Thanksgiving

"O Lord, what is man that You magnify him  and that You are concerned about him?" (Job 7:17) Most of our troubles are due to our carelessness in words. Relationships are damaged by hasty and harsh words. Fellowship with God is also disturbed by impatient words. Have I not walked in integrity? Why then does God let me suffer like this? Have I not served Him faithfully all these years? Why then did He allow this calamity in my life? Have I not been unselfish and sacrificial in my dealings with people? Why then did He permit this loss in my business? Have I not loved Him so dearly that I never enjoyed any ungodly pastime? Why then does He punish me like this in displeasure? These questions flood our minds and fill our mouths when we suffer. Though these questions may appear sensible, they are wrong. We need to correct our thinking. We don't add anything to God by our offerings or service. He is absolutely absolute in Himself and He doesn't need anything fro

"To him who overcomes,  I will give the right to sit with Me on My throne" (Rev 3:21)  The salvation that God has provided for us is great and is full of splendour and wonder. For through His salvation He has promised full restoration unto us of dominion over all creation. Reminiscing over this the Psalmist says, "What is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You take care of him? You made him a little lower than the angels, You crowned him with glory and honour, and set him over the works of Your hands. You have put all things in subjection under his feet" (Heb 2:5-7; Psa 8:6). Indeed, what is man, compared to the majesty and vastness of God's creation? We are infinitesimal and insignificant. This passage further adds that man is made a little lower than the angels. Angels can go anywhere because they are spirits. Also they don't die! But it is appointed unto men to die. Man is limited to space and time. In spite of the fact that

"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,  and you will be saved and your entire household" (Acts 16:31) Faithful proclamation of the risen Christ as the Lord and the Saviour took Paul and Silas to the innermost of dungeons. The two peculiar prisoners were prepared for everything. They met the persecution with a spirit of praise and prayer. Whether or not their hymns moved their fellow-prisoners' hearts, we are not sure. But their praise did move the Roman prison! Following a great earthquake, the foundations of the prison were shaken, all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were loosened. All these brought the Philippian jailor on to his knees. He fell down trembling before Paul and Silas and cried, "Sirs, What must I do to be saved?" What do you think was the reply? Paul did not attempt to deliver a sermon on Seven Steps to Salvation. Nor did he make him recite a long prayer of confession! He could answer the thirsty soul in one sentence, and I shou

"Paul spoke daily in the public square to all who happened to be there"  (Acts 17:17) The text quoted above lies exactly at the midpoint of the New Testament. It encourages and emphasises open-air evangelism. Open-air evangelism is still one of the powerful means of impacting communities with the Gospel message. The entire city of Jerusalem was "moved" by the procession on the first Palm Sunday (Mt 21:10). The crowds went celebrating the praises of God in the streets. The early Salvation Army members went regularly on Gospel processions through streets and busy corners with soul-awakening musical bands. Except in sensitive areas, we can always go, atleast as small groups, for open-air singing and preaching. Each Church in a city or town can select a particular area for this activity. On public holidays all the Churches can organize a common programme. It's time we move out into the marketplaces from our meetingplaces (Acts 17:17). John the Baptist

"God is Spirit, so those who worship Him must worship  in spirit and in truth" (Jn 4:24) We have no problem in understanding the first of the Ten Commandments: "You shall have no other gods before Me." Why do we stumble over the second: "You shall not make for yourself any carved image?" (Ex 20:2-6). Three things God has forbidden here concerning images: Don't "make" them or "bow" before them or "serve" them! If we are careless at the first step, we are sure to end up in idolatry. The primary lesson we need to learn about God is that He is "Spirit" (Jn 4:24). Moses stressed this point to the people, "The Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of the words, but saw no form; you only heard a voice... Take careful heed to yourselves... lest you act corruptly and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of any figure" (Dt 4:12-19). God has given us statutes, no

