Evershine Face

Verse for Today: Thursday, November 18, 2010
Psalms 67:1 - May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face shine upon us.

When we approach God for His blessings, He deals with us in grace and show unmerited favour to us. If He considers our spirit of rebellion and past disobedience, it would be difficult to show favor to us. But He doesn't deal with us according to our iniquities. In spite of our shortcomings, failures and coldness of our hearts, He shows mercy to us. In His mercy, doesn't give us what we really deserve because of our rebellious hearts. He is a merciful Father who shows kindness to us and lifts us up from our dungeons to place us on a Rock. We exist today only because of His grace and mercy and not because of our qualifications. We go to Him in prayer not on the basis of any of our qualifications, but on the basis of His abundance of grace and mercy. Any of our qualifications is only stained. When we confess our sins and failures, God forgives us and when He forgives, He forgets it also. He works in our hearts through His Spirit to go to Him with this awareness which makes us humble and broken before Him. He doesn't despise a broken and contrite heart, but shows kindness and grace. Not only that, He makes His face shine upon us so that we would see light in His light to go forward on the pathways shown to us by Him. His paths are always for our good and for His glory. He wants us to walk with Him and to follow the footsteps that He has left behind for us to keep track of. His ways are perfect and His paths are glorious. When He makes His face shine upon us, we will receive His light which will take us through the dark alleys of this world. His face is full of kindness, love, compassion and grace and He bestows all His favors to us irrespective of our past. It is because of His favours that we are not destroyed. So our lives should be one of deep gratitude to Him for the favours that He extends to us on a daily basis. We must also realize that He is more important than any of the favours He bestows upon us. So let us praise Him primarily for who He is and then for all that He does for us.

Dear friend, are you confronted by dark clouds and blinding alleys in your life? Are you groping in the darkness to see which way to go through in the challenges of life? Is there a pressing issue for which you desperately need counsel and direction from the Lord? He is the light and He spreads light on our pathways. In Him there is no darkness. His face shines upon us to give us leading and guidance. Because His light shines on our pathways, we are able to see the right pathway in and through Him. In the dark corridors of life, if we can see Him walking in front of us through the light He sheds on our way, we don't need to look for any other guidance, but only unto Him who is the author and finisher of our faith, and thus walk diligently after Him. If we do so, we would not loose our way. He shows us the way with grace and will not allow us to be tested beyond our capacity. He shows us loving kindness and leads us in the right path, and will never confuse us or put doubts in our hearts. These pathways that He presents before us are not the paths of the wicked and the evil doors, but the paths of righteousness. His paths demand that we walk by faith and not by sight. When he shows us the way, we must understand that He is the way and the only way. So if we know Him intimately and see Him as our guide, we do not need any other light or direction. We go the way He has gone, and that is the way of the cross. It is the way of suffering for Him and that is the way marked out for us to tread. It is the way of light and so it is bright. If we see it dimly, we need to clean our eyes or our reading glasses. It is the way on which we walk with the Lord and so we would not know the weariness that it gives us. As walk with Him, we enjoy His favours of grace and mercy and walk in jubilation and gratefulness because we are called upon to walk with the Lord and be a blessing. Let us today enjoy the favours which shine upon us from His face and walk soberly, with confidence and courage which He gives us.

Psalms 27:8 - When You said, "seek My face", my heart said to You, "Your face, O Lord, I shall seek".

Thought for Today
The radiance flowing from the face of the Lord is the greatest driving force for us to go forward in His path.

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A LISTENING FATHER

Verse for Today: Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Psalms 66:19 - But certainly God has heard; He has given heed to the voice of my prayer.

