MOUNTAIN TOP EXPERIENCE!!

Mountain top experience!

Verse for Today: Wednesday, February 08, 2012

Matthew 17:1 – After six days Jesus took with Him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.

Higher spiritual experiences demand that we climb higher in our spiritual outlook. Even though we start at the ground level, God wants us to progress to higher altitudes in our spiritual life to see the glory of our Lord Jesus. There are pulls of the flesh and the world when we are at the ground level. The noise and the busyness of the ground level distract and entangle us. God doesn’t want us to be at the ground level, but to climb higher where we will be alone with Him. It is at the mountain top that we get great insights into the Person of our Lord Jesus. Once we are at the top, we would develop craving to continue to dwell at that level. We can hear the voice of the Lord more clearly on the mountain. When we see the glory of our Lord, we will be lost in His wonder and fall prostrate at His feet. All our cares and concerns will melt away at the mountain top. The revelation of the beauty of our Lord on the mountain will equip us to face the challenges that lie ahead of us on the ground. As we face new challenges which are beyond our capacity to handle, we have the freedom to go to a higher altitude to meet with the Lord alone and get our spiritual batteries recharged. The mountainous experience is the power house of the child of God and the more we spend time there the more will we be strengthened to continue with our ministries. Jesus wants to lead us today to the mountain top experience so that He can reveal great spiritual secrets to enrich our lives. He wants us to develop a higher vision and a higher quality of spiritual life as compared to the ground level. So we must follow the Lord Jesus to the mountain top to see His glory and allow our lives to be ignited with His glory to continue to go aflame for Him.

Dear reader, are you still on the ground level in your spiritual life? Do you feel that you need greater power and strength to fight the battles in life? Such power is available for you as you climb to a higher altitude in your spiritual life. Your willingness to climb the hill is the price you pay to get spiritually recharged. The time that you are willing to spend at the top of the mountain with the Lord will instill in you greater spiritual power. Hebron was a hill where Abraham built an alter and pitched a tent to live for the Lord and that was where the Lord renewed His covenant with him. When he climbed the hill country of Moriah, Abraham was able to see the lamb kept ready by God and pictures of redemption and resurrection. Moses had to climb Mount Sinai to get a face-to-face encounter with the Lord to receive instructions for the steps ahead. It was on Mount Calvary that God demonstrated His love to humanity through the sacrificial death of our Lord Jesus. Jesus ascended to Heaven from the Mount of Olives and His second advent will be with His feet on this mountain. Today we have the privilege to be alone with the Lord in mountain top experiences if we are willing to climb by faith. We will meet our Lord there and He will share insights with us which we may not get at the ground level. He will help us to forget about ourselves and all our cares. When we come down from the mountain, our lives will radiate His glory which will be reflected in our practical life and ministries. His glory will lead us to face the challenges that await us each day in our lives. As we see the Lord on the top of the mountain, our faith and trust in Him will grow and we will be able to live above the cares of this world.

Psalms 43:3 – Send forth Your light and Your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to Your holy mountain, to the place where You dwell.

Thought for Today

The higher the spiritual altitude we climb, the brighter will be the glory of Jesus and lesser will be the cares of the world in our eyes.

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IS HE IN OR OUT?

Is He In or Out?

Verse for Today: Tuesday, February 07, 2012

Matthew 14:32 – When they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.

There are times in our lives when we travel without Jesus in our boats. Jesus is gracious to us on such occasions and shows us the importance of having Him in our lives and activities all the time. At times we think we can make it all by ourselves. We tend to separate our lives into the two compartments of the secular and the sacred. In our secular life we often keep Jesus away and go the way of the world. We can definitely go a long distance without Jesus in our own strength and attain many temporal things in life which will all pass away. Sometimes we go on our own because we cannot take Jesus into the secular things we do which Jesus would not approve. It is possible to keep Jesus out of a field of education which would take us away from God. Employment which doesn’t give us a minute for the Lord has to be examined whether Jesus is in it with us. There are jobs which are in forbidden areas. Our investment in portfolios forbidden in the Bible will not have Jesus in it with us. Any of our activities which doesn’t glorify Jesus, whether it is music, entertainment, sports, politics or even ministry will not have Jesus in it with us. Some start or partner with businesses which are forbidden by Jesus and so they cannot take Jesus with them in that boat. We often think that we are gaining treasures and fame because of our businesses, education, jobs and relationships, but we must make sure to choose that which have Jesus in it. If we practice things which Jesus will not approve, we cannot expect Jesus to be our partner it. Then when the storms and wind come, we might go through struggles and intimidating circumstances which prevent us from going forward. In such situations, Jesus comes to remind us that He is not in our boats. As we learn our lessons from such experiences and invite Jesus into our boats, we will see that the wind dies down and our boats become places of worship.