"O Lord, open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in Your Law" (Psa 119:18) The Old Testament and the New Testament are the two lips of God to speak to us. The New is concealed in the Old and the Old is revealed in the New. We cannot understand one without the other. But the difference between the Testaments must be clearly understood. We have the shadow in the OT but the substance in the NT (Heb 10:1). The New Covenant, unlike the Old, is not of the letter but of the Spirit (2 Cor 3:6 Rom 7:6). In the OT the Law was written in tablets of stone, but now God writes it in our hearts of flesh (Jer 31:31-33; Heb 8:8-10; 2 Cor 3:3). The ceremonial part of the Law takes a spiritual meaning in the New Testament. For example, the Sabbath speaks of the rest Christ gives to His people here and then in eternity (Mt 11:28; Heb 4:4-10). Similarly God told Peter to eat even the "forbidden" food of the OT to explain to him a spiritual truth, that is, how God can save

"Can a man scoop fire into his lap and not be burnt?" (Prov 6:27,28) Many a preacher has lost spiritual energy due to improper relationships with those of the opposite sex. Delilah's lap drained the might of Samson (Judg 16:19). This is one of the main reasons why most of our pulpits are void of the message from God. The lust of eyes dims one's spiritual vision. Sinful pleasures darken the soul. Extramarital affairs confuse the preacher's understanding of the ways of God. The vessel of honour is defiled. Its use for the Master gets diminished and in course of time it is set aside (2 Tim 2:21,22; 1 Cor 9:27). God challenges us, "What right have you to declare My statutes, or take My covenant in your mouth, seeing... you have been a partaker with adulterers?" (Psa 50:16,18). Apostle Paul reminds us of this challenge in Romans 2:21,22: "You, who teach another, do you not teach yourself?... You who say, `Do not commit adultery,' do you com

"It is written ... It is written ... It is written" (Mt 4:4,7,10) When we sin we start giving excuses and blaming everything and everyone. This explains the continuously defeated lives of many Christians. The first Adam gave excuses for his failure. Under the same and even worse circumstances the second Adam, Christ Jesus, triumphed. Let's study two common excuses today and how we can avoid them. *  Ignorance no excuse! The commandment to Adam and Eve was specific and clear. No interpretation was necessary. It was simple and direct (Gen 2:16,17). Yet they failed. But we have no record that the Father God had told Jesus not to turn stones into bread or not to jump from the pinnacle. How did then Jesus overcome the enemy who tempted Him to do these things? He operated on the "principles" of God's Law. In the first temptation, to turn stones into bread, was a challenge of His Sonship and the sufficiency of the Scriptures. In the second temptation,

"Whom shall I send? Who will go for Us? ...  Here I am, send me!" (Isa 6:8)   Today is the birth anniversary of William Carey (1761-1834) who is called the Father of Modern Missions. He was a shoemaker and he became a Bible translator. All through the Bible, we see God's call given to individuals in various circumstances and how they responded. Moses was a soldier and God called him to lead His people out of Egypt! David was a shepherd and God called him to rule His people! Amos was a shepherd too and God called him to be a prophet! Jesus was a carpenter and He was called to fulltime ministry at the age of thirty! Peter was a fisherman and Jesus called him to leave the nets and follow Him! Matthew was a tax-collector and Jesus called him to leave his office to serve Him fulltime! Paul was a tentmaker and God called him for a global service demanding all his time! Luke was a medical doctor and he joined Paul in the missionary tours! Whatever may be your professio

"My grace is sufficient for you;  for My power is made perfect in your weakness" (2 Cor 12:9a) God is a Healer. He revealed Himself as Jehovah-Rapha, meaning "The Lord who heals" (Ex 15:26). He has never changed. His power is still the same. What is impossible for man or medicine is possible with God! God's power to heal was manifested to the highest degree through Jesus during His earthly ministry. Jesus healed all kinds of diseases, and all who touched Him were made whole. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever" (Heb 13:8). On the Cross He carried away our sins and our sicknesses (Isa 53:4,5; Mt 8:16,17). We are cleansed by His blood and healed by His wounds. The Holy Spirit has bestowed on the Church the gifts of healing (1 Cor 12:9,28). They are in operation. But our bodies are mortal. We are still subject to death (1 Cor 15:26). The total redemption of our bodies is still in the future (Rom 8:23). Until the day comes

