind disturbed today because of the possible consequences of what is happening around you? Are you boggled with the clogged world economy, miry international relations, volatile climatic and environmental setting, and how these might affect you or what is dear to your heart? Are you feeling the heat of the attack of the enemy on you and your situations? Is there a tendency on your part to expect the worst out of the situations that you face either at your work place, neighbourhood, family or your finances? You are admonished by the Word of God to take your eyes off your circumstances and situations, and fix it on the Lord who rules and overrules all your situations according to His will. When negative thoughts come to you, it has to be crucified with Christ, killed and buried so that they would not bother you. If they come back, repeat the exercise of crucifying it with Christ. Do not be tempted to keep your burdens to yourself because if you keep it yourself, soon you will be weary and tired and suffocate with stress. If your mind is forced to carry more burden than it can carry, you will break down emotionally. When the mind is full of burdens which are negative, it will soon affect your body also and will influence your heart to fall into unbelief thinking that there is no escape for you. But if you keep your mind fixed on the Lord, He will sustain you and make you strong. If you give your burdens to the Lord, He will carry it for you. But He will not take it from you by force. Your Lord expects you to trust Him to carry your burdens for you and so He wants you to voluntarily submit all your burdens to Him. He wants you to nail every negative thought to the cross. As you do this, your heart and mind will be flooded with the peace of God which passes all understanding. This is the opportunity you are given today to live in perfect peace and use your mind to praise God for the peace that He bestows upon you. Those who trust in the Lord will enjoy His peace, love and care no matter what their circumstances are.

Psalms 29:11 - The Lord will give strength to His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace.

Thought for Today
If we do not seek the peace of God by putting our trust and faith in the Lord, the circumstances will cut us into pieces.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

TALLEST and STRONGEST TOWER!

TALLEST and STRONGEST TOWER

Verse for Today: Thursday, February 17, 2011
Proverbs 18:10 - The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runs into it and is safe.

A tower can be seen from a distance. Its stature invites attention. When one has lost the way, it helps to know the way by simply looking unto it. When there is other no place to go, one can go to the tower and stay there for protection and safety because it is a strong fortress. Our Lord is like a tower in the weary land for the sojourners. The very utterance of His name stands out like a tower for His children to depend on. His name is powerful and wonderful. His name tells us all that He is and all that He does for His children. His name is His character. It is like the roaring of the great water falls. When we call upon His name, all His power is made available to us at the very instance. When we lack direction in life, we can look at this strong tower and find our way. In fact, He is the way and all our journeys start from Him and through Him. If we look at this tower, we will never loose our way. The Lord's name stands out like a tower for His children to run into for help, support, strength, comfort, encouragement, peace and joy. No matter what our needs are, we have the privilege and prerogative to run to this great tower. The name of the Lord stands forever and so if we depend on His name, we will never be disappointed or disgraced. This tower is part of the fortress for all His children to go to when they are in trouble. We can always go to Him for answers to the puzzling challenges in life. We can confide in Him no matter what our circumstances are. When the enemy is attacking us through our circumstances, the name of the Lord will be our tower and fortress to take refuge in so that we will be secure. We are safe in Him because no power in this universe can penetrate Him to reach us.

Dear friend, are you lacking direction in your pathway today? Do you feel confused and have you lost your way? Are there too many distractions and detractors on your way? Is there continuous attack from the enemy in the various walks of your life? There is no need for you to loose heart. All you need to do is to lift up your head and look the strong tower and fortress of the Lord which is just ahead of you. You can run into Him who is your fortress, and He being the strong tower will guard you in safety. He is always available and He stands tall above all powers in this world. He invites us through His Spirit to go to Him and take refuge in Him. When we have Him as our refuge and fortress, we do not need to think about any other refuge. He stands out tall for His children who depend on Him. Our experiences in depending on Him in the past testify to each of us about His great power and strength to deliver His children from all their troubles. He is always available for His children. He never changes even when all around us change. No matter what our problems and difficulties are, the Lord is out there for us and He is all sufficient for all our situations. He is our refuge because we have received Him as our Savior and Lord. The Lord stands out as a strong tower for His children and because of His children. So dear friend, you need not be perplexed about your present trials and difficulties, but only need to go to the Lord who is your strong tower and fortress and take refuge in Him. He will give you the peace that passes all understanding about your difficult circumstances. His strength and power will flow to you from the tower to fortify you to keep going as led by Him in His pathways and purposes for His glory.

