FAITH AND DIVINE PLEASURE!!

Faith and divine pleasure!

Verse for Today: Thursday, February 07, 2013

Hebrews 10:38 – But My righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.

A person who lives by faith in God and His promises is fully dependent on God’s resources. His faith and walk are not motivated by own instinct, positive circumstances and benevolent people. He only wants to be led by God and so he refuses to see anything other than God’s resources. Such faith is honored by God and so He comes to help and lead him in the right direction. He moves only when he is commanded to move by God who totally controls his actions, emotions and motives. His focus is fully based on what God leads him into without complaint or dissatisfaction. He doesn’t need to ask God where He was leading him to and the time for the next move. His human expectations are sacrificed at the altar on the mount called Golgotha. He might be looked down upon by the world because his attitude to life seem strangely unintelligent and thoughtless. When the world around him is madly chasing the wind of prosperity, prestige, popularity, possessions and positions, he seemed to be resigned from it all. When the world is competing among so many smart options, the child of God takes what is given to him by his Master. It looks like he is picking up the leftovers that are around, but actually he has tamed his mind to be satisfied with the daily bread as a great gift from his Master for survival till he reaches his eternal inheritance. This is the kind of life of faith that the Master has called us into. The Master uses such lives as practical demonstration of the ardent faith with which He is pleased. Today God wants to remind us that He is not pleased with our rat race to amass the perishable possessions this world offers when He has prepared immeasurable treasures for us in our eternal home.

Dear friend, do you sometimes pause and wonder about the practical wisdom about following the pathway of faith to which you are called by the Master? Are you sometimes confused at the way others amass and enjoy wealth when you seem to have only hand-to-mouth existence? But your Master has called you to a life of faith which expects you to depend totally on Him. He wants you to prove your loyalty to Him by believing on His promise that He will lead you day by day. He has set you up here on earth not because of the world’s resources, but because He has enough in His heavenly warehouse to meet your needs. Your faith is strange to the world that is around you. But at each step, God will show you how to take the next step which is to be endeavored by faith in the One who has called you to walk the pathway of faith. It was such faith which made a childless Abraham to become the father of the multitude. This kind of faith that the Master has called us unto is against the intelligence and smartness exhibited by the world. Just like Prophet Elijah, we would not know which raven might bring us the dinner. We would not understand how the dough in our pot and the oil in our jar would not dry down. A faith of such magnitude finds the brooks of Cherith dry down, but will take us to a poor and destitute widow to prove to us that means need not be a concern for us. Our Provider is greater than what He provides. He will not let us be destitute, but will take good care of us if we depend solely on Him. Then He will be pleased with us and our faith and will strengthen our hearts to keep going.

Hebrews 11:6 – And without faith, it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

Thought for Today

Faith opens the door to the heavenly resource center which is available to God’s children here and now.

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ARMOR OF VICTORY!!

Armor of victory!

Verse for Today: Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Ephesians 6:13 – Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

It is unthinkable for soldiers to go to war without armor. The armor that they need to wear depends on the strength of the enemy, the terrain, weather and the intensity of war. The powerful, cunning and cruel enemy of our soul knows the armor we wear and will try to take advantage of any lapse we might have in wearing it. This is why God admonishes us to wear the whole armor of God. If we do not wear any part of the armor, we would expose ourselves to defeat. Noncompliance of this admonition is a mark of our carelessness and self-dependence. The enemy will try to attack our areas of integrity, righteousness, confidence in salvation, faith, trust in the Lord, eagerness to sow the seed of gospel and the firm grip on the Word. We need to build up our hearts with integrity, truthfulness, assurance of salvation, evangelism, faith and be firmly rooted in the Word. If we are sufficiently armed and grounded on the armor of God, we would be able to withstand the pressures of the enemy and win our spiritual battles. When Job was confronted by the enemy, he stood strongly on integrity. When Abraham was attacked, he stood the ground on faith. Moses stood the ground through faith and trust. Paul withstood the pressures through the whole armor of God. Nehemiah, Gideon and David stood the ground as they put on the whole armor of God and fought courageously. Today we are reassured that if we wear the whole armor, we would stand the ground and get more victories. So when Goliaths come to fight us, we will be able to face them with boldness. If we hold the Word firmly, we do not need to be afraid of the enemy and his vile. If we wear the whole armor all the time, even surprise attacks need not bewilder us.