"Let your yes be yes, and your no be no;  for whatever is more than these is from the evil one" (Mt 5:37) The first petition in the Lord's prayer is, "Hallowed be Your Name!" How often we have dishallowed His Name by exaggerated and twisted reporting! God will judge us for what impression we leave on the readers rather than what information we serve. If 600 people attended our camp, we do not bring glory to God by saying, "About 1000 people attended!" Because it is a lie, we actually honour the devil, who is a liar and the father of lies. For our people, anything above a few thousands is one lakh! Preachers should not exploit this. If a modern magazine reports the five-loaves-two-fish miracle, it will simply add two more digits to the 5000 and the photographic manipulation will make it appear true! The photographs sent overseas by certain Indian agencies sometimes make the Western friends think that most of the Indians live on the streets, ca

"Submit yourselves under the mighty hand of God  so He may exalt you in due time" (1 Pet 5:6) The Feast of Tabernacles was near. Jesus' own brothers urged Him to go to the Feast and work miracles publicly. They said, "No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret!" (Jn 7:4). Look at His answer: "The right time for Me has not yet come; for you any time is right" (v6). Eventhough it was His own brothers who suggested the promotional programme to Jesus, He politely turned it down. He knew that a natural man could not understand the things of God, and the carnal mind was enmity against God (1 Cor 2:14). So many preachers have missed the perfect will of God because of strained comparison and ill advice. How many ministries are corrupted and commercialised because of the lust for limelight! Show-off is totally alien to the Spirit of Christ. What a lesson the seraphim teach us in that they "covered" their faces and their feet w

"Don't get involved in foolish and ignorant arguments  that only start fights" (2 Tim 2:23) We have so far looked at three means God has given us to discern the spirits. We will conclude this study today, looking at the fourth means of discernment. More often than we think, common sense is a surer safeguard than many others. Someone wisely said, "When common sense makes sense, don't look for any other sense!" Sometimes we are told, "Don't rationalize. Don't try to understand these things through human intellect. These are supernatural things," and so on. But this argument is absurd. Because, God has given us a spirit of "sound mind" (2 Tim 1:7). In Christian dedication we are not called to "remove" our mind but to "renew" it (Rom 12:1,2). Mature believers are defined as those "who by reason of practice have their  senses exercised to discern both good and evil" (Heb 5:14). The thinking facul

"Speak the things which are for sound doctrine" (Tit 2:1) The next help for discerning the spirits comes from fellow-saints and servants of God. No Christian is complete in himself. No congregation is complete in itself. We need one another. When we become sick, the entire body fights against the germs. In the same way, we need the help of the local Body of Christ and His universal Body in withstanding the "winds and waves" of the evil one. Various ministers are gifted to the Church by the resurrected Lord for its edification and growth "that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine" (Eph 4:11-16). We come across a classic example of this exercise in the Jerusalem Council which was convened to discuss the circumcision issue for the non-Jewish believers. Apostle Peter "reported" that he witnessed God pouring out His Holy Spirit on them also without any distinction (Acts 15:6-9). Thi

"When the Spirit of Truth comes,  He will guide you into all truth" (Jn 16:13a) Let us meditate today on the second means of discernment of the spirits, namely the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus introduced the Holy Spirit as our Helper and Guide. As the "Spirit of Truth," He will guide us into all truth (Jn 16:13). The Holy Spirit indwells every believer and He infills the thirsty. There will be an uncomfortable feeling within when the teaching we hear or the manifestation we see is not from God. This was stated so clearly by apostle John: "These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him" (1 Jn 2:26,27). This passage does not refer to the teaching ministry in the Church

"Do not believe every spirit  but test the spirits whether they are of God" (1 Jn 4:1) Church history has witnessed many "strange fires" during periods of revival. The early apostles had wanted the Church at every age to be forewarned against these fires. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. For this reason they warned the people of God against "another Jesus" and "a different gospel" and "a different Spirit" (2 Cor 11:4). It appears that false prophets and false teachers outnumber the true ministers of God. Note the term "many" in these references: 1 Jn 2:18; 4:1; Mt 7:15,22; 24:5; 2 Cor 2:17; Phil 3:18. Yes, the enemy usually comes in "like a flood" (Is 59:19). Jesus spoke about "rain," "floods" and "winds" in the context of false ministries (Mt 7:15,25). Paul spoke of "winds" of doctrine and tossing "waves" (Eph 4:14). The different spirits can operate