Psalms 61:3 - For You have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe.

Thought for Today
When we call upon the Lord, the very utterance of His name emanates His power and strength for His children.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

FROM DISTRESS TO STRENGTH!

FROM DISTRESS TO STRENGTH

Verse for Today: Wednesday, February 16, 2011

1 Samuel 30:6 - David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord his God.

It is possible that even the most courageous people would fall into distress when the circumstances are extremely unbearable. That was the case with David when we went through the most devastating defeat and loss in life. He had successfully encountered a lion, a bear and even giants like Goliath in the past. Those were trying times for him, but he trusted in God at all those occasions and the Lord gave him victory also. But when his own men who were much weaker than Goliath planned to stone him, he seemed to have lost the soil from under his feet. Added to that, his confidence drained out because his own family was captured by the enemies. All of these were too much for David to handle and he fell into distress. But David never remained in distress for long. He quickly looked into the face of the Lord his God. When he shifted his focus from his distressing situation to his unchanging Lord, his countenance became bright and his hope came back to him. He quickly regained strength which he found in the Lord. He was able to realize that when all hope was gone, the Lord was there for him and that the Lord who saw him through the experiences of the lion, bear and Goliath would see him through his distress also. He was quickly revived in spirit and His heart was filled with hope in the Lord to bring all the families of all his men back, including his own family. We find David consulting the Lord about the action he should take and obeying the instructions of the Lord. Thus David was led from distress to victory by the Lord. The same Lord is with us today to help us in our distressing experiences and to take us forward for His glory.

Dear friend, are you distressed because of your seemingly hopeless situation? Do you feel exhausted in the body and mind because of the deep sense of loss, defeat and failure? It is certain that if you continue in distress, it will further drain your energy and dump you into the depth of disillusionment. When you are in distress, the best place to look at is not your abilities, possessions, circle of friends, connectivity and smartness. All of these will not be able to help you and will only turn out for others to criticize you. Instead, if you look at the face of the Lord, He will brighten up your faith. You can definitely look back at the ways by which the Lord brought you so far. You will do well to reminisce on the visions that the Lord has given you about what He wants you to accomplish for Him in this life. You can count the past blessings that the Lord has showered upon you. You have the promises of the Lord to meditate upon and regain your confidence. You have the privilege to immediately go to the Lord in prayer and to ask for a release from your distress. Just as David did, you can enquire of the Lord who is with you regarding the next step to take. He knows all about your distress and the reasons for it. He knows your heavy loss in life and your drained dignity among your people. As you look back and count your blessings and ask the Lord to strengthen you just as He has done in the past, His Spirit will empower you to gain confidence in the Lord to go forward. He will guide you in the future course of action that you need to take to move on to victory. He will re-establish your standing and rebuild your life of faith in Him. Today the Lord is by your side and He will help you to find strength in Him which will lead you to do all things that you need to do to continue to be in His will. So, cheer up, dear friend, and be strong in the Lord.

Deuteronomy 31:6 - Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.

Thought for Today
Past victories are windows through which we can see the bright face of the Lord who gives us strength for the future.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

A TWO-SOLDIER ARMY!

A TWO-SOLDIER ARMY!

Verse for Today: Tuesday, February 15, 2011
1 Samuel 14:6 - ".......Perhaps the Lord will act on our behalf. Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few."

