Friday, November 30, 2012

FAITH SUBDUES CURSING!!

Faith subdues cursing!
Verse for Today: Friday, November 30, 2012
2 Samuel 16:12 – It may be that the Lord will see my distress and repay me with good for the cursing I am receiving today.

When the world tries to deprive us of our legitimate rights, it doesn’t realize that our blessings come from the Lord which they cannot stop in any way. When the world curses us, it has a false notion that their curse will be effective upon us. But the world is ignorant about the way our God works for us. He is the source of all our blessings and He bestows all good things upon us. He doesn’t curse us, but will only discipline us for our shortcomings and disobedience. He teaches us great lessons in life through experiences in life so that we will walk on His pathways. Often we are tempted to fret when the world pronounces curse and doom on us. But we must agree with David that our times are in the Lord’s hands. Nothing will happen to us without His permission. He allows us to go through rough patches in life to teach us valuable lessons so that we would have a closer walk with Him. Often we learn great lessons through deeply painful experiences. David had one of the most distressing experiences in life when his own son ousted him from the kingdom. At that time, most of his loyalists departed from him and plotted against him. David had to run for life once again as in the times of King Saul. When he faced curses from his former loyalists, his heart was broken with grief. But David was unwilling to give up hope. A humiliated, humble and broken David, sinking deep into profound frustration, was still holding on to his faith in the Lord and His mercy. He was unwilling to give up or give in. He clung to the Lord’s faithfulness to him and His promises about his future. His faith helped him to get out of the depths of mire that he was in and put him back on his throne in Jerusalem.

Hello friend, are you in the depth of frustration and humiliation in life because of the alienation and treachery that others heaped on you? Are your plotters and onlookers writing you off from your spheres and waiting for your extinct? Perhaps everyone around has become prophets of doom about you and think that you will never surface again. But no matter what others say or do against you and how they curse and predict your doom, your Lord will not let you go down the drain. He has already planned great things for you in His vineyard. He wants you to complete the many things that He started in you for His glory. His promise to establish your testimony is still valid and powerful. His mighty hand is still with you no matter how rough a situation you are going through. He holds you in the palm of His hands and protects you from all evil incidents and events. But He wants you to go through a time of brokenness to learn lessons about humility, nobility and obedience. If you have committed sins of omission and commission, it is time you repent and get yourself broken in the hands of the Lord. But that doesn’t mean that the Lord gives up on you. He will do everything needed to bring you back and keep you on the path of faith and obedience. So dear reader, don’t be alarmed about the words of the prophets of doom around you. Be strong in the Lord and wait for His time to bring you out of the present mire and establish your testimony. The curse the world pours upon you will not be effective because your times and life are in the hands of the Lord. You are challenged today to go forward by looking unto Jesus and do not relent form His path for Him to continue to use you for His glory.

Isaiah 41:13 – For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.

Thought for Today
The curse of the prophets of doom will not penetrate the hands of the Almighty that protect His children.
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Thursday, November 29, 2012

School of Tears!!

School of tears!
Verse for Today: Thursday, November 29, 2012
2 Samuel 15:30 – But David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went; his head was covered and he was barefoot.

The sum total of life is invariably tears and heartaches. Such devastating experiences come to God’s children when they are deprived of their standing in life by unexpected forces, sources and events. Sometimes we are attacked by our enemy directly and at other times the enemy uses our own nearest and dearest people to attack us. At other times tears fill our eyes when the enemy uses our situations to hurt us. But our Lord permits painful events or attacks in our lives so that we will learn valuable lessons from it. Some tears are a result of the consequences of our own past shortcomings and failures. It breaks our hearts when our dearest and nearest ones challenge and intimidate us in life. Families are often the sources of such heartaches and tears as in the case of David. Attacks and intimidation form families often embarrass us over and above the pain it causes. When the enemy uses husbands and wives or parents and children against each other, it causes unbearable agony. In such cases, the seeds of rebellion are planted in human hearts by the enemy to use it against us. At other times, we find that the enemy uses God’s people to fight against each other or against God’s servants. When we are under attack, many of our dear ones join in as co-conspirators and stand with the enemy to fight against us to gain filthy lucre. When we are thus embattled, the tenacious ones among us will fight back and go to any extent to win. The more sensitive and softer souls like David will run away for life, weeping and wearing sack clothes. But as we sink ourselves deep in heartaches, tears and embarrassment and as we run for life rather than fight back, our God comes to comfort us that this is not the end of the rope for us. His promises are still holding fast. He can and will restore us in life with His joy by wiping our tears away and healing our emotional wounds. He understands our painful situation, predicaments and battles. Through it all, our Lord builds us up and teaches us new lessons in trust and faith. He gives us the strength to climb mountains of pain which become mountains of victory and joy.   

