PRIORITY CONCERN!!

Priority concern!  

Verse for Today: Thursday, May 31, 2012

Matthew 6:25b – Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?

Jesus commands us not to worry about our future needs because He provides these basic needs to all His children at the right time. But He is concerned that we think seriously about our inner person. What we do for our bodies will last only this life time, but what we do for our souls has eternal implications. So we must think about how we would feed our souls so that our inner person will grow and become healthier. Our inner person needs strength to face the attacks of the enemy. The tests that we pass through demand spiritual vitality and vigor. In order to exercise our faith in the Lord, we must look after our spiritual health. Jesus has given His Word as our spiritual food. The enemy of our souls will try to hinder us from devouring or craving for spiritual food. So we must fight battles to see to it that we eat spiritual food in adequate quantity so that our inner person will grow and become stronger to exercise faith. Jesus also reminds us that it is more important for us to be properly clothed with the robe of His righteousness that He has given us to wear all the time. If we claim the righteousness of God by faith, and live with brokenness in our spirits, we would be properly clothed by the righteousness of God. When we thus appropriate the divine robe of righteousness by faith and brokenness, we will be protected against guilt. But sadly we all worry far more about physical food and outward clothes rather than the spiritual food and the robe of righteousness for which we must depend on the Lord. Thus when we take spiritual food and cover ourselves with the robe of righteousness of God, we would enjoy spiritual health and growth lest we will become spiritually sick and retarded. As we live by eating the right spiritual food and wearing the robe of God, He will also lead us to meet all mundane needs through His means.

Dear friend, are you mostly concerned about the basic needs and wants of your current and future life? Are you bothered much about food, clothing, transport, shelter, retirement and amassing wealth for your future generations? The pulls of our flesh, the lust of our eyes and the pride of life lead us to think more about the physical needs and wants. Our distorted priorities tend make us give much less importance to the needs of our soul and spirit. When we thus ignore food for our souls and robe for our spiritual person, we slowly become cold-hearted and miss the zeal of our first love to the Lord. If we do not feed our souls with heavenly manna, it is impossible for our souls to grow and become strong in our faith and trust in the Lord. When our intake of spiritual food increase, we become more concerned about serving the Lord and not the world. The more we drink from the fountain of the Word, the more will be our desire for His Word which will cool us off from the heat of our sojourn through the desert. We must also live a life of repentance so that we would always cover ourselves with the robe of righteousness of God. Thus when we mind the Lord’s business with the strength we draw from His presence and His Word, He sees to it that our mundane needs of food, clothing and shelter will be met according to His riches in glory. This is the formula for living without anxiety and burden in life. Our Lord calls us to live without anxiety about earthly needs by putting all our cares on Him and relax in His presence. He wants us to make Him our greatest priority in life. When He cares for us, we do not have any reason to carry burdens for the mundane. Today we have another opportunity to live by faith and please Him as we look after His service here on earth while we live to enjoy the goodness that He imparts.

Psalms 37:4 – Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.

Thought for Today

God wants His children to be more concerned about the needs of the inner person.

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OVERTAKING OR LAGGING?

Overtaking or lagging?

 

Verse for Today: Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Psalms 37:34 – Wait for the Lord and keep His way. He will exalt you to inherit the land.

Waiting for God’s time is often difficult for us because we are eager to make progress at our time frame. When we are deprived, we want to make mends for it in our merit and wisdom. Our souls want instant or quickest gratification of our desires and aspirations. When we are suppressed and oppressed, we try to react or retreat and allow ourselves to be subdued. But our Lord wants us to wait for Him to work in our situations rather than give up or give in. He doesn’t want us to take our situation in our own hands, but to submit it to the Lord and wait till He changes our situations. He reminds us today that waiting for Him is a mark of our maturity and trust in Him. If we are mature, we would be willing to submit our case before the Lord and entrust our situations to Him and rest in His promises. He wants us to believe that no matter who tries to suppress us, what our Lord allows in our lives cannot elude us. It is also true that if we are genuinely surrendered to the Lord, what He doesn’t permit will not find any place in our lives. We are not to wait for an event or a change in our situation unless it is brought about by the Lord. He will lift us up from our present situation for the praise of His name in due season. We are not to jump or run ahead of our Lord and His schedule for us. He has marked out a course for us in our livelihood and service for Him which no one can take it away from us. Our waiting will make us mature and strong in the Lord and we will grow in our faith to accept His schedule and leading without grumbling. But if we are impatient, we will take our course in our own hands and run ahead of the Lord to destroy the plan He has for us.