It is often seen that when the Lord and His people are challenged and mocked by the enemy, bold believers take up the challenge even publicly. David did that when he heard the insults and despising of Goliath the giant. Jonathan was confronted with a similar challenge by the enemy and he decided to go forward to face the challenge by trusting in the Lord. Jonathan knew from experience that for God to act, number and quantity are unimportant. In spite of small number and apparent inexperience on the part of God's children, they can still face the enemy because God is with them and that He will certainly stand with His children. God will never allow His children to fall into disgrace because when God's children are defeated by the enemy, the reputation of God is at stake. Just like Jonathan, all God's children can firmly believe that nothing is impossible with our God and that He can win the war whether the army is small or large. For the Lord, the horse or the chariot is immaterial because even when the smallest army of one person goes out against the enemy in the power of God, victory is absolutely certain. Our God is able to accomplish great things for Him through even the weakest of His children. Physical ammunition is not important for God to win a war. Skillful soldiers are also not required for victory. God's mighty power is sufficient to penetrate any strong wall which the world erects against His children. It is a great comfort for His children throughout all ages to confide in this strong, great and most powerful God to wage all their wars for them and to take them forward through victory. Means are not important for Him because no power of the enemy is a near match for the Lord of Lords.

Dear friend, are you being confronted by the enemy today to create fear in you? Do you face challenge and mockery from the enemy? Is the enemy trying to use circumstance to discourage you to withdraw from the battle? Is he trying to terrorize you by showing his might and weapons? There is no need for us to even look at the weapons and the tactics of the enemy, but to look unto the Lord who is the author and finisher of our faith. What the Lord has started in us will be completed by Him because of His faithfulness to us and to His promises. Any of the weapons of the enemy or the tactics of the world doesn't matter for the Lord because His power surpasses all the strength of the enemy. If we take the Lord and His promise by faith, He will definitely honor it. So all we need to do is to exercise our faith and go forward in the name of the Lord as in the case of David and Jonathan. He will trample the enemy under our feet, not through our might or skill, but through the exhibition of His mighty power. So no matter what our weaknesses are or how poor our resources might look, we can still go forward. We can command the hindrances created by the enemy to move away in the name of our Lord. But we need preparedness to face the enemy with much prayer so that our spirits will be exercised to use the power of God through His Spirit. We need to fully trust Him and to depend solely on His power only. His power comes to us when we are filled with His Spirit. So for spiritual battle, we should constantly be filled with the Spirit of God so that we will be able to take up the challenge of the enemy in His power. When we fight with the whole armor of God, enemy's fortresses will crumble and the name of the Lord will be lifted up. So dear friend, no matter how our circumstances are manipulated by the enemy to terrorize or challenge us, let that not bewilder us, but let us be courageous and bold before the Lord, using His armor to fight by faith so that we can march forward from victory to victory.

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
God's children win battles against the enemy of our souls when we are fit and humble instruments in His hands.

Monday, February 14, 2011

ONE WINDOW and THREE VIEWS!

ONE WINDOW and THREE VIEWS!

Verse for Today: Monday, February 14, 2011
1 Samuel 7:12 - Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far has the Lord helped us."

There are milestones in the pathway of the people of God. These milestones tell us about the experiences and blessings God has given them in the past. Each milestone is a place of praise to the Lord who allowed them to pass that place as per His plan, promise and faithfulness. There are also memorial stones which remind God's people about great events that took place among them that the future generations should remember and claim by faith for them also. When we go through bitter experiences for considerable time, as the Israelites did for 400 years in Egypt under slavery, oppression and persecution, His great deliverance and victories are worthy of remembrance all through future generations. Had it not been for the grace and mercy of God, Israel would have never reached a place like Ebenezer. There were memorials and reminders at Bethel, Peniel, Red Sea, Marah, Gilgal, Jericho, Ai and other places which were places of victory over the enemy. All of these places of memorials were because of the faithfulness of God. Now Israel has a special place of memory because it was a time when the ark of God was once again back with the people of God. God helped them to take possession of the Ark of the Covenant which helped them to get their spiritual lives in order, and subsequently enjoyed victory over the enemy. That was why Ebenezer was a great memorial for the Lord.