It is very refreshing and comforting to know from experience that all our utterances of prayer, supplications, cries and requests have reached the ears of our God. When we pray, we normally close our eyes so that we will not see any other object around us and that our attention will not be distracted by any one or any thing around us. As we close our eyes, we focus on the Lord and see Him in front of us, keenly listening to our prayers. While we pray, we see the Lord as a person in front of us by faith and submit all our prayers to Him knowing fully well that He is listening to the voice of our cries. His ears are always open to our prayers. He listens to us even though He is the one who helps us to pray through His Spirit who indwells in us. He knows all the emotions behind each word we utter in His presence. Interestingly, He already knows all about the prayer we submit to Him and start acting on those requests of ours. Some times, it is puzzling to us whether the Lord has heard our prayers or not, largely because we wait for a long time for answers from Him. But we need to understand that when we submit our prayers to the Lord, our part is over and the rest is His, even though He would have started working on our requests even before we started to pray. As we pray, He fills our hearts with His peace and love and gives us the assurance that He has heard our prayers. This is why when we pray, we get a deep comfort and peace in our hearts that we have unburdened ourselves to the One who is able to do exceedingly more than we would ever anticipate or deserve. This truth is proved time and again in our lives and the lives of His other children of God around us. We can read about all that He has been doing for His children down through the centuries in the Bible and in the biographies of His children who have gone before us. We also listen to it in the testimonies of His people.

Dear friend, do you get the reassurance at each time you pray that the Lord is hearing your prayers? Is your heart filled with the peace that passes all understanding that when you prayed, He has heard your prayers and that the answer will come at the right time? When you go to the presence of the Lord in a prayer meeting, you are actually meeting with others like you who also look to the Lord and receive reassurances that their prayers are heard. We keep going to His presence with other believers to pray together because we have the testimony of each other that He hears our prayers. We also know that all prayers are answered one way or another. It is like little children asking their parents for various things in life. The parents know what is best for them and what is not expedient, and give them what the wisdom of the parents would suggest. If our earthly parents know what to give at what time to our children, how much more does the Heavenly Father know what His children need at what rate and at what time? This is the reason why He gives us what we have received so far in life, and at the same time not granted some of our requests. Are we not grateful that He has not given some things that we had asked amiss? Elijah was surely happy that the Lord did not end his life at the shade of a broom tree, as he had prayed. The Lord had better and greater plans for Elijah and was not ready to end His life, but to extend it so that he could accomplish what God had planned for Him. This is true in the lives of all His children. God gives them what they need in His eyes in order to accomplish His purpose for them in this world. This is the basis of answering our prayers by the Lord. So, dear friend, don't be discouraged if you have not got answers to all your prayers exactly as you have desired, but be content with the way He leads you in spite of your utterances before the Lord. He has His best for you in His mind and will give it to you at His best time for your greatest blessing. As you wait for His answers, He keeps giving you the reassurance that He is listening to your prayers and the answers are on their way, and eventually you will know how kind He is in giving you what He wants for you.

Psalms 66:20 - Blessed be God, who has not turned away my prayer nor His loving kindness from me.

Thought for Today
Heaven has a record of every prayer we make, and eternity will reveal how and why God's answers far exceeded our mundane requests.

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HOUSE OF GOODNESS

Verse for Today: Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Psalms 65:4b - We are filled with the good things of your House, of your Holy Temple.

A child of God is a truly happy person because he has a Father who has an eternal home which is full of good things to meet his every need. So God's children abound in all the things that they enjoy from their Father's house. They have privileges in their Father's home and there is a great inheritance kept for them. They have access to all that is there in Heaven through their Lord Jesus Christ. Even while they are here on earth, they have the privilege of being seated in the Heavenly places and are blessed with all the blessings of the Heavenly places. As soon as a person accepts the Lord Jesus as savior and Lord, he or she has direct access to the Father's house and can start enjoying all the blessings of Heaven. They can have the joy of the Lord which becomes their strength. They imbibe into all the power that is theirs through the Holy Spirit. They are strengthened by the power of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. As God's royal priesthood, His children go to His house, the Holy Temple, to offer sacrifices of praise to the Father. When we thus appropriate and enjoy all the good things which are kept for us in the House of the Lord, our life becomes one of excitement, thrill, contentment and expectancy. Our life becomes a life of perennial praise, singing, worship and intimate fellowship with God. It is a life of close walk with the Lord into the depths of the character and beauty of God and to get lost in the wonder and awe of this great God with whom we dwell. We are under His wings and kept under His shadow. We are protected from the evil forces in this world which is going to be destroyed. It certainly is a great privilege to know this God who is our Father and to live for His glory here on earth as if we are living in Heaven.