Dear reader, are you discouraged today because things are not moving fast enough in your life? But the Lord doesn’t want you to loose heart. He wants you to stay on course in His pathway and tread at His pace. He would not expect you to be over-aggressive and run ahead of the Lord. He wants you to trust Him to accomplish His purpose and program in your life at His time. When you commit your way to the Lord, He will accomplish His perfect will and purpose in you and thus glorify His name in your life. David knew this truth and waited for the Lord to put him on the throne at His time. He didn’t take any effort at capturing the kingdom and the throne. He waited patiently for the Lord’s time to come. As he rested in the Lord and committed his ways to Him, David found that his heart was at rest and peace in the Lord. It is true that during the waiting period, he had to endure sufferings of various kinds. But it was a time to grow in faith in the Lord and become mature. David knew that the God’s perfect will for his life cannot be taken away by king Soul or the enemy kingdoms. The only person who could mar God’s plan for his life would be David himself if he tried to run ahead of God with over-enthusiasm and aggressiveness. He had to be patient with the way the Lord was leading him at the divine schedule. Joseph also waited patiently for God to accomplish His purpose in his life and endured rejection, false accusation and imprisonment. As he waited patiently, the Lord prepared him for the responsibilities which were lying ahead in his life according to God’s plan. The Lord wants us also to keep going in His pathway with patience and trust, and allow Him to accomplish His great plan for us. Let us put our relentless faith in Him to accomplish His perfect will in us. Let patiently watch how He will unfold our lives at His pace for His glory.

Psalms 37:5 – Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him and He will do it.  

Thought for Today

Lagging behind or running ahead of God will thwart us of His best in our lives.

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OBSTRUCTIONS REBUKED!!

Obstructions rebuked!

 

Verse for Today: Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Psalms 106:9 – He rebuked the Red Sea and it dried up; He led them through the depths as through a desert.

Our God will not watch inactively when His children are obstructed by enemy’s forces. When He watches them overwhelmed with fear because of the roaring sea, He will not be passive. It is the Lord who brings His people out of the tyranny of Egypt and it is His responsibility to see to it that they reach their destination. He will not allow the obstructions and hindrances to stop them from going forward. So the Lord rebuked the sea and asked it to give way for His children. As soon as the sea got the instruction, it paved a dry pathway for God’s children to walk across as if it was a desert. The Lord goes before His children to prepare the perfect way for them. So when we walk on His pathway, there is no need for us to be perplexed at any hindrances and obstructions on that way. The Lord knows what kind of obstruction is sent our way by the enemy and when it will appear. But He wants us to go forward by faith believing that when we put the next foot down, it would be on dry land which He prepares for us. If we hesitate, we do not have the opportunity to experience the dry land the Lord prepares for us. So every hindrance or obstruction is an opportunity for us to put our total faith in the Lord to provide us with a footprint to put our next foot down. Today our Lord is asking us to take our steps of faith without doubt, hesitation or confusion and keep moving as He leads us through deep waters and waves which confront and intimidate us. With every step of faith that we take, our Lord walks with us and prepares our next step to take us forward victoriously. It is a miraculous, mysterious and joyful walk with our Lord.

Dear reader, are you bewildered by the obstructions that you are faced with today? Is this hindrance discouraging you from taking the next step forward?  Does the vastness of the sea take away your courage and strength? Are you forced to think about an alternate way forward? But there is no need for you to be afraid because your Lord is walking just in front of you. As you are ready to take the next step forward, He goes before you and prepares a footprint for you to put your foot down. He will rebuke the obstructions and command it to move away from your pathway. The enemy of your soul will try to discourage you by showing you the fierceness of the vast and roaring sea in front of you. He will persuade you to think that there is no way forward and make you consider alternatives. But there is no need to look at the vastness of the sea or its roaring waves, but look at the Lord who is before you. He is leading you forward with His hands. His mighty power is at work on your pathway to remove all hindrances and take you forward as if you are walking the dry land of a desert. It surely is exciting to walk with water walls on both sides of your pathway to protect you from all fears and anxieties. The water walls tell us that the water of the sea has become like a stone without any movements. What a miraculous and mysterious way our Lord opens for us through the hindrances and obstructions! But He challenges us to trust Him to take us forward without harm or discouragement. Let us today take our feet of faith forward and follow the Lord in His footprints to reach the next camp in our sojourn. Marah is waiting and Elim is just ahead of us with more miracles and mysteries. Let us expect exciting experiences on our way forward as we take the next step by faith.

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

Thought for Today

Our Lord removes all obstructions from our way so that we can walk by faith to put our next foot down.

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HIS STOREHOUSE FOR ME!!

His storehouse for me!

 

Verse for Today: Monday, May 28, 2012

Psalms 104:27 – They all wait for You to give them their food in due season.