Dear friend, it is certain that you have many milestones in your life, all of which remind you of the faithfulness of God to you. These would have been moments of great miracles in your life. But Ebenezer speaks so loudly about all that the Lord has done for you and gives all glory to God for all that has happened in the past. It is a reminder of the response from God when His people were going through a series of battles. Definitely it is a time to gain confidence and courage from God because the God of yesterday is our God who leads us today and will be there for us on all our tomorrow as well. He is Jehovah-Jireh for all our needs and will provide for us no matter what the situation is. But it is also a time of great responsibility for His children to sanctify God in their lives as the Lord of all aspects of their lives. At Ebenezer, God reminds His children that their relationship with Him is not one sided. When we seek His help, we need to at the same time honor Him and give Him prime place in all areas of our lives. Surely God shows mercy to all His creation, but His relation with His people is mutual. He has given them great promises which will definitely be fulfilled. But such a God demands that He is enthroned at the right place among His people, individually and as a community. Ebenezer is also a memorial of the penitence of God's people and a place where they sanctified the Lord in their lives and in all their affairs. That has led Israel to the kind of victory that they experienced, and reminds them of all His faithfulness to them. Ebenezer is the stone of help which reminds all of us that our Lord is strong like a stone and firm like a rock for His children, and help will flow from Him to us today and forevermore. He has done wonders for us in the past and brought us thus far, and is faithful to the core to make sure that we enjoy His favour in the future also. For without His favour, how can we ever live from victory to victory here in this world! Ebenezer is our place of victory, and at the same time Ebenezer is our Lord who gives us victory. If we look at Ebenezer, we can see our past, present and the future through a single window and sing Hallelujah to the Lord!!

1 Chronicles 16:12 - Remember the wonders He has done, His miracles, and the judgments He pronounced.

Thought for Today
Ebenezer is a two-way window through which we can see the past wonders of the Lord and the present and future wonders which are on the way for His children.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

A GUARANTEED FUTURE!

A GUARANTEED FUTURE

Verse for Today: Sunday, February 13, 2011
Joshua 1:9 - Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

God's words of encouragement and comfort are also words of commandments for us to willfully and unquestionably follow in order to be victorious in this world. When God encourages and commands us to be strong and courageous, He has also given us the power to be strong and courageous when the circumstances challenge us to lose our strength and boldness. We can be strong in the Lord in any circumstance. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. We can have all the courage that the Spirit of God gives us even in the most difficult and discouraging circumstances. When discouragement knocks at the doors of our hearts, if we ask Jesus to answer the door, discouragement will flee from us and we will gain more courage to face any eventualities. These qualities are imputed in us by the Spirit of God through the Word of God to generate faith in us to go through the most trying circumstances. So there is no need for us to be terrified and to loose hope in life. God has promised to be with us in our entire present and future walk. He has gone before us into our future. The guarantee of His holy presence in all our future endeavours gives us the holy boldness to go forward in our sojourn. When we face unfavourable circumstances, we know that our God is already there and He is in control of us and our circumstances for us to go through it. So whether there is rain, snow, sunny weather, fire, darkness, valleys, hills, sharp nails, thorns or glass pieces on the way, and even in the midst of the devouring sounds of wild animals, we have nothing to be afraid of. Our Lord is already there and He will see us through these circumstances with His strength and courage. We go forward with the encouragement of the guarantee of His presence with us and in all the steps that we need to take from now onwards.

Dear friend, perhaps you are trying to take steps through an unknown pathway today. It is likely that you feel totally inadequate to take these steps forward because you have never traveled this way before. As you look into the unknown future and the journey you need to take, you might become discouraged and be full of apprehensions. But there is no need to be discouraged because the Almighty God has commanded you not to do so. When He has guaranteed His presence with you in all your future steps, how can you be still discouraged and loosing hope! You have the guaranteed and sure promise of the God of this universe that He has seen all your future steps, with all the unfavourable circumstances and has already made all the necessary provisions to meet all your emotional, intellectual and volitional needs as you walk along. In spite of it all, if you are still discouraged, it is an indication that you do not believe in His promises, His words and have no faith in His provisions for you. Such a lack of faith will grieve Him, and will make His provisions ineffective for you because you are unable to claim these resources and put them to use. It is unthinkable to deny yourself the provisions made for you by the Lord. Today let us ask the Lord to open our eyes of understanding so as to enable us see the great provisions of His presence, resources and the special protection of the angels around us. Let us praise God for it all, claim it all by faith and appropriate it all for the next steps in our lives with great courage, strength and faith.

