Thanksgiving

"If two of you agree down here on earth concerning anything you ask,  My Father in Heaven will do it for you" (Mt 18:19) God's eternal idea in creation to accomplish His purposes is the Family. Husband and wife are called "heirs together of the grace of love" (1 Pet 3:7). We are admonished not to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers (2 Cor 6:14,15). If a child of God marries a child of the devil, he will have problems with his "father-in-law." If the person proposed to you is not a believer, you do not need to "pray about it" at all. The Holy Spirit never contradicts the Holy Scriptures. Jesus said that when two are agreed together on earth, nothing shall be impossible (Mt 18:19). Apart from your individual time of devotions, spend time with your partner daily for prayer and meditation. Holding your spouse's hand in the prayer closet in holy intercession is a rich experience. On your return from a Convention or a Conference...

"Will the thing formed say to Him who formed it,  Why have You made me like this?" (Rom 9:20) When we sin, we start blaming everything and everybody. A comparative study on how Adam and Christ faced their temptations teaches us many lessons. * Blaming God God was more than a spiritual reality to Adam and Eve. He was their personal and literal Friend, Guide and Provider. They could "hear" the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden (Gen 3:8). He spoke to them face to face. Even while enjoying this literal and immediate presence of God, they failed. On the other hand, Jesus overcame the enemy eventhough angels came to minister to Him only after the devil left Him (Mt 4:11). Never say, "If only God had sent me help at that moment..." Never complain, "God forsook me!" He is Immanuel and He is always with us, whether we "feel" His presence or not. The Throne of Grace is open day and night. God is never too busy to help us or b...

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor  stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful" (Psa 1:1) Separation is a fundamental doctrine that runs through the Bible from the beginning to the end (Gen 1:4; Psa 1:1; Acts 2:40; Rev 22:14,15). There is no argument against the call for separation. The problem however is in the outworking of it in practice. In order to avoid confusion, let us see how God expects us to relate to the ungodly. By virtue of creation, all men and women, godly or ungodly, belong to God. He loves them all equally and grants them "shine and rain" without any partiality (Mt 5:45). As God's "offspring" the entire humanity "lives, moves and has its being in Him." He is not far from any man or woman (Acts 17:27,28). Without understanding this truth the religionists of Jesus' day were practising exclusivism. But when He freely moved with the irreligious and sinful people ...

"Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men" (Mt 4:19) We are saved to save others. We are Christians to make others Christians. We are born again to win others for the Kingdom. We are God's children to bring others into God's family. We are disciples of Christ to enroll others as His disciples. We are in the Church to church the unchurched. We are sanctified to show others the way of holiness. We are going to Heaven and we cannot meet our Lord empty-handed! One sometimes wonders why there is no joy in our Churches. People are long-faced and there is no excitement or enthusiasm or exuberance. The answer is simple. There is no soulwinning. When the shepherd found his lost sheep he called his friends and neighbours and said, "Rejoice with me!" So said the woman who found her lost coin and the father who found his lost son (Lk 15:1-31). Soulwinning excites Heaven with great joy! (vv 7,10). One who does not win souls is out of tune with Heaven. Danci...

"Satisfy us in the morning with Your unfailing love,  so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives" (Psa 90:14) Moses was 80 when God called him. Although he cited many excuses, he never mentioned his old age. He was active in serving the Lord and His people till his death. The Scripture records, "Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eyes were not dim nor his natural vigour abated" (Dt 34:7). There may be retirement from secular jobs and even from Christian ministerial positions. But God never relieves anyone from serving Him just because of age. It is advised that retired people take up regular voluntary work in service organisations. Idling will lead to all sorts of physiological and psychological maladies. An idle man's mind becomes the devil's workshop. Don't lose your enthusiasm.  Walterson was right when he said, "Years wrinkle the face, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul." John Wesley (170...

