Depart Not From Mouth

DO NOT LET THIS BOOK OF THE LAW DEPART FROM YOUR MOUTH; MEDITATE ON IT DAY AND NIGHT. Joshua 1.8.

God commands that you must read His Word! That should be a good enough reason for any child of God to start reading the Bible daily! From an evangelical church where I preached lately, I got these statistics about the Bible reading habit of members which should be an eye-opener to us! 5% read everyday. 10% once a week. 20% irregularly or once a month. The rest never!

READ FOR SUSTENANCE - DAILY BREAD Job. 23.12.

Read the Bible daily to sustain ‘the Born again soul’ – like your body. Heard of Pokemon? Some years ago, most school kids had one! My grandson had one too! It died because he didn’t feed it daily on time! God said, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God’ (Mt 4.4). The apostle Peter said, “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pe 3.18). Growing in the knowledge of the Lord does not come without reading the Bible. Many are trying to grow in spiritual life by listening to Sunday sermons or tapes or attending seminars! It does not happen that way.

READ FOR SUCCESS

Read and Obey. Do not turn to the right or left. Do not depart. You will succeed. That was God’s commandment and blessing to young Joshua when he took over the helm of the nation of Israel. People buy and read costly books on “How to succeed” by some guru and attend pricey motivational seminars by pundits! But they won’t listen to God!

READ TO SAFEGUARD FROM SIN. Ps 119.9,11

For keeping you from sin. For overcoming temptation. You know what the law demands. It tells you what to do and what not to do, what is right and wrong! Today there are no social or moral or ethical absolutes. No abiding standards. Everything keeps changing according to the whims and fancies of a people who revolt against all rule and authority and accepted norms of society. What you think is right, you do – in attitude, conduct, dress!

READ FOR SANCTIFICATION - CLEANSING from sin. Jn 17.17.

1 John 1.8 tells of the need for quick confession and God’s promise to forgive. Keep a short account with God. Keep yourself clean before God. Have a clear conscience. For example, after taking a good shower after a hard day's dirty job, you feel so clean! Have you felt the cleanliness of your body? Before you felt dirty, sweaty and smelly! Now you are clean and you spread the sweet-smell of the soap! Go to God and get cleansed every time you fall and sin! But don’t make it a habit as some do! Ask God to give you strength to forsake your sin.

READ FOR DIRECTION.

Your Word is a lamp to my feet and light to my path. Psa. 119.105. The Bible gives clear guidance for many of our conduct in life. If we regularly read God’s Word we would know them. Many things we could do right without even a second thought.

THE SECRET OF DEVELOPING A DEVOTIONAL TIME AND A SUCCESSFUL CHRISTIAN LIFE: 1.DECISION. I will read! 2.DISCIPLINE. Fix a time, place and have a plan. Use Our Daily Bread; E-MAIL DEVOTIONAL 3. DETERMINATION. I will keep it up. I will not give up!! Persistence!

Pray and practice with me: Dear Lord, help me to discipline my life and reschedule my day and make reading Your Word and praying to You my priority! Amen.

Children Brought To Jesus

LITTLE CHILDREN WERE BROUGHT TO JESUS FOR HIM TO PLACE HIS HANDS ON THEM AND PRAY FOR THEM. Matthew 19.13.

When our two boys and two girls were small, my wife and I began to take them to Jesus in prayer, just as our parents and grandparents did to their children. What a wonderful thing it is to have godly parents from whom you can learn through words and by sight! You who are from Christian families, do not neglect or disregard your wonderful spiritual privileges. Practise them faithfully and pass them on to the next generation. I know some of you are first generation Christians and hence have lost out on such a wonderful spiritual heritage. Don’t be disheartened; begin a new heritage for your children and they will be blessed and they will bring blessing to others!