Hebrews 11:8 - By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.

Thought for Today
A discouraged believer disobeys the divine commandment to be strong and courageous, and forfeits the power and presence of God for his sojourn.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

SECURE ARMS FOR SECURITY!

SECURE ARMS FOR SECURITY

Verse for Today: Saturday, February 12, 2011
Deuteronomy 33:27 - The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.

The God we believe in is eternal and He has been the central focus of all recorded history. So when God's people look at God, He has always been there with all His attributes. One of the greatest attributes of God that has become most meaningful to God's people is that He has always been the refuge of His people. God has given refuge to all His children who put their trust in Him all through human history. He never forsakes any one, in spite of their failures and lack of faithfulness. He keeps forgiving all His penitent children and showering grace to abound in their lives. He proves His faithfulness, love and grace to His children by providing safety, security and protection to them in all circumstances. His children are kept in His everlasting arms which are always underneath all His children. His arms are most powerful to accomplish His purposes in the lives of His children. He used these arms to create man and when man committed sin, the same arms made a dress for man and his wife with animal skin. He fought wars for His children with the same arms. He intervenes in nature to help the cause of His children with the same arms. He carries us in those powerful arms and puts His arms of love around us when we feel down and out. His arms carry us when we are unable to walk. His arms touch us when we are weak, sick, sorrowful and depressed. His arms feed us when we are hungry. These same arms wipe our tears when we weep before Him. His arms are our refuge, strength, comfort and security against all evil. He has been serving His children through the centuries with His arms which will be with us till the end of our sojourn here on earth. His arms will reward us at His Judgment Seat (Bema). How fortunate we are that these everlasting arms are with us all the time!

Dear friend, you are fortunate to be able to enjoy the comfort and encouragement of the everlasting arms of our Lord today and all the days of your life. The Lord leads us with His everlasting arms and we can walk with Him holding these everlasting arms. These arms are always at work to protect and provide for His children. His arms portray His strength which is sufficient for all situations and needs of His children. He holds His staff and rod in His arms so that we can be relieved of our fears, and corrected in our times of lapses. His staff keeps us together in His company as one flock under one Shepherd. We are held in His arms like a mother holds her baby because we are so precious for Him. Today as we look at these hands, we can find nail prints on them which He holds as the mark of ownership of all of us because He secured us for Himself through these nail prints. We were once upon a time sick with sin, but He allowed His body to be plowed so that we would be healed through those stripes. Today our beloved Lord opens His arms to show us how much He loves us and asks us to go to Him with all our needs, problems, difficulties, weaknesses, failures and fears. He promises that His arms will be sufficient to keep us close to Him and give us refuge from all the attacks that we face from the enemy of our souls. Let us allow these everlasting arms of the Lord to lead us forward even today and forevermore.

Isaiah 40:11 - He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart; He gently leads those that have young.

Thought for Today
The sense of security offered by the Everlasting Arms eliminates all fears and apprehensions.

Friday, February 11, 2011

RIGHTS AND WRONGS OF FEAR!

RIGHTS AND WRONGS OF FEAR

Verse for Today: Friday, February 11, 2011
Psalms 34:4 - I sought the Lord, and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears.