Dear reader, are you a battered soul today with deep hurt in your heart because of the battles you face from unexpected corners? Have these attacks shattered your confidence and strength in life? You might be asking why you have to go through such painful experiences in life. But you must realize that God has a purpose in allowing you to go through the present painful situation. He will reveal the reasons why He has permitted the present pain in your life. If it is due to your own failures, you must confess it and repent. It might be to make you trust in the Lord and His mighty power alone rather than in your intellect or skills to manage situations. As you go through pain and tears, your Lord comes to comfort you and strengthen you to bear your pain and frustration. He pours oil and vine to heal your emotional wounds.  He will teach you lessons in trust and faith to hold on to His promises. David had failures in his life which made him quickly accept this painful situation which was thrust upon him by his son Absalom. But it helped him to search his soul and take responsibility for his son’s rebellion against him. He prayed to the Lord to interfere and restore him. The Lord was out there with David as he climbed the mountain of tears and brought him back with praise in his heart.  The Lord restored David, his kingdom and throne which was part of His eternal plan for him. Today He is out there to restore, revive and rebuild His children who are brokenhearted and to heal their wounds with the Balm of Gilead.

Psalms 116:8&9 – For You, O Lord, have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before the Lord in the land of the living.

Thought for today
God’s school of tears teaches us humility and brokenness which are strong pillars to rebuild us up.
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Wednesday, November 28, 2012

KING'S GOURMET!!



King’s Gourmet!
Verse for Today: Wednesday, November 28, 2012
2 Samuel 9:13 – And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king’s table, and he was crippled in both feet.

Enemies have no right or privileges to come into the presence of kings. They are never welcome to the dining table of the king. They deserve permanent alienation from the king and his palace. But the heavenly King is very different. He shows grace, mercy and compassion to all His enemies. His grace searches after them. He is moved with compassion at their deplorable life of depravity. He restores to them all that they lost when they joined the company of the enemy. Not only that they are spared of their lives, but they are given new privileges in His presence. The heavenly King spreads a table before them and makes them eat of the royal gourmet at His table. The handicap of the enemy is covered by the wood of the old rugged cross when they are seated at the table with the King. Mephibosheth got all of these privileges in the presence of the great King David. Today we all have the privilege to enjoy all the blessings of the heavenly places in the presence of the King of kings and Lord of lords. We are lovingly and compassionately invited to stay permanently the presence of the Heavenly King. No condition is laid before us except our willingness to come. He comes to knock at our door and offer supper and rest to our weary, burdensome and restless souls. All our infirmities are covered by the old rugged cross. All our desires and needs are fully met and our deficiencies covered at His presence. But we must come with total surrender of our will and desires and have a heart to be contended with all His goodness at His table of blessings. There is no more need to wallow in our deprivation. There is no more fear about punishment or alienation at His presence. Our rights are established in His presence by the decree signed at Calvary with the blood of the Lamb of God.  

Dear reader, are you a weary and miserable soul today? Are you searching for an anchor and a haven of rest where all your anguishes will be turned to contentment and joy? You have an invitation to the presence of the King of the Universe who has already prepared a table for you to enjoy all the blessings of the heavenly places. You will no longer be treated as an orphan and a destitute, but as the son or daughter of the Great King. You have every privilege in His presence as His heir. There is a provision for all your physical, emotional and spiritual need to be met according to His riches in glory. All your former incapability and spiritual disability are covered by the cross of Calvary. You are treated as family and no longer as an alien. There is no shortage for anything at His table. It is the table of blessings which meets your every need and removes all anguishes. At His table, there is no bias, partiality or prejudice, and each is given according to need. But it is your responsibility to appropriate it all to meet your needs for strength and growth. Your King gives you far more than you ever ask for or desire. He has prepared everything even before your needs are felt by you. This is not merely a future experience, but it is real and true today as it would be on all the days of your life. So dear friend, you don’t need to live like a pauper and a destitute anymore. There is manna each morning. The ravens, widows and angels wait on you with food and drink at His table. There is no one to intimidate you as you enjoy at His table. Let us not be tempted to go to the broken cisterns and empty storehouses of this world to come back frustrated. Let us not go to the world with a begging bowl when an honorable seat is waiting for us at our King’s feast.

Psalms 34:10 – The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; but they who seek the Lord shall not be in want of any good thing.

Thought for Today
The poor, broken and humble draw near to the table of the Lord while the ambitious run after shadows and smokescreens.
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Tuesday, November 27, 2012

BLISSFULNESS!!


Blissfulness!
Verse for Today: Tuesday, November 27, 2012

2 Samuel 7:29 – For You, O Sovereign Lord, have spoken, and with your blessing the house of your servant will be blessed forever.

