Wednesday, October 31, 2012

TRIUMPHANT PROCESSION!!

Triumphant Procession!
Verse for Today: Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Exodus 17:8 – The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim.
When God leads His children through miracles and wonders, the enemy comes to weaken them by attacking them. Often the attacks come when God’s children are weak, tired and vulnerable. Attacks also come from unexpected sources. At Rephidim, the Israelites just won a battle over thirst when God gave them water through the rock on which He stood. But the enemy found them in weary and weak due to journey through the wilderness and came after them to attack them. These Amalekites were the grandchildren of Esau who was Jacob’s brother and as such their relatives. At Rephidim, God showed them to expect attacks even from their dear ones in the family. This is a prime example of how the enemy uses our own dearest ones to attack us. We often do not realize that the enemy is within us and dearest to us. Attack comes in the form of the near and the dear from whom we usually do not expect any attack. Esau’s grandchildren have a score to set with the children of Israel even after generations have passed and so they become potent instruments in the hands of the enemy. But God used His servants to lead His children to fight the enemy of weakness, thirst and the attack from those dear to them. These unexpected attacks often catch us unaware, but we need to beware and be watchful lest we taste defeat. We do not need to run away from the enemy, but to stay put and to march forward by wearing the whole armor of God to defeat the enemy and make progress in our sojourn. These attacks can discourage us, but we must take courage from the Lord who is with us to take us forward.
Dear reader, are you experiencing attacks lately from the dearest and nearest? Are you attacked at unexpected times and does it affect you emotionally and weaken you spiritually? Are these attacks discouraging you and causing fear? The tactic of the enemy is to weaken you and frustrate you out of your pathway. He is using your kith and kin in the social, family and spiritual circles to shatter your morale and weaken you emotionally. But this attack is only an attempt and the enemy will not overcome you. It is a temporary phenomenon only to disturb your peace and sleep. The Lord has gone before you and He has already prepared your pathway to Canaan. He will be your best friend in time of loneliness as you are rejected and resented by those who are dear to you. He has also planned for your ultimate victory over all the emotional, social and spiritual enemies. He will give you the strength to withstand the pressures of the attack. He has already given you His whole armor which will protect you from getting hurt. His double-edged sword is sufficient to dismantle all the fiery darts of the enemy. But you need to take the whole armor and fight the real enemy. Remember, we do not fight against flesh and blood, but against the powers of darkness that use your dear ones to fight you. As you fight against the discouragement that the enemy is sowing in your heart, it is also time to pray for those who treat you wrongly. Let the elements of discouragement in your heart be handled by the sword of the Lord. Let us win these battles of frustration in prayer and careful use of the whole armor of God. Let us commit ourselves to become fit instruments in the hands of the Lord in this war against the enemy of our souls. Rephidim is a place of thirst and a battleground against the enemy, but is also a place of victory for us today. But we don’t stay in this place of thirst and battles forever, but will move on in our pilgrimage. Yes, it is time to move on and go forward to enjoy the promises which are given to us by our Lord.
Psalms 56:9 – Then my enemies will turn back when I call for help. By this I will know that God is for me.
Thought for Today
When the enemy surrounds us with fleshly ammunition, the Lord will encompass around us with His love and grace. 
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Tuesday, October 30, 2012

THE HEALING TREE!!


The healing tree!

Verse for Today: Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Exodus 15:22 – Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water.

God allows His children to go through a series of tests to help them grow in their faith. Going through one test would mean that greater tests are on their way to see to it that their trust in God increases. Crossing of the Red Sea taught them the lesson that they could cross it only by faith and total dependence on God and His strength. But soon after the song of praise on the other side of the Red Sea, a very serious test awaited them. The two million people and their cattle couldn’t find water for three days. This is all the more serious when it happens in a desert and while they are traveling. Moses would have found it tough to pacify the thirsty people. But when they finally found water, against their expectations, it was bitter and undrinkable. God proved to them that human effort would only bring forth bitterness and griping even in the wake of horrible thirst and unbearable heat of the desert. But their response to the delay in finding water and the bitter water they found led them to grumble. It seems the people have lost the flavor and taste of the crossing of the Red Sea to believe that God will find a way for them to have enough good water. So instead of grumbling, they should have cried unto God for water. We are often like Israelites in times of shortages, depravity and bitterness in life, as we also grumble instead of praising and trusting in Him who has already prepared water for us with His healing tree thrown into it. Today God is waiting for us to express our faith and trust in Him so that we can see the hand of God working in our lives and out resources. The pathway might be through a scorching desert without shade and without drinking water. But He will sustain us with sweet water till we reach a safe haven of rest at Elim. 