Fear is one of the emotions that permeate all avenues of human life. Even the boldest and strongest human beings are gripped with some fear some time in their lives. Fear intimidates us and paralyses us. It gives shock waves through our bodies and affects our hormones also. It thus influences our thinking and capacity to make decisions. Fear has come into human life after our great grandfather Adam committed sin in the Garden of Eden and ever since it is an emotion which remains a part and parcel of human thinking and behavior. God's children also experience fear which affects their spiritual life as well. When we refrain from obeying the Spirit of God and the Word of God because of the fear of the unknown and the consequences of our actions, we literally grieve the Spirit of God who empowers us with the power of God. Fear is a restraining and constraining emotion. King David had fear grip him several times during his time of running for life because of his enemies. There were times of desperation in his life when he thought his life was in deep danger and when all hope was gone. But during those moments of intense fear and anxiety, he had a person to talk to and place to go to. He spoke to the Lord in His presence. In spite of the fears created by his circumstances and enemies, he could easily slip into the presence of the Lord which nothing could stop him from. He presented his fears to the Lord who delivered him from it all and gave him the holy boldness to keep going. He was often reminded of the divine appointment given to him when he was literally pulled out of the grazing field to anoint him the king of all Israel. God filled his fear-grappled heart with His peace and promises to keep going and delivered him out of the clutches of fear.

Dear friend, are you intimidated by the emotion of fear today? Is the enemy creating a phobia in your heart and using it to prevent you from accomplishing what God wants you to accomplish in life? Perhaps you wonder what others will think about. Perhaps the enemy tells you that you will be criticized and your motives misunderstood. You probably think that it is too expensive to go forward to attempt what God wants you to go into. It may be that you do not have the confidence to go forward for fear of your circumstances and the great demands on your time and resources. But if God wants you to accomplish something special, there is no need to be afraid of the possible consequences. If you take the right step forward, the Lord will look after the expenses, results and the consequences, and will thus enable and empower you to accomplish His purpose in and with your life. The enemy will always try to thwart your efforts, but that should not be a limiting factor, but a prayer factor. The Lord will give you all His resources to do what He wants you to accomplish. When the enemy comes to fight with you, the Lord will fight your battles for you. He will take away all fear about the unknown future and give you the faith, confidence and spiritual power to go forward for Him. If there are too many intimidating forces around you, that need not deter you. You should be focusing on the Lord, His resources and the great army of angels to help you to go forward. If you submit your fears to the Lord, He will take it away and fill your heart with His joy and the power of His resurrection. Remember, He takes away ALL your fears and make you bold and confident in Him to keep going. So let us today give all our fears to Him and be filed with His Spirit who is the Spirit of freedom and joy.

Psalms 118:6 - The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid; what can man do to me?

Thought for Today
Those who have deep reverential fear of the Lord
need not be afraid of any thing else.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

KEEP MOVING ON!

KEEP MOVING ON!

Verse for Today: Thursday, February 10, 2011
Exodus 16:1 - The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sinai.

The tour diary of God's people is a record of the faithfulness of God towards them. He brought them to Elim for a few days of rest and rejuvenation and not for permanent abode. In His plan for them, Elim is not the destination, but only a wayside rest for refreshing their bodies and souls. Elim is a place to recharge their spiritual batteries so that they can proceed towards their destination. Soon the Israelites had to reconcile with the fact that God had great provisions for His children during their journey, but He has planned a destination for them where they would enjoy greater blessings from Him. God prepares many such Elims for His children, but they are not expected to develop the desire to stay at Elim forever. This is a journey of hope and expectation for God's children. Patriarch Abraham once walked towards this land of hope, and he had to walk by faith. God met all his needs on the way and found enough provisions for him to pitch his tent wherever he went. He learned that even in the Promised Land, he had no permanent abode, but only moving abodes. Through these perpetual moves, God taught His people that where they stay or what they eat is not important, but these are only to sustain them in this life. What is more important for them is the relationship between them and the Lord. He desired to dwell among His people and have smooth flow of communion with them. This is the greatest prize in our walk with the Lord where the walk is much less important as compared with the sweetness of the relationship with the Lord. He has called us to walk with Him and go wherever He wants us to go so that we can spend time with Him, and learn about Him and from Him. Perhaps the next move is to the desert, but that is where you will see Mount Sinai with the visions of the Lord.