The blessings we have are governed by the sovereign will of God who is the source of true blessedness. His blessings are spiritual in nature. When God governs our heart, emotions and situations, we become blissful. Blissfulness is the character of God in that He is full of joy, contentment and peace in all circumstances and situations. His blissfulness is not affected by things that happen at any point in time. He sees the goodness of each event in time in the perspective of eternity. He knows that anything temporal will not give man lasting peace, joy and rest because the temporal events and things will lead to momentary elation or grief. But God wants to use events, incidents and developments in a person’s life to impart eternal spiritual blessing which will not depart from him. It is well known that many events in David’s life did not give him any joy at all. The blood that he shed, the rebellion of his children with their dark lives, sin in his own life, the occasional unbelief that controlled his life into faithless actions and the behavior of some of his associates led to pain in David’s life. There have been painful events in the lives of his posterity which were far from blissful. But the spiritual implications of the ministry of David, his hymns, his life of repentance, the prophetic word which stemmed from his heart and pen, the justice he imparted to Israel, his attitude to Saul and his family and his stand against revenge are all examples of the spiritual blessings David enjoyed in life. The implication of the throne of David that the Sovereign Lord promised him is the greatest blessing that David enjoyed in life. David knew the spiritual secret of how to trust God in the midst of thick adversity and to convert every anguish into praise and trust in the Lord. David’s excitement about true and lasting spiritual blessings ought to challenge us to covet such blessings in our lives so that it would have eternal impact in our lives and that of those we touch by faith.

Dear reader, what are your cravings in life? Are they spiritual blessings which will glorify God and will have eternal impact in your life and that of those whose lives you touch? Are you tempted to crave material, social and emotional blessings which give you elation and excitement that will vaporize and disappear? When God gives you true blissfulness, it might be through the rough patches of life. God takes glory to His name through the battles, pain, misery, depravity and pain which He permits on your way to purify and revive you spiritually. God uses everyday mundane event in your life to teach you spiritual lessons to guide and lead you. In the life and reign of David, the spiritual blessings that he received from the Lord had eternal implications, but the material and social prosperity waned away. The worldly glory of David was soon gone and his family went through abominations, division and family feud which shattered his family and his nation and brought them into Babel. It caused his beloved Jerusalem with its magnificent temple to be burned down. But God’s spiritual blessing will bring his family and nation together to prepare the way for the millennial kingdom of the Lord to rule from Jerusalem. Let the life and experience of David teach us to desire spiritual blessings which will last all eternity. Let us look for spiritual blessings in each and every bitter and tearful incident we go through on a daily basis. Let us learn to enjoy true blissfulness in spite of our difficulties. Let us be like Abraham who looked for something beyond all that he had as a rich man. Let us shed all the material and social baggage that we carry and desire the great spiritual blessings of ardent faith, uninterrupted peace, quiet rest, a servant heart and a desire to get ourselves lost in the wonder and awe of the majesty of our Lord.

Matthew 5:3 – Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Thought for Today
True spiritual blessedness is the only asset that we can take with us to eternity.
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Monday, November 26, 2012

POWER FOR THE POWERLESS!!



Power for the powerless!  
Verse for Today: Monday, November 26, 2012

2 Samuel 5:10 – And David became more and more powerful, because the Lord God Almighty was with him.

God’s children receive their power from their Lord. They are worms in themselves and have no strength and power of their own. Their Lord reminds them about their weaknesses and incapability, and He asks them to depend on Him for strength to accomplish His purpose for them. Only with the Lord’s strength can they become successful in the spiritual warfare. Their own intellect, tactics and strategies will only expose their emptiness. But when they live a repentant and broken life, their Lord will be with them to strengthen them. David lived such a repentant life as demonstrated in his attitude and approach to Saul and his family and to Abner, the captain of Saul’s army. He was careful not to use his strength and power against his own people, but he used it all against their enemies who lived around them. David also had tremendous influence among his people because of his behavior and the way he related himself to people. He never retaliated or took revenge against God’s people, and kept away from getting hurt in their hands. He gave leadership to the downtrodden and made them warriors to fight against the enemy. He never condoned the way Joab murdered Abner and punished those who even brought news about the death of Saul and his children. His heart was a fountain of great hymns of praise and prayer even when he was under attack. He attributed all his success to the Lord and His power and lived with a grateful heart. He received the grace of God and lived a repentant life which kept him humble and broken. David was God’s sweet singer of praise, instrumentalist and composer of God’s Word in prophetic songs. David lived perennially in the presence of God and enjoyed His awesome power which strengthened him to accomplish God’s purpose in his life. Today David throws a challenge to us to spend more time in the presence of God and receive His power to do great things for Him.

Dear reader, is your life a continuum of battles and attacks? Perhaps you are plowing your field with one hand and wiping your tears with the other? But while you do so, there is great opportunity for you to spend time with your Lord. He is the source of the greatest powerhouse in this universe. If you spend time with Him and continue to behold His glory, your life will be a bright light filled with His glory which will be seen by others around you. If you meditate on the Lord amidst the turmoil of life, He will move your heart to exemplify His attitude and behavior. If you trust in His power, you will be filled with His Spirit to provide you with the necessary strength to accomplish great things for Him in this life. When you are filled with His Spirit, you will be filled with His power and strength to deal with issues and people with a divine attitude and approach. Perhaps you may not become a popular and prominent person, but you will become a powerful influence for God in and around you. The more you trust God, the greater will be your spiritual influence in this wicked world. Today the experience of David speaks to you to be totally dependent on God so that you would receive His power which will strengthen you to do what He wants you to do. You can journey on His pathway only with His strength and power. Your attitude will be His only when you depend on His power to change your natural instincts to His image. That’s when you can live like David and face bitter life situations in His power.