The Creator God is moved by the needs of His creation and meets their basic needs at the right time. He knows the depth of their needs at all times. He knows the quality and quantity of the needs. In His wisdom, He understands the diversity of needs and how these needs change with time. His storehouse is vast and has all that these creatures need. We see Him helping Noah to store up all that was needed for all the creatures in the ark till the flood ceases and the waters recede. He gave enough for the widow of Zarephath to survive till the famine would end. He gave to Prophet Elijah for a season at Cherith, at the widow’s house for another season and enough to gain strength to run to Horeb afterward. He gave enough and more to the multitude in the desert. Our God gives us all that we need at the right time and place in the right quantity and quality to meet all our physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual needs. He prepares a table for us in the desert as well as on the sea shore. It is very comforting that He knows our needs most accurately and meets those needs as we look unto Him by faith. Our looks express our sincere dependence on Him and He will respond with His supplies to meet our needs. He is the Jehovah-jireh who gives us perfect gifts according to His love, generosity, magnanimity, compassion and concern. When He gives, it would be sufficient to meet specific needs at the right time. He has promised to give and will not relent. He has the greatest reputation as the most generous giver. He will be always on time. So we can trust Him and wait for His supplies to arrive at the right time to meet our every need.  

Dear friend, are you in dire physical, emotional and spiritual needs need today? If so, you must admit your need, confess your total depravity and declare that you depend on the Lord alone for all your needs. It is interesting to know that you may not know all your needs in its depth, but your Lord knows all your current as well as future needs. His heavenly warehouse of blessings has all that it would take to meet every need at the right time and place. He has already given it all to you as He has blessed you with all the blessings of the heavenly places. He has also made you seated with Him in heaven. All that you need are already given to you positionally. But you need to appropriate it and take possession of it at the right time. Just draw what you need at the right time by opening the warehouse with the key of faith which is given to you. God’s servants have opened this warehouse in the past and enjoyed the goodness of the Lord to meet their needs. Elijah enjoyed it so many times during his ministry. Abraham had this key and he opened the heavenly storehouse to meet all his needs. Jacob and Joseph also used this key of faith to open God’s storehouse to meet their needs. David could use it while he was in the field with his father’s sheep, out in the battlefield when Goliath faced him and while hiding in the caves and forests. Peter used it on the day of Pentecost while he preached gospel and when he was in the prison awaiting execution. John used it in Patmos. Paul used it throughout his missionary journey. God’s servants like John Hess, John Chinaman, Hudson Taylor, William Booth, Adoniram Judson, William Carey, Antony Norris Groves, C.T. Studd, George Muller, Jim Eliot, Amy Carmichael, Watchman Nee, William MacDonald, K.V. Simon and scores of unknown saints used this key to open the storehouse of blessings of the Lord and met all their needs. Today this reservoir of God’s blessings is available for us to claim and appropriate all that we need by using the key of faith. We will find amazing provisions with ultimate satisfaction.

Psalms 145:16 – You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.

Thought for Today

Blessed are those who use the key of faith to open the storehouse of heaven to meet all their needs.

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IMPENETRABLE FENCE!!

Impenetrable fence!

 

Verse for Today: Sunday, May 27, 2012

Daniel 3:17 – If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and He will rescue us from your hand, O king.

The Child of God is often under the threat of persecution and annihilation by the world. The world wants God’s people to follow them in all that they do including worshipping their gods and following their culture and life style. So the world uses several strategies to attract and coerce us to fall in line with them. When they fail to make us fall for their desires, they try to intimidate us and threaten to eliminate us for non-compliance. They have a lot of power over people and situations in this world and so they use it all to cause fear in us. The world wants us to bow down to their gods like wealth, position and power. When we think of the consequences of their threats and the power they have to implement their brutal schemes against us, we tend to fear their strategies, loose confidence and slowly drift from our divine pathway to the ways of the world. But we do not need to be afraid of them and their strategies. We need not run away from such situations for fear. Our Lord is able to keep us safe in the midst of threats and intimidation. He erects a wall of protection around us which is our Lord Himself. Once we confide in the Lord and put all our trust in Him, we do not need to be afraid of the enemy. We can be bold and firm in our response to the enemy that we would not bow down to him and his agents no matter what happens to us. We have to take our Lord and His promises by faith and claim His deliverance in all our situations. When we trust Him, He will make His promise of protection, provision and peace a reality in all our situations.

Dear reader, are you faced with intimidation from the enemy of your soul? Is there a threat to your life, job, assets, reputation and testimony because you stand strong for the Lord? Do you fear the consequences of these threats in your life? Are you loosing confidence and courage to face the difficult situations the enemy creates for you? The peace and boldness of the three Hebrew youth is an encouragement to you today. They were bold to face the wrath of King Nebuchadnezzar because they knew the Lord in His glory and might. They believed that without the permission of their Lord, no one could touch them. They knew that any of the evil schemes of their detractors would be met with stiff resistance by the Lord and His heavenly hosts. They had unreserved faith and confidence in the Lord to protect them from the fiery furnace of the king. They were willing to stick their necks to the challenge posed by their detractors and face the situation with holy boldness which the Lord gave them. Daniel did the same when he was under threat. Jeremiah was bold to continue with his ministry in the midst of great opposition. Paul, Peter and John faced such situations on innumerable occasions and came out victorious. The Lord who covered His servants with Himself in the fiery furnace of Nebuchadnezzar is with us today to hide us under His wings. He will protect us from all evil. He has appointed His holy angels to encompass around us. He has erected a fence around us with His glory which no force on earth can penetrate or break open. So we can relax at the opposition and intimidation from the enemy of our souls and his agents and thrust forward in the name of the Lord in all our situations and circumstances. This holy boldness is ours by faith in the Lord and in His mighty power in our situations of intimidation and threats. He will see to it that we come out of the furnace or lion’s den victorious for His glory.

