SKILLFUL HANDS OF THE GREAT PHYSICIAN

Skillful Hands of the Great Physician

Verse for Today: Wednesday, December 07, 2010
Psalms 80:19 - O Lord God of hosts, restore us; cause Your face to shine upon us and we will be saved.

Our prayers and cries are addressed to the Lord of Heavenly hosts. He is the commander-in-chief, and the heavenly hosts are under orders from Him to accomplish His purpose in the lives of His people. When He gives orders, they obey and work out His purpose in our lives as it is in the entire universe. What we need to remind ourselves is that these hosts of heaven who are not saved like us through Calvary are totally submitted to the Lord without any disobedience. Their commitment to the Lord is unparalleled and we need to learn a lesson from their obedience. We must also understand that these heavenly hosts are working for us all the time. They guard us and encompass around us, along with our Lord Himself. One of His ministries that He performs for us is that He restores those who were detached from Him in fellowship and obedience. He speaks to our hearts and counsels us so that we will know what has gone wrong in our relationship with the Lord. In this process of restoration, He takes the first step as He had done in the case of Adam and Eve when they committed sin in the Garden of Eden. He comes to us, calls us by our name and asks us as to why we disobeyed. He speaks to us in His love and mercy and helps us to restore the fellowship with Him. His heart grieves when we disobey and He cannot rest while we are out of fellowship with Him. So He takes the initiative and comes to us to restore us which is like the setting of a broken bone carefully and skillfully. In order for us to see our faults, He will cause His face to shine upon our dark faces because of sin in our lives. His glory shines upon us and we receive the empowering to confess our sins to Him. He thus moves us from darkness to light. He doesn't look back at our past failures and weaknesses because when we confess it, He will forgive and forget it. Our sin can be moral sin or sin of lack of faith and trust in the Lord. When He holds our future, and makes us secure in Him eternally, His heart grieves the moment we lose our trust and faith and start developing anxiety. Every route of anxiety is a bitter root which makes the whole of us bitter in our relationship with the Lord. If He is not trustworthy for our daily needs, there is no meaning in our faith about eternal security of salvation.

Dear friend, are you in need of restoration in your faith and trust in the Lord? Restoration is available only to those who desire it and ask for it as enabled by the Spirit of God. Restoration is painful, but the pain is for our good. If we are not willing to go through the pain of restoration, it is not possible for the Lord to restore us. But He is the most skillful Physician who knows exactly how much pain you can take and will keep His hands on the thermostat of our lives. He will shed abundance of grace for you to go through the process of restoration, and will make it soothing and encouraging. Unless we allow the hands of this Great Physician to handle our case according to His skillfulness and loving kindness, we won't enjoy this process of restoration which ought to cause us to praise Him. When we lack trust in His power to restore us and when we are unable to believe His promises, we need to confess that also to Him and ask Him to help with our unbelief. At that moment, the Spirit who lives in you will energize your countenance with His light and power to see the realities of restoration which would lead us to go forward in faith. He is the unchanging Lord and will never alter the intensity of His promises. He wants to fortify us with Himself and His Spirit and thus we will be able to enjoy the freedom we will have in Him to love Him and trust Him more .Whenever the cold wind of the environment blows upon us, we need to go to Him and ask Him to hold our hands and lead us forward. This is the process of being saved in the sense that we are being saved day by day from the power of sin in our lives. Aren't we glad to have such a wonderful Lord who is with us to lead us and restore us in our faith and trust in Him? So there is no need for us to be discouraged and to feel frustrated. Let us be victorious children of God, always enjoy the glory of the Lord shining upon us as we are regularly restored and thus being saved from the power of sin on a daily basis.

Psalms 23:3 - He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.

Thought for Today
When we feel that we have slipped away in our sojourn, we need to call upon the emergency shining ministry of the Spirit to come and restore us to Him.

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DEMONSTRATED OWNERSHIP

Demonstrated Ownership

Verse for Today: Monday, December 06, 2010
Psalms 79:13 - So we Your people and the sheep of Your pasture will give thanks to you forever; to all generations we will tell of Your praise.