Dear reader, are you compelled to forget your Red Sea experience because of the heat and thirst of the desert? Are you getting tired of walking around for a drink of water to quench your thirst? Is there not a single human being who is willing to show a drop of kindness to you by offering you a drink of cold water? Are your eyes dim due to thirst that you are unable to see the water God has prepared for you? Are you prone to grumble because of your pain, misery and the parching throat in a seemingly difficult situation? Remember, the compassion, kindness and grace of your God are still available for you. He is the same God who brought you through the Red Sea. He knows your need for water and the large quantity you need for yourself and the people who are with you. He will not give you water or any of His resources in a small quantity to make you scramble. When He gives, it will be sufficient for all of you to quench your thirst till you reach another source which He has prepared for you. You might go through the bitterness of Marah, but God has a wonderful answer to transform Marah into healing, sweetness and satisfaction. But you need to ask God and wait for Him to give you solutions for your Marah to become tasty and sweet. The death of His Son on the tree would become the healer of all your sin-sicknesses and make your life a fragrant and sweet savor for God. The answer to thirst, heat and the bitterness of life lie with Him. If you have suffered from it all, He will heal you spiritually, emotionally and physically so that you can continue on your pilgrimage with praise and joy in your heart.

Psalms 23:2 – (The Lord) makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters.   

Thought for Today

Your Lord who died for you on the tree is able to heal all the bitterness in your life.
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Monday, October 29, 2012

SHIELDING FROM BEHIND!!

Shielding from behind!
Verse for Today: Monday, October 29, 2012
Exodus 14:10 – As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord.
Quite often the enemy comes after the children of God to terrorize, discourage and pull them back. The enemy comes close to the striking distance to drain us off our courage, strength and to shake our faith. If we look back, our eyes catch the enemy with his chariots, soldiers and fiery darts. But we are the onward-looking soldiers who are not expected to look back. There might be the roaring sound of the rushing enemy behind us to distract us. But it is only a sound and will not reach up to us to destroy us. Our God is watching the whole drama and has already prepared a way to wipe out the enemy and keep us safe. Our mission is to look forward and run the race with zeal and enthusiasm, trusting the Lord to handle the enemy. We are warned against looking back through the life of Lot’s wife. The strategy of our enemy is to make us somehow look back so that our unbelieving heart will become fearful. The enemy tries to enter through the eye door and ear door of our hearts to weaken us. The very sight of the enemy will tempt us to think that perhaps the enemy will overtake us. The enemy knows very well that if he can weaken our faith, we will be discouraged and will resort to murmur against our God. So let us fix our eyes upon our Lord and His glory and believe that no force in this universe would ever defeat the purposes of our God for us. There might be hindrances in front of us, but let us see only our Lord before our eyes. He is capable of making a way for us to advance through and in spite of the hindrances. He is the One who has called us and will not abandon us as orphans on the wayside. So let us determine not to look back, but look forward to all that our Lord has planned for us.
Dear reader, are you discouraged and afraid today because of the approaching fierce enemy behind you? Is the enemy cluttering your situation and make you feel insecure because of the fearful circumstances he has created to weaken your faith? Is the sight of the enemy behind you sends chills through your legs due to fear and lose confidence? Remember, you are expected to go forward not by looking back, but focusing your eyes upon the Lord who called you. Go after Him fearlessly and courageously. The enemy is bent upon weakening you, but you don’t need to fall into his trap. You are already released from the clutches of the enemy and so there is no need for you to go back to his emotional trap. Your challenge is to sing and praise God, like Paul and Silas, for what He is going to do through you in the future. You can rest like Peter in the prison cell even when he know that the enemy was planning to annihilate him. You can be rest assured that God’s plan for you will open the doors of your prison cell as in the case of Joseph. Even when the enemy tries to lock you up in a lion’s den, the Lord will encompass around you and protect you because you have a lot more ministries to accomplish for Him. Instead of becoming fearful, you can cry unto the Lord who will hear your voice and come to reassure you of His plan of deliverance for you. Today you are challenged by the Lord to trust Him in the wake of all the attacks of the enemy around you. He is your shield behind you to avert the arrows of the enemy. He will answer your prayers and cries and will take you forward unhurt to cause you to praise Him and sing to the power of His presence with you.
Exodus 14:13 – Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today.
Thought for Today
Our Lord travels between us and the enemy who follows us for our protection and preservation.
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Sunday, October 28, 2012

LOOK UP AND WALK!!

Look Up and Walk!

Verse for Today: Sunday, October 28, 2012

Exodus 13:22 – Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.

