ADVENTURES OF FAITH!!

Adventures of Faith!

Verse for Today: Saturday, July 23, 2011
Psalms 18:29 - For by You I can run upon a troop; and by my God I can leap over a wall.

Faith is for us to practice and its not an intellectual exercise. Faith is based on the object of faith which is in a person who is our Lord. Our faith is based on who the Lord really is and what He can do in and through our lives. Faith is the enabling that the Lord gives us to believe on Him and to take His Word as a basis for all our actions. Faith challenges us to prove it through practice. If we do not exercise faith practically, we do not have faith. Faith is action as a demonstration of what we believe. It enables us to do unusual things in life simply because of our trust in the Lord who will enable us to do it. It helps us to attempt great things for God and expect great things from God. Faith enables us to be adventurous in our daily walk. Faith tells us that we blindly believe what our Lord tells us in His Word. So if the Word asks us to go forward in spite of forceful hindrances like a troop, we would still go forward. This was what David did as a young solider. He was able to go against Goliath who was equal in power to a small troop. David could walk over him without any difficulty and it was accomplished by the courage the Lord gave him based on his faith. it was faith that made Abraham believe that he could sacrifice his only begotten son and expect him to be back even from the ashes at the alter on Mount Moriah. Faith enabled David to go into the lion's den without any fear. Faith made Paul to courageously preach gospel without regard for the consequences. Faith enabled the three Hebrew boys to go into the fiery furnace without trembling. Faith made the Israelites to walk around Jericho believing that it would crumble. Faith is an adventure and it requires the capacity to believe in the God who promised that certain things will be accomplished if we believe. It will help us to jump over any hindrance if we are in the will of God and believe in the promises of God.

Dear friend, how is the barometer of your faith? It is through faith that sinners get saved. It is the assurance through faith that makes us wait for the imminent return of our Lord in the clouds to take us home to be with Him forever. It is faith that helps us to share the gospel with a sinner hoping that he might open his heart to receive the free gift of salvation from God. Faith keeps us going through the dark tunnels of life hoping that there will be light at the end of the tunnel. Faith helps us to hold on to the Lord and His promises when we go through difficult circumstances. Today the Spirit of God challenges us to take His Word by faith and believe every bit of what God has promised. This challenge is to believe and to act accordingly so that we will see amazing results in our lives. It is this faith that has helped William Carey or Jim Elliot to carry gospel to far away countries and God gave wonderful results. Faith never disappoints, but only fortifies us to go forward because it is faith that gives us hope for a brighter tomorrow. We can see such brighter days in our lives only if we exercise faith and go forward without regard for the hindrances of troops or walls in front of us. Let us demonstrate it today in our lives as we keep going by holding the hands of the invisible God by faith.

Hebrews 11:6 - And without faith it is impossible to please God.

Thought for Today
Faith accomplishes where reason and human ability fail.

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LARGE PLACE ON THE NARROW WAY!!

Large Place on the Narrow Way!

Verse for Today: Friday, July 22, 2011
Psalms 18:19 - (The Lord) brought me out into a spacious place; He rescued me because He delighted in me.

It is comforting to read the experiences of God's people who have gone before us in the ways by which the Lord dealt with them. These experiences reassure us about how the Lord works in the lives of His children. When the enemy of our souls pushes us to tight corners where there is no breathing space, our Lord comes to our rescue. When we are squeezed into narrow straights without any hope for deliverance, our Lord comes to release us from such difficult places. When we are in hopeless situations and when there is no one to rescue us, our Lord comes to us to take us to spacious places where we can enjoy His safety and security. This was the experience of David when all around him thought there was no hope for him. Situations threw Joseph into tight corners, but the Lord brought him out of there and lifted up his name and dignity. When Daniel, Mordecai and Jeremiah went through fierce battles of the enemy, the Lord pulled them out of their situations with His mighty hands and brought them to freedom and comfort. The Lord thus brings out His children from their tight situations and takes them to situations where they can enjoy the blessings of His presence and dwell without fear, anxiety, doubt and confusion. God was pleased with David, Daniel and Joseph because they were His children and so He showed compassion just as a father would show compassion to His children. This Lord is our God who shows compassion to us also. He will not stay inactive when He finds His beloved children in tight spots in life. All they need to do is to exercise hope and faith, and do not give up. They need to hang in there and hold on to the Lord, and at the right time the Lord will appear in the scene to intervene in their situations and circumstances to give them release, deliverance and rescue.

