Thanksgiving

"The Lord will not permit the godly to slip and fall!" (Psa 55:22) King David's life experiences in history had a prophetic reflection in the life of the Son of David. King David mourned, "It is not an enemy who reproaches me; then I could bear it... But it was you, a man my equal, my companion and my acquaintance!" (Psa 55:12-14); "Even my best friend, the one I trusted completely, the one who shared my food, has turned against me" (Psa 41:9). The lot of Jesus was the same. Jesus handled the hurts from friends by confidence in God and love towards them. a) Confidence of Security The devil literally entered the heart of Judas and enticed him to betray his Lord. It was no ordinary thing. For Jesus it was more than a sword piercing through His heart. But He was not agitated. He stayed calm because He KNEW that "the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God" (Jn 13:2,3). No doubt...

"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,  I will fear no evil" (Psa 23:4) From day one Jesus knew that He had come to die. But when the hour approached, He got "deeply depressed." He handled the fear of death with two powerful weapons— a) Prayer of Commitment When fear of death gripped the Lord, He offered a prayer of commitment that is unparalleled in history. He said, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will" (Mt 26:39). The fact that He repeated the same prayer thrice speaks of His dead earnestness. The Father God was so pleased with the prayer of His Son that He sent a special angel from Heaven to strengthen Him (Lk 22: 42-45). His feeble hands, fainting knees and faltering feet received strength to stand up and face whatever (Heb 12:12). Another truth to be learnt here is that the responsibility to pray is primarily on the sufferer. "Is anyone among...

"Man shall not live by bread alone,  but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God" (Mt 4:4) Fasting is not dispensational. It's a spiritual discipline for all times. That's why Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount said, "WHEN you fast" and not "IF you fast!" (Mt 6: 16). This Sermon is not a dispensational lecture of Christ. Rather it is the Magna Carta for Christian living. Jesus called fasting an "act of righteousness" alongwith giving and praying (6:1,2,5,16). We are not saved "by" works of righteousness but definitely "for" works of righteousness (Eph 2:9,10). The Pharisees tithed and we teach tithing as the minimum for Christians. And they fasted twice a week (Lk 18:12). What shall be our practice? Neither tithing nor fasting is explicitly commanded in the New Testament, but who can deny their need and relevance today? These are days when what's obligatory becomes optional. That which is optional...

"The righteous may trip seven times,  but each time they will rise again" (Prov 24:16) In His encounter with Jacob, God told him, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel" (Gen 32:28). But the Bible continued to call him Jacob (e.g. Gen 33:1). Our "old nature" is not eradicated from us. We have to live with our "old man" all our life. No one but Paul was frank and honest enough to acknowledge this fact: "I know I am rotten through and through so far as my old sinful nature is concerned. No matter which way I turn, I can't make myself do right. I want to, but I can't... If I am doing what I don't want to do, I am not really the one doing it; the sin within me is doing it" (Rom 7:18-20). He found out that victory over sin is only by "considering" constantly that we are dead to sin, and giving preference to the new man in us to make choices (Rom 6:11). In this lifelong warfare, there need not be bu...

"I am the Way and the Truth and the Life" (Jn 14:6) There are many who are Christians for generations but they have never experienced personal salvation. They regularly read their Bible, say their prayers, attend the Church Services, and so on. But they would not be in a position to give an instant "yes" answer to the question, "Are you saved?" In the same way, there are numerous non-Christians we attend Gospel Campaigns and listen to Christian radio or TV programmes regularly, without ever coming into a personal experience of salvation. The reason is that these sincere people have never been told the simple steps to God's great Salvation. Today can be your day of Salvation if you follow these three simple steps—  Accept! Accept that you are a sinner before God. Our so-called good characters may even be a hindrance for our personal salvation. Our own righteousness is like filthy rags before God (Isa 64:6). May be you are free from apparent ba...

"If I am a father, where is the honour due to Me?" (Mal 1:6) Even though the Son and the Holy Spirit are equal in deity to God the Father, they subject themselves to Him in their roles. This solemn truth is ignored these days in the spiritual world. In some circles, they only talk about Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, and end up with another Jesus. In others, they always talk about Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, and end up with a different spirit. The Father is forgotten! It is God the Father who planned redemption for mankind. Even though we read that Christ Jesus "came" into the world to save sinners, we must not forget that He was actually "sent" by His Father into the world (Jn 3:16,17). It was the Father who conceived the plan of redemption but the Son accomplished it (Jn 6:38-40). All sins are primarily against God the Father. "For all that is in the world the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of th...