When God moves His people to their divine destination, He walks in front of them to show the way. As He is the invisible God, He establishes spiritually discernible sky marks for them to recognize His way and direction. But they need to look up to Him to be able to see these indicators of His hand of direction and leadership. If they look around or look into themselves, they will miss the way and direction. If they look back, they will only see the approaching enemies and in front of them will be the roaring sea to devour them. But if they look up to God who dwells in heaven, they will see the pillar of cloud and fire. These are the vehicles on which the Lord travels in front of them. God could have sent an angel to show them the way, but He decided in His sovereign will to take this responsibility on Himself because the Israelites were so much dear to His heart. These pillars of cloud and fire have been expressed in the written form for us today to read and discern the way to follow Him. As we look up to God in prayer and seek His face, He will reveal His perfect will to us on the pages of the Book He has written for us. This written book is the expression of the eternal wisdom that has been hidden in Him in the eternity past and has been revealed in part through prophets of the past. It has now come to us in its perfection through Jesus Christ, His Son. The Book speaks to us that our Lord is traveling with us to show the way when the circumstances are against us and when we are surrounded by the enemies of our soul. When there is thunder, storm, wind and waves, the pillar would not depart us. The sure way to keep traveling to our destination is to look at the pillars and walk fearlessly by faith and with hope in our eyes.

Dear reader, are you surrounded by confusions of various kinds as you continue on your pilgrimage? Is the enemy coming after you to destroy you? Are there fierce hindrances in front of you to drain you of all your courage and strength? But through it all, your Lord is committed to take you forward. You need not be discouraged by looking around at your enemies and hindrances, but you are challenged to look up to the Lord. He will help you to see the pilot vehicles of cloud and fire that He is traveling in front of you to show you the way. He will show you the way vividly without confusion or doubt. He will open ways for you to walk through the hindrances. He will make sure that the enemy never catches up with you. He will see to it that His eternal plan for you will be accomplished no matter who tries to drag you backward or stop you from going forward. The very sight of the God of the pillars ought to fill your heart with courage, strength, hope and faith to keep going on God’s pathways at His pace. He has gone before you and already prepared your way. All the resources you need to meet your needs on the way will be supplied at the right time and in the right quantity. Let us look up to God and walk today by faith. He is our guarantee that we will not miss the way and will reach our destination.

Psalms 73:24 – You guide me with Your counsel, and afterwards You will take me into glory.     

Thought for Today

The way to go forward is by looking up in faith. 
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Saturday, October 27, 2012

A THRILLING DESERT WALK!!


A thrilling desert walk!
Verse for Today: Saturday, October 27, 2012
Exodus 12:37 – The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Succoth. There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children.
Our pilgrimage ordained of the Lord is a step by step walk as He leads us. We need not know the route or keep a map with us other than the map book that is given to us. This map book is both a travel guide and a book of His love for us. All the resources for the journey are guaranteed. He walks in front of us and leads us with His light day and night. It is interesting to remember that the Israelites came to Egypt on chariots and animal back during the time of Jacob and Joseph. At that time, chariots and animals were required because they had to go in a hurry to meet their beloved Joseph. When God brought them out of Egypt to go to Canaan, they were led on foot as each step was to be taken by faith and trust in the promises of God. On their way to Egypt, they were going to Joseph who was there to meet their needs. In Canaan they were to meet the invisible God who would meet all their needs from the unseen heavenly reservoirs. They walked a step at a time so that the members of their families could walk with them. The Lord led them out as families and as tribes because their blessings and roles in God’s sovereign plan were all laid down through the blessings they received from Jacob. Walking with the families would also mean mutual support, help and fellowship. The fathers and the brothers had the responsibilities to look after and lead their wives, mothers, sisters and the children. It was a fellowship walk by faith. It was a friendly walk with neighbours and friends. It was a walk under the leadership of Moses who received all instructions from God for each day of their walk. Their God walked with them each step of the way and led them by His hands. It was a pilgrimage walk of expectancy, hope and faith. Today we have the privilege to walk with the Lord each step of the way, trusting Him to lead and guide us to meet all our needs by casting all our cares on Him.
Dear reader, are you buffeted by the cares of your walk? The walk of the Israelites is a message for you to learn to trust your Lord who has brought you out from bondage into this pilgrim way. The Lord knows the length of your walk, the duration and the road. He knows what your needs on the way are and has made provisions for it all. He gives you the grace to walk a day at a time. He guides and leads you each day with all the provisions that you need on that day. His grace is sufficient for each day to meet all its challenges. He wants you to take steps of faith as ordained of Him. He knows your capacity to walk and will not hurry you beyond your ability which He granted. He knows the surface on which you walk and gives sufficient protection and care lest you fall. He allows enough rest as you lean on to Him and in His everlasting arms which are underneath you to guarantee safety and security. His guidebook of direction is also your lamp and light for your pathway. You are not required to amass resources for the walk because the Lord has prepared for all your needs on the way. He expects you to discharge your responsibilities to your family with all the weak ones and help them to walk along with you in this fellowship walk. You are in the company of the great household of faith and so there will be no dull moment during the walk. This walk enables you to sing along, pray and cry together and praise your God which becomes your privilege and opportunity. It is an exuberant walk of faith by casting all your cares on the Lord who cares and provides for you.
Psalms 121:8 – The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.
Thought for Today
Walking with the Lord through the desert makes it a thrilling and exuberant experience.
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Friday, October 26, 2012

EXALTING THE HUMBLE!!