Take your children to the Lord Jesus Christ everyday and many times a day. They need Him and His help, today more than anytime before. Every morning, my wife and I specially pray for our four grown-up children, their spouses and also for their children, naming all before God. We commit them to the Lord Jesus Christ and His keeping. We seek His blessing not only on each one of them but also on all those they may come in contact with during the day. Three of them are doctors and treat/operate on patients. We tell the Lord how critical is their part in the life and health of people who place them in their hands. As doctors they need wisdom, skill and ability which come from God alone to do their best for these poor people who trust them. The same is true of all those who in any profession or work, get involved with people and their affairs!

We pray for the young mothers in each of our families. We ask the Lord to give them wisdom and enablement from above to pray and bring each of their children in the fear and favour of the Lord and the people. It is no mean feat or easy task today to rear children who are far more energetic, active and bent on doing what their parents never did at their age! To discipline or not to discipline is itself a big problem to them because the knowledge of the age is at logger-heads with the wisdom of God!

But make no mistake, the parents who take their children, young or old, to the Lord Jesus Christ everyday will find that He never fails to place His hands on them and bless them. Children who are thus prayed for and nurtured before the Lord, before their very eyes and in their hearing, will not easily turn away from Him. Countless men and women will testify to the fact that it was their fathers’ prayers and mothers’ tears (and that of even their grandparents) that kept them from waywardness and in godliness.

I still can hear the loud cry of my old mother who prayed for her sons and daughters by name, though she went to be with the Lord at the age of 84 in the year 1990! The disciples prevented children from being brought to Jesus. But today many parents neglect or do not find time to bring their children to Jesus regularly to be blessed. How tragic it is for the dear children for whom the parents do everything else!

Pray with me: Dear Lord Jesus, as I bring myself to You each day in prayer, I bring my children too and even all the children I know. Stretch forth Your ever-willing and loving hands and bless each one! Amen.

So That All Might Believe

HE CAME AS A WITNESS TO TESTIFY CONCERNING THAT LIGHT, SO THAT THROUGH HIM ALL MEN MIGHT BELIEVE. JOHN 1.7

Six members of our family, including me, are members of the Gideon’s Association International. Gideons are solely committed to the free distribution of the Bible and New Testament all over the world. We are in over 180 countries and since our inception about 100 years ago, we have had the privilege to distribute 1.5 billion copies of the Bible and Scripture portions. Last year alone, 70 million copies were given out, mostly to hotels, hospitals and institutions of learning all over the world.

Today’s verse has special meaning to us Gideons who devote much money and time to spread ‘the light of the gospel through Jesus Christ in the world’. “Jesus came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe”. The Word of God affirms that each one of us, like John the Baptist, have come into this world for a witness, that others through us might believe in Jesus Christ. John found his niche. We, Gideons, have found ours.

I minister relentlessly among churches and my passion and burden is to see that all ‘Sunday Christians’, ‘Name-sake believers’, ‘Nominal Christians’ begin to live as ‘Everyday Christians’ in this dark world, bringing the light of Jesus Christ to every place we are and to every one we meet.

Dear child of God, privileged to live your time in this world, have you found your divine call from God? Whatever might be your vocation or work or state of life, don’t forget that you too have a destiny and a call like John the Baptist. It is to bear witness by your life and your words to the Lord Jesus Christ and to shine His light in your little corner of the world.

As you continue to read and meditate on these daily devotionals, may the Lord teach you to follow Him closely and become like Him and ‘fishers of men’ who touch the lives of others. You may forward these devotionals to as many Christian friends as you can, so that they too will come into their destiny in Christ. Then, we all together can make a difference in our world for Jesus Christ.

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, like John the Baptist and like every other Christian, I too have come into this world for a witness. Help me to bear witness to ‘the Light’ so that others through me might believe in You. Amen.

Jesus Is Alive

AFTER HIS SUFFERING HE SHOWED HIMSELF TO THESE MEN AND GAVE MANY CONVINCING PROOFS THAT HE WAS ALIVE. Acts 1.3.