Dear friend, are you in a tight corner in your life today? Is your circumstance so fierce, even without breathing space? Is it true that the enemy has shut you off at all four corners so that you cannot move to any direction? Are you tempted to give up all hope of deliverance? Remember, our Lord is the only hope for His children in all hopeless situations. He is watching your sufferings and He comes to suffer with you as your partner in it. But He will not be inactive for long. He will come to you at the right time. In the meanwhile, He wants you to look unto Him who is the author and finisher of your faith. He doesn't want you to use your own methods to get out of your tight corners. You don't need to look at the tall mountains around you who pretend to help. But your help comes from the Lord who loves you as His beloved children. He interferes in your circumstance in amazing ways which will even surprise your enemies. His ways are mysterious and full of great wonders which no one else could perform. He rescued Peter from the prison through mysterious ways. He mysteriously interfered to deliver Daniel from the lions and the Hebrew boys in the fiery furnace. He pulled Joseph out of the forgotten dungeon. The hopeless Job is today a man who enjoys God's miracles. Such is our Lord who will deliver you and take you to a place of safety and security. He will do the same for us today if we put all our hope and trust in Him. He first delivers our hearts and minds from psychological intimidation of circumstances by filling us with His peace. His physical interference will closely follow so that you can enjoy His peace in your situations as well. Today let us enjoy the release and rescue the Lord grants us and take us to the place of freedom from all entanglements of situations.

Psalms 118:5 - From my distress I called upon the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me in a large place.

Thought for Today
As we walk the narrow way with the Lord, our hearts are released from the entangling circumstances to bring to a large place of spiritual freedom and contentment.

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DIVINE POWER IN ALL OUR SITUATIONS!!

Divine Power in all our situations!

Verse for Today: Thursday, July 21, 2011
Psalms 17:7 - Show the wonder of Your great love, You who save by Your right hand those who take refuge in You from their foes.

The Psalmist who experienced the Lord in his past has, in his prayer, observed so many of the attributes of the Lord as the Lord exhibited these in his situations. David has seen the Lord through these attributes which were demonstrated in a mighty way in his life. So he bases his prayers on the merit of these attributes of God. He found the Lord to extend His loving kindness to His people which for them are amazing. Even when they did not deserve it, the Lord showed great loving kindness which amazed them. David also experienced the Lord's right hand which is the hand of deliverance, salvation, protection, provision and preservation. He saw the Lord to be the unfailing bulwark in which His children could take refuge. When we confide in this great refuge, He takes away all our fear, doubt, confusion, anxiety, worry, stress, burden and unbelief. This has led the Psalmist to pray to the Lord who is keen to express His great attributes in the life situations of His children. David tasted the Lord who knew the intensity of oppression and fear that griped his life and gave him deliverance. He found the Lord who was with him during all his greatest trials and delivered him from all alarms. So David's prayer teaches us today that there is no need for God's children to loose hope about their situations and circumstances because their Lord is in it all with them.

Dear friend, have you had opportunities to witness the great attributes of the Lord exhibited in your life? When you pray on the basis of the great attributes of the Lord in and through your life situations, He will definitely come to exhibit it by rescuing you from your troubles. Thus your life and situations become a platform where God's great attributes are demonstrated. So in essence, your prayers are opportunities for God to present Himself to you as the great deliverer, refuge and the reservoir of loving kindness. Your prayers are also the barometer of your dependence on the Lord as He responds to your prayers by showing His mighty power in your life and situations to reveal His strength and authority over all your situations. But this necessitates us to pray with genuine faith and leave all our cares at His feet as He has instructed us to do. When we have a difficulty, we should let Jesus know about it like Mary and Martha of Bethany. This is not because Jesus doesn't already know our needs, for He knows all about us and our needs even before we are aware of it. But it is our prerogative to let the Lord know about our needs which is our way to express our total dependence on Him. Just as He exhibited His glory at Bethany, Cana, Sea of Galilee, Jerusalem and other places, He will exhibit His glory in and through our lives also if we submit our situations to Him. He will preserve, protect, deliver and comfort us in our all situations through the wonder of His loving kindness. He will not let us go through our difficult situations all alone. But He will go with us and hold our hands as we pass through these valleys in our lives and take us to the other side of troubles. This is how we can end each day with the Lord. So let us today go to Him with confidence, casting all our cares on Him and leave it there for Him to handle it by His right hand. He will be our refuge in whom we can find rest, peace and joy.

Psalms 18:31 & 32 - For who is God, but the Lord? And who is a rock except our God? The God who girds me with strength and makes my way perfect.

Thought for Today
Prayer is our expression of dependence on our Lord who is ready to exhibit His power and glory in our situations and circumstances.

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WATCH, HOPE, WAIT AND RECEIVE!!

Watch, Hope, Wait and Receive!

Verse for Today: Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Micah 7:7 - But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.

Human tendency is to watch for a little time and then slip into impatience. Waiting is such a difficult exercise in a world where instant gratification of all the desires is the order of the day. But we often forget the fact that looking unto the Lord who has promised to do abundantly for us is only the normal thing to do. Looking unto Him and not looking unto any other source for help, support and blessing is the mark of faith in the Lord when His promises are taken for their true value by us. When the Lord has promised to give us all that we need, how can we consciously look unto any other source? If we look unto some other source for the same things God has promised, we are undervaluing God. He wants us to keep looking unto Him until He fulfills our desires. If we look at nature, we can see that God has built in the truth of waiting in everything. For all natural processes to take place, whether it is for day or night to roll over, rain to fall, Sun to shine, plants to grow and fruit, food to be cooked or for reaching a distance, we need to wait. If we do not know how to wait for the events to take place at their own natural pace, we would not enjoy life on earth. So is the case with God and His promises. When we have divine promises with God's signature on it, we should look in hope for Him to unfold His promises to us. We should not succumb to pressure or temptation to look unto any other source for the gratification of our needs and desires. Not only that, we should wait for the Lord's time to unfold these blessings and needs. We are asked to wait, but no time frame is given to us. The time frame is what the Lord has set and it is known only when the promise is fulfilled. So we need to ask the Lord to help us to wait patiently for Him.

Dear friend, do you some times become impatient in life? We all loose patience several times in our lives, don't we? We are often like little children who cannot wait for the meal to be cooked or reach a destination when travelling. We want instant gratification of our desires or needs, without even knowing whether that need is genuine or not. Waiting for the need to be met is a time frame ordained of the Lord to prepare us for receiving and enjoying the blessing that God wants to give us. It is also a mark of our relentless faith and trust in the Lord. Our Lord will not despise any one who looks unto Him. He will not send us empty handed if we go to Him and will not disappoint us when as wait for Him. If God delays, it is not a delay of inactivity or indifference, but preparation. God is working behind the scene to prepare us to receive the gifts that He wants us to have. The Omnipotent God doesn't need any time to prepare the gift. We are the people who need time to get ready to receive what God wants to give us so that we can gratefully enjoy it. Sometimes, as we wait for the Lord, we might loose the desire for something and instead might desire something more spiritually satisfying. When God fulfills that, we would be able to look back and thank Him for not granting the earlier request and that it was His mercy that prevented us from receiving what we had initially asked for. Waiting for the Lord's time is better than having something which was not in the will of God. Let us be careful not to overtake God, but let us travel with Him at the speed at which He leads us.

Matthew 7:8 - For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

Thought for Today
Only those who have patience will receive ripened fruit which is sweet and nourishing.

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BEST ADVERTISEMENT FOR HEAVEN!!

Best Advertisement for Heaven!

Verse for Today: Tuesday, July 19, 2011
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.

It is comforting to know that the Lord is with His children all the time to guide them in the paths of life. They are given both life and life eternal by Him and He guides them in this life to prepare them for the life eternal. There is every possibility that we loose our pathway in this world because there are all sorts of detractors around us to lure us away from the right path. They offer joy and pleasures if we go their way. But this offer is only an advertising gimmick. Once we join their way, we will be plunged into sorrow, misery, hopelessness and oppression. Instead of singing for the Lord on His path, the path of the world will make us weep and wallow in our pain and agony. We will also have the guilt of taking detour from the path of the Lord. Many God's children experienced this sorrow when they drifted from the path of the Lord. Abraham and David were prime example of such lives of diversions, but the Lord rescued them from it and brought them to the right path. When we are on His path, we would enjoy His happiness because it will be a time of perfect fellowship with Him and enjoy all the heavenly resources. Our hearts will be filled with joy which will be expressed through the songs that we would be enabled to sing to the Lord. This pathway is full of grace, joy and satisfaction through supernatural enabling. We are called upon to experience heaven on earth moment by moment when we tread the pathway that the Lord shows us. This doesn't mean that we will not encounter problems or difficulties while on the Lord's way, but He will give us heavenly resources to cope with these earthly challenges as we walk with Him.

Dear friend, Are you continually on the pathway that the Lord shows you? Do you sometimes drift into detours from the Lord's path into the world's pathways? If you are lured like that, you will surely recognize it because without the Lord, you will not be happy no matter what the world offers you. Instead of singing joyful songs and hymns, you will only be able to weep because you will miss fellowship with the Lord and His people. You will then be out of touch with the Word of God and will not be able to pray in the Spirit of God. But even as you take the detour, you will hear the soft and soothing voice of your Shepherd asking you to come back to His path and follow His instructions. If you listen and obey Him, you will be able to come back to His path. As you repent of your backsliding and drifting, He will give the joy of your salvation back to you. He will reestablish fellowship with you and give you songs in the night to sing along as you tread His pathway. The joy that the Lord gives you is joy in spite of your circumstances and situations. You will be able to rejoice even in the midst of poverty, sickness and loneliness. You will sing even when the world engages you in fierce battles. When you are misunderstood, misrepresented and misinterpreted, you will still be able to enjoy your walk in the pathway of the Lord because He fills you with His joy. Will the people who meet you be able to see such a joy in your life? If so, you are the best advertisement for heaven. This is the challenge the Lord wants you to take as you walk in His pathways each day of your life.

Nehemiah 8:10b - This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

Thought for Today
A child of God filled with the joy of the Lord in spite of his situations and circumstances is a formidable challenge for the world.

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FAITH WRECKS DOUBT AND CONFUSION!!

Faith Wrecks Doubt and Confusion!

Verse for Today: Monday, July 18, 2011
Ephesians 6:16 - .....Take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

One of the greatest challenges of Christian life at all times is to live for God by faith. We are challenged to worship the unseen God by faith and to pray to the invisible God by faith. We enjoy the protection of God who cannot be seen physically. These exercises of faith are given in our souls by God. When the soil is slipping from under our feet, we still can stand the ground by faith. When all around us work against us, we can stand firm without fear, trusting our God who is with us. Sometimes, God lifts up the curtain of invisibility to show us the reality of His protection and care which He has established around us, as in the case of Prophet Elisha. He exhibits it to us on a daily basis through the provisions He sends to us by the ravens or widows. But we are called upon to live a life of faith where we believe even before we see evidence. Our life of faith is one where even when circumstances are against us, we hold on to the One who has promised to take us forward. As we keep going, the enemy of our souls tries to confuse us and cause us to doubt the invisible God who is working for us all the time. The enemy uses time as a factor and makes us tense about what is not happening when the clock is ticking away. But we can have faith in our God and expect a thunder storm even when there is no sign of any clouds. By faith we can give our five lofty loaves of barley bread and two small fish in a desert to the Lord and expect to feed thousands or kill a lion in a pit on a snowy day. Our flesh has always the craving for evidence and the enemy will use our natural man to doubt our faith. These are the arrows of flame that the enemy sends to us to defeat our life of faith. But to extinguish these arrows which inflame our spiritual lives, God has given us a great shield of faith which has the heavenly guarantee that it will never fail.