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

Thought for Today
God fills only an empty and broken vessel with His power for His use in His way.
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Sunday, November 25, 2012

WANTED: UNDEFILED CONSCIENCE!!

Wanted: Undefiled conscience!
Verse for Today: Sunday, November 25, 2012
1 Samuel 24:5 – Afterwards, David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of (Saul’s) robe.

It is a great challenge to keep one’s conscience clean when the enemy is using dirty tactics to destroy him. It is a test of one’s integrity and fear of God. David faced such a situation when he saw the enemy face to face. The enemy was from within the clan itself. The enemy was restless and relentless in pursuing and chasing David like a dog. But whenever David caught the enemy defenseless, he kept his faith in his God and never took revenge. He could have annihilated his enemy without any difficulty. But David had a clear and clean conscience. He was a man after God’s own heart. He never wanted to take revenge, but wanted God to rule and overrule all the incidences in his life according to His perfect will. At one point, David was tempted to cut off a corner of King Saul’s robe as an evidence to show that Saul was at striking distance and that David was kind in sparing him. But later his conscience pricked him that he cut portion of Saul’s robe. David believed that if he takes his hands off, his God would work for him. Our God teaches us today that when He is in control of our situation, we need not handle it ourselves, but must by faith take our hands off and expect God to handle it in His way. If we handle it ourselves, we would mess it up. If God alone works in our situation, all the glory for it goes to Him. David’s repentance of his impatience is a challenge for us today as we are confronted by others without a cause. We can leave it all to our God and rest in Him that without His permission, no soul will ever touch us.

Dear reader, are you facing serious intimidation from the enemy of your soul today? Do you find the enemy using people who are dear and near to you to cause you fear and anxiety? But God expects you to hand your situation over to Him. Your affairs are God’s concern and He has a definite plan to take you forward in spite of intimidation. The efforts of the enemy to tarnish your testimony and to cause character assassination will not find lasting impact because you are hidden under the shadow of the Almighty. After all, your testimony in the presence of God and His holy angels is more important than your image among people. You might be misunderstood by the whole world, yet if you are justified before God, that’s all what matters. Joseph had such confidence in God and so he kept quiet when falsely accused. Daniel sustained himself in prayer even when he was threatened to be put in lion’s den. Paul faced innumerable challenges in his ministry from various corners, but he received reassurance from Jesus to take him forward. They all had a clear conscience when they faced the enemy. David had such a clear conscience even as he was chased all around. These experiences made him write songs of praise to God. He didn’t retaliate or fight back. He ran away for life and never reacted when golden opportunities came after him. Even a small act of vindictiveness from his part pricked his conscience and led him to repentance. Today we are challenged to keep our hands off and our mouths shut when we are attacked. We should be driven by undefiled conscience and utter faith in God’s mighty power to protect and sustain us. We must have the confidence that no man can take away what God wants us to have and that we need not fight for it. Let us leave our future to Him by taking our hands off with a clear conscience and a heart full of patience and trust in Him.

Psalms 46:10a – Be still and know that I am God.

Thought for Today
A pricking conscience leads to repentance and to rebuild our faith. 
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Saturday, November 24, 2012

WOUNDED PHYSICIAN!!

Wounded physician!
Verse for Today: Saturday, November 24, 2012
1 Samuel 22:2 – All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered round (David), and he became their leader. About four hundred men were with him.

Those who follow the Lord are often seen to be a minority in this world. In spite of the great service they deliver, they are not recognized. Their place is often in the wilderness. The rich, famous, prestigious and prominent people do not gather around or with them.  They are mostly loners in their sojourn. They attract problematic people who have life-linked anguishes, depravity and insecurity. John the Baptizer was such a person who lived in the wilderness, eating non-conventional food and wearing wild dress. Elijah was an unpopular prophet who had to run away from the centers of action to live in hiding. The Lord Jesus had no place to lay His head and so all the influential people kept away from Him. The prominent Nicodemus met him only in the night for fear of being noticed talking to the poor and illiterate Jesus. The rich Joseph of Arimathea came out openly for Jesus only after His death. Only a handful of fishermen, tax collectors, widows and destitute came to Him. They alone experienced the blessedness of the poor in spirit. David was in demand for winning wars and killing Goliath, but afterwards his skills and efficiency became his enemy and the king wanted to get rid of him. The influential people of the land didn’t want to join him as he ran for life. David became a wanderer and destitute and most people didn’t want him because he had nothing to offer other than loneliness, insecurity and uncertainties. But God was working behind the scene to lift him to the throne as the forerunner of Jesus Christ and kept him going in the most bewildering circumstances. His future was ordained of the Lord. So he had to be patient with God’s plan for his life. David’s life is a challenge for those who feel unwanted and unrecognized to patiently wait for God’s time to be lifted up in life here and hereafter.