Dear reader, it is important for you to see if Jesus is in everything in your life. The winds and the storms that blow on your boat may be your opportunity to examine why Jesus may not be in it with you. If Jesus is not with us in our education, employment, business, ministry or relationships, it is time to change our choices to please Him so that He will come in. He will be with us always but He may not be in all that we do for selfish gains. The storms and the wind which blow against us should open our eyes to see if there are areas in our lives which Jesus doesn’t approve. It is also a time for us to make Jesus a partner with us in all that we want and do. He will come in at our invitation to take full control of our lives. His presence will calm the sea around us and the wind will turn off. A life without Jesus in the boat is a life that is heading towards danger. All that we gain without Jesus will be lost forever. It will only be a mirage which will give us a false sense of achievement. Jesus comes to the scene of our greatest battles in life, take us out for a walk on the troubled water as He did with Peter, and demonstrate what He can do for us and with our lives. He will come in to our boats to navigate us towards our destination. Today Jesus is near us as we go through storms and wind which are a result of our voyages without Him in our boats. Let us today shed all that does not have Jesus in it and travel with Him in all that He wants us to have in our lives. Let us crave for all that He wants us to have and be willing to pay the price to accomplish it.

Philippians 3:7 – But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

Thought for Today

Saying goodbye to all that is not approved by Jesus in our lives is the most blessed experience in the life of a disciple.

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DIGNIFIED NEED SATISFACTION!!

Dignified need satisfaction!

Verse for Today: Monday, February 06, 2012

Matthew 15:32 – “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with Me for three days and having nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.”

The Savior knows all the needs of His people in its depth and how desperate they are. He is a compassionate Savior who would not want to send them away empty handed. He gives them spiritual food which no one else provides. He also gives them physical nourishment. He is ever so considerate because He knows they are at the brink of collapse. These people who listened to His teaches were fully satisfied with the spiritual food, but He wanted them to be fully satisfied with the physical food as well. He was concerned about each and everyone in the crowd. He had enough and more for all who were willing to sit down and wait till He brings them food in the most unlikely place for feeding such a large crowd. Today we come to the Savior with our needs and have the privilege of asking Him for daily bread. It is our privilege to ask Him and His prerogative to meet our needs. But He gives us out of His compassion to us and has it ready according to His measure even before we ask. It is amazing how the Lord managed the distribution of food among the thousands without any commotion or confusion. Each one could wait for his or her turn as they put their trust in Him. This account of divine intervention to feed the hungry masses is part of the eternal Word of God which authenticates the divine truth that we do not need to be anxious about how our needs would be met. But we must have trust in the power of the Lord and faith in His willingness to give us what we need at the right time.

Dear reader, your Lord knows how needy you are today. His knowledge about you is accompanied by His power to meet these needs abundantly. But for you to enjoy His supplies, you will have to trust Him and be in His presence. Perhaps today you are in the wilderness and far away from any possible source which can help you. Your situation might be most hopeless because no one else in the world knows what and how much your needs are. Perhaps no one knows the depth of your needs and no one has the capacity to help you also. But there is no need to be frustrated about your situation because your Lord is above all your situations. He is far greater than any sources around you which do not have the capacity to help. You might find dark clouds of confusion and apprehension around you. But remember that when your Lord is with you, you don’t need any other help or helpers. Without Him, any other source is meaningless with their empty promises. But when you commit your ways to the Lord, He will take charge of your needs, situations and future. If you are exasperated with unmet needs, hand over your life to Him and He will know what to do to put you on the right track. Those who travel with Jesus will always be on the right track. Perhaps the world will say that the footprints of Jesus lead to Calvary, but they do not realize that it leads further to a resurrected life of being seated with Him in the heavenly places. There is no disappointment with following Jesus and no want of ours is unmet when we are in His company. When we are with Him, it is His prerogative to feed and clothe us and give us a life that exemplifies His status. Today you are a child of the King of this universe and He provides for you to have a life that is fitting to His decorum and dignity.