Psalms 61:4 – Let me dwell in Your tent forever; Let me take refuge in the shelter of Your sings.

Thought for Today

No strategy of the enemy can ever penetrate the fence of God’s glory that is around His children.

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INSTANT DESERT RIVER!!

Instant Desert River!

 

Verse for Today: Saturday, May 26, 2012

Psalms 105:41 – He opened the rock, and water gushed out; like a river it flowed in the desert.

God’s help come to man at unexpected places and through unimaginable sources to meet his needs. A desert is the last place where we expect water like a river flowing through the dry sands. It is well nigh impossible for us to think that a rock can be a storehouse of fresh water to quench the thirst of about two million people and their cattle. But our God gives to His children far beyond their expectations and imagination. He is keen that they meet their needs by putting their faith in His capacity and willingness to give them. He doesn’t want them to parch their throats with thirst. He looks after His children like a parent looks after a little child and keenly satisfies every need, whether big or small. He leads them to a point where they are totally helpless in themselves and fills them with faith in their hearts to trust Him to meet their innermost needs. It is amazing to see that the Lord uses a rock as a storehouse for His children. No one would expect any water to come out of a rock which is hard, thick and rough. But our Lord can bring blessings to us even from such unlikely places. He wants us to learn that He can use any of His creation to help meet the needs of His children. He intervenes in our lives at the right time with supplies when we are desperate. He responds to our cries when we are in anguish. He prepares our hearts to respond to His might through our faith in Him. When we cry unto Him, our Lord cannot sit inactive. His compassionate heart melts for us when He hears the sound of our cries. He is moved by our needs and moves rocks and seas to meet our needs. His blessings to us gush out from unusual places and flows to us like a river glorious. While our physical needs are met, our eyes see the flow of blessings to make us astonished at the way our Lord sends blessings to us. When He gives, it is according to His dignity and status which is always far beyond our needs and expectations.

Dear reader, are you in a desperate situation in life with deep physical, emotional and spiritual needs? Perhaps you are frustrated because the sources which you expected to help you have disappointed you. But there is no disappointment with our Lord if we cry unto Him. He will come at the right time to quench our thirst and satisfy our hunger in the physical, emotional and spiritual realms of life. He often gives us far more than we can take as in the case of the Israelites who only wanted a drink, but received river-like flow of water. He gives us according to His measure which far exceeds any human expectation or imagination. His provisions are for us to enjoy and praise Him for what He gives. The enormity of His provisions leads us to think about the depth of His mercy, grace and love to us. But we need to exercise our faith in His power and willingness to give us what we need. We do not need to store up for ourselves because His barns are full of good things for us. His pathways are through the deserts of this world where we need to completely depend on Him to keep going. He has promised to meet our every need when we are on His desert highways. When He gives, it will cause us to praise Him for His sources and the measure in which He gives so that all glory goes to Him. Today let us draw unto Him and cry to Him for all our needs and expect Him to meet every need according to His vast riches in glory far beyond every imagination.

Psalms 81:10 – I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.

Thought for Today

God’s blessings flow to us to fill all our faculties including our bodies, minds and eyes beyond imagination.

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VISION SOLUTION!!

Vision solution!

 

Verse for Today: Friday, May 25, 2012

Isaiah 6:1 – In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of His robe filled the temple.

It is natural that when we are in dire need, we look to powerful and influential sources for help and support. But soon we realize that these sources have evaporated and that we will be utterly disappointed if we look to them. But there is an unchanging source for us to seek help and strength from. That source and strength is our Lord who is in control of all our situations and affairs. He rules and overrules all our situations according to His will, pleasure and wisdom. If only we see Him in His glory and majesty we would forget about ourselves and our problems and get ourselves lost in His greatness. But we can see the invisible God only by the eyes of faith. He has opened our spiritual eyes to see Him and His glory. But to see Him, we have to be in His presence. If we look at the world’s sources, we will loose our vision of our Lord in His power and might. But if we depend on the Lord and put all our faith in Him, we will be able to see Him as a reality in our lives. When we see Him by faith, our perspective to life will change. Our dependence on Him will then become total and that will lead to greater commitment to Him. Then we will grow in our dependence on Him for all our needs. If we want to see His greatness, we must take our eyes off all other sources like government, rulers, employers, health, circle of friends, assets and the strength of the family. When we thus see Him, our hearts will be comforted and we will be encouraged to keep fixing our eyes on His glory.