Dear friend, are you a broken, lonely, distressed and discontented person wondering what to do and where to go? Perhaps you might see only trials and troubles all around. During the rough patches of life, you might experience alienation when even your best friends and associates deserting you. You might be craving for fellowship and a time of intimate prayer partnership which might be eluding you. But this is not a time to give in to pressures and intimidations in life, but to look for those who need encouragement and strength in times of trouble. There are a lot of people out there who have trouble with family, finance, friendlessness, frustration and loneliness. Such poor souls need your company and fellowship. As Jesus said, it is the sick that need a physician and not the pseudo-spiritual. Instead of wallowing in your loneliness, it is time to go to the broken and contrite people and share the love of God with them. Be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a battle. Your way of handling distress by faith will speak to them and encourage them to keep going in their times of pressure, tension and intimidation in life. As you touch their lives with the love and compassion of God, your soul will find a revival. When you feed the needy people around with the tearful bread that God has given you, their souls will find revival. Today let us attract needy people to our lonely caves as did David. Let the deprived come to us in search of the love of Jesus as it was during the public ministry of Jesus when He was in the wilderness. Let us give what we have received from the Lord to enrich the lives of the spiritually broken and distressed people around. Such a ministry of encouragement will strengthen us to keep walking by faith through this wilderness journey as in the case of David, John the Baptizer and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Acts 3:6 – Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”

Thought for Today
Dressing the wounds of the brokenhearted is the best therapy for our own wounds.
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Friday, November 23, 2012

GRACEFUL ESCAPE!!

Graceful Escape!

Verse for Today: Friday, November 23, 2012
1 Samuel 18:11 – Saul had a spear in his hand and he hurled it, saying to himself, “I will pin David to the wall.” But David eluded him twice.

It is shocking to see how God’s children are attacked by those who are dearest and nearest to them. It is understandable when the enemy from the outside attacks us to annihilate us. But it is quiet difficult to understand why our own people attack to get rid of us. Such attacks are unexpected, unnatural and quite unacceptable to us. But we find that our enemy is such a cruel, sadistic and cunning foe that he tries to use anybody and everybody to confront us. The enemy sows the seeds of envy, competition, hatred and contempt in the minds of our own dearest people to use it against us. We might be engaged in rich ministry as David did when he was playing music to comfort King Saul. Like Saul, our dear ones often do not seem to realize that these negative emotions are filled in their hearts by the enemy who hates our rich relationships with other God’s children. The enemy is well aware of the fact that if he can destroy our unity with other children of God, it is easier to defeat us. He wants to use our dear ones against our ranks and break our divine heritage. In such circumstances, it is easier for us to fight back and try to get victory over them. But David took a divine approach when he was attacked. He eluded Saul and thus escaped the attack twice. David sang praises to God when he escaped such attacks. He never complained to others about the attack, but instead spoke to God about it. David received the grace of God to escape unhurt. But he was unwilling to retaliate against God’s anointed king and left it all to God to handle in His infinite wisdom.

Dear reader, are you under regular attack from the enemy’s camp? If there is no attack at all, it might mean that your life doesn’t provoke any response from the enemy and so he wants to leave you alone. If you are under attack, it is because you are defeating the enemy on several counts. So the enemy might be using outsiders and insiders to attack and devastate you. He knows that you have the whole armor of God with you, but he wants to see how he can tempt you to use it against the insiders as it has been used against the outsiders. His attacks are to take away your unity with the insiders like your kith and kin, neighbors, friends and even people in your fellowship. He attacks us through the insiders to tempt us to use God’s armor against them. David had the grace of God not to retaliate when repeatedly attacked, and he simply slipped away from the spear of King Saul. No matter how fierce the attacks from the insiders are, let us not use the armor God has given us to use against the enemy on the outside. The enemy uses intellectual, emotional and social weapons against us. He uses emotional weapons like fear, anxiety, false accusations, unbelief, confusion and intimidation to fight us. He will ridicule us for our reluctance to use weapons of flesh against those of the household of faith. Our God wants us to be spiritually expedient and under the control of His Spirit when dealing in such circumstances. Let us not allow our hearts and minds to be hurt and frustrated because we get such bitter attacks from our dearest and nearest. Let us not be discouraged, but pray for them so that God will restore our emotions and give us the joy that cannot be taken away by adverse circumstances. Let us not be tempted to be slaves of revenge and retaliation when attacked. Let us get release, restoration and healing of our emotions as we speak to our Father about such painful attacks and take refuge under His wings.

Psalms 61:4 – I long to dwell in Your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of Your wings.