What makes Christianity different from any other religion? The answer is the RISEN LORD JESUS CHRIST, our Leader! In my recent book there is a chapter entitled, “THE UNIQUE CHRIST”. It is not a mere boast by a set of bigoted followers. It is an attested fact of history which cannot be denied or refuted by anyone of any faith! Here is an excerpt from the book. It sets forth Christ as Unique (without comparison) and supreme, and above all other religious leaders, because He is alive.

JESUS CHRIST IS THE ONLY ONE WHO ROSE FROM THE DEAD!

Jesus rose from the dead on the third day as He said he would. The first to know about His resurrection, besides the angels, were Mary, His grieving mother, Mary Magdalene and their friends who went to the tomb to anoint His body. The same day Jesus appeared to the eleven disciples also (Jn 20). Indeed, Jesus was with the eleven disciples on a number of occasions, talking with them and at times eating too, proving to them that He was truly alive (Jn 21). The apostle Paul mentions in his writings that later Jesus appeared to more than five hundred of his disciples at one time of whom many were still alive at the time of his writing! (1 Cor 15.6).

JESUS CHRIST IS ALIVE AND IS WITH US TODAY

Jesus ascended to the Father in heaven and is now seated on the right hand of the throne of God (Act 1.9-11; Rev 5.1). From the Father, He sent down His own Spirit – the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity – to His disciples. Thus Jesus fulfilled His promise, “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (Mat 28.20). Jesus Christ is alive today, unlike any other great leader, religious or otherwise. He is able to hear and answer the prayers of everyone who calls on Him. Jesus asked His disciples to trust in Him and ask Him for whatever they needed (Jn 14.14). Not only that, the Bible says that He also intercedes to God the Father in heaven on our behalf (Heb 4.14-16; 7.25).

JESUS CHRIST IS COMING AGAIN TO RULE THE WORLD

Jesus is coming again to establish His kingdom on earth and reign over all people in righteousness and peace. At the trial of Jesus, the Jewish high priest asked, “Are you the Christ, the Son of God?” Jesus replied, “I say to you, in the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven” (Mt 26.63,64). Again Jesus said, “The Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done” (Mt 16.27).

This is how the apostle Paul in his famous chapter on resurrection puts it: “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God” (1 Cor 15.14,15).

Pray with me: Dear Lord Jesus, You proved to Your disciples by Your resurrection appearances and acts that You were really alive and with them. Hence, today I too can believe that You are with me always! Thank God for a LIVING SAVIOUR. Amen.

Put His Words Into Practice

EVERYONE WHO HEARS THESE WORDS OF MINE AND PUTS THEM INTO PRACTICE IS LIKE A WISE MAN WHO BUILT HIS HOUSE ON THE ROCK. Matthew 7.24.

We live in days when classes, lectures, seminars, and sermons are galore! Some you pay for while others are free. How soon the event is over! But it is of no one’s concern whether you make use of any of the knowledge received! Sadly, more often than not, the notes are chucked aside in the rush to get back to the routine of life. Whatever had gone into your mind is forgotten. All that you know is that sometime in the past you had attended some talk about something which you can now hardly recollect! Your money is gone, time is wasted and the sponsors have disappeared. You are none the wiser or better!

How different was Jesus when He taught His disciples and the people who followed Him! In simple words and stories they could relate to, Jesus taught the people the eternal truths. At the same time He was down to earth. Jesus clearly told them how to relate to the Father in heaven and to one another in love and peace. The people were amazed at His incomparable teachings.

But there was another great difference between the Jewish teachers and Jesus - He insisted that they not only hear His teachings but practise them. Do you know that even today, the Lord Jesus Christ would want you to go and do what He teaches us from the pulpit! To stress His point, Jesus told the familiar parable of the “wise man who built his house on the rock and the foolish man who built his house on the sand!”

Are you practicing what you hear from God’s Word each week? Sometime ago, I preached in my church of over 1,500 people. I spoke about the power of the Word of God to save and transform lives. They were challenged to begin to read and meditate on the Word daily in a disciplined manner. Later, I met in the foyer of the church an elderly friend who is also a devoted pastor, He told me, “I am going to start reading the Bible again!”