Dear friend, are you caught unaware when the enemy attacks you? Is the enemy leveling cruel accusations, misinterpretation of your motives and unfounded allegations against you with his agents as witnesses? Are you attacked through loneliness, discouragement and rejection? But you don’t need to lose heart. You can face the saber rattling of the enemy by putting on the whole armor of God to help you focus on his subtle tactics. He tried it against some of God’s servants and found partial and occasional success because they didn’t put on the whole armor. We find him totally lost against God’s servants like Abel, Enoch, Nehemiah, Joseph, Jeremiah, Daniel, the three Hebrew Youth, Paul and scores of others whose history crowds the columns of Biblical history. They were careful to fight by faith, integrity and prayer. Today we have the same armor of God which the heroes of faith put on. Their days were filled with evil as much as our days are today. The power of iniquity has been spread all over the world. But God’s children need not fear the enemy and his vile. We must depend on the armor of God and not on our expertise, experience and zeal. We should not take the battle lightly. We must also live in the fear of the Lord and totally dependent on Him alone to fight and win the battles of life. When discouragement, loneliness, anxiety and distortions are used by the enemy, we must face it with faith, integrity and trust. Every movement of the enemy could be countered with the promises of the Word against which the enemy will not stand.  Let us today meet the challenges of the enemy by faith and divine promises to march from victory to victory.

Ephesians 6:10 – Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.

Thought for Today

Our unwillingness to wear the whole armor of God is self-deception which is the sure road to defeat. 

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HEAVENLY PERSPECTIVES!!

Heavenly perspectives!

Verse for Today: Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Ephesians 2:6 – (God) raised us up with (Christ) and seated us with Him in the Heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

It is important for us to know who we are and where we dwell to know what our perspectives are. God’s children are the new creation with a new heart and new mind along with new thinking pattern, objectives, priorities and aspiration. We are made co-heirs with Jesus Christ and are made to be seated with Him in heaven. Having done this great and benevolent act for us who are unworthy,, God has given us His Spirit to equip and empower us to live to bear practical witness to this truth. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we should be in a position to live in the heavenly places even while we are here on earth. It practically ought to mean that we would be detached from all the worldly entanglements. It means that we will have a heavenly perspective in all that we think and do. Such heavenly perspectives will make us live happily even in the worst of worldly circumstances because we live here on earth as if we are in heaven. There is no disappointment in heaven. There are no shortages in heaven. But when we encounter such realities in life while here on earth, our lives ought to reflect heavenly reactions and not earthly responses. In other words, we ought to rise above the petty issues of earth and reach the level of heavenly life. We must think the heavenly way and live on heavenly resources which are given to us.  When the wind of frustrations blows against us, we must rise above its level and climb up to dwell in the heavenly realms in our attitudes, priorities and aspirations with the help of the Holy Spirit.  Our seating with Christ indicates that we are co-owners of the heavenly inheritance. So we ought to behave like the possessors of all the richness of God in Christ and treat the earthly cares accordingly.

Dear friend, if you care to look into the Word of God which is the spiritual mirror, you will see yourself in the image of Christ as a heavenly princess or princesses. You are seated not with any of the heavenly beings because your seat is with Christ Jesus. You are the co-owner of all the riches in glory which are set apart as your heavenly inheritance. These resources are available for you to live here on earth.  So it is important that you quit living as if you are a destitute here on earth. Perhaps you might be poor according to the world’s standards. But you are a prince with God here and now. It means that your attitude towards all things around must be heavenly. Your failures, losses, shortages and inadequacies need not bother you because these do not matter at all from the heavenly point of view. Such a heavenly perspective will help you to brush them aside and keep marching to Zion. While you are physically here on earth, your Lord will sustain you by His hand and eyes and meet all your needs.  He will give you contentment on earth if your perspective is heavenly. You need to look at all your situations with heavenly perspective. Perhaps your difficult situations are permitted by God to test to see whether you react with earthly or heavenly perspectives. It might be God’s instrument to strengthen your faith. It might also help you to evaluate your situations from the eternal standpoint and values. Today we are reminded to think on the eternal and the heavenly rather than the temporal and the earthly. Such heavenly perspective will take away our cares and make us joyful people who exhibit the characteristics of heavenly life here on earth.