Thought for Today
When we leave our safety and protection to the Lord, He will help us to escape the snares of life through His wisdom.
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Thursday, November 22, 2012

UNSEEN CERTAINTIES!!

Unseen certainties!
Verse for Today: Thursday, November 22, 2012

Ruth 2:3 – As it turned out, (Ruth) found herself working in a field belong to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.

There are no accidents in the realm of God, but only incidents. God rules and overrules such incidents to accomplish His purposes in all that is related to His children. Ruth had no idea where she was going to glean for leftover grain for survival. There were so many harvest fields, but God led her steps to go to the fields of Boaz who was one of the richest farmers of Bethlehem. Ruth set out from Moab committing to Naomi, her mother-in-law, that Naomi’s God would be her God. This commitment was honored by God by directing her steps to the fields of Boaz. Not only that, God had already lined her up to be in the genealogy of Jesus Christ. She didn’t have to do anything to be the great grandmother of Jesus Christ, but only to commit her unknown future to God who had already prepared great things for her. All her steps from Moab to the field of Boaz were part of her commitment to God and to her mother-in-law. She had great faith in following this uncertain course in her life with hope and faith in the God of Naomi. She was willing to leave behind all the possible materialistic prosperity in her own land, and to give it up for an unknown future by faith in God. She was willing to serve and to work hard. She had no hesitation to be like a servant, gleaning in the harvest fields of strangers. She was so poor as not to have a lunch pack or a bottle of water with her as she went to work. But God had it all planned for her and she ended up gaining far greater things than expected. The God of Ruth is with us today and He directs our pathways with incidents which are ordained of Him with provisions to meet our needs.

Dear reader, are you ready and willing to take risks of faith and go out without knowing where? You probably may not have any bus fare or lunch pack and water to take with you. Perhaps you don’t even qualify to be a harvester and have no skills to claim for yourself. But if there are gleaning opportunities lying out there in the agenda of God for you, will you commit yourself to be what He wants you to be? Will you take God at His Word and go forward, trusting Him alone when the situation is bleak and blurred? But you can trust God fully because He has planned your future in His eternal wisdom and grace. There are no surprises in His agenda, but perhaps it might sound like a big surprise to your finite mind. God has your lunch, water, rest and pathway to a splendid future, all determined and prepared for you. But it becomes yours when you take Him at His Word and set out on His pathways. What you will experience will not necessarily be what Ruth got, because God has a unique plan for each of His children to meet individual needs in their different circumstances. He will not send you back empty handed as a destitute, but will give you far more than you expect or ask for. His field is full of grains to meet your every need. His richness is far beyond one harvest field as He owns everything. He is asking you today whether you are willing to go out trusting Him and committing yourself and your future to Him. He will then uncover each of the great things He has prepared for you, a bit at a time, as you keep on trusting Him day by day. Just step out in faith not knowing where you are going and what you will end up with. Your God will never disappoint you, nor will He forsake you.

Isaiah 42:16 – I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.

Thought for Today
God rules and overrules our pathways to lead us through His splendid plans for us as we trust Him and follow after.
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Wednesday, November 21, 2012

GIFTS FROM GREATEST GIVER!!


Gifts from Greatest Giver!
Verse for Today: Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Ruth 3:11 – And now, my daughter, don’t be afraid. I will do for you all you ask.

We cannot go to prominent and prestigious people of this world without fear and apprehension. We dare not to ask them what we want and will have to satisfy ourselves with what they give us according to their will and pleasure. Often there are far too many people around them and we cannot ask any thing privately and we will not be heard properly by them. They promise great things which rarely get fulfilled. But that is not how it works with the Lord of the universe. He deals with each of His people individually. He has time to speak to us and He dispels all fears, apprehensions and anxieties from our hearts as we go to Him. He knows what we want and has enough to meet all our needs abundantly. Yet He wants us to ask Him so that He can give us far beyond what we ask to our amazement. But we must go to Him in sanctification and separation from the world around us through His Word and His Spirit. We must wear His dress of righteousness so that we will be acceptable to Him. We are to demonstrate the aroma of His Spirit when we go to His presence. When we go to ask Him, He welcomes us to His presence and draws us closer to Him. He wants us to acknowledge His awesomeness and great majesty. He is the owner of all that is there in this universe and beyond. His holy presence and His awesome glory invite us to ask according to His status and dignity which are His measure with which He gives us. Ruth got what she wanted for the six days before her till the day of rest when she would find solace at His green pastures and quiet waters. Today He invites us to go to Him with our broken and contrite spirit about our nothingness and alienation. He wants us to tell Him all our needs and desires which He will fulfill according to His riches in glory.