Exalting the humble!

Verse for Today: Friday, October 26, 2012

Exodus 11:3 – The Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants, and in the sight of the people.

All favors that God’s people enjoy in this world are from the Lord, because of the Lord and through the Lord. God doesn’t expect us to have any achievement outside of Him. Perhaps we are capable of securing favors of our own through our smartness, craftiness, strategies, intelligence, influence, skills and timely action. But these are from our human expertise. When we secure such achievements, they are credited to our human abilities as it is due to our ability to manipulate of our situations that we secure it all. Such achievements make us happy, but do not bring any glory to our God. But when we are humble before God, obey Him and live under His control, we bear fruit for Him even in hostile situations. Moses was in a very hostile situation, but the Lord turned it around in the minds of the servants of Pharaoh. Moreover, the people of Israel who were hated by the Egyptians also found favor in their sight because of the Lord. Thus we see that God works in mysterious ways to turn even the hostile wind in our favor. This truth ought to guide us to depend on God for receiving favors in this world and must attribute it all to His grace. It is God who lifts up His children, as in the case of David the shepherd boy who became king or the loitering Amos who became prophet. He made the fearful Gideon to become a judge and leader of Israel. He made the prisoner Joseph to become the Prime Minster of Egypt. He exalted a few fishermen to become His Apostles. All these men submitted themselves to God for Him to lift them up. Today he is looking for men and women who would submit themselves to Him so that He can use them and exalt them. Isn’t it amazing that God is willing to make our lives great spiritual influences in this world? But it will happen only if we submit ourselves to Him.

Dear reader, are you frustrated with the resentment and hatred that you face from the world around you? Does it pain your heart when you are rejected for doing the work of God and for taking a stand for Him in the society in which you live? Are you afraid that the world around will harm you if you continue to obey God rather than man? Remember how your God delivered Daniel, the three Hebrew youth, Jeremiah, Nehemiah, David and Joseph from the hands of the enemies to continue to work for Him? It is amazing how God exalted them all and made them a blessing to those around them. No matter what God makes you in order to accomplish His purpose in the world around you, it would end up in a blessing to you as long as you continue to abide in God’s presence in total obedience. He can turn the hatred and resentment around and exalt you. Sometimes the truth about your ministries and testimony would not be understood by people, but your labor of love for the Lord will not go in vain. Your duty is to follow the Lord, obey Him and walk with Him in an evil generation and God will make it a blessing to many. So let us continue to fulfill our mission and wait for God’s time to bring forth visible results for His glory. He will supply us with all the physical, emotional and spiritual energy to continue to do what pleases Him.

1 Peter 5:6 – Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that A He may lift you up in due time.

Thought for Today
God’s exaltation of His children is a reward for humility and obedience.
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Thursday, October 25, 2012

THE SURRENDERED STAFF!!

The surrendered staff!
Verse for Today: Thursday, October 25, 2012
Exodus 4:20 – So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey and started back to Egypt. And he took the staff of God in his hand.
It is God’s faithfulness to Moses that took him back to Egypt. He was once the heir apparent in Egypt, but God’s plan was for him to become the savior of the Israelites who were under bondage in Egypt. God had greater plan for him and had to prepare him to be the deliverer of His people from Egypt. He was earlier a learned genius in all the skills of Egypt and was excellent in speech. But God emptied him of it all and filled him with humility and brokenness. When God commissioned him for the greater task, He equipped him with a staff which was once his shepherd’s staff. But when God asked him to put it down, and as God started using it as an instrument for His glory, the staff became God’s. As Moses became God’s, his staff also became God’s to use the way He wanted for His glory. It is interesting to see that Moses had no assets at this time other than the staff. Even the sheep under his care were that of his father-in-law. God wanted him to surrender even the last asset he had in the form of a staff along with a surrender of his own will. When the surrender was complete, God showed him that he would be like the burning bush which would burn for the Lord, but would not burn off. When Moses completely surrendered, he was used mightily by God. His staff led a few sheep, but God used it to lead two million people and all their cattle for forty years. When he gave up his sheep, God gave him more than two million sheep. God took care of all his needs throughout the next forty years by giving direction, guidance, light, food, water, protection and all other provisions required for him as well as for all the people he led. God made Moses to think big because he was to follow a big God who is far beyond imagination. Today you and I have the privilege to follow this God to attempt great things for Him as we give up our petty things for Him.
Dear reader, does your situation demand that you keep some things like a small staff for yourself? Is there pressure in your heart to hold on to something for your security and provisions? Is God speaking to you about giving up all that you have along with surrendering yourself for Him to use you as it pleases Him? Today God wants to reassure you that your God and His resources are far beyond your imagination. Your God wants you to have a willing heart to give up all that you have no matter how big or small it might be. If you don’t give up even the smallest for God, it will stand as a hindrance for Him to use you in a mightier way than before. But remember, when you give up your small staffs for Him, He might give it back to you for His use in your hands. But it will remain God’s staff and not yours. That doesn’t matter because if you are fully God’s, your staff will also have to be God’s. And you will have the privilege to hold God’s staff in your hands to work for Him to accomplish His purpose. When God’s staff is in the hands of God’s surrendered servant, it will accomplish greater things. God’s staff in your hands is the constant reminder that God will meet all your needs in the physical, emotional and spiritual realms on all the days of your lives. Today God is challenging you to dare to drop all that you hold dear to our heart and all that you depend on for a livelihood. When all that we have and are remain as God’s possession, it becomes God’s prerogative to meet our needs as He uses us to touch others through our lives.
Psalms 23:4b – Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
Thought for Today
Anything that is not fully surrendered cannot be fully utilized for God
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Wednesday, October 24, 2012