Dear friend, are you going through seemingly hopeless circumstance? Are the sources you depended on to meet your needs disappear unexpectedly? Are you left in a lurch without any place to go to and any person to talk to? You are encouraged by the example of Prophet Isaiah to go to the presence of the Lord. If you open your eyes and meditate on His Word, you will be able to see the Lord of glory seated on the throne and controlling all your circumstances. He is ready and willing to fill you with His glory which will transform your perspectives in your current and futuristic concerns. He is the answer to all your concerns. Your Lord has the power and strength to handle your situation and make mends wherever necessary. When you see Him in His glory, you will be able to find answers to your situations. He will give you answers to your questions and concerns. When all others leave you, He will still be with you. When help from other sources cease, His fountain of blessings will still flow to you. He has been the answer to the needs of His people when they were in tight corners of life. He was the only hope for Joseph in the pit and in the dungeon. He was the only source of help and support for Daniel in the lion’s den. He was the only one to feed the masses in the desert. He was the answer to thirst for the people of Israel in the desert. He made the impossible turned into possibility for Abraham and Sarah in the form of a child. He turned the plight of Joseph around so that an innocent prisoner could one day become the Prime Minister of Egypt. When Isaiah saw His glory, it changed His perspectives and ministry. If we take time to see this Lord in His glory, it will transform our concerns into praise for all that He is doing for us. When all other helpers vanish, He will still be seated on the throne and ruling and overruling our situations for His glory.

Revelation 1:17 – When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead. Then He placed His right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.

Thought for Today

The vision of the Lord in His majesty fills our hearts with answers to all our concerns and burdens.

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HE WILL SURELY COME!!

He will surely come!

 

Verse for Today: Thursday, May 24, 2012

Matthew 14:25 – During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.

When the wind and the waves of life beat against us, we tend to be afraid and loose confidence. Our hearts get discouraged with hopelessness because we do not see any way out of our predicament. We tend to wonder why there is such a wind even when we belong to Jesus. We realize that the wind blows at a thoroughly unexpected time. It is more fearsome when it is dark and when we are still a distance from the shore. Our experience and expertise on the lake seem not to work in the dark nights of life. There seem to be no one to help or rescue us. Our cries seem to echo back to us. But we need to realize that our Lord knows where we are and what kind of difficulties we are faced with. When we are absolutely helpless and admit it without any hesitation, our Lord comes to help us. The fourth watch of the night is pretty late for any help to come from any where. But that is not too late for the Lord. The wind or the waves do not hinder Him because they all submit to His authority. He can walk on it just as He walks on the land. He comes to us when we least expect Him to come. When all hope is gone, He comes with hope. Perhaps we may not recognize Him at that late hour of the night. Perhaps we think that He doesn’t know our situation. But He knows it all and will come to help us out of our most hopeless situation. We probably think that it is too late for any help to come to us, but no hour is too late for Him to come to our rescue. He comes to command us to take courage. He comes with several miracles to make believers out of us. Our Lord is pleased to come to us when we need Him most. He will come to rescue and deliver us from our impossible situations.

Dear reader, are you in a seemingly hopeless situation in life? Are you being engulfed by mighty winds and waves in the darkest moments of your life? Surely, if you look at the wind, you will be terrified. If you see the roaring waves, it would take away all your courage. The fear that grips you will make your throat dry and give you palpitation. But the Lord doesn’t want you to be afraid. Let the wind blow and the waves roar, but you are safe in the hands of Jesus. He is the Lord of the sea and waves. He is the God who created the wind. All of these natural forces are under His authority. When He commands, these natural elements will obey and give way. Our Lord will come at the most unexpected and unlikely time against all hope to meet our needs and help us with our faithlessness. He comes to handle our fears and anxieties. He crumbles our hopelessness and gives us hope for a brighter future. Our cumbersome situations are handled by our Lord in magnificent manner to reveal His glory. When we allow Jesus to climb into our boats and become our anchorman, the wind will give way to our boat with Jesus in it. Today let us make Him our Anchorman. No matter how well we know life, it can crumble with one wind or a wave. So we should not have any confidence whatsoever in our flesh to accomplish any thing in life. Our best skills are only big hollows if Jesus is not in it with us. Our boats are not powerful enough to withstand the pressures of the wind and the waves of circumstances. But if Jesus is our Anchorman, our boat can soar through any wind or wave. Let us today travel with Jesus and be confident in His power to keep us safe and take us forward no matter what the opposition and hindrance might be.

Matthew 14:27 – But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid”.

Thought for Today

When all hope seems to be gone, there is still hope in the power of Jesus to deliver us and dispel all fears and anxiety.

For further spiritual help and prayer support, contact:

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HINDRANCE AT THE OPEN DOOR!!

Hindrance at the open door!