Dear reader, are you a depraved person with special burdens, frustrations, tears and loneliness in life? Are you trying to survive by gleaning in some harvest fields?  But your Great Boaz of Bethlehem is alive and is great in the House of Bread. He is rich in every respect and owns the cattle of a thousand hills. He came to the manger in Bethlehem to take away your heartaches, pain, misery, deprivation and loneliness. He has a great and willing heart to release you from the intimidating circumstances you are in today. He will not despise you nor will He send you away empty handed. Remember, He filled Ruth’s hands with enough till the day of rest. He will give you enough to keep going and at rest in His presence. He would not suffer you to become a destitute or an orphan. Today your Lord Jesus comes to you to challenge you to ask Him what He is pleased to give you. There is no need for you to be afraid about your future or your unworthiness to ask because your Lord is there to give you what you need. He knows all your desires for Him before you ask. But He wants to hear your feeble voice full of awe and love for Him to tell Him what your needs are. You will be surprised about the way He gives because His giving will overflow all your expectations. So why should you live any longer as a simple gleaning person, going to the world and its lords for your necessities? Go to the Lord Jesus and get a miraculously amazing surprise. Today Jesus of Nazareth is coming your way to give you all that you need to continue to live for Him. Are you ready with your requests? Will you be lost in His wonder and awe and forget to even ask for anything? But He knows what is in your heart and will fulfill it all to the praise of His name!

Psalms 20:4 – May He grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your counsel!   

Thought for Today
When we see the King in His glory, we will get ourselves lost the wonder and awe of His majesty and forget to ask petty things from Him.
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Tuesday, November 20, 2012

ENDLESS HARVEST!!

Endless harvest!
Verse for Today: Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Ruth 3:16 – So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning.

There is always a way back to God for all who are away from His blessings. The famine of Bethlehem was used by God to speak to His people about their rebellion and complacency. But God restored Bethlehem and blessed it to once again become the House of Bread. Those who leave God for temporary solace in enemy territory will only be disappointed and frustrated and sink into grief and emptiness. They will have to come back to God empty-handed because the enemy has nothing to offer that would give lasting satisfaction. The enemy offers a smokescreen full of illusions which fade away at the blowing of the wind. When we come to the realization of our emptiness in enemy territory, the only hope for us is to go back to the House of Bread where a harvest has begun. The landlords, servants and even the gleaners are celebrating the goodness of the Lord. The harvest has only started and there are plenty of blessings all the time for all who want to be part of it. There is no need for the Naomis to continue to live like destitute and the Ruths to be like widows. A great Boaz is in Bethlehem who is the owner of untold riches and His field is full of grain. Even those who follow the harvesters would find enough to glean and eat. Naomi has all of these opportunities. Because Ruth is with Naomi, she can also find blessings in Bethlehem. It is all possible because it was to Bethlehem that the Heavenly Bread came two millenniums back to feed the hungry and to give to all who desire spiritual blessings.

Dear reader, are you living like a spiritual destitute and craving for heavenly blessings? You don’t have to live like Mara because of the bitter experiences life has given you. As a child of God, you are in His house and His holy presence. He is your everything and your all. He is able to meet all your needs surpassing all your expectations. A great spiritual harvest is going on and there are plenty of blessings at the spiritual harvest house. You don’t need to be just a gleaning person, but can go to the Great Boaz to receive all that He has prepared for you. He has made you an heir and it is your blessed privilege to appropriate all that is kept for you in His presence. He has spiritual food and drink to satisfy all your cravings. In His presence, there is healing for all your emotional aberrations. He gives you heavenly fellowship which will take away all your loneliness. The harvest has just begun and it will continue through all eternity. When you go to God’s presence, He will usher you to His table which is full of blessings to meet all your physical, emotional, social and spiritual needs. Today you have the privilege to dwell with Him and thus forget the tears, grief, resentment and rejection of the past. He will give you spiritual children to keep you company. Remember, what you have seen is only a beginning. As you grow in deeper love with your Lord day after day, you will enjoy greater blessings in His presence. So dear reader, there is no need to any longer wallow over the intimidating circumstances of the past, but look at the spiritual blessings which are spread before you in the days to come.

Psalms 16:11 – You have made known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.

Thought for Today
The Breadbasket at the House of Bread is filled with all the goodness of God to meet all our cravings.
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Monday, November 19, 2012

WORTHLESS TURNED WARRIOR!!

Worthless turned warrior!
Verse for Today: Monday, November 19, 2012

Judges 6:15 – “But Lord,” Gideon asked, “how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

The world runs after the best qualified people to handle special and formidable tasks. This has led the world into a battleground for personalities and puffed up resumes. It has brought in cutthroat competition, bitter debates, evidence-based leadership and informatics among peoples and nations. But such qualifications are immaterial in God’s economy where what is abhorred by the world is given a premium. Today God is looking for those who experience true brokenness in their lives. He picks up the fearful and the inexperienced and qualifies them provided they are willing to admit their nothingness before Him. He uses a houseboy like Joseph to become a Prime Minister and a shepherd boy like David to kill a giant through non-conventional means. He uses a person with a speech impediment like Moses to make historic pronouncements even to emperors. He uses a sycamore fruit gatherer like Amos to become a great prophet. He made great Apostles out of unknown fishermen. He made a donkey to speak to a covetous prophet. The greatest qualification for God to use a person is humility, brokenness, emptiness and the willingness to admit it. When God called Gideon, he was well aware of his weaknesses and nothingness. He was fearful and hiding from the enemies. But when God equipped him, he became a great tool in God’s hands to accomplish great things. God knows our hearts so well as to realize whether we qualify even before He comes to us with the call. And He expects us to express our total inadequacy before He uses us so that it would be known to both us and others that our usefulness is out of our inability but God’s enabling.