ENBLING THE DISQUALIFIED!!

Enabling the disqualified!
Verse for Today:Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Exodus 3:11 – But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
One of the most important qualifications of a person used of God is his own realization of his absolute disqualification and unworthiness to be used by God. This realization comes to us as we are in God’s awesome presence and see His unapproachable glory. Our conviction about our absolute inadequacies become most blatant to our own eyes when we understand the seriousness of the formidable task that is laid bare before us. The presence of God filled Moses with the fear of God which would not dare him to think for a moment that he had any capability to go to Pharaoh in Egypt. God’s presence filled him with the feeling of total incompetence for the task for which he was called. But God found this conviction of Moses to be his greatest qualification for the task. When God calls any one for a task or mission, He would not expect that person to come with competence, but to come to God and get the required competence. It is God who qualifies the ones He calls. It is God who equips those whom He calls. It is God who supplies every tool, whether it is a staff, a torch, an earthen pitcher, a sling or smooth stones to accomplish what is not possible with horses, chariots, spears, swords and large armies. It is amazing that God didn’t talk to Moses about resources and provisions for daily needs or about personal protection. But when God sends someone for a task, there is no need to be anxious about daily needs of varying kinds or safety because God Himself is the provision and security for His servants. Today God is looking for men and women who would go to His presence and receive their respective commissions and march forward without getting anxious about safety or resources. When God is our supply line, there is no need to be concerned about provisions or resources on the way. God sends us off and asks us to go by faith in His great power and strength. In His presence we see His abundant storehouse of resources. He asks us to claim it by faith to go forward.
Dear reader, are you concerned about resources on your way as you live to accomplish God’s purposes in your life? Remember, it was God who brought you so far. He has been supplying your every need. He gave you education and strengthened you to work. You need to understand that your present task of feeding a few sheep in a desert is a time of preparation to do greater tasks for Him in the days to come. Your challenge today is to trust God and His strength to lead you on a daily basis. Perhaps you are pulled back by cares about your daily needs. But God wants you to know that He is your resource base. Like Moses, sometimes you will be in a palace enjoying abundance and at other times you become a homeless wanderer in a foreign land looking for a place to lay your head. At other times you might be led through a desert with hungry and thirsty people in your care. But it is God who is leading you on a daily basis with food, water and shelter. Your needs are His concern because He commissioned you. Your responsibility is to go by trusting in God’s power. You don’t need to be concerned about your capacity because He will empower you no matter what the task is. He will meet your every need and carry every burden. But you have to come to God’s presence and confess your nothingness and emptiness. When your disqualifications are confessed, God will qualify you to accomplish His task for His glory. Remember, self-qualified people cannot and will not be used of God. Today He is calling you to accomplish great things for Him without fear or anxiety about your cares, but to cast it all upon Him.
Judges 6:14 – The Lord turned to Gideon and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”  
Thought for Today
When God commissions us, He strengthens and equips us with adequate provisions for every need so that we can fully focus on the mission.
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Tuesday, October 23, 2012

RESPONSE TO GROANING!!

Response to groaning!
Verse for Today: Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Exodus 2:24 – God heard Israelites’ groaning and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob.
We find comfort in the fact that our God knows all our needs and situations even before we experience it and has a plan to meet our needs in all situations. He told Jacob more than 400 years before their deliverance that He would bring his children back to Canaan. It is comforting to realize that our God knew the situation which kindled a deep desire for Jacob’s children to want to get out of Egypt. When God allowed them to experience the bitterness of slavery in Egypt, He already prepared a Passover Lamb to redeem and deliver them. But God also gave Egyptians sufficient time and opportunity to respond to Him, though they refused to acknowledge Him as God and instead tried to ill-treat God’s children all the more.  While the Israelites were under the tyranny of the Pharaoh and the bitter slavery of Egypt, God wanted them to learn the big lesson that Egypt would not give them satisfaction, peace and rest. Out of their distress, when all hope was gone, they turned to God and cried unto Him for mercy and deliverance. It was then that God responded by sending a deliverer to release them from the clutches of Egyptian slavery. He heard all their cries and knew their misery. They groaned in their sufferings and their God responded to them in mercy, compassion and grace. Our God hears the cries of all His children at all times. Our cries will never go unheard and our petitions are never unattended to. At the right time our God will answer us. He has a plan of action which is already laid down in His holy presence and He will act accordingly at the right time. But He acts when we become utterly helpless and loose all hope and are willing to take our hands off our situations. Today His ears are open to the supplications of His children who admit their helplessness and nothingness to Him and submit ourselves to His plan in our lives.
Dear reader, are you facing an utterly helpless situation in life today? Are you surrounded with sufferings of various kinds in your body and mind? Are you oppressed by your economic situation, workplace, neighborhood, family and community? Have you reached a stage of utter helplessness and found that all your efforts at finding a resolve are in futile? It is when you reach the end of your rope and realize utter helplessness that you might feel the urgency to cry unto the Lord. When all your strength wanes and drains away that you seek the help and strength of your Lord. It is at such a situation of total helplessness that faith starts to work for you. When the last resort fails, there is still hope in the Lord for a crying soul. He knows your situation and is waiting for you to seek His help in your helplessness. He has already laid down a plan for your deliverance, but He will act when you submit your situation for Him to do whatever He wants to do according to His perfect will. His solution to your situation might cause you inconveniences, displacements and discomfort. But you have to be willing to allow the hands of the Master Designer to do whatever that please Him to renew your life. Then you will see that your tears become shouts of joy and your slavery turns into freedom and liberation. Today you have the privilege to cry unto Him and He will turn it into a victory march. He will not forget all the promises He has given you and will fulfill it for your joy to abound.
Psalms 34:6 – This poor man called, and the Lord heard him; He saved him out of all is troubles.
Thought for Today
When our confession of helplessness goes up and collides with God’s all-sufficiency in the midair, it results in showers of blessings.
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Monday, October 22, 2012

CHARIOTS READY TO GO!

Chariots ready to go!
Verse for Today: Monday, October 22, 2012

Genesis 45:27 – But when they told him everything that Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the carts Joseph had sent to carry him back, the spirit of their father Jacob revived.
God rekindles the sagging spirits of His children by powerful reminders and strong evidences of what He does for them. He sends to us His servants who had personal encounters with Him to reassure us that He is at work for us. We can meet persons who knew God face to face on the pages of the Word of God. Their testimonies are powerful and lively experiences of how God prepares ways for His children and leads them forward. God also sends His powerful promises to remind us that He is at work for our welfare. These promises are all seen on the pages of His Word which is eternally secure in heaven. From the beginning to the end of the written Word, these promises come one after the other just as the chariots sent for Jacob by Joseph. These promises have the glory of God embodied in it and will demonstrate God’s power as they are fulfilled. They are put forward in front of our eyes in power, strength and majesty and they re-energize our hearts to believe and cling on to it. It was these chariots of promises that made Jacob believe that his Joseph was alive and that he was powerful to carry Jacob to his presence to witness the majesty and honor with which Joseph ruled. The chariots of promises in the Word take us to our Heavenly Joseph who meets all our needs to full satisfaction. All we have to do to meet our needs is to shed our frustrations, cling on His promises and go to His presence to receive everything that He has kept for us to enjoy. When these chariots are in front of our very eyes, there is no need to wallow in our spiritual poverty and depression because of our nothingness. Instead, we should allow our spirits to be revived, renewed and revitalized to see His resources.. Today we are challenged to open our eyes to see all the promises given to us by our Lord and claim these promises to live each day victoriously.
Dear reader, are you living in deep distress and depression because of the disappointments in life you are confronted with? As you go deep down into the valleys of frustration, bitterness, deprivation, loneliness, loss, pain, misery, and rejection which pull you down further, it is time to lift up your head and see the promises which are sent to you by the Lord. On each mornings in life, look through the windows of your spiritual eyes to see the glittering and glorious chariots of promises which are parked in front of your dwelling places. These chariots of promises are sent by your beloved Lord to lift you up. He is out there waiting for you to go to His storehouses and appropriate all the blessings that He has kept ready for you. There is a remedy for all your spiritual, emotional and physical needs in His presence. The answers to all your puzzles in life have been waiting for you to see. In His presence, you will find solutions to your problems and resources to enrich your sagging spirit. He has heavenly bread and water of life to revive your weak and tired spirit. He will rekindle your dim life to become brighter. He will reestablish hope in your eyes and your life. He will wipe away all your tears and hold your hands to walk with Him and become a blessing to others around. Remember, when Jacob was with Joseph, he even became a blessing to Pharaoh. Yes, dear reader, Jesus your Heavenly Joseph has warehouses which are overflowing with His goodness. These are all for you to appropriate for a satisfying life style. You no longer need to wallow in your misery, but should hop on to the wonderful chariots of the promises of God to travel to His presence to enjoy His goodness.
Psalms 136:23 – To the One who remembered us in our low estate, His love endures forever.
Thought for Today
God’s promises are His chariots to carry us into His presence to draw upon His resources to meet all our needs.
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Sunday, October 21, 2012

THE WAITING ABUNDANCE!!

