ONE WINDOW and THREE VIEWS!

ONE WINDOW and THREE VIEWS!

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

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

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

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

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

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A GUARANTEED FUTURE!

A GUARANTEED FUTURE

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

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

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

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

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

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SECURE ARMS FOR SECURITY!

SECURE ARMS FOR SECURITY

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

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

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

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

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

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RIGHTS AND WRONGS OF FEAR!

RIGHTS AND WRONGS OF FEAR

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

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

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

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

Thought for Today
Those who have deep reverential fear of the Lord

need not be afraid of any thing else.

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KEEP MOVING ON!

KEEP MOVING ON!

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

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

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

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

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

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NEXT STOP: AN OASIS AT ELIM!

NEXT STOP: AN OASIS AT ELIM!

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

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

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

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

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

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EVERYTHING WORKS TOGETHER!

EVERYTHING WORKS TOGETHER

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

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

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

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

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

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