Hello, dear friend, are you today tossed around by your natural instincts to look for evidence to believe? Is your faith constantly shaken as you face the stark realities of life? Are you tempted to quit because the pressure on your soul is so strong for a long time? Are you bogged with doubt and confusion? God has given us a great and mighty shield called faith which is not man-made equipment, but a divine armor and is powerful enough to defeat any fiery dart of the enemy. It is the Spirit-enabled ability to believe against all odds and in any circumstance. Faith can walk the narrow road without seeing any thing because it holds on to the Light of the World. Faith reaches the destination even before it starts the trek. Faith doesn't seek evidences but it receives in advance what it anticipates. Faith doesn't know the word 'impossible' because it believes in the God of the impossible. Faith starts where sight fails. God doesn't add any thing to faith because it is perfect in its capacity to accomplish what He wants us to have. It was through faith that Abraham received a son and Moses got the people of God out of Egypt through the Red Sea. It was through faith that Nehemiah rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem. It is through faith that every child of God receives salvation. It is for us to use in our daily walk. It helps us daily to attempt great things for God. Faith is God's answer to doubt, confusion, unbelief, fear and anxiety which are flaming arrows the enemy sends to us. God wants us to destroy these emotions by faith and become victorious. What is most important is that our faith is not in 'faith', but in God and His promises. Faith says that God will accomplish what He has planned for us in every circumstance. Today is our best opportunity yet to live by faith without which we cannot please God.

John 11:40 - Then Jesus said: "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"

Thought for Today
Christianity is first and foremost faith-based and not evidence-based.

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DECISION FOR GAIN OR LOSS?

Decision for Gain or Loss?

Verse for Today: Sunday, July 17, 2011
Matthew 6:21 - For where your treasurer is, there your heart will be also.

People of this world are engaged in a treasure hunt which they will not be able to keep for long. It looses its value over time and is susceptible to be stolen or eaten by moths of various kinds. So people try to use all their human wisdom to find the safest way to keep their treasures. Their thoughts are almost always centered on their treasures which make their treasures idols in their hearts. They often develop anxiety about the possible loss of their treasures physically or through value erosion. They worry about the consequences of their wrong decisions they have taken in the past about their treasures because it has not gained the value it could have gained. So a person's life is the story of the anxieties and worries about their treasures which they will ultimately loose. But Jesus is asking us to change our priorities and put all our treasures in Heaven where it cannot loose its value. Once it is in Heaven there is no reason to be anxious about it and that is the way to keep our minds in peace. But the people of the world become anxious about the insecurity of what will definitely be lost because these are invested in this unstable world. If we keep our treasures in Heaven, we can live a carefree life here on earth, without anxiety or worry. We can also work hard and increase our treasures by investing more in Heaven and by living a life that is worthy of the Lord Jesus who had no place to lay His head when foxes had their holes and birds had their nests. Such life of austerity and sacrifice will help us to increase our investment in Heaven. This requires strategic choices in the spiritual realm. If we do not make such choices well in advance, we would loose what we invest in this world and at the same time we would not have any thing to count on in Heaven also. This is double loss which we should avoid as prudent investors.

Dear reader, are you heading for double loss or gain with your life? Are you using all the resources God has put under your stewardship for temporary gain in this world? Then it will definitely be lost eventually. God doesn't want you to be a looser at all. So He wants you to invest in Heaven and find it expanded several fold when you reach there. When you are investing in Heaven, your thoughts will always be in Heaven where your treasure is kept. This is the sure way to keep away from earthly anxiety or worry. You don't need to waste your spare time and energy with your computer to calculate what you will definitely loose. The anxiety that you develop about your earthly investments will cause you to have several psychosomatic illnesses which will eat away part of what you gain in this world in spending on medicines. But if your heart and mind are secure with the Lord and you think on those things which are on higher grounds, you will not have time and energy to experience anxiety or worry. You will rejoice and praise the Lord for the daily bread that He gives you to live with the joy of the Lord which will be your strength. The world might call you a fool if you do not have prudent earthly investments. The flesh will challenge you about a possible rainy day in the near future. Your family might call you a thoughtless and unconcerned person who is not practical and wise. None of these pulls of the enemies of your soul need to make you take decisions for earthly investments. You and I need to trust the Lord to meet our daily needs as we work hard to increase our investments in Heaven. Such lives will be contended here as well in the life hereafter. Others will be miserable at both places. Let us decide which pathway we should choose today and live victoriously as the Lord Jesus has taught us.

Matthew 6:33 - But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you as well.

Thought for Today
Investment in Heaven is double gain whereas investment on earth is double loss.

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