Don't we know that... 1] Lord's prayer address directly to " Our Father in Heaven ..."? (Remember, this was taught to us by Jesus Christ!) 2] Holy Bible condemns people worshiping anything created by God Himself (and/or) created by man? 3] Anything outside the scripture (Holy Bible) is man made, and hence against God!  4] Is anywhere in Bible, Christians are asked to worship statue and/or painting or anything other than GOD? 5] Are not apostles Barnabas and Paul chosen to preach to Gentiles... tore their garments when people tried to worship him? ( Acts 14: 11-17 ) 6] What the angel of God told John when he tried to worship the angel ( Revelation 19: 9-10 )? questions to ask ourselves - 1] First of all, are we really fearing God? how can we make sure? 2] why do we need a statue / picture... to see... to believe? --- Did Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, David, or any prophets...saw God to believe in Him? 3] Is there anyone who has seen God? --...

"All athletes practice strict self-control...They do it to win a prize"  -  (1 Cor 9:25) Some youngsters, when they get saved, start spending their evenings and all leisure time in prayers, Bible study groups and such spiritual activities. A few others find it difficult to leave sports and games. Some wonder whether the time they spend for sports instead of the soul is a waste. Is there a Biblical answer to this question? Though the Bible does not directly encourage sports and games, it nowhere condemns it. By using many examples from the field of sports and games Paul and other Scripture writers explained spiritual truths in the Bible (Eph 6:12; 1 Tim 6:12; 1 Pet 1:4; Heb 12:1,2; Js 1:12). Sports and games have many positive effects on the participants. A good sportsman is known for the discipline of his body, that is so vital to Christian life (1 Cor 9:24-27). Then there's obeying of the rules. In Christian ministry also, it is not "what" but ...

"May the Lord of peace Himself give you peace  at all times and in every way" (2 Thess 3:16a) Turbulence is the inevitable lot of impatient people. Even among Christian believers very few enjoy the peace of God "like a river." The Bible promises "perfect" peace to those whose mind is "stayed" or fixed steadily on God (Isa 26:3). The condition to enjoy such a peace is patiently "trusting" in the Lord. "Whoever believes will not act hastily" (Isa 28:16b). If we are not enjoying peace in our own hearts, we cannot live in real peace with others. Social conflicts are invariably the result of unresolved inner conflicts in man. Whether it is prayers, puzzles, pain or problems, God's answer more often than we think is, "Wait!" The peace of God "surpasses all understanding" (Phil 4:7). Which means, we can enjoy the peace of God in spite of problems. Staying put and being patient is the secret. ...

"Oh, how I love Your Law! I meditate on it all day long" (Psa 119:97) To produce one tablespoon of honey, the little bee makes 4200 trips to flowers. It makes about 100 trips a day to the fields, each trip lasting 20 minutes average and 400 flowers! Wow! When my eyes hit this piece of astounding information in a book of illustrations, my mind instantly switched on to think about the Holy Bible. The Bible is compared to honey and honeycomb (Psa 19:10; 119:103). The Bible was written over a span of about 1500 years. God spoke in parts and in different ways (Heb 1:1). He has revealed His will and ways to us in stages—"precept upon precept; line upon line; here a little, there a little!" (Isa 28:10). In other words, the Bible was not written overnight and released in the early morning as a newspaper. God was not in haste while writing His book. He was extremely patient throughout the production of this unique piece of literature which would never need be revis...

"Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us into pieces, but He will heal us; He has injured us but He will bind up our wounds" (Hos 6:1) "Why bad things to good people?" This question has not been satisfactorily answered. The understanding of God's nature as revealed in the Scriptures provides the key to unlock this mystery. We are all too familiar with the redemptive names of God such as Jehovah-Jireh and Jehovah-Rapha. But there's another name by which God has revealed Himself:  Jehovah-Makkeh , meaning, "I am the Lord who strikes the blow!" (Ezek 7:9). Explaining the blessedness of God's chastisement, one of Job's friends said, "Though He wounds, He also bandages. He strikes, but His hands also heal" (Job 5:17,18). Prophet Hosea endorsed this ancient thought (Hos 6:1). Both the day and the night are God's (Psa 74:16). He has appointed the day of prosperity as well as the day of adversity (Eccl 7:14). Bot...