Philippians 4:19 – And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

Thought for Today

God meets our needs according to His status, dignity, decorum and riches.

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GOD'S POWER IN OUR SITUATIONS!!

God’s Power in our situations!

Verse for Today: Sunday, February 05, 2012

Acts 16:26 – Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose.

There are times when the world and the enemy of our souls rejoice because we are under shackles. They feel that we are silenced through chains and prison cells. When we are forced into persecution, there is a sigh of relief for the world around us. But our Lord gives us songs in the night to sing along even when we go through sufferings as these hardships are a matter of praise for us. He enables us to sing whether it is day or night and whether we are free or under bondage. But as we suffer and still sing to the power of our Lord, He will not watch silently for long. If He is delaying His interference, it is only for us to keep singing songs in the night and learn to praise Him in our most painful and adverse circumstances. But at the right time, He will demonstrate His power in a small measure to unshackle us and remove our bondage. God’s power doesn’t require keys to open prison doors or loosen chains. His act of rescue and deliverance for His children come at unexpected moments and send shock waves to onlookers. It is likely that the world around us writes us off and declares that our story ended with bruises, chains on both hands and feet in the stocks. But God takes them on and proves to them that they cannot undermine the power of God working for His children.

Dear reader, are you shackled by the chains of complicated circumstances and painful situations? Even when there seems to be no scope for deliverance out of the situation you are in, there is an assurance that your Lord knows all about it. Not only that, He is with you in the prison cell where the world has locked you up. When His Spirit releases your heart and mind from the bondage of circumstances, you will be able to sing praises to the Lord. The enemy’s objective in putting you under bondage is to frustrate you and your message of gospel. He doesn’t know that he cannot shackle your heart where Jesus lives and that your heart can sing songs of deliverance and praise even when the body in shackles. It is also comforting to know that your Lord is watching your scenario. He gives you songs in your heart and His Spirit fills you with His praises. Your singing and praising through adversity is an opportunity for fellow prisoners to listen to your message of songs of praises. Thus when you continue with your ministry even when physically bound, your Lord will demonstrate His power in a small measure to declare His ownership of you and how you are precious in His sight. His power will release your body from chains and stock as a testimony to His faithfulness to you. Today your Lord is with you in all your adverse circumstances. He understands your pain, misery and frustrations. He comes to fill you with His grace so that you can go through adverse circumstances with songs in your hearts and mouths. He raises your head in hopeless situations and establishes your testimony in the wake of sufferings and pain. He will create opportunity to demonstrate His power in your life to touch the lives of those around you so that they will also experience His grace in a mighty way. Today let us look at our Lord who is with us rather than the chains and the stock that we are in or the dungeon we are locked in. Let us sing praises to the Lord for the dungeon and wait for Him to release us from our situations through the demonstration of His power.

Psalms 32:7 – You are my hiding place; You will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.

Thought for Today

God’s power is demonstrated in our lives first by unshackling us from restlessness, anxiety and fear so that we can sing songs in the night and then releasing our bodies from persecution.

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STEPS ON TIGHT PATHWAYS!!

Steps on tight pathways!

Verse for Today: Saturday, February 04, 2012

Psalms 18:36 – You broaden the path beneath me, so that my ankles do not turn over.