Colossians 3:2 – set your mind on things above, not on earthly things.

Thought for Today

Look at earthly situations through heavenly eyes and handle it with heavenly resources.  

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TRIALS AND TREASURES!!

Trials and treasures!

Verse for Today: Monday, February 04, 2013

1 Peter 1:6 – In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.

The pathway to the great inheritance kept for God’s children is often through hills, valleys, tests and trials. Going through the difficulties in life reveals whether we are truly called people or imitators. There are various tests to authenticate our faith. We feel the pain of the sufferings on our way, but if our eyes are fixed on the great inheritance, these trials will only be felt like it is for a little as passing phase. When our focus is heaven and the blessedness that awaits us, we would be able to discount the present sufferings. In fact our rejoicing over the heavenly inheritance ought to overwhelm us so as to ignore the present persecution, suffering, pain and rejection that we face. Each test or trial may try to take away our joy and frustrate us. But the joy of our focus on the blessings of the heavenly places will re-energize us to rejoicing. Our joy is to focus on the fact that we will be able to see the Lord Jesus in person in His full glory, majesty and splendor. But even our inheritance will be far less attractive to us when compared with the glorious presence of our Lord Jesus from whom we will never be separated. It is in heaven that we will see the result of our toil for the Lord. Considering all these great joys ahead of us, the perils and pressures of life will be felt as if it is momentary. Today let us focus on the permanent pleasures that are set for us to enjoy. Then our temporal sufferings, pain and misery will be like a passing show for a short time and we will be ushered into the majestic presence of our Lord.

Dear friend, are you going through fierce trials of various kinds lately? Are strong winds and waves beating against your life to shatter your peace and rest? These unfavorable situations will continue with its onslaught on you. But the bitter experiences are to test to see how you will react. If you are strongly rooted on the Lord Jesus and the hope of the glory that awaits you, you will be able to react with praises in your heart. Trials are the crucible of faith to make you stronger. Trials measure the level of your faith. Trials teach you patience that you will become more mature in your faith. Trials temper your attitude to make it positive. Trials also sharpen your hope in the victory that the Lord would grant you as you learn great spiritual lessons in the life of faith. But your greatest comfort in times of trials is that the Lord will be with you to take you through it all. He wants you to learn that the intensity of trials will only increase as days go by because victory in each trial is our graduation to go to the next level of trials. We should never fall into the false impression that trails will harm us. But it is to build us up in our walk with the Lord. It is God’s way to prepare us to appropriate the great joys of heaven even while we are here on earth. Our ardent love for the Lord will make our waiting for our eternal home a short span of time which will pass away quickly and we will be with the Lover of our soul. We do not wait for the next trial to come, but for the announcement of the rapture when we will go to be with Lord to enjoy the great inheritance that is kept for us to enjoy.

Romans 8:18 – I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

Thought for Today

When our hope is brighter, we will see our inheritance which will overshadow the trials of life.

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LED BY HIS EYES!!

Led by His eyes!

Verse for Today: Sunday, February 03, 2013

Psalms 121:8 – The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and for evermore.

Walking on slippery ground is most difficult because of the impending and built-in dangers. Even if we see the dangers, it is not guarantee that we will not fall. But if we have someone strong to hold on to every time we take a step, it will guarantee our safety. Such security of our Lord’s presence is available to us when we walk with Him as our travel companion. He holds our hands when we take each step. He watches over us as we learn to walk by faith. He knows all our movements and warns us to beware of detours. He teaches us to walk in His pathways which are laid bare before us. His footsteps are there to guide us in our walk. His pathways are based on the Word of God. They are pathways of obedience. If we love Him, we ought to also walk on the footsteps of sacrifice, devotion, discipleship, prayer, patience and faith. When we walk on His pathways, He is pleased with us and leads us further. Our Lord has the perfect travel plan for us to follow. We need to open our eyes to see the plan He has for us. If we walk the edges of His ways, He will guarantee our proper walk both now and for evermore. If we digress and take detours, He will discipline us and take us back to the right path as long as we are ready to confess our thoughtlessness in deviating from His path. As He watches over us, we need to also develop the fear of the Lord in our demeanor, thoughts, desires, likes, dislikes and priorities. When we walk on His pathways, there is no scope for competition with our co-travelers because each is walking on a separate track though all walk on Calvary Road.  There is also no scope for murmur and frustration because all that we need to facilitate our travel is provided for.

Dear friend, are you a weary traveler on the Calvary Road? Our Lord was weary and weak carrying the old rugged cross on His shoulders as He walked that road of mockery, humiliation and rejection. He walked joyfully as He walked for us and not for Himself. His walk has made our walk possible. Yet He will not leave us alone as we walk the Calvary Road because He knows that it is not easy to take this route. He understands our weariness as we walk this difficult route, but He doesn’t want us to succumb to the temptation to take a detour. As we walk, He holds our hands and helps us to carry the cross which is an expression of our love to Him. He meets all our physical, emotional and spiritual needs as we tread this path. When we are tired, He revives us. When we are miserable, He encourages us with bright hope about the path that we are privileged to take. When our sight is blurred, He brightens our eyes with hope. He watches over each of our steps lest we falter, slow down or become sluggard. He helps us to focus on the cross before our eyes and the world behind us. He expects us to walk with full dependence and faith on Him and not relying on our own strength, smartness, experience and wisdom. It is a walk by looking unto the author and finisher of our faith. It is a rewarding and enjoyable walk with the Lord just as Enoch did. Today our Lord is asking us not to look back like the wife of Lot or Demas, but look forward like Paul to run our race and finish our course with His strength, power and provisions.

2 Corinthians 5:7 – For we walk by faith, not by sight.

Thought for Today

When we walk by faith, our Lord leads us to our destination by His eyes as He watches over us.

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'NEAREST LORD JESUS'!!

'Nearest Lord Jesus'!

Verse for Today: Saturday, February 02, 2013

Psalms 119:151 – Yet you are near, O Lord, and all your commands are true.

Our battlefields are unique situations when all our enemies draw near while all the dear ones keep away. We are often pushed to fight our battles in loneliness, without support from anywhere. Loneliness itself is a serious battle. Our enemy will try to keep our dearest ones away for want of loyalty and sympathy. The enemy knows well that if we are alone, it is easier to defeat us and so he works hard to keep us lonely and without support. When we are unemployed, financially broken and face business failure, most of our dear ones keep away from us. When our health fails and when we advance in age, our circle of associates dwindle. When we sit in depression and get ourselves isolated and insulated from others, the enemy finds us an easy target. He will give us added reasons to be in deep discouragement and frustration. Yet our Lord is nearer to us more than ever before. When we obey His commands to look unto Him, we will see that He is nearer to us and help us to see all His resources kept at our disposal to draw upon to fight and win our battles. Whether we feel it or not, our Lord is always near us and it is a fact based on His promises and on the understanding we have about His character. He never leaves us alone nor forsakes us. He is with us and near us in all our battles. We must open our spiritual eyes to see Him with us. We must touch Him with our hands of faith and appropriate the comfort of His nearness. When others misunderstand or misinterpret us, He will not. He understands us with all our weaknesses and will sympathize with us. He supplies us with His resources to strengthen us in all our areas of weaknesses. He comes to fill our visions, thoughts, meditations and desires with Himself so that we can keep going with dependence and faith in Him.