Dear friend, are you aware of the depth of privileges you have as the precious child of the Father in Heaven? Do you realize that you have free access to all the goodness this Father has for all His children and it is yours to possess and enjoy. So there is no reason why we should live as if we are paupers in this word. We might be looked at as poor in the material realm, but we are rich in Heaven because all the resources of the Father are ours. The riches, positions and prestige of this world will have no permanency and will disappear one of these days, but what is awaiting us in the House of the Father will never fade or wrinkle. These blessings are beyond estimation and far above any human imagination. The mysterious thing is that these blessings are available for us here and now. They are available for us to live daily by drawing from it according to our desire and need. God's peace that passes all understanding is available for us for daily living in the context of turmoil and conflicts of any order. God's love is available for us to live in a world of hatred, terrorism and wars. God's unspeakable joy is available for us in this world which is buying entertainment with money in order to be happy. He feeds the sparrows and dresses up the lilies of the valley. He has fed prophets through ravens, and paid taxes for His children through coins which came form the mouth of fish. He multiplies one lunch into gourmet meal for thousands of people. He turns well water into the tastiest wine in split seconds. He converts the bitter water of marah into sweet mineral water of the highest order in no time. He opens vast oceans for His children to walk on dry land. He is the God of the impossible and leads His children victoriously through fire and water, and keeps them safe even in the dens of hungry lions. He is our Father and all that we want are in His Treasure House in Heaven for us to draw upon by faith and live joyfully day by day. So there is absolutely no scope for His children to fret or wallow over petty things. Today let us live as princes and princesses because we are children of the great King.

Psalms 84:4 - Blessed are those who dwell in Your House; they are ever praising You.

Thought for Today
The Great King's children ought to live today not as paupers, but as princes and princesses and be a blessing to all whose lives they touch.

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Satisfaction above Circumstances

Verse for Today: Monday, November 15, 2010
Psalms 63:5 - My soul is satisfied with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise You.

It is very difficult to find satisfaction in life when a person is in very unfavourable circumstances and when there is no scope for any comforts in life, . An experience in a desert even for an hour can easily take away the contentment of a life time. But that is not the case with David who is writing from a desert that he is fully satisfied where he was and with what meager resources and comfort that he could lay his hands on. Why these words of utmost satisfaction come out of David is because he is able to enjoy the presence of God even in a desert. He is most concerned about the contentment and joy in his soul and not about the comforts for his body. As his soul communes with the Lord in the heat and thirst of a desert, the soul does not even think about such external things, but only about the spiritual environment he is enjoying in his soul. The renewal of his soul took away the spirit of grumbling and put him in a state of highest level of satisfaction as if he is in the best banquet hall of the palace of a king. Not only that, his spiritually renewed mind makes him sing songs of praise to the Lord for His leading, guiding and the special grace extended in the worst of circumstances. For David, the Lord was far more important and sufficient than his external environment. He felt that when He had the Lord and His presence with him, that was far greater than any thing else that he could desire in life. When he looked into the dusty and hot environment of the desert through the eyes of the Lord, he could not be more joyful, as if he was in the cozy parlours of a royal palace. Such an attitude is the result of total submission to the will of the Lord. The Lord expects all His children to enjoy the highest level of intrinsic satisfaction in all circumstances because the presence of the Lord makes a whole world of difference wherever they are.

Dear friend, are you by any chance in a dusty, hot and miserable situation like that of the Psalmist? Do you find your environment very difficult to cope with? Is the heat of the situation making you feel weary and frustrated? If so, it is time you remind yourself of the fact that your Lord is with you where you are now. His presence makes your environment something like Heaven here on earth. Wherever the Lord is present, that is His Holy Presence which is Heaven. So when we realize that the Lord is there with us in our difficult circumstance, we should be able to find satisfaction. That was the experience Paul and Silas had even in a dungeon which made them sing songs and worship the Lord even when their bodies were badly bruised and their feet were in stocks. Paul wrote joyful letters to fellow believers to be exceedingly joyful and happy in the Lord from the worst possible dungeon in the Rome. The opportunity to be deeply contented in all circumstances is a special grace given to us by the Spirit which we need to make a part of our attitude and thinking. If we are able to sing and thank the Lord for all the circumstances whether they are good or bad according to human standards, these circumstances will be like Heaven for us. This is because the King of Kings and Lord of Lords is there with us and His presence makes it Heaven and it will drain us of all our grumbling. Remember, there is no room for any grumbling, complaint or murmur in Heaven, but only joy. So David is challenging us to live above the mean circumstances of this world and convert it into paradises because the Lord is there with us. Such contentment is the best advertisement for Heaven which emanate from the bright countenance of hope and peace in each of God's children and it should make others crave such contented life.

Philippians 4:12 & 13 - I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do every thing through Him who gives me strength.

Thought for Today
True contentment depends on our attitude and not on the material things that are in our possession.

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PARTIAL or TOTAL FAITH

Verse for Today: Sunday, November 14, 2010
Psalms 62:8 - Trust in (God) at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge.

We are admonished by the Psalmist, on the basis of his varied experiences with the Lord, that it is always good for us to trust in the Lord at all times. It is often seen that when we are in trouble we trust in Him, but in good times, our trust goes down in quality, substance and sincerity. Not only that, when we do not get a quick fix of our problems through some supernatural interference from God, we often become impatient and start interfering in our matters ourselves, and subsequently mess it up. But the Psalmist wants to remind us that we must trust in the Lord at all times. So we must first of all understand that our Lord is the same for us at all times. Our good times are as much a gift to us from Him, as His presence and nearness for us at the s-called bad times. Our bad times are not bad times per se for us to suffer, but times permitted by our Lord to teach us valuable lessons of trust and faith in Him. The message from the Psalmist underscores another important lesson from his experience that no one else is worth our trust and faith at any time. At hard times, other forces try to challenge us about our faith in the Lord, and sometimes even mock us. These forces even entice us to use the world's ways to solve our problems and try to teach us to trust in our natural faculties and abilities. They want us to learn lessons to solve our problems from world's wisdom, education and money power. But it is guaranteed that these methods and techniques are not expedient for a child of God. This is because we cannot put our legs in two canoes at the same time. Either we should go the way of the Lord and trust Him fully or go our way and pick up all the consequences of our actions. To those who want to solely trust the Lord are given another admonition by the Psalmist to pour out our hearts, heartaches, feelings, emotions, complaints, difficulties, exasperation, doubts and confusions to the Lord. He will give us a patient hearing. He will give us the assurance that He will attend to our needs and handle our case according to His wisdom. In the meanwhile, He will also give us the peace that passes all understanding to keep on trusting Him to believe in His promises and His might to be able to solve our problems, carry our burdens and handle concerns.

Dear friend, have you trusted the Lord for all your needs and situations at all times? If there were times when you switched your trust from Him to your intelligence, experience, skills, money power or human faculties, it is time you go to Him to repent for the trust you put in your own self. If you trust Him only on certain occasions and not at all times, you need to once again go to Him and renew your total, absolute, unconditional and unreserved trust and faith in Him. It is important for us to remind ourselves that if we do not want to trust the Lord fully and totally, why should we expect the Lord to do any thing for us? So let us make sure that we grow in our trust and confess any lapse from our side about our unconditional trust in the Lord, and renew our trust with confession of our failure to do so. If we thus remove the hindrance of lack of trust in the Lord, we will have given the Lord the freedom to come and rescue us from our perils. Either we should trust the Lord fully or not trust Him at all. He doesn't appreciate double minded persons and would look at us as hypocrites if we trust in the Lord and at the same time trust in other things and in our own merit. So let us today go to Him and confess our lack of trust in Him and hand our lives with all our needs and situations to Him to handle it Himself according to His wisdom, resourcefulness and timing. We then have the freedom and opportunity to pour out our hearts to Him in our absolute helplessness. He will hear us, honor our sincerity and childlike faith, and handle our situations. This is the way for Him to get all the glory for all that happens in our lives. This was how the Lord took all glory for all the good things that happened in the lives of Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, David, Jeremiah, Peter, Paul and other saints down through the centuries. Shall we go to this refuge of ours all the time to pour out our hearts and submit our situations and needs to Him and wait for Him to act on our behalf so that all glory for all that happens to us will go to the Lord alone?

Psalms 55:17 - Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and He hears my voice.

Thought for Today
Our level of trust in the Lord reveals whether we believe Him to be our only refuge or not.

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TOWER OF ROCK vs. TOWER OF SMOKE

Verse for Today: Saturday, November 13, 2010
Psalms 61:3 - For You have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe.

Continuous and open confession to the Lord about what He means to us is a great way to reinforce our faith in the context of confusing and distracting thoughts. These thoughts come to our hearts from around us as we face fierce opposition from the enemy of our souls. When we know that the Lord is our refuge, the enemy will try to make us doubt the capability and strength of this refuge to save us from the attacks of the enemy. Nebuchadnezzar once challenged the strength of this refuge when he spoke to the Hebrew youth in Babylon and learned the big lesson that the Lord as a refuge is mightier than he expected. The kings of the enemies of Israel challenged the people of Israel several times to think that Jehovah, their refuge, will not give them the promised level of protection. But they all had to swallow their words through bitter defeat in the hands of this Great Jehovah. Perhaps the pit and the dungeon would have spoken to Joseph several times that no one could ever get him out of there, but the Lord proved Himself to be the potent deliverer for him. Paul and Peter had the same experience of going through the challenges of the enemy, but the Lord accomplished His great purposes through them. He has always been a strong and mighty tower for His children to confide in and enjoy safety, security, joy, peace and stability. Satan knows fully well the power and might of the Lord, and he knows that God will always be refuge for His children, but he would still use all possible means at his disposal to confuse and shake the confidence of God's children. So our singing to the Lord about our confidence in Him as our refuge and tower work to reinforce our faith in Him. We cannot and should not trust in the financial security that the world gives which is like a bubble and might break any time. Our health can fail us unexpectedly. Our friends might leave and plunge us into loneliness. All the security this world can offer are fog or smoke screens which are seen for a moment, but disappear. But our Lord will never leave us nor forsake us. Even when the whole world forsakes and ignores us, He will continue to be our refuge and tower of strength. He never changes nor will He ever withdraw any of His promises. He cannot change His character and He is always faithful in keeping His promises.

Dear friend, is your faith shaken in any way because of the enormity of the situation you are in? is there doubt or confusion in your mind about what the Lord can and will do for you? Do you think He is too far from you that you are not able to hold Him and His promises and claim them for you? Remember, the Lord has been the refuge for His children all through the ages and He will never hide from any one of them in the midst of trials and temptations. He would never allow you to go it alone and be defeated in the hands of the enemy. He is always available for you to go to Him and hide in His tent to take refuge, for there is no other refuge who is able to hide us with maximum security and safety. If you are facing arrows of gossip, distortion, misrepresentation, resources crunch to meet daily needs, rejection by friends or relatives, loneliness, brutal and unrealistic criticisms or failing health, you don't need to be alarmed because your refuge is always available for you to go to and enjoy the security that He provides. He is your tower which cannot be penetrated by any of the wiles of the enemy. The enemy might contaminate or darken your circumstances for a short while, but Lord will be there as the Sun of Righteousness to brighten your pathways and lead you forward. When you put your trust in Him and His promises, He will strengthen you in your faith through His Spirit to take your eyes off the enemy and his wiles and focus on the Lord. You are made more than a conqueror through your Lord who gives you His powerhouse to draw from. So, dear friend, don't be discouraged because of the dark clouds in your horizons. Trust in the Lord and He will brighten your path and take you forward, holding your hands in darkness. No matter the storms, waves, dark clouds or the howling and roaring of the wild animals around you, there is no reason to be afraid because you are in the tent of the Lord who is your refuge and tower of strength.