The Waiting Abundance!
Verse for Today: Sunday, October 21, 2012
Genesis 42:1 – When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you keep looking at each other?
When Jacob and his family were in utter poverty in Canaan, his beloved son Joseph was the custodian of all the grain that the whole starving world needed. Jacob had no idea that he was prompting his elder sons to go to the very Joseph they sold for twenty pieces of silver about 20 years ago. But the God of Jacob who led him all the way to Hebron already prepared a way to sustain Jacob and his children so that the lineage to the Messiah would be kept going for God to bless the whole world through Jesus Christ. It took Jacob and his elder sons time to realize that their God had already gone before them in time and prepared their sustenance. Had Joseph not gone before them, there would not have been any storehouse for them to draw upon. Pharaoh would not have known the need for storing up all the grains for the days of the upcoming famine. So God sent Joseph ahead of them to sustain them, but that in no way vindicate them from their crime of ill-treating Joseph and selling him as a slave to Egypt. It is sad that when his beloved son is the custodian of all the food in Egypt, Jacob and his family had to go through starvation. Jacob knew about the availability of good in Egypt, but had no idea about Joseph because he thought Joseph was dead and gone. Joseph was the fruitful wine in the family of Jacob to grant fruit at the right time to give livelihood to his family. But Jacob and his family had to go to him asking for food. They thought they had to pay for the food, but Joseph filled their sacks and gave them their money back. They only asked for food for money, but he gave them a feast and extended amazing hospitality. His brothers came to him bowing down with their faces down, but he took them to his dining hall and made them seated with him to share from his meal. He gave them beyond their imagination which made them look at each other in astonishment. When we go to our heavenly Joseph asking, seeking and knocking, He treats us to our amazement and makes us seated with Him in His banquet hall to enjoy all the blessings of the heavenly places. Our Joseph is alive and He is the King of kings and Lord of lords to give us all that we need beyond our expectation and according to His measure to satisfy our every need.
Dear reader, are you struggling to meet your basic needs in life? Is there a dearth of spiritual, emotional and physical resources to meet your daily needs? You don’t need to starve and experience hardship because your Lord is the owner of all the resources in Heaven which are kept for you to draw upon. The heavenly warehouse is full of the riches of God which are your inheritance. It is all yours to appropriate because you are made a child of the Heavenly Father through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. But you need to go to Him, confess your nothingness, fall prostrate and worship Him and thus give yourself to Him. He will then show you the windows of heaven which are open for you to go and feel free to draw from all the reservoirs of heavenly resources. There is enough for all of God’s children to meet all their needs. If we knock at the door in the name of Jesus, it will be opened for us. We don’t need to pay anything except ourselves to draw from God’s warehouse of blessings. Today let us go to the Lord and live with Him in His sanctuary to devour on all the blessings He has prepared for us and lead a life of full satisfaction. But if we still live far away from His presence and keep looking at each other and at the sources of the world, we would continue to deprive ourselves of all that our Lord wants to give us today.
Psalms 36:8 – They feast in the abundance of Your house; You gave them drink from Your River of delights.      
Thought for Today
The children of the King of Heaven must have awareness about His abundance and live to draw from it to their brim.
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Saturday, October 20, 2012

PRESENT & FUTURE COMPENSATIONS!!