Dear friend, do you feel all alone and sunk deep in isolation and insulation from others as you fight battles in life? But there is no need for you to go into your own bondage of loneliness and withdrawal from life because your Lord is always with you. His presence goes with you because you are His precious possession purchased with the greatest price ever paid for any transaction in this world. Today He is asking you to open your spiritual eyes to see Him who is standing next to you with open arms to hold you. No matter how strong the enemy is and how bad the situations are, nothing will ever match the power and strength of your Lord. He will not allow you to go as a destitute in this life. His Spirit is living in your heart to give you peace, confidence and rest. Joseph had such experiences when he was in the pit and in the prison cell. Daniel enjoyed the Lord’s presence in the lion’s den. Jonah was blessed with His presence in the belly of the fish. His presence accompanied David in his wilderness life. John found the Lord’s presence in his exile in the Island of Patmos. C.T. Studd found such peace when the savage tribal ruler caught him in the jungles of Africa. Sadhu Sundar Singh experienced such peace when he unknowingly slept with a snake in the Himalayas. His presence enabled John Bunyan to write about the exuberant life of the Pilgrim from his prison cell. Apostle Paul enjoyed His presence while writing part of the New Testament from dungeon. Today the magnificent presence of the Lord is with us and nearest to us as we fight our battles and carry our burdens.

Psalms 145:18 – The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth.   

Thought for Today

The Lord is so near for us to experience and enjoy when we are alone in the darkest moments of our lives.

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HOPE FOR ENLARGEMENT!!

Hope for enlargement!

Verse for Today: Friday, February 01, 2013

Psalms 115:14 – May the Lord make you increase, both you and your children.

Those who serve the world and its interests most often lose what is precious to get some temporal gains. Every success in this world is temporal and there is a loss waiting for them on their pathway just a few moments away. Our health, wealth, peace, rest, fame and prestige wane and wax away as days go by. But those who serve God experience increase and enlargement of their investment in heaven, enjoyment of spiritual blessings, impact in other lives and spiritual territories for generations to come.  These spiritual gains are not their making through human efforts and worldly resources, but the handiwork of their Lord who operates through them to accomplish His purpose. They might be looked upon as failures in this world according to its standards of success. They may be paupers in this world with nothing to claim on their own. But each day they work for the eternal kingdom of their Lord and King which will never perish or dwindle. The spiritual impact God’s children make in this world stretches to generations to come. The legacy of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, David, Nehemiah, Ruth and other household of faith continues to expand even today. But there is nothing good to say about the lifestyle left behind by Cain, Nimrod, Lot, Gehazi, Nebuchadnezzar, Sanballat, Tobias, Pilate, Herod, Alexander the coppersmith, Demas and such others. Sometimes we may not see immediate results of our toil for our Lord. But when we plant a seed for the Lord, it will germinate in His time as He pours the power of His strength on it. Even after we are gone, the seeds will grow and fruit into future generations. Yes, it is the Lord who makes our efforts increase in geometric proportions if we toil hard for Him. He will give us generations to follow our faith because of His faithfulness.

Dear friend, are you discouraged that you don’t see immediate impact of your toil for the Lord? Remember, the sower will have to wait for some time before the crop comes up and matures to produce grain.  When God enables you to minister on His behalf, it will never go waste. When you build up character after the Lord and His Word, it will be increased in stature and testimony by the Lord. He wants you to hide behind the cross and sow the seeds which are entrusted with you. Perhaps no one will recognize your toil for the Lord. Perhaps there are people who try to obstruct and hinder your life for the Lord. There will be sharp stones, glass pieces, thorns and thistles on your way because you are walking the Calvary Road. You might be gasping because of the heaviness of the old rugged cross of rebuke, mockery, ridicule, false accusations and unkind criticisms you carry on your shoulders. The weather in the world might not be favorable. You might be lonely on the way and your eyes might be blurred because of the flood of tears. Still the promise of the Lord is for you to hold tight as you walk along because He is working to give you blessed increase now and in the future. One of these days, Heaven’s victory stand will open when our work on the earth will be recognized and appreciated. At that great camp meeting, you will be able to see the true results of your toil for the Lord. You will meet those whose lives the Lord has enabled you to touch. So let us today march forward with one hand at the plow and wipe our tears with the other to sow the seeds and toil for our Master who toiled for us all the way from Gethsemane through Gabbatha to Golgotha.  

Psalms 126: 6 – He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.

Thought for Today

All our losses and failures in this life will be compensated with the manifold increase our Lord will grant us in the spiritual realm. 

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