"In which is the Lord delighted: sacrifices or obeying His voice?... To obey is better than sacrifice" (1 Sam 15:22) Missionary T.G. Ragland (1815-1858) is one among those who testified through life that obedience to God is better than offerings. When he was the Treasurer of Friends Fellowship of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) at Cambridge University, God called him to go as a Missionary to India. He implicitly obeyed. For Christ's sake he was beaten, ill-treated and humiliated. Yet he established Christian witness in more than one thousand villages in South India. He fell and died on Indian soil like a grain of wheat. King Saul stands out in the Scriptures as a monument of disobedience. In the battle against the Amalekites, Saul obeyed the Lord only partially. Incomplete obedience is disobedience. He spared the best of the animals for himself as against the Lord's command to utterly destroy all. When confronted by prophet Samuel, Saul duped that those...

"The Spirit of wisdom...understanding...counsel...might" (Isa 11:2) We think that the Holy Spirit helps us in spiritual matters only. No, the Holy Spirit desires to help us in all fields and aspects of our life. Let's see today how He can help us in our workspots and in our routine. The Holy Spirit protects us where sin abounds. The young man Joseph was in a strange land which was hostile to his holy convictions. The Egyptian culture was to glance this way and that and sin if no one saw! (Ex 2:11,12). They looked  around  but Joseph looked  above!  "How can I sin against God?" (Gen 39:9). He was shot with arrows of hatred and envy. But his bow remained steady! Because, the Spirit of God was in him (Gen 49:23-25; 41:38). He walked from prison to palace with state honours! Daniel was another young man with the excellent Spirit of God upon him (Dan 5:11;6:3). He was on the King's service in Babylon. He also could not escape envy. Yes, no man is fu...

"Love of money is the root of all evil...  but you, man of God, flee from all these" (1 Tim 6:10,11) A young man was boasting before Jesus that he had kept all the commandments of God from his youth, and he asked what he still lacked. Jesus answered him, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in Heaven; and come, follow Me" (Mt 19:20,21). But the young man went back saddened. The awfulness of the love of money is rarely preached these days. Jesus referred to this subject so often in His discourses. Apostle John did not mix up his words when he said, "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (1 Jn 2:15). While listing the signs of perilous last days, apostle Paul put "love of self" and "love of money" on top (2 Tim 3:1,2). We cannot serve God and gold at the same time. We will either hate the...

"Lord, enable Your servants to speak Your Word with great boldness" (Acts 4:29) Missionaries are not angels or supermen. They are men and women just like us. The only difference is that they chose to go whereas we decided to stay. Even amidst all friends, fellowship and feeding we struggle with our problems. By and large the missionary is a lone man in the field. His  spiritual  problems are numerous. His coworker is but a fellow-struggler! How much they need our prayer! Let's watch and pray that they may not fall into temptation. Pray for the missionaries'  physical  problems also. Health problems due to extreme climatic conditions, poor sanitation and water supply and inadequate medical facilities are all too common. Pray for the workers' safety in travel and protection from wild animals, poisonous insects and accidents. Then there are  psychological  problems. Separation from children and kith and kin, hostility of the native people, misun...

"Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter against them" (Col 3:19) Charity begins at home. Our houses must be filled with the fragrance of love (cf Jn 12:3). The home is the most sacred sanctuary in the world. Christ had His last supper in a house. The Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost came down in a house. It was in a house the Holy Spirit came for the first time on non-Jews. The early Christians gathered in houses. Their breadbreaking and evangelism were from house to house. God begins with husbands as He began with Adam. They are to set the ball in motion. If they fail, the entire system goes wrong. Husbands are to love their wives, (a) as Christ loved the Church; (b) as they love their own bodies; and (c) as they love themselves (Eph 5:25,28,33). This is absolute, selfless, joyful love. This love is not always easy and automatic. Isaac, a type of Christ, "loved" his wife (Gen 24:67). The Bible need not mention a virtue which flows out effortles...