Present and future compensations!
Verse for Today: Saturday, October 20, 2012
Genesis 41:51 – Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh and said, “It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.”
God gives us the right gifts at the right time to lift our sagging spirits up and fill us with His joy in the wake of severe trials and tribulations. These gifts come in the form of peace, contentment, sustenance and strength to accomplish greater things for Him. While these gifts are only a token, the greatest gifts await us at the Bema. He is gracious to compensate us for our losses here on earth in special ways which are not always tangible, but spiritual. Joseph was ill-treated and sold by his own household and thus separated him from his loving father. It has now been more than thirteen years since he lost touch with his family. It seemed as if he lost them and that they have lost him too. But God comes to compensate Joseph with a family of his own and presented him with a son who made him forget all his troubles of the past from his household. Through the birth of Manasseh, God spoke to Joseph that the son was God’s way to help Joseph forget all the troubles of his past thirteen years. Now it was time for him to praise God and forget his painful past.  Manasseh was God’s token reward to Joseph because he endured all trials but still didn’t divert from God’s pathways. God didn’t stop there, but reassured Joseph through another gift of a son who was a token of enlargement and enrichment of his life in the land of his suffering through temptations, false accusations and long years of imprisonment. Where all hope seemed to elude him, God gave Joseph new hope again through the sign of fruitfulness in his second son Ephraim. Today Joseph has a new beginning in life with grace to forget the past and to enjoy the new fruitfulness that God permitted in his otherwise barren life in a prison cell. These two great new gifts seemed far greater to Joseph than the second spot he got in Egypt. The position in Egypt was to help sustain the Messianic lineage, but his two sons were to become the pillars of the New Jerusalem and will be carried by the High Priest of Heaven on His chest. We stand amazed at the way God treats His faithful servant and are challenged to take comfort in the way He treats all His faithful children in the wake of suffering injustice and ill-treatment.  
Hello dear reader, are you sinking deep in agony because of the injustice that is done to you by those who are near and dear? Are you caught up in impatience because of the extent of sufferings? Do you feel like asking God as to why you are going through these sufferings and why God was not interfering to stop the ill-treatment? But what you might not realize is that your God is busy working behind the scene to set the stage for you to be exulted and compensated. When the stage is set, the curtain of darkness will be raised up for you to see the enrichment, enlargement and empowerment that God has prepared for you as a token of His greater gifts which await you at the Bema. The token gifts will make you forget the past tribulations and compensate you for what has been lost. As He helps you to forget your pains of the past, it is not time yet to rest, but to keep accomplishing greater tasks for Him. He has set the stage for that also which you will have to fulfill as you avail yourself of the opportunities that are spread before you. Let the gifts of the two sons of Joseph encourage us today to look forward for the future with brighter hope for greater things that God will accomplish through us as part of His eternal plan. Let the token gifts from God strengthen us and rekindle our sagging spirits to keep trusting God to go forward.
Romans 8:18 – I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
Thought for Today
God enlarges, enriches and compensates His children as they persevere in tribulations and prepares them for greater glory ahead. 
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Friday, October 19, 2012

REBUILDING WRECKED LIVES!!

Rebuilding wrecked lives!
Verse for Today: Friday, October 19, 2012
Genesis 39:3 – When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favour in his eyes and became his attendant.
Sometimes we are amazed to see that the world seems to recognize our testimony better than our own household of faith. God’s children are often rejected by their own people because of wrong spiritual perception. Their eyes are blinded with spiritual shortsightedness that they do not see the merit in their own spiritual family. The prophets are often unacceptable in their own communities because of misinterpretation and misrepresentation of their behavior. Even though the enemy plants these seeds of contempt in their minds, they themselves often allow these seeds of doubts and misunderstandings to grow rather than pluck them away as they germinate in their hearts. It was unfortunate that Joseph’s brothers could not realize how the hand of the Lord was with him. They looked at him with envy and doubted his sincerity. Even when he came in search of them, they did not receive him with love. But God opened the eyes of a heathen civil servant to see that Joseph’s life was different because his Lord was with him. History repeated itself centuries later when a thief and a Roman centurion testified that Jesus was innocent when the religious leaders and the mob which enjoyed the fruits of His ministry refused to recognize Him. Even when the Philistine kings recognized David, his own father-in-law’s eyes were dim about the motives of David. Joseph came out of the furnace of misunderstanding in his own household, but God opened the eyes of his heathen employer to see the goodness in him and attributed it all to the presence of godliness in his life. When our own people reject us, God will encourage our hearts as He makes the outsiders recognize and appreciate us. God tells us today through the experience of Joseph that no one can put down a good man for long and that at the right time the Lord would comfort his heart through unusual people in unusual circumstances. So it is not expedient for us to give up hope in life when some people are against us, but should remind ourselves that our God is for us and that He will never forsake us.
Dear reader, are you discouraged today thinking that your own people are against you and that they reject and resent you? Do you feel dejected when those who are close to you spend their energies and mind to cook up evidences against you and malign you? When they sell you for temporary gain, it would certainly ache your heart and  make you feel deeply grieved and depressed. But that is not the end of the matter, as your Lord is even turning these rejections into greater acceptance in the future. So it is time you leave these sad events behind your back and leap forward with joy because the Lord is working for you to lift you up. He will bless your labor and take up your cause with others to prove that He is with you. But it demands your wholehearted commitment to the Lord and His cause and your involvement in everything as unto the Lord. Even in unfavorable circumstances, if you walk with the Lord and be committed to Him, He will uphold your cause and make you a blessing to the amazement of the ungodly that are around you. Today the Lord wants you to know that you should not give up because of the hurts, rejection, resentment, hatred and plots against you because He is working in your situation to declare to the world that He is with you. While your malefactors wallow in their wickedness, God wants you to grow in His grace and on His pathway towards fulfilling His perfect will in your life which will be unfolded before your eyes shortly.
Philippians 3:13 – But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead.
Thought for Today
While the world is busy writing off God’s children, our God is busy writing eternal episodes in our lives and making them come alive for His glory.
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