Our situations sometimes make it so difficult for us to find space for even one step forward. There are pressures for us from all sides to block our way tightly and we find it almost impossible to move forward in our sojourn. We are pushed into emotional, financial and situational entanglements which bring in doubts and confusions in our walk. Sometimes these tight situations come as a result of our own thoughtlessness or lack of dependence on the Lord. At other times the enemy clutters our situations by bringing in confusions and conflicts. The enemy also uses his agents to block our way forward. Our ways are often filled with misrepresentations and misinterpretations developed by the enemy to make our situations tight. David had such experiences when the enemy kings including King Saul haunted him and tried to hunt him down. Daniel was surrounded by people who looked for reasons to clutter his ways. Joseph has such tight situations waiting for him in most places he went. Paul had a long list of such struggles all through his ministries which made his ways tight and narrow. Nehemiah was in the midst of difficult situations throughout the reconstruction of the wall of Jerusalem. But the Lord was with all of His servants and broadened their paths under their feet so that they would find ways to go forward to accomplish God’s plan for them. The same Lord is with us today in all our tight situations to broaden our paths beneath our feet so that we can walk through it all.

Dear friend, are you struggling to find space to for the next step forward in your walk with the Lord? Is your situation so tight that you just can’t take one more step forward? Is the enemy trying to tell you that there is no future for you? Is your intimidating situation making you wonder whether to go forward or not? Are dubious and carnal ideas of compromise popping up in your mind to circumvent the blockages on your pathway? But there is no need to get yourself boggled down because of the tight situation created by the enemies of your soul. Your Lord is with you even in your tightest situations and He is holding you in His hands. When the situation is tight and that you cannot see any space for the next step, He will carry you in His hands to take you forward. He will also enlarge and broaden your footsteps so that your ankles will not be twisted and that you can freely walk forward. Even when the pathway is cluttered, if you take a step forward by faith, your Lord will find you enough space to place your next foot by enlarging your path. You do not need to know where you will place your feet next because your Lord will find it for you as long as you are obedient and walk according to His perfect will. This was how Noah kept preaching and building the ark for more than a century and kept going. When the situation was tight, Joseph still kept building up his character and faith and moved forward. Nehemiah kept building the wall each day and each moment trusting the Lord to find him and his co-workers space for the next brick, door or gate. Paul kept preaching, teaching, writing and counseling each day and the Lord found him opportunity and audience for the next phase of his ministry. The same Lord is with you today to prepare room for the upcoming steps on your pathway. He is out there enlarging and broadening your way so that even in tight times, you will find enough space to put your next step forward. Today He holds your hands and helps you to walk by faith each step of the way.

Psalms 18:29 – For by You I can run upon a troop and by my God I can leap over a wall.

Thought for Today

When we trust the Lord for the next step in our walk with Him, we do not need to be afraid of the tight situations before us.

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FROM RUBBLES TO RUBIES!!

From rubbles to rubies!

Verse for Today: Friday, February 03, 2012

Nehemiah 2:17 – “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruin, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.”

Any rebuilding process starts with the realization of the damage that has been done to the existing structure. Nehemiah knew very well how ruined the wall of the beloved city of Jerusalem was. He was in shocking bewilderment about its hopeless condition. He committed himself totally for the refurbishment of the wall as his highest priority. His commitment found approval in the sight of God who supplied all the resources for rebuilding. Jerusalem is now rest assured of rebuilding of its wall though it looked like hopeless and burned up heaps of rubble. But God had already spoken through His prophets that it will be rebuilt. In God’s economy of things, there is no permanent write off for any situation for which God has a plan waiting to be unfolded. There are times when people around us declare total hopelessness about our lives. We have prophets of doom always around us who spell hopelessness for us. But God never gives up on us nor will He write us off. He is faithful to us and our families in giving us hope. He will rebuild our broken lives if we submit ourselves to Him. He will build us up with His resources and rekindle us. From the heaps of burned up rubbles, He can still build us up to the shocking surprise of our enemies around us.

Dear reader, has your life been totally broken and become a heap of rubbles? Perhaps you have been burned up by your own thoughtless and senseless decisions and actions. It could also be a result of your being battered by the enemy through people who are dear and near to you. Perhaps the enemy has mutilated your situations and circumstances to destroy you. You would have probably been exasperated with repeated and futile efforts at starting all over again. Perhaps it is time to wrap up your broken pieces in the rags of your life and hand it over to the Lord. He is the Master Designer and Builder who can take any ruined life and make it bright like a star. He has all the resources and best methods needed to build you up again. He will fill you with His Spirit and heal your burned up and ruined life with His Word. He will fortify your life with His glory so that it will shine like a lamp in the dark world around you. He will clean up all the ruins and the mess in your life and start all over again. There is nothing that He cannot handle and there is no rubble that He cannot rebuild. But you must give Jesus full freedom to handle it His way at His time. He will meet every emotional, physical and spiritual need in the rebuilding process to strengthen you. When He works on you, the result will be a pleasant surprise for people who saw a heap of rubble a few weeks or months back. They do not expect any thing good to come out of Nazareth, but the best can still come out of it when Jesus lives in that life. When the Lord has His hands on you, you will once again become a blessing to those around you. So dear reader, do not give up or give in to any unpleasant conclusion about your broken situation. Just give God a chance to work in you and He will transform your life and use it for His glory.

Isaiah 58:12 – Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with dwellings.

Thought for Today

When we allow God to rebuild our lives, we will shine as His workmanship to bring glory to His name.

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CLIMB OF FAITH!!

Climb of faith!

Verse for Today: Thursday, February 02, 2012

Joshua 14:13 – Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as his inheritance.

Hebron has become an inheritance of Caleb because of his faith, courage and trust in the Lord when he went to explore the land of Canaan. It was promised to him by Moses forty five years back. All these years since he received the promise, he kept it renewed in his heart and looked forward to appropriating it. Hebron has been thus a guiding light for Caleb. He focused his heart on Hebron and reminded Joshua about Hebron as his privileged place of faith. Hebron gave Caleb an opportunity to renew his faith and trust in the Lord for caliber to climb the hilly country by faith. It required determination, strength, courage, zeal and the desire to attain. He also made a claim for Hebron on the basis of a promise he obtained. His old age was no deterrent for him to claim Hebron which required climbing by faith. His strong faith was sufficient to circumvent all the possible hindrances in appropriating Hebron. Caleb stands out as a great example for us today as we endeavor to climb higher levels of faith. He teaches us prioritization and motivation as two great qualities required in us to live a life of faith. His faith is as solid as it was when he went to explore the land. Age has not diminished or dwindled his faith. His zeal has become more intense in appropriating Hebron because he had the desire to get the best that God has earmarked for him. Caleb points us to the need for greater zeal and determination to live at a higher plateau of faith as years go by. Instead of getting cold or lukewarm in our faith, we should exercise greater trust in the Lord and say with Caleb that we would certainly want to climb the higher echelons of faith as days go by.

Dear friend, how is your zeal for the Lord today? Is your desire and love for the Lord as intense as it was when you first met Him and accepted Him as your Savior? Remember the excitement you had when you got saved! Has your desire for the Lord grown considerably or has become diluted because it got mixed with the world? Are you able to exercise greater faith in the promises of the Lord today than ever before? Are you satisfied with the mundane or is there a growing desire for you to grow stronger in your faith? Remember, if you have the desire, the Lord will give you the strength to climb mountains like Hebron. Experiences in Hebron will lead you to more intense fellowship with the Lord. Remember how Abraham chose Hebron, of all the places, to dwell and worship! The Lord is available for you today to claim greater nearness and more intense fellowship with Him. You have the opportunity to taste and see the depth of the sweetness of the Lord if you have the motivation. He wants to draw closer to you and has promised that if you seek Him with your whole heart, soul and life, you will find closer fellowship with Him. He wants you to possess the tenacity to stick to your privilege as a child of God in reaching higher levels of love and devotion with Him. It is your desire for Him that will make you seek after Him like a panting deer. Today the intimate fellowship with your Lord at Hebron is available to you if you are willing to avail it by faith. You might find Anakites there whom you will be able to defeat by faith and possess it for you to worship your Lord. As you climb higher, you will have to leave all worldly attractions and priorities at the bottom of the hill and get yourself separated from it all. When you reach the top, you will certainly find the climb worth the initiative.

Genesis 13:18 – So Abram moved his tents and went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an alter to the Lord.

Thought for Today

Your craving for God will drive you to overcome all hindrances, burdens and entanglements and to live in Hebron in tents by faith to continue to be occupied with Him.

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