When we approach God with utterances of praise and prayer, we go with the qualification and confidence that we are His people and we are like the sheep of His pasture. We are His people because we were secured by Him by paying the highest price to redeem us from the clutches of Satan. Because He has purchased us with His blood, we are His special possession. So He handles us with care and concern. He fills us each moment of our lives with His presence. His power dwells in us through His Spirit and Word. His angels encompass around us to protect us from all evil. He walks with us and guides us to walk in our sojourn. There is no area in our lives that He is not interested in. He has a plan for each area of our lives, whether it is our physical health, spiritual health and growth, our values, preferences, likes, dislikes, attitudes, behavior, education, career, ministry and even in our rest and leisure. He wants us to go forward in all of these areas as directed by Him and He trains us to walk worthy of our calling as His people. His resources are available for us to live happily as His people in this world and bear witness to this truth. We are also His sheep because we were once lost sheep and He found us out and saved us. He has taken us to be part of His flock and keeps us under His supervision, love, care and protection. He is the lover of our souls and so His eyes are always on us. When we have such a positively possessive Lord, how can we wander away from His love? How can we waver about our daily needs? We respond to His love by living for Him and respond to His care by living by faith without anxiety.

Dear friend, are you conscious of the extent of value attached to your soul by the Lord who gave His life for you to save you from the slavery of sin and Satan? If you are captured by His love for you, it will be seen by the way you live practically by giving the Lord first and foremost place in all areas of your life. Such a response to His love can be seen in your aspirations and focus in life. He expects you to leave all areas of your life to Him to mould and to build for His purpose and for His glory. He desires that you leave all avenues of your life to Him and live by faith each moment of your life. If you recognize the Lord as your sole owner and Shepherd, you ought to live to demonstrate such truths in your practical life. Your life ought to be one that is lost in the love of Jesus which should indicate that you have given Him full charge of your life. This is a reality that can be experienced each moment of our lives and a truth that can be passed on to the generations after us so that they will also learn to trust this Lord. It also deserves a heart and life of deeper worship and indebtedness to Him for who He really is and what He has done for you. When such utterances of praise come out of us, it would refresh His heart. The Lord only expects such deep gratitude and worship from us and nothing else. Such a true worship is the sacrifice of all that we are and we have which is a reasonable response that should come from our hearts to the Lord. He is always waiting to receive practical demonstration of such expression of worship and sacrifice from us.

Psalms 95:7 - For He is our God and we are people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.

Thought for Today
Our ownership by God will be demonstrated in the way in which we live.

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MY LIFE FOR HIS GLORY!

My Life for His Glory!

Verse for Today: Sunday, December 05, 2010
Psalms 79:9a - Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Your name.

Quite a lot of our regular prayers are asking for things for our own welfare, progress and prosperity. We are often like the lost son who asked his father to give him whatever that he felt was his share. But just as he said when he came to his senses, we need to ask the Lord to make us what we ought to be according to the goodness of the Father. What He wants us to become is according to His will and pleasure and as per His eternal plan and purpose. This process of transformation is not for us to gain prestige, popularity, prominence, position and any kind of recognition in this world. It is solely for the Lord to take full and absolute glory out of our lives here on earth. The reason why we are what we have become is solely out of the grace of our Lord and it is because of His death on the cross. He has paid the price for us to become what He wants us to be and so all the returns from our lives ought to naturally become a matter of praise for His name and to get glory to Him. So when we pray and ask for His special hand in our lives on a daily basis, we should be praying that whatever that happens in our lives ought to be for His glory. He has guaranteed that all that He does in our lives is for our good and for His glory. When He plans our lives for His glory, He gives us satisfaction in our lives no matter what our situations are. His Spirit has taught us to praise Him no matter what we go through as long as it brings glory to Him. Whether we live or die, ear or drink, gain or loose, healthy or sick, or become successful or failure, it is for His glory and praise. This is why the Spirit has taught us to pray, along with the Psalmist that we seek His face to do any thing that He is pleased with in our lives as long as it brings glory to His name. It is true that we do not always understand how He takes glory through our lives. So we leave it to Him to decide what ought to happen in our lives and how He would take glory through our lives.

Hello friend, are you determined in your heart that all that ought to happen to you in this life ought to bring glory to the name of your Savior who gave up all His glory to die like a criminal between two great criminals? His death on the cross brought glory to the Father because Calvary revealed the love of God in action and opened the reservoir of the grace of God. At the death of the Lord Jesus, a Roman centurion was able to say that He was truly the Son of God. All the way from Bethlehem to the open tomb, all that had happened in the life of our Lord on earth brought glory to Him and to the Father. It was a path of suffering, sacrifice, mockery, ridicule, shortages, rejection and misrepresentation, but all of it brought forth great glory to Him. Even though He was wounded, His stripes caused us to be healed of our sin sickness. So dear friend, if you are going through any of the experiences of our Lord Jesus in a small measure, it will bring forth glory to the Lord. It comes through the praises which emanate from our hearts. It also comes out of the mouths of those who observe us. It might lead others to the Lord to get saved or draw others for a closer walk with the Lord. It would sometimes give the frustrated ones a ray of hope and courage to face the realities of life. Our testimony of how the Lord deals with us in difficult circumstances and how He provides a release would also make others praise the Lord and help them to learn to trust the same Lord in their lives also. The experiences of Daniel and his brothers, Joseph, Peter, Paul and scores of other saints throughout the centuries have thus brought glory to the name of the Lord. All of these challenge us to pray in all our supplications to the Lord that through all that happens in our lives, His name ought to get all the glory. We need to pray that we may be hidden behind the cross and that our names should never come out for any recognition. We pray further that ultimately our lives should end up in giving all glory in all that we are and do to the Lord who gave up His heavenly glory for us even for a short period.