Dear friend, perhaps the answers to prayer that you receive from the Lord make you complacent. But these answers are only for you to keep walking with the Lord. He provides for the journey, but wants to teach you wonderful lessons in life to help you keeping on trusting Him. The sweet waters of Marah or the streams of Elim are best for the time being, but the Lord has greater things in store for you. He wants you to make progress towards richer spiritual blessings in your life and relationship with the Lord. Just as Abraham was elevated to the level of friendship with the Lord, He wants to elevate you to a level where you will grow in faith and trust in the Lord for everything. Such a relationship will brighten your hope and strengthen your faith which will have to be proved through your obedience in walking with Him and the sacrifices you make for Him, including the sacrifice of praise. Even during the journey, He prepares food for you and it is going to be given to you a day at a time. You are taught to pray for daily bread and not for bread for generations. The Lord will look after your generations in His divine wisdom and will provide for them. It is not your responsibility to amass for several generations, but to allow the Lord to take that responsibility. Perhaps you had a wonderful experience of cool waters, dates from the palm tree, nice grass and shade to have a spiritual picnic, but soon it is time to pack up and march forward. Let us trust the Lord to look after our next steps in this great walk with Him. Let us hold on to His hands as we walk with Him. Rather than complaining about every little thing, let us speak to Him about greater things and use the opportunity to learn wonderful things about our eternal abode. Let us focus our attention on eternity. Let us climb mountains by faith like Caleb. Let us enjoy the daily manna and gain strength to keep going with the Lord.

Psalms 107:7 - He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle.

Thought for Today
It is wise to focus on our destination and enjoy our walk with the Lord, and trust Him to look after the travel details.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

NEXT STOP: AN OASIS AT ELIM!

NEXT STOP: AN OASIS AT ELIM!

Verse for Today: Wednesday, February 09, 2011
Exodus 15:27 - After leaving Marah, the Israelites traveled on to the oasis of Elim, where they found twelve springs and seventy palm trees. They camped there beside the water.

God's children often experience Marah in their life which is a test of the extent of their trust in the Lord. It is amazing to see that Marah often comes soon after great victories like that of the crossing of the Red Sea which was a great obstacle. Crossing of the Red Sea was a great experience of victory which results in great jubilation. But soon God's people have to face a mundane situation which also requires as much faith as they had at Red Sea. Sadly we find God's people some times grumble at such tests and forget the God who gave them great victory just a few days back. But our God is faithful and trustworthy even for the mundane. The God who was faithful at Red Sea is capable of meeting the needs at Marah also. But things do not end there. They need to go farther in their sojourn, and He has already planned everything for them to meet all their needs. He has already planned an oasis with enough provisions for them and their animals. There is going to be water to drink and fruit to eat for the entire crowd, and grass for the cattle. It is at such times when we see the provisions the Lord has made for all our needs that we recognize the deeper concerns God has for His children. He doesn't want them to go hungry and thirsty. He doesn't want them to be always in the desert with its heat and dust. His route map for His children includes an oasis also, with ample provisions for food, water and rest. He once again proves to His people that He is their Ebenezer and Jehovah-Jireh!

Dear friend, if the Lord has given you a great victory which causes you to praise Him for it, you need to expect another test of your faith in the near future. The test at Marah is to see how much you trust in the Lord and have grown spiritually because of your Red Sea experience. Just as you close the hymn of thanksgiving, another test is awaiting you and He expects you to pass this test of faith. Surely He knows that the water at Marah is bitter and He doesn't expect you to drink it. His miracle at Marah is on the way, but we must realize that grumbling is not the way to experience this new miracle. Grumbling takes away the joy of drinking the miraculous water at Marah. Trust in the Lord and earnest prayer from us will also bring forth the same miracle, instead of murmuring. But God doesn't stop even there, and will lead us forward to Elims in our lives when He will give us rest on the way lest we will be weary with travel. So there are some interludes planned by the Lord with adequate provisions till it is time to keep moving. But Elim is not for us to be satisfied and make us stay there, like Abraham's satisfaction with Ishmael. God has greater things planned for us, and in order to experience those, we need to keep moving. But it has to be by faith and not by sight. Perhaps we will not see another Elim, but we will keep experiencing the God of Elim with newer experiences to continue to enjoy His grace and compassion. So dear friend, let us today trust the Lord, not because of His miracles or escapes which He provides, but because of whom He is. Let us trust Him for His grace and compassion for us which is what makes us keep going even today and enjoy the Elims that He prepares for us.