"Those planted in the Lord's own house ...  will produce fruit even in old age" (Psa 92:13,14) The Bible has many secrets for the old people to stay young. One of them is to seek and enjoy the company of God's people. That's the message of today's memory text. Here's the conviction of an unknown old man: "I shall not mind the whiteness of my hair, or that slow steps falter on the stair, or that young friends hurry as they pass, or what strange image greets me in the mirror — If I can feel as the roots feel in the sod that I am growing old to bloom before the face of God!" There's fullness of joy in God's presence. When we gather with the fellow saints in the Name of Christ and worship God, our hearts rejoice and tongues are glad. This also blesses our physique with a refreshing restfulness (Acts 2:25,26). Though the things of the world give us temporary kicks of pleasure, they ultimately sap us of our vitality and vibrance. It i...

"He must increase, but I must decrease" (Jn 3:30) We are called to be like John the Baptist who burnt himself out to shine for God (Jn 5:35). We desire to shine for Jesus but we are not ready to burn out for Him. We want to be like electric bulbs; but God is looking for candles, which melt away in the process of giving light. Hudson Taylor (1832-1905) burnt out for God in his missionary service in China. He challenged the Christians, "God is looking for some wicks to burn. The oil and the fire are free!" Bearing of the Cross and dying to self are not an one-day affair. It's a lifetime exercise. Apostle Paul summarized his life of self-denial in 2 Corinthians 6:9,10, "Not I but Christ!" He testified, "We are well known, but we are treated as unknown. We live close to death, but here we are, still alive … We own nothing, and yet we have everything!" Evangelist D.L. Moody (1837-1899) was honest when he confessed, "I have more trou...

"The godly may trip seven times,  but each time they will rise again" (Prov 24:16) A casual reading of texts like, "Thanks be to God who  always  leads us in triumph in Christ" (2 Cor2:14), and "In  all  (these) things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us" (Rom 8:37) would make an average Christian believe that he would never have any failure in his life. Though it is not the will of God that His children live in defeat, He does allow failures in their lives for their own good. The biographies and autobiographies of God's men and women sketched in the Scriptures prove substantially that no one escaped the "discipline of failure." An analysis gives us atleast five reasons why God allows failures in our lives.   To make us humbler:  "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" (Prov 16:18). It is natural for us to be puffed up with pride when everything goes alright and successful with ...

"You were a forgiving God,  but You punished them when they went wrong" (Psa 99:8) Conscience is a matchless gift from God. It is His lamp to search all the inner depths of our hearts (Prov20:27). It is sometimes called the "spirit of man" (1 Cor 2:11a). A sharp conscience is an inestimable asset for character building. The conscience must be trained to love what's right with perfect love and hate what's wrong with perfect hatred. It's easier to love good than to hate evil. If we choose the easier one and ignore the other, we will become popular with men but won't please God. If we love good and hate evil equally, we will earn the smile of God as well as the sneer of the devil (Heb 1:9). Only when we keep our conscience clear, we will not mix up black and white (Isa 5:20). Any Christian who is serious about changing his carnal nature into spiritual-mindedness ought to study the Sermon on the Mount diligently (Matthew 5-7). This is the Magna...

"What you have done to one of the least of these My brothers,  you have done it unto Me" (Mt 25:40) Why did he go to hell? The sin of the rich man of Luke 16 was one of omission. He did nothing to alleviate the pain of Lazarus who was full of sores. He failed to provide a simple food and shelter to the one lying at his gate. Why did the King drive out those on the left hand into everlasting fire? Their sins of omission brought on this everlasting punishment (Mt 25:41-46). I wonder why the Church speaks so little about this apostolic teaching to "remember the poor" (Gal 2:10), which decides our eternal destiny. I urge teachers in Schools and Colleges to help students imbibe the spirit of charity even before they enter the world. Today is Teachers Day! That rugged Preacher in the desert, who called for repentance, urged his hearers, "He who has two shirts, let him give one to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise" (Lk 3:10,11)....