Dear reader, do you feel utterly unqualified in serving God? Are you aware of your nothingness and inadequacy to be of use to God? But this awareness need not frustrate you because you are the child of a God who uses the base things of this world to accomplish great things for Him. Our God values the lowliest and the meekest. He takes a worthless stone from the field or a donkey’s jaw-bone to accomplish His purposes. But if we are humble before Him, He will be pleased to use us. He converts ordinary water into precious wine. He can even use ravens to wait upon great prophets. He uses poorest widows in the country to feed His servants during famine. A drop of oil and a bit of flour would be sufficient for Him to feed a family for months together. He uses worms to pull down big gourds. But our God abhors pride, arrogance and flamboyance. He fills cups only when they are totally empty. He fills those who are empty of themselves.  He will not despise a truly contrite person, but will build him up for divine purpose. God wants to make use of all His children, but not all gets used up in His service. It depends on our suitability as fit, but humble, broken and empty vessels in His hands. Remember, the proud and arrogant Sauls and Nebuchadnezzars will lose their kingdoms, crowns and thrones. But the humble shepherd boys, fishermen and housemaids will be used mightily by God. Today God is searching for those who are willing to submit their unworthiness to Him so that He can make them fit instruments to be of use to Him.  If we submit to Him, He will remove our phobias, apprehensions and confusions and will fill us with His enabling to make use of us. Our dark and fruitless days will be over when He comes to commission us for His formidable tasks. We must discern His call and respond by placing our broken hearts and lives wrapped in the rags of our lives at His feet to put to His use in His own way.

Psalms 109:22 – For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.

Thought for Today
God puts a premium on broken and base things which are surrendered to Him and makes use of it for His glory.
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Sunday, November 18, 2012

HIDING WARRIORS! COME OUT!!

Hiding warriors, come out!

Verse for Today: Sunday, November 18, 2012

Judges 6:12 – When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior”.

In the midst of utter hopelessness, God comes to strengthen and inspire His children. When they are afraid and hiding, He comes to encourage us to keep going by trusting in Him. He comes to make a mighty man of valor out of the most fearful and skeptic person. God comes to fortify and empower His choice servants to fight for Him. God doesn’t speak about their past failures and present fears, but about their future possibilities when they trust in His power. Gideon’s time was one of utter disillusionment for Israel, but God wanted to change it all to one of victory and rest. God picked up the most unlikely candidate to lead His people at such a time of national despair. God calls him a name that will not fit his past or present, but his future as he becomes a fit instrument in God’s hands to fight the enemy. The way God addressed Gideon in the future tense would have given shock-waves in his veins, but it revived his spirit. God answered all his questions of doubt, unbelief and confusion and strengthened his soul to get ready to keep going forward. Today the God of Gideon comes to empower and revive our sagging souls to trust Him to keep going.

Dear friend, have you lost all hope for a victorious future for your life? Have you given up on yourself and your situation as impossible? Are you an emotional wreck because of the bewildering situation you are in? There might be known and unknown fears which grip your body and soul about devastating situations and people who try to devour you. Perhaps you are encountering a financial crunch which makes your next meal a big question mark. There might be unknown fears about your health condition and physical well being. Perhaps the enemy comes to you in the form of intimidating behavior of the people close to you and around you? But your Lord comes to you today to empower and fortify you with Himself. He is around you as a fort so that the enemy cannot penetrate your heart to hurt you. He is your fortress to which you can always take refuge. He is with you to make you what you ought to be. Your future is not based on what you have been in the past, but on what your Lord can make you in the days to come. Your Lord equipped shepherd boys to handle highly equipped warriors with the simplest tools. His warriors can easily handle a fierce lion in a cave on a snowy day. He makes His people walk around a walled city and make the city wall crumble as they merely shout. He snubs fires and shuts the mouths of lions. He makes the sea divided and stands guard for His people to cross over. Today your Lord comes to use you to get victory over all your situations and enemies by strengthening you with His Word. His spoken Word revives your sagging spirit to keep going. He will change your situations and subdue every adversary and make you proceed in joyful procession.  Today He wants you to be a mighty man or woman of valor through the empowering which He wants to impart in your soul? His power will be seen in you if you trust in His pronouncement about your future and go forward by faith.

Isaiah 40:29 – (The Lord) gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.

Thought for Today
God’s power in us will equip us to handle all our fierce and depressive situations and enjoy victory.
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