 

Verse for Today: Wednesday, May 23, 2012

1 Corinthians 16:9 – For a wide door for effective service has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

God sends His children through His pathways with the expressed purpose of serving Him in some effective capacity. His ways are for us to tread for the extension of His kingdom. He expects us to be His servants on our sojourn. When we go through His pathways, He makes our journey effective by making us touch the lives of needy souls. When we meet people who need to know Jesus on our way, He wants us to introduce them to gospel. There are those who know the Lord Jesus and need to be built up. There are those who need someone to wipe their tears and encourage them in the rough patches of life. The pathway of service that the Lord opens for us is wide with full of opportunities and prospects. But we need to open our eyes to see these avenues through which we can serve God. But sure enough there will be adversaries on the way to distract us from serving God. They create obstructions for us to use the opportunities for service. They will try to make us too busy with life-linked affairs in our occupations, interests like sports, arts, technology or even in social affairs. The enemy will create situations of conflicts of various kinds to get our minds away from serving the Lord. The enemy will use people to contaminate our situations with trivial matters which will preoccupy our minds so that we would not able to concentrate with the work of the Lord. Sometimes the enemy will try hindering us through physical, mental and social persecutions of various kinds. But we are called upon to serve the Lord in spite of these adversities and opposition. We should be willing to suffer adversities on our way and overcome these oppositions with dependence on the Lord and go forward in serving Him.

Dear reader, are you able to see the opportunities the Lord has given you in serving Him? Do you see the wide door of services that are laid bare before your eyes? As you walk with the Lord, you are commissioned to get yourself involved in these ministries. As you get yourself involved in the service of the Lord, there will be opposition from the enemy of the Lord who is your enemy also. He will try to stall you from getting involved. He will see to it somehow that you are pulled back. But remember how you are called upon to suffer for the Lord as you serve Him. You will probably be persecuted, gossiped about, envied upon, misunderstood, misrepresented and unkindly criticized. There might be threat from your neighbors, friends, colleagues, bosses and even members of your family. The enemy will also try to clutter your situations by creating confusions of various kinds on your way. You might be dragged into silly controversies to shift your focus from the Lord and His ministries to trivial issues and concerns. So let us be careful to keep away from unnecessary issues and focus our attention on the Lord and His service for which we are called and commissioned. Let us spend all our energies to serving the interests of the Lord and steer away from distractions. Let us declare war on the obstructions the enemy creates on our way and thrust forward with the help of the Spirit of God in serving the Lord. Let us ask the Lord to open our eyes to see the opportunities that He spreads before us and thank Him for it.

1 Peter 5:8 – Be on sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Thought for Today

When we are in the centre of God’s purpose, the enemy of our souls will come to hinder us from going forward.

For forther spiritual help and prayer support, contact:

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LIVING SACRIFICE!!

Living sacrifice!

 

Verse for Today: Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Acts 4:29 – Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your Word with great boldness.

God’s children face threats of various kinds as they live to witness to the saving grace of Jesus. Their Christ-likeness becomes a threat to the enemies of gospel. Their faith is a great challenge to the people of this world and to the world system. Their testimony is a forceful threat to the very existence of godlessness in this world. Even when God’s servants speak about peace with God, it is taken as threat to the ungodly life style of the world. So they come to attack God’s children in so many ways. There are physical as well as psychological attacks and threats. These threats are the clear evidence that our testimonies and ministries are hitting the right target. In order to silence us and to weaken our enthusiasm, the enemy uses his agents in the world to intimidate us. These threats are their ways to stop us from living as commanded by the Lord. They insist that we work or run our businesses on the Lord’s Day. They tell us that the expressions we use, like ‘crusade’, ‘spiritual warfare’, ‘victory’, ‘capturing of lives’, ‘holy war’,  ‘hell’ and ‘eternal judgment’, in our messages are threatening words. So they connive against our message and our lives. They ridicule us when we live by faith. They try to stop us from praying or preaching in the public. People of other religions can do whatever they want to propagate their faith, but when we utter the name of Jesus, the world gets agitated. They are interested in social reformation and not spiritual revolution. They hate radical Christianity. They find that the best way to stop Christianity from spreading is to threaten and intimidate us to stop living to preach the Word. They try to suppress us psychologically to stop our messages. But we can always go to Him with petitions and prayers to help us overcome these intimidations and to continue to shine for Jesus.

Dear reader, are you a living and public witness to the power of God in your life? Is your life your message about God to the community in which you live? Are you using the available opportunity to take a public stand for Jesus in your community? Are you sticking your neck for the truth that you believe with all your heart? Your Lord is with you to help you live boldly for Him. He knows all about the threats that loom large above your head. He is with you and has appointed a garrison of heavenly hosts around you to protect you and to support you in all possible ways as you stand as His witness. If your desire is to speak about your Lord, you have the privilege to ask the Lord to give you all support to do it. When your Lord is with you, there is no reason for you to be afraid of the enemy who opposes you anyway. The enemy will try to pull you back from active Christian witness through intimidations from your employer, boss, colleagues, business associates, relatives, social organizations and sometimes even through the laws of the land where you dwell. But we must realize that our allegiance is first and foremost to the Lord and to gospel. When we are filled with His Spirit, we will receive boldness to live to testify to the power of God in our lives. At the same time, our prayer life will demonstrate our total dependence on the Lord for the power to live as His witnesses. Let us pray more and desire deeper spiritual lives so that our lives will exemplify the Lord Jesus. Let us seek after the boldness of Christ to fill our hearts and lives to witness to others with courage and confidence and not be afraid of the intimidations of the world.

Acts 4:31 – After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

Thought for Today

When our hearts and lives are filled with the character of Christ and the power of His Spirit, our lives will enjoy the boldness to testify to His grace.

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SHELTER AND SHADOW!!

Shelter and Shadow!!

 

Verse for Today: Monday, May 21, 2012

Psalms 91:10 – No harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.

God’s promises are for His children who love Him and obey His laws. God fulfills His promises to us as a response to our attitude to His laws. In response to His promises, we give allegiance to His laws in our lives and follow His paths. If we make Him our dwelling place, we will enjoy the shadow of the Almighty and the shelter of the Most High. When we thus dwell with Him, He becomes our buffer against all evil that might come our way. Our dwelling with Him takes all the harm that come against us away and removes all the pressures of evil that are directed to us. When disaster comes out way, our Lord protects us with His person, power and presence. When plagues of various kinds approach us, our Lord will cover us with His glory so that we become invincible. When the people of Israel moved out of Egypt by faith, they dwelled in the Lord’s presence and so there was no weakness among them. But when they moved out of the dwelling place of the Lord and started grumbling, their faith diminished and so they encountered harms of various kinds and many disasters blew against them. So if we dwell with the Lord, He will keep all the impacts of the sinful and evil environment away from us and make us walk victoriously with Him. It is part of the sovereign will of our Lord that we are kept away from all harm and disaster. He is not willing for any of His children to encounter harm and disaster. But we invite these difficulties into our lives by moving away from the Lord and His presence. We digress from His presence when we try to walk by sight rather than by faith and go after the lukewarm water that the world offers us which is the sure way to attract harm and disaster on us. Today God challenges us to dwell continuously in His tent and under His shadow to enjoy the bliss that he wants to bestow upon us.

Dear reader, are you wallowing in the disasters that the world has dragged you in? When you are thus enduring difficulties, it is probably right to ask yourself as to whether it is because you have abandoned the shadow of the Almighty. You need to make sure that you do not dwell in the tents of this world with all the comforts it offers. Perhaps you feel that you are going through harm and disasters in spite of dwelling under the shadow of the Almighty. But you should not be tempted to confuse between the trials and tests that the Lord allows in your life with that of harm and disasters. The trials and tests that the Lord sends your way are neither to harm you nor to trouble you with disasters. But these trials which look like harm or disaster are only tough experiences to help you to learn to trust the Lord to see you through. Paul and Peter went through trials which looked like harm, but that was the process of purifying them for a closer walk with their Master. Joseph went through near-death experiences, abuse, misrepresentation of his deeds and misunderstandings. But these made him grow stronger in the Lord and groom him to become the Prime Minster of Egypt to be a part of God’s plan for opening the pathway for the Messiah to come to the world.  Job seemed to have gone through several disasters in life, but soon he learned that these were to purify him in his devotion to the Lord. Today our Lord invites us to dwell with Him, as He invited Andrew and John to dwell with Him. Their stay with Him for a night changed their lives and perspectives and anchored on ardent faith in Him. So when John was in Patmos as an exile, he did not take it as harm or disaster, but an opportunity to see newer visions about his glorious Lord and the magnificence of Heaven. Let us today dwell under the shadow of the Almighty and see our trials in a new dimension.

Psalms 91:1 – He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

Thought for Today

Dwelling under the shadow of the Lord in His sweet, peaceful and loving presence makes us happy in spite of our earthly circumstances.

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JOY IN TRIBULATIONS!!

Joy in tribulations!

 

Verse for Today: Sunday, May 20, 2012

Matthew 5:10 – Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Persecution is a willful act which demonstrates hatred and resentment. There is physical as well as mental persecution. Physical persecution tests our physical endurance. It hurts our bodies and inflicts pain and weariness. It can take the form of denial of our right to food, water or a place to sleep and can go to the extent of bodily injury and mutilation. Mental persecution is inflicted on our emotions and affections. It isolates, rejects, resents, uses verbal abuses and dirty language, threats and intimidation. It comes with stark lies and distortions and makes us accountable for no offence of ours. Persecutors enjoy sadistic pleasure on their prey that is often weaker than them by physical might or power supported by law. When God’s children stand for righteousness, truth, honesty, morality and the rights of the depraved class in the society, we are persecuted as if we have committed some major legal offences. When our stand for God creates inconveniences for our detractors, they turn around and persecute us either physically or mentally and sometimes both. They cook up evidences against us to destroy our credibility and testimony. Their atrocities against us take away our peace and sleep. Their hatred and envy give us heaviness of heart. But the Lord Jesus Christ tells us today that we can cast all the pain from our persecution on Him and be joyful in Him. He suffered persecution for us, but endured it all without any grumbling. He set His heart on the joy that would come from the salvation of our soul and suffered it all with divine happiness. We are challenged today to set our hearts at rest in the Lord and be happy in spite of our painful circumstances.

Dear friend, are you being harassed and intimidated by others around you because of your stand for the Lord? Perhaps the persecution you are undergoing has become unbearable to you. It has probably become a greater challenge because you are suffering for the sake of truth and sincerity. It is felt more intensely because it comes from those who are close to us, like family, friends, kith and kin, colleagues and neighbors, and sometimes even from fellow believers. When Paul and Silas suffered persecution, they sang songs and celebrated their persecution as a privilege to suffer for the Lord. When Peter was persecuted and imprisoned, he slept peacefully and enjoyed a time of rest even in a prison cell. Joseph endured imprisonment without grumbling and waited patiently for the Lord to give him a release. David suffered persecution of various kinds and had to run for life. But even those moments of intense pressure, the Lord gave him songs in the night to sing along and filled him with the spirit of prayer. God’s servants like Daniel, Jeremiah, Paul and Stephen suffered persecution, but they never lost their composure in the Lord. They were all happy in the Lord in the midst of persecution and intimidations. They considered it a joy to suffer persecution for the Lord and for His cause. The same Lord is with us today as we stand for Him and serve Him. His Spirit is the Spirit of joy and peace and not of confusion and distress. When we seek after the power of the Spirit of God through true brokenness, the Lord will fill us with His Spirit who will endue us with the blessed experience of being joyful in spite of persecution. We will then be able to live as blessed people exhibiting the qualities of true joy and happiness in spite of circumstances and situations.

2 Corinthians 4:8-9 – We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

Thought for Today

True disciples enjoy true blessedness when they go through persecution.

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SAFE IN HIS ARMS!!

Safe in His arms!

Verse for Today: Saturday, May 19, 2012

Psalms 37:24 – Though the godly stumble, they will not fall, for the Lord upholds them with His hand.

God’s children are often battered by the enemy through our circumstances to make us stumble and fall. Sometimes we tend to stumble because we walk faster than we are enabled by the Lord. If we are not sober and alert, our feet tend to stumble and shake. The enemy of our souls tries to push us forward by creating over-enthusiasm or pull us back with cold-heartedness. Sometimes the enemy manipulates our hearts and minds to become fearful about our circumstances. But we must know that if we do not put our feet in the footprints of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are bound to stumble. The enemy creates enough and more deterrents and distractions on our way and on the wayside to take our focus away from the true pathways the Lord has created for us. The enemy’s ways and means are so subtle as to falter even the strongest believer at times and so we need to wear the whole armor of God as we walk along. We must always look at Jesus and walk so that we will not stumble. As we walk along, we have the promise from our Lord that because He holds our hands, we will not fall. It is a great reassurance for us to keep going by looking at the author and finisher of our faith. Our firmer grip on the Lord and His Word will help us to avoid stumbling. When we hand over the controls of our lives to the Lord and His Spirit, we will not stumble. When we lean on to the Lord all the time, we will not falter. This was how Joseph, Daniel and Paul kept going till the end of their lives without stumbling. But we must be alert about the wiles of the enemy to catch us unaware and make us stumble. We must continue to walk with absolute dependence on the Lord Jesus and His power.

Dear friend, are you aware of the fact that you are susceptible to stumbling? But this awareness ought to make you hold more firmly on the Lord and allow His firm grip on you. Your Lord will not force His control on you. He binds you to Himself with His love. But when your love to Him diminishes, you tend to stumble form His grace. He watches over you with compassion, but when you take His compassion for granted and allow your mind to digress, you tend to falter. He holds you to Himself through His Spirit and Word, but when you do not fill yourself with His Word and get yourself filled with His Spirit, you tend to falter and stumble. He walks with you all the time, but if you abandon His pathway and walk according to the lust of the eye, lust of the flesh and the pride of life which you find in the vanity fair of this world, you will stumble. Walking with Jesus is never a one-sided exercise. If you are willing to walk with Him and are committed to His pathway, you will be able to enjoy your sojourn. But in spite of keen commitment to Jesus, if you falter and stumble due to trials, the Lord who knows the genuineness of your heart will honor your shaken faith and will hold you close to Him. He is always willing to hold us, but we have to be willing to take the responsibility to walk with Him. The sovereign Lord is willing to hold us as long as we are responsible to Him and walk close to Him. Our walk with the Lord is a mutual relationship and so let us renew our commitment to Him in all that we do to enjoy His presence, fellowship and protection. Today He wants to extend His hands for us to hold as He holds us with His hands. Let us hold on to Him and enjoy His protection and walk courageously lest we stumble and falter. He is faithful to hold us in His hands and take us forward.

Psalms 145:14 – The Lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.

 Thought for Today

The love of God that binds us to His heart is much stronger than any effort of the enemy to make us stumble and fall.

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