Psalms 107:35 - (The Lord) turned the desert into pools of water and the parched ground into flowing springs.

Thought for Today
The route prepared by the Lord for His children passes through oasis, palm trees, pools of water and flowing springs.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

EVERYTHING WORKS TOGETHER!

EVERYTHING WORKS TOGETHER

Verse for Today: Tuesday, February 08, 2011
Genesis 42:36b - Everything is against me.

It is possible that every child of God sometimes utter words of utter frustration and distress at some deeply difficult times in their lives. These words come out of deep despair for a child of God who finds no consolation in any thing that is going on around him or her. The situation is one of multiple events which break their hearts, but they are unable to even move a small finger. There doesn't seem to be a ray of hope in any thing and the believer gets disillusioned. At that time, utterances which are unbecoming of a believer sometimes come out. Such has been the tangled circumstances of Jacob who thought he was going to loose another son after Joseph was lost. It seems that for a moment he forgot that he has been recently made Israel, (prince with God). Only a few years ago, he demonstrated that he was a man of faith by changing the sad name of his youngest son from Benoni (son of my sorrow, as he was called by his dying wife Rachel) to Benjamin (son of my right hand). He was the kind of man who wrestled with the angel of the Lord some time back. He was the visionary of Bethel and received the promises of God. Considering all of these, Jacob seemed not to have thought about what God would have been doing for him as part of His promises to him. Surely, he has received promises from the Almighty and that should mean that it is being worked out by the Promise Giver. His Promise Giver is also the Promise Keeper in whom Jacob has trusted. Jacob should have comforted himself in the Lord, thinking that all that was happening to him should be with the express knowledge of God and that the promises of God to him personally should have meant that God was in full and absolute control over all his affairs. So Jacob should have believed that all that was happening to him will work together for his good and not for his destruction. In other words, all that was happening to him was for his good and that it was all controlled by the hand of God.

Dear friend, are you deeply disillusioned today about your situation? Do you feel a deep sense of hopelessness? Do you think, like Jacob, that all things are against you? What you probably may not realize is that your God is at work for you to fulfill the promises which are given to you in His Word. Remember, He is your God and is on your side. He has a definite plan for you and is fulfilling it day by day. Perhaps now you may not be able to see or understand every thing that the Lord is doing in your life. But all these things that are happening will work together for your good. Perhaps each of the present events may not be so good in itself, but they will all lead to your ultimate good. If there is failure in a particular area in your life, perhaps you are prevented from going forward in that area by the Lord so as to prevent greater loss or failures and heartaches in the future. If things are not going as per your schedule, it might be that you are either too slow or too fast according to the schedule the Lord has for you. When some of your aspirations are not fulfilled, you will have to believe that the Lord knows the reasons. It might be because its fulfillment might not be spiritually expedient for you. But you can be rest assured that the Lord will not cause you to suffer except it is for your spiritual welfare. So next time you are deeply disillusioned, be on the guard to fill your heart with thoughts which are noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8). Be careful not to pray a prayer of frustration like Prophet Elijah. Yes, it is true that all that is happening to you are with the express knowledge and permission of God to cause it for your good and for your welfare, and for God to meet His perfect plan and schedule for you. Let us praise such a wonderful Lord who works things out for His glory in our lives.

Romans 8:28 - And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

Thought for Today
God in His goodness forgives our thoughtless utterances of disillusionment and continues to work out His plans in our lives for His glory.