How I hope that you would be like my pastor friend! Act on what God has spoken to you. Start to practise it, even if it be only the beginning. Ask for the Holy Spirit’s help. Do not discount God-given messages. Do not waste the golden opportunities God gives you to be all that the He wants you to be!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, help me to heed Your Word. Let me “not merely listen to the word, and deceive myself, but do what it says” (Ja 1.22). Amen.

Do Not Let Sin Reign

DO NOT LET SIN REIGN IN YOUR MORTAL BODY, THAT YOU SHOULD OBEY IT IN ITS LUSTS. Romans 6.12.

Aren’t there times when you and I have felt that the temptations to sin are so strong that even if we do not want to sin but wish to escape, we are helpless? The temptations are so great that you cannot control your thoughts and actions. That is what the apostle Paul also felt in his early Christian life. He saw himself as a slave to his old desires, passions or lusts of the body and mind. Read Romans chapter 7 and you will easily identify yourself with Paul. Are you facing a similar situation with a besetting sin?

Do not think that sin is always ‘sexual’. There are numerous other ways in which Satan tempts you daily. Look at the long list in the Bible “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal 5.19-21).

When he was desperately tempted, the best thing Paul did was to cry out to God for help, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (Rom 7.24). Until then, Paul tried his best to fight his temptations in his own strength and determination! It was of no avail. Then he turned to God.

You and I should do what Paul did the next time we are faced with the onslaught of some temptation that besets us. Not that you shouldn’t try yourself to avoid the temptations and try the usual methods of escape the Bible teaches but resort to them as you cry out to God for quick deliverance. Then, like Paul you too can shout, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord, who gives us victory! (1 Cor 15.57).

Above all, we must heed Paul’s strong advice, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires”. Decide that you will not allow the sins that enslaved you before to make you a ‘sucker’ anymore. A moment of pleasure or gain of sin will result in sorrow, shame on you, your family and God, His displeasure and whatever consequences of sin, such as suffering or lack of blessings! Often it is the attitude that dictates the result - very much like ‘positive thinking!’ God will strengthen your determination.

Set your mind on things profitable and also spiritual and not on your evil desires. Unfortunately, we tend to think of our besetting sins more often than we meditate on or get involved in ‘good and godly things!

Pray with me: Dear Lord, Your Word says, “Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires” (Rom 8.5). Help me to set my mind on You and Your righteousness. Amen.

Follow You Like Sheep

HE GOES ON AHEAD OF THEM AND HIS SHEEP FOLLOW HIM BECAUSE THEY KNOW HIS VOICE. John 10.4.

It is one thing to know God’s Word but quite another to experience them in your life. One of our greatest problems, especially when we go through trouble, is that we are not so sure of the promises of the Lord’s love and compassion and His willingness to hear our prayers and cries. Even though you know and believe that God loves you and that you are His child and He has promised to be with you always and help you in time of need, you still doubt all these when you are in distress. You cry out but God doesn’t seem to answer quickly enough or not at all. “How could God leave us alone in our trouble?”, we moan.

There is only one answer. It is to find a stable and on-going relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd of your soul. You could trust in the Lord and live the rest of your life as a ‘nominal Christian or church member’ but it wouldn’t contribute to living a vibrant, day-to-day relationship with the Lord. A shallow knowledge, understanding and experience of the Lord will not help you very much in times of trouble!

What will really help you in all circumstances of life, good or bad which assail all of us, is to take the time and trouble to develop the kind of relationship the Lord Jesus Christ describes to us in today’s passage: 1) The sheep listen to His (the Lord’s) voice - Do you take time to listen to Him? Do it! 2) He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out - Do you wait on Him to call you and lead you or do you just get out and go your own way each day? 3) The Lord goes on ahead of them - Do you go without the Lord and look for Him only when you are in trouble? 4) His sheep follow Him - Do you know that you could really practice letting the Lord go before you each day and in every situation? It is safer. Try it! 5) They know His voice – To hear and know the Lord’s voice, