RIGHTEOUS FAITHFULNESS!!

Righteous faithfulness!

Verse for Today: Saturday, November 02, 2013

Isaiah 11:5 – Righteousness will be His belt and faithfulness the sash round His waist.

In all His dealings God exhibits His character of righteousness and faithfulness. He is righteous in all His dealings. He does what is right according to His written Word. He will reward all who do things right and punish all who do evil. God is faithful in all that He does because it is done according to His plans and promises. He will fulfill His promises to the uttermost. He doesn’t change His character and will not deviate from being faithful. Even as He is righteous, God is also the God of compassion and grace. He will forgive us when we repent. He will not despise us nor will He find fault with us, but will forgive us when we approach Him with a repentant heart. We can always count on His faithfulness to all that He has promised. It is because of God’s faithfulness that we are not consumed because if He is righteous, He must punish us. But when we repent, His faithfulness to forgive us comes to take charge of His character. When we go astray, His righteousness need not go after us to take us back, but must allow us to go to destruction. But His faithfulness comes after the lost and disobedient sinner to admonish us to get back to Him. He is not simply faithful without being righteous. If we do not repent, we will earn His wrath because we deserve it and His righteousness must punish us. God’s righteousness and faithfulness work as two sides of a coin and are administered in a balanced manner for our good. God’s righteousness demands our faithfulness to His commandments and God’s faithfulness demands our dependence on His righteousness to live fearfully and reverently. It is when these two blend together will we be able to live faithfully to His commandments and fearfully to His righteousness. God’s character thus challenges us today to live for Him by trusting Him to be faithful to us as we cling on to His promises.

Dear friend, are you today dependent on God’s faithfulness to fulfill His promises to you? At the same time are you exasperated at the delays and the inordinate waiting time for God to fulfill His promises? But these delays are only from the human side of the story. For God, there is no delay in showing faithfulness to you because He operates according to His perfect schedules. The righteous God does things which are always absolutely right because He cannot be other than being right and faithful. To cope with God’s ways of doing things, you and I need His grace which is part of His faithfulness. He has guaranteed to give us grace when we need it in the right measure. God’s grace is immeasurable and unfathomable. It is as vast as an ocean filled with His faithfulness and righteousness. We can go to Him and imbibe to get ourselves filled up. God expects us to live with His grace and express it through our behavior with others as well. Down through the centuries, God’s children clung on to God’s graceful faithfulness and righteousness to weather away the challenges of life. They were strengthened by God’s grace, fortified by His faithfulness and forewarned by His righteousness. They lived by faith to enjoy His faithfulness and fearfully to enjoy His righteousness. God became Man so that it would be possible for us to draw the benefits of His character from Him through His Spirit to meet all our challenges in life. Today we are invited to live by enjoying His grace, faithfulness and righteousness to meet all our challenges, concerns and cares.

Lamentations 3:23 – (God’s mercy and compassion) are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.

Thought for Today

A new day renews God’s mercy, compassion and faithfulness to His children to meet all challenges in life. 

Prayer for Today

Dear Lord Jesus: Help me today to trust Your faithfulness, mercy and compassion to be my buffer against all the challenges and concerns in life. Amen!

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SURPRISES IN WAITING!!

Surprises in waiting!  

Verse for Today: Friday, November 01, 2013

Ruth 1:21 –   “I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted me; The Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.”

When we go through the valleys of tears, bereavement, famine and separation, it is likely that the grief overcomes us to make statements of hopelessness. Naomi followed the path of Abraham when famine struck Bethlehem and ran away for security. But God taught her lessons of eternal value. When she came back to the bread basket of God, she was still in deep distress and anguish. Little did she realize that the Lord God Almighty has prepared a resting place not only for her, but also for her widowed daughter-in-law! Even when Naomi came back, she was dwelling in her past misery. She was not full when she left in apprehension and anxiety. Now she is back in Bethlehem without realizing what God had in store for her. He had already prepared for her emptiness to be replaced with His fullness. Her affliction was soon to be jubilation for her new fortune. God had a plan for her life which was far beyond her farthest dreams or imagination. God reinstated all that she lost through Boaz and the new baby Obed who was to become the great grandfather of Jesus Christ in His humanity. Naomi became part of the household of Boaz and enjoyed all His richness and goodness. All her family inheritance was redeemed by Boaz. She had the privilege to become a grandmother and a nanny. Naomi was depressed before coming to Bethlehem without knowing what God was doing for her behind the scene. Even while she was at the bottom of her life of faith, her God did not forsake or forget her. The God of Naomi is our God today as He works behind our scenarios for our good in a manner far beyond our wildest imagination. He will not forsake us nor will He leave us orphans. He will reveal His marvelous plans for us at the right time to the praise of His name through us.

Dear friend, are you sinking in the mire of your failures in the valleys of life? Have you given up hope and declared to the world that nothing good will ever come your way? But you will be amazed to know that the God of Naomi and Ruth is working behind the scene to shower His richest blessings upon you. He is preparing the background for you to fill your life with His best which is yet to uncover. Your tears will give way to celebration of His goodness. Your depression will give way to elation of praise and thanksgiving. Your situation will become unbelievably jubilant and your life will be a celebration of praise because of God’s compassion and kindness. His plan for you is progressing according to His divine schedule. If you find delays, rest assured that it’s not delays of inactivity, but only delays of preparation and appointment. One of these days the curtain will be removed and the goodness of the Lord will come out to the open for you to see and enjoy. So, dear friend, don’t wallow in your predicament like Naomi, but just praise the Lord for what He is busy doing for you in your scenario. The God who has not forgotten Naomi and Ruth is your God today. But you must come back from your backsliding and return to the House of Bread of our Lord to see His goodness. He is challenging you today to confess your digressions and get back to the centre of His will to see and enjoy His riches by faith.

Psalms 48:14 – For this God is our God forever and ever; He will be our guide even to the end.

Thought for Today

Every new day is full of the result of what God prepared for us on our yesterdays.

Prayer for Today

Dear Lord Jesus: Fill me with the vision of what You are preparing for me each day of my life and help me to use it all for Your glory. Amen!

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ONE WORD, ONE TOUCH!!

One Word, One Touch!

Verse for Today: Thursday, October 31, 2013

Mark 10:49 – Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! (Jesus) is calling you.”

On our way each day, we meet people who have dire emotional, spiritual and physical needs. But we often do not recognize them. We do not have the time to look into their eyes to see the grief and anguish lingering in them. When we walk around, there is no one else who is looking into our eyes and seeing our distress and misery. Everyone is fighting battles and there is no one to show any kindness. The world has become a highway of hurting people who go around without finding a physician who can touch and heal them. In the hustle of modern busy life, there is still someone who has all the time in the world to stop for each and every one of us. He is Jesus the Son of Eternal God. He is the healer of all our hurts. He removes our handicaps and insufficiency. He makes us whole and restores our broken spirits and souls. He delivers us from our emotional entanglements in this insensitive world and gives us peace and rest. He has quality time for each of us to help us go through the process of healing. He calls us over the tumult and invites us to Him so that He can touch us. He comes to us and asks us to respond to Him by trusting Him to heal our lives. He works in our lives through the faith that He implants in our hearts through His Spirit. If we are willing to throw away all that entangles us and shed all our dependence on the world, we will be free to go to Jesus and get healed. Then we can help others by showing the way to go to Jesus.

Dear friend, are you struggling through the ebbs of this busy life without healing and wholeness? Are your life style, religious rituals, wealth, positions and prominence proving to be hindrances to getting spiritually and emotionally healed? Are you feeling lonely and frustrated in the bye lanes of this world and getting exasperated because of all that besets you in life? But there is no need to be in hopelessness. If you keenly listen, you will be able to hear the voice of the Great Physician inviting you to go to Him for total healing and wholeness. Jesus of Nazareth is passing your way. He has chosen your route so that you will get an opportunity to be touched by Him. He is willing to stop for you and will wait till your case is settled eternally. All you have to do is to respond to Jesus and go to Him with great expectations of faith and trust. He will honor your feeble faith. He will heal your broken heart and wounded emotions. He will restore your heartaches and turn your frustrations into bright hope. He will open your spiritual eyes and help you to walk by faith towards your eternal destination. He will be your travel companion every step of the way and will strengthen your feet to walk with Him by faith. Your tears will then become joy unspeakable. Your misery will turn to jubilation. Your loneliness will give way to fellowship with the Triune God. Your heartaches and anguishes will give way to celebrations of the love of God in your heart. Your life will center on the Rock of Ages who will sustain, support, strengthen and solidify you so that you can turn around to touch the broken-hearted, wounded, hurtful and suffering people around you for Jesus.   

Matthew 11:28 – “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”.

Thought for Today

A word from Jesus is a touch from His hands to heal our spiritual and emotional wounds.

Prayer for Today

Dear Lord Jesus: Touch me with your words and hands to heal my broken heart and open my blind eyes to see your glory. Amen!

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CALVARY'S CAPTIVES!!

Calvary’s captives!

Verse for Today: Wednesday, October 30, 2013

 

Isaiah 49:8 – Say to the captives, ‘Come out,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Be free!’ “ They will feed beside the roads and find pasture on every barren hill”.

Our world is full of people who are captives of their situations, circumstances, people and things. People everywhere are struggling under the tyranny of bondage and craving for a release. They are also in utter darkness and are blind to the spiritual realities that God brings to them. Little do they realize that God is out there to release them from their captivity and make them free! He offers them sight through the heavenly salve that He gives freely. God is the greatest bondage breaker which He does out of His love and compassion towards us. Jesus was under the bondage of Roman Empire and the Jewish religion as He took our bondage on Himself on Golgotha’s cross. He releases us from all bondage through His sacrificial death on the cross. He doesn’t want us to waste our lives and opportunities by living in bondage to the negative emotions that come from the enemy. The world and its master, Satan, come to lock us up and our lives in captivity. He manipulates our situations and circumstances to put us under the bondage of negative emotions. He blinds our eyes with the glittering material world and its attractions of prestige, power, positions, possessions and privileges which will all vanish from our horizon when the storms of life beat against us. The manipulative techniques of the enemy of our souls plunge us into dark alleys as captives of our situations. But God offers us eternal bread in His green pastures as we walk along with Jesus towards our eternal destination. Today Jesus comes to knock at our doors and asks us to open our hearts to receive free deliverance from our captivity and blindness. Today He wants us to enjoy the brightness of His grace, love and joy.

Dear friend, are you a captive of your situations and circumstances? Are people in your life manipulating your emotions and make you to respond to your situations through anger, anxiety, frustration and distress? Are you losing your sight and insight when negative emotions control you to behave through devilish expressions which inflict deep wounds in the hearts of people around you? But today Jesus offers to release and deliver you from your captivity to situations, negative emotions and blinded eyes. You don’t need to be in emotional captivity and spiritual blindness any longer. If you allow Jesus to take full control of your life, He will give you hope in this hopeless world and in your hopeless situations no matter what they are. He will fill you with His Spirit who is the Spirit of patience. He will lead you to respond to your situations in God’s power. He will help you to relate to your situations with patience and peace. He will feed you with His heavenly bread and Living Water to produce positive spiritual energy so that you can respond to your situations through positive emotions like love, peace and patience. When Jesus breaks your bondage, you will be free from negative emotions. Your life will be controlled by confidence, courage and hope as you face tumultuous situations. Your situations might not change, but you will be a changed person to react to your turbulent situation by faith. When you allow Jesus to give you a release and deliver you from negative emotions, you will approach life positively and live victoriously. Submit to the nail-pierced hands of Jesus to enjoy true freedom and live courageously to face your situations with peace, hope and courage which He will pour into your heart to overflowing.

John 8:36 – So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

Thought for Today

When the enemy binds us to this world of tyranny, Lord Jesus releases us to enjoy His love, freedom, hope and peace.

Prayer for Today

Dear Lord Jesus: Help me to get deliverance from the negative emotions that hurt and make me Your captive of love to exemplify Your peace, hope, compassion and mercy. Amen! 

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TREASURES OF GOODNESS!!

Treasures of Goodness!

Verse for Today: Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Genesis 41:57 – And all the countries came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe in all the world.

Through the famine in Egypt and the surrounding countries, God proved to the world that only His man with His wisdom will be able to feed them. Joseph was that man for that time and he saved the world from extinct. He also saved his family about whom God had great plans to bless the whole world. Years later, a Son was to be born in Joseph’s family who would serve heavenly bread to all the spiritually hungry people. Today the world is enticing us to go to its Vanity Fair to meet our needs, but has only the lukewarm water and spurious bread which will make us perennially sick in our souls. Whatever that the world offers us will only increase our craving for more of it and plunge us into despair and dissatisfaction. Today we are asked to go to our Heavenly Joseph, our Lord Jesus Christ, to meet all our spiritual and emotional needs. His heavenly warehouse is full of God’s best resources for us to enjoy and be fully satisfied. Our Lord Jesus has opened the windows of heaven to give us all that we need and He is today inviting us to go to Him with all our requests. But we must go voluntarily and willingly with open hearts and arms so that He can fill us to overflowing. Only when we are aware of the extent of our depravity will we be able to go to Him. Only when we recognize that He is the only source for all our needs to be met will we be able to approach Him. He will not despise or rebuke anyone who goes to Him nor will He send us back empty. He will give us according to our inner needs which He knows better. He is interested in our spiritual and emotional health and will give us accordingly.

Dear friend, do you have spiritual and emotional needs which the world cannot meet? Is your spiritual emptiness causing physical hurt and creating social conflicts and distress in your soul? Are you tempted to knock at the doors of the world out of desperation? There is no need for you to wallow in your predicament, but recognize that the Heavenly Storehouse is opened for you. Our Great ‘Joseph’ is in charge and He is on a mission to meet your needs no matter what they are. If you are going through pain, He is your Balm of Gilead. If you are in distress, He is your rest. If you are experiencing anxiety, He is your peace and assurance. If you are hurt because of rejection and resentment, He welcomes you to His cool waters for refreshing. If you are crying because of difficult circumstances, He collects your tears in a bottle so that others can refresh in it. If you are spiritually and emotionally malnourished, He is your Heavenly Bread and Water of Life. If anger troubles you, He will give you patience. If you are confused, He is your sure path to climb God’s hills by faith. Today the doors to the Lord Jesus are open for you to enter and draw from His resources according to your needs. Open your mouth wide and He will fill it with His goodness and lead you to full satisfaction. Don’t stay where you are, but leap forward by faith and knock at the door of Jesus. He will certainly open it for you and meet your needs today and forevermore.

Psalms 34:10 – The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

Thought for Today

The richness of the heavenly warehouse is the greatest rebuke to man for going spiritually and emotionally hungry.

Prayer for Today

Dear Lord Jesus: Help me today to admit my desperation and knock at Your door with open arms and wide mouth for you to fill me with Your goodness. Amen!

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PINNACLE OF FAITH!!

Pinnacle of faith!

Verse for Today: Monday, October 28, 2013

Genesis 22:4 – On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.

Mount Moriah was a place of mixed feelings for Abraham. On the one hand, he had the great craving to obey God and give Him the best that Abraham had received from God. On the other hand, it would be the most painful place on earth when he will have to sacrifice his only begotten son. But Abraham was sure that His God would meet him at that mountain. He knew that he would not be alone there and that His God would welcome him there in all His majesty and splendor. It would thus be a place of victory and not failure. It would be a place of hope and not frustration. It would be a place where the promises of God would be realized and not lost. It would be a place where God would reveal Himself to Abraham to receive His utmost obedience and submission and bless him. Abraham saw the place from a distance and renewed his allegiance to God and walked with fervor and determination in faith. The God of Abraham waits for us at the peak of our obedience to honor us with the renewal of His promises and to strengthen us to go further by faith. Our God will not let us go to the mountain of obedience alone, but He accompanies us and takes us by our hand. He will not give us tests than we cannot bear. He will not leave us alone to bear the brunt of the tests, but will stand by with His ultimate answers to our situations. So let us go forward to the pinnacle of obedience by faith and meet our God at the peak of our surrender to Him and leave all consequences of obedience to Him.

Dear friend, are you on your way to total obedience and allegiance to God and bewildered about the consequences of your faith? Remember, your Lord will not let you go alone to your Moriah, but will accompany you. He will watch your obedience in full participation. He will guard you from all the harm that you might be afraid of. He will protect you from fear and anxiety as you obey Him. He will find newer ways as you face the consequences of your faith. He doesn’t take back what He gives mercilessly. He will provide for you according to His dignity and honor. He will prove to you that He is Jehovah-Jireh even on the peak of your Moriah. So if He keeps quiet and does not intervene until your obedience is fully exhibited, that doesn’t mean that He is indifferent or non-participative. He is near you and will act at the right time to give you deliverance and rescue from dangers. Today you are enabled to climb the mountain of obedience by Him so that He can accomplish His purpose in your life. So, dear friend, don’t be afraid or hesitate. Take God at His Word and be bold in your obedience and faith. The One who has called you will take you by His hand all the way to your destination without harm. Trust in Him and don’t look back. Take courage and be confident to go forward. He is waiting for you at the top of your obedience to honor and strengthen you to go farther. Remember, Rebekah and her children are all waiting ahead, on the way, as witnesses of your faith. Your Moriah is God-ordained and it will be the beginning of a series of new blessings. Be prepared for it all and be thankful to God for all that He is going to do for you.

2 Timothy 1:12 – I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day.

Thought for Today

Tests are Moriah are not the end of all hope, but the beginning of newer blessings.

 

Prayer for Today

Dear Lord Jesus: Hold my hands tight today as I approach the Moriah of my life without wavering, doubts or confusion. Amen! 

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BALM OF CALVARY!!

Balm of Calvary!

Verse for Today: Sunday, October 27, 2013

Jeremiah 8:22 – Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no healing for the wounds of my people?

Man has tried to invent panacea for the various illnesses and infirmities, but has not found one yet. So man keeps experimenting with physicians and medicines and achieves only temporary solace. There are also scores of emotional and spiritual illnesses which go untreated and plunge man into eternal sufferings. But all the while, God offers the panacea for man’s infirmities to make him whole again. The Great Physician has opened His healing centre at Calvary to provide the panacea for all ailments of man. It is free and available all the time for all who go to Him and ask for it. It is available only to those who confess the sickness of their souls which is the cause of all their emotional, social and physical infirmities as well. But sadly man suffers from all emotional and physical illnesses because he is unwilling to admit his bondage to sin and curse. When the balm of Gilead is applied to our souls, it heals us of our hopelessness and gives us hope for a brighter tomorrow in spite of the darkness that prevails around us. It takes away our frustrations and heartaches in life as we fight battles in life. It gives us strength to face our situations in spite of all impossibilities. It encourages us to keep walking with Jesus towards our destination. It strengthens us and gives us confidence to face our situations by trusting God to accomplish His purpose in us. Today the Balm of Gilead, Jesus Christ, is available for us to heal all our spiritual and emotional illnesses. There is a guarantee that He will give us a body that is above all infirmities when we meet Him face to face.

Dear friend, are you encountering emotional infirmities like frustrations, anguish, anxiety, misery, faithlessness, loneliness and despair? Are these ailments devouring you and leaving you utterly hopeless? But when the Balm of Gilead is available to you, there is no need for you to suffer untold miseries. The healing touch of Jesus is available to you right where you are. He heals and will not even leave a scar because it will all be washed away in the blood of the Lamb. He takes away your feeling of guilt, failure, hurt, loss, loneliness and despair and will fill you with His hope for a brighter tomorrow. He will hold you by His hands and lead you on the right pathway that He has prepared for you. His healing touch will make you whole again and will put purposefulness in your heart and a twinkle in your eyes. He put such hope in the heart of Paul when he traveled through dark straits of the sea of life for fourteen days and nights. He put hope in the heart of Joseph and allowed it to grow for thirteen years of life in most hopelessly volatile situations. He allowed the walls of Jerusalem to be rebuilt when all hope was gone. He made the dry bones become alive again for the Prophet to see and regain confidence. He is with us today and we can take Him by faith into our hearts and situations and claim victory as He brightens our hearts and heals our emotions. Today He renews our lives like that of an eagle and fill us with His goodness.

Malachi 4:2 – But for you who revere My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall.

Thought for Today

When the Balm of Calvary touches us, we will be healed from all our emotional and spiritual ailments to enjoy a life of faith and leap for joy.  

Prayer for Today

Dear Lord Jesus: May your nail-pierced hands touch and heal my loneliness, frustrations and heartaches as I wait to rest in the cool shadow of Your cross. Amen! 

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