Psalms 115:1 - Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to Your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.

Thought for Today
Any thing in our lives that brings glory to the name of the Lord will be for our ultimate good.

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DIVINE ELEVATION

Verse for Today: Saturday, December 04, 2010
Psalms 78:70 - He chose David His servant and took him from the sheep pen.

God is pleased to choose His servants to work in this world for Him. This is an eternal choice made in eternity past. His choice is based on His eternal plan through a Lamb that was prepared and kept ready for timely intervention. Through the sacrifice of that Lamb, God had already seen His servants and made plans for them to serve Him in special and unique ways. He plans their ancestry and lineage and prepares them through godly upbringing. At the right time, He sets them out to start their service for Him and takes all glory through what He enables them to do. All the provisions that are required for them to aid in their service are also made available for them so that as they serve Him, they would not need to have any earthly care and anxieties. It doesn't matter what background they come from, in all their upbringing God's hands will be upon them to teach them lessons which will be of use in serving Him. Abraham was a tent maker who pointed the human race to a permanent city by faith. Jacob, his children and David were shepherds to learn how to tend sheep and bring them up for the Master. Disciples like Peter, John and James were fishermen and they learned to catch men in the stormy sea of this world. Paul was a teacher of the law and he was prepared to teach the laws of the Lord and even made part of the team to write it down. Many of God's choice servants were taken from low estate like that of David. But God lifted him up to take the role of the leader of the nation of Israel. Even when his family did not think of him, the Lord thought about him and had already chosen him. He knew how to tend sheep, but even at that time he knew that the Lord was his Shepherd and that He will give him the experience of a sheep who is totally dependent on the Shepherd. Just as the Lord tended David as His beloved sheep, He tends each of us as He is our Jehovah Jirah. This is the reason why His sheep are able to eat from His pastures, drink from His living water fountain and rest in the cool of His gracing field.

Dear friend, what special ministry or responsibility has the Lord prepared you for? What lessons has the Lord taught you in life that you can use in His service? You would have acquired special spiritual values and insights which will work as powerful forces to drive you forward in trusting the Lord to continue to be His servants. It is your responsibility to identify and understand these and use it all for His glory as you dwell in His presence day after day. Remember, you are appointed to serving the Lord in some capacity. You are privileged to have this divine appointment. He will give you all the guidance and strength and will supply you with all the resources to serving Him. While you serve Him, He will meet all your personal needs according to His riches in glory and has given you the freedom to draw from His reservoir which is exclusively kept for you. If you don't draw from His well of blessings, you will have to take the blame for depriving yourself. He doesn't withhold any good thing for you to enjoy and He decides what is good for you and what is not. You will have to speak to Him to let Him know what your needs are and listen to Him as He speaks to you through His Word and His Spirit. He gives you guidance through the Book He has written for you which is your route map for the journey you have undertaken for Him. He corrects you if and when you sidetrack from His pathway and disciplines you when you disobey. Remember, you are His servant and so you are under His authority. It is His prerogative to discipline you in His path so that your journey would be according to His will and plan. What a wonderful experience it is to be part of the flock of God and how exciting it is to be lifted up by His own hands to places of responsibility in His vineyard! Let us be grateful to Him for His pleasure to use us for His glory. Let us also enjoy all that He gives us and use it all for His glory and honor.

Genesis 32:10 - I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness You have shown Your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two groups.

Thought for Today
Looking back to the quarry from where we were taken will give us the humility to continue to be servants of our great Master.

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The Beloved Flock of the Great Shepherd

Verse for Today: Friday, December 03, 2010
Psalms 77:20 - You led Your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Sheep is considered as a thoughtless animal which easily strays away from the place of safety and security. It is prone to wander and get into danger, and would find it very difficult to learn lessons from past mistakes. God considers His people as sheep and He ministers unto them as their Shepherd. He has purchased these sheep from the clutches of the enemy with the life and blood of the Lamb because He loves them so much. His love towards them is not because they are worthy of His love, but because He is love and doesn't want these thoughtless sheep to be lost and eventually destroyed. He has created them for Himself, but they had wandered away from Him and His commandments. So He purchased them to Himself and now leads them through the rough and touch patches of the pathways through which they are to tread. His hand of protection is on them and He provides for all their needs. He is their Good Shepherd who walks before them and leads them by the Word of His mouth. He directs them and keeps their enemies away from them. He also disciplines them as and when necessary because He is interested in them. He is their leader, guide, example and benefactor. He lives for them and expect them to live for Him no matter where they are. He will one day come back to take them to His heavenly abode to live with them forever and ever. While the flock is on this earth, He appoints spiritual stewards to care for them as unto Himself. So this redeemed flock of The Lord enjoy their sojourn in spite of the heat and the dust that blow against them throughout this wilderness journey. He brings them up as a group so that they have mutual check and fellowship while they journey together. These sheep of the Lord are thus the most fortunate lot in this world because their Good Shepherd is with them in all circumstances and situations to meet all their needs, concerns and challenges.

Dear friend, do you enjoy being the sheep of this great and benevolent Shepherd? Have you been grateful for His special protection and provisions for all your needs? Do you enjoy the company, friendship and fellowship of other sheep in the flock of God? Are your needs abundantly met by your Shepherd? Do you enjoy walking with Him and walk after Him at the same time? Remember, fortunately you have become His sheep and so you have the privilege to enjoy all the blessings of the Heavenly places while here on earth. These blessings are a prelude to what is in store for you when you reach the Sheep Pen of this Great Shepherd. While you are on your sojourn through this wilderness, you have the freedom to talk to your Shepherd about all your concerns and He will guard your heart and mind without anxiety. He meets every need of yours and constantly reaffirms His love and grace to you so that you can travel without fear about the future. Your future is secure in His hands. He knows where He is taking you to and keeps giving you a blessed hope about all your tomorrows. He showers His abundant love on you all the time. He might not approve all that you do and sometimes will discipline you so that you will straighten out your walk and conversations. He gives you the confidence to keep going and gives you the reassurance that He will take you to the Cape of Good Hope. So you see, you are given the best that is beyond all your imaginations while here on earth and are guaranteed the most perfect blessings when you reach Heaven. What more can you ask for, that too, without paying for it? Today let us be grateful to our Great Shepherd for accepting us into His flock and leading us through this wilderness journey. Remember, you cannot have anxiety about your present or future needs because this most benevolent Shepherd is with you with His hands full of Heavenly blessings for you.

Psalms 23:1 - The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.

Thought for Today
The thoughtless sheep are given Heavenly wisdom to trust the Good Shepherd and walk after Him.

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Actions Speak Louder

Verse for Today: Thursday, December 02, 2010
Psalms 76:1 - God is known in Judah; His name is great in Israel.

The mighty and benevolent acts of God have been experienced by His people among whom He has been dwelling. His presence with them was felt through His mighty power among them and made a whole world of difference in their affairs. Without His permission, none of the enemies around could touch them. He erected a firewall of protection around them. The people around knew very well that God's people survive not because of their ability or smartness, but by God's grace and mercy. This is a great testimony among God's people and this testimony is passed on to generations. Thus the name of God becomes well known among God's people and emanate even to the outsiders. God's name meant His character, nature, strength and willingness to show mercy to His children. The enemy knows well that God's angels encompass around His children. Israel had this experience all through their history. The unfriendly neighbours of God's people knew this fact very well and tried to challenge God, but that ended up in the defeat and destruction of these enemies. It is seen that God didn't use great numbers or equipment to defeat the enemies. He used small stones and slings, bones of animals, torches and even the shouts of His people to defeat the enemies. No wonder the name of God has become so popular among the nation of Israel and their neighbours. Whatever that was done by the Lord has become known among the people so much so that God's name was always attached to what He did and how He accomplished His purpose in and through His people. The same God works among His people all over the world even today and performs mighty works for His children which have become a great testimony to His name.

Dear friend, is the name of your God well known among the people you move around with? Do they know in no unequivocal terms that you are sustained by the God whom you serve? Are you seeking the mighty works of God in your life? To what extent is your life a living testimony to the faithfulness of God? When Jesus performed miracles in the lives of several people in Palestine, not only the beneficiaries, but even the witnesses praised God. People were astonished about the way the Lord Jesus touched and changed the lives of people and met their needs for food, drink, healing, release from demons, fellowship, teaching and blessings of various kinds. All of these caused people to realize who Jesus was and many believed in Him. But some became antagonized with Him out of jealousy because of the unparalleled acts of miracle that He performed. The same way, the Lord is intervening in your life every day and sustaining you through mighty acts of various kinds which have to come out as testimony for the name of the Lord. But if we keep quiet about it, no one will know that the Lord is doing all of these things for us out of His mercy and loving kindness towards us. His mighty acts in our lives ought to attract others to come and taste this Lord and invite Him into their lives too. This is why it is important for us to testify to the faithfulness of our Lord among our family members and acquaintances. God became known and popular among the nation of Israel because what happened in the lives of people was made known to others. For it to happen among us, we have to first of all develop total dependence on the Lord and declare our nothingness without Him. It also demands that we go to Him with our needs and allow Him to supply us with His resources. Our personal life should demonstrate gratefulness to Him and it should be followed with our live testimony to the faithfulness He has extended to us even when we are unworthy to receive any blessings from Him.

Psalms 31:19 - How great is Your goodness, which You have stored up for those who fear You, which You have wrought for those who take refuge in You.

Thought for Today
God's mighty acts in the lives of His children speak louder and spread faster.

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Sustainability Test

Verse for Today: Wednesday, December 01, 2010
Psalms 73:25 - Whom have I in heaven but you? And besides you I desire nothing on earth.

It is meaningless to desire something that we are sure not to get. On the other hand, it is most meaningful to covet that which will never be lost and that which we can keep forever. Man generally lacks this wisdom and he desires a lot of things that they are almost surely not to get keep. Man spends all his energy throughout his life to desire things that he cannot get and to keep, and thus experience frustrations which end up in increased tensions, stress and subsequent illnesses. Some who don't get what they desire through normal means try shortcuts and thus get into deep trouble in life for which they pay a heavy price. But God gives man a viable and meaningful option for a desire which is that man should desire God. If man desires God and seeks after Him, he will surely find Him to keep for eternity. He is in Heaven and at the same time here on earth as He is Omnipresent. He has all that man wants in Heaven for eternity, but also prepares man's ways on earth so that he will have a joyful ride through this life. Here God promises to meet all our needs and give us joy on the way. The Psalmist knew how he was able to find this reality and practice it in life. He had no desire in this life other than for the Lord and he affirms that the Lord was there for him in Heaven as well. But he reaffirms his ultimate focus in life by testifying that in this life he didn't desire any thing more than the Lord. The Psalmist realizes that even if he desires something in this life, it won't be his to keep. All that we see around us will vanish from our sight in due course, and all whom we have in this life will leave us one day. But that is not the case with the Lord. He will be our friend, philosopher and guide in this life and will walk and talk with us as a permanent and inseparable companion. We can possess Him as our beloved Lord who is the lover of our souls. He will never leave us alone, but keeps us company come rain or sunshine. He meets our needs, gives us fellowship and helps us to grow in our love for Him on a daily basis. He protects us from all evil and straightens out our pathways in which we can enjoy fellowship with Him.

Dear friend, what are your desires in life? Are they concerning yourself or God? Are they heavenly or earthly? Do you ever struggle to choose between what is temporal and what is permanent? You will have to finally learn to leave those things which you will definitely lose and cling on to those that cannot be lost. We should be possessive of things which are heavenly and eternal and take our hands off things that we are sure not to keep. This means that we do not love any thing or any one more than the Lord. Our beloved home is our Home in Heaven, and so we should not love our earthly brick-and-cement home as very dear to us. These temporal things like house, automobile or money are only resources that are entrusted with us to use for God's glory and for meeting our mundane needs as we serve the Lord. It is one thing to talk about the Lord as our ultimate love, but it is yet another thing to put it into practice. As the Lord knows our hearts and the degree of our commitment, we cannot bluff with Him. He knows who is calling Him "Lord, Lord" genuinely or as a sheer camouflage and as publicity stunt. We must realize that our genuineness of love for the Lord is written in our hearts and will be exposed publicly one day before the Lord. At that time our masks of piety will fall apart and the real attitudes will be explicit. So let us today renew our commitment to the Lord and declare that we do not really have any desire other than the Lord and His business, and that we trust Him for all that He has prepared for us in the Heavenly abode which will not perish, nor will be taken away from us and will never be lost. Let us renew this solemn commitment to the Lord who gave up all that He had in Heaven to come down to this earth to save us. It is wonderful to live in this world knowing that we have no desire other than the Lord here and now, and that we look forward to seeing Him face to face to reign with Him in His eternal Home.

John 21:15a - When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?"

Thought for Today
Time and eternity will prove to us that only our desire for the Lord will stand the reality test and nothing else will sustain.

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