2 Samuel 22:3 - The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my Savior.

Thought for Today
World's refuges are all refugees who prey on the resources God has created, but the Lord is the only Refuge for Ages because He is the Rock of Ages.

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BANNER OF PROTECTION

Verse for Today: Friday, November 12, 2010
Psalms 60:4 - But to those who fear You, You have raised a banner to be unfurled against the bow.

When God's children are exposed to the various circumstances and situations in this world, the Lord is their banner. It is a banner of truth because this banner is the declaration that they are already victorious. It is a banner of protection against the bows and arrows of the enemy. It is a banner of invitation which encourages His children to take shelter under the banner. It is a banner of announcement about the great victories the Lord has secured for His children so that they can look at the banner and take courage as it helps them to count their past blessings. It is a banner which will stand for ever and will not need to be taken down as it does not anticipate any loss or failure. It is a banner which dances in victory in the midst of the winds which blow against it. It is an eternal banner which no force in this world can erode or weaken. It is the Lord's banner and this banner is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. This banner of confidence, strength, promises, victory and power is specially hoisted for all God's children to go to and confide. There is a special coolness in the shadow of this banner where we can all dwell without fear or anxiety. We declare our allegiance and loyalty to this banner as we gather around it all the time. It is the banner of truth which declares the unchanging character of God and His great promises. When we are protected in the shadow of this banner, God's children have no reason to fret. The enemy might be around us and they might be doing all that they could to distract us and create tension and anguish in us so that we would take our focus out of the banner of victory. But none of the arrows of the enemy has the power to penetrate the enormity of strength of this banner. So let us take courage today and enjoy the coolness of this banner of love, confidence, strength, hope and peace. Remember, our Lord is the banner, Jehovah Nissi!

Dear friend, let us today understand that even though we are in the enemy territory, we are under a Heavenly banner which is our Lord Jesus. So we do not need to be afraid of all the sabre rattling of the enemy. They can do nothing to us because we are under the truth of the promises of the Lord. Not only that, Heaven has made public declaration of our victory and our future more than 2000 years ago on the cross of Calvary. No matter who the enemy is and what his tactics are, he is a defeated enemy and his verdict has already been declared. Our banner keeps declaring the enemy's plight and future and that is why he is trying to see if we can be at least distracted and lured to be anxious for a few moments and thus loose our grip on the truth which is embodied in this banner. So dear friend, please do not look at the bow or arrow of the enemy. There is no need for us to be alarmed about the enemy's preparation for war or the might he tries to exhibit in front of our eyes. Let us not be confused by looking at the aberrations that he tries to create in our circumstances and situations. Instead, let us look at the Lord who is our banner of victory. He is the victorious One. He has already won our battles for us. Today our battles are against the tactics of distraction which the enemy sends through the manipulation of our situations and through the relationships which we have in this world. In all these circumstances, let us not loose heart, but put all our faith and trust in the Lord of truth whose promises for us are as true as the Lord Himself. Let the truth about His banner give us renewed confidence to go forward today and forever more. The Lord has brought us to His Heavenly Banquet Hall of protection and blessings and His banner over us is His immeasurable love for us to enjoy today without the shadows of anxiety, fear and despair. This is the day the Lord has made for us to enjoy His grace and so let us make a joyful victory noise under His banner.

Song of Songs 2:4 - He has taken me to the banquet hall, and His banner over me is love.

Thought for Today
Jesus our Heavenly Banner is our greatest protection against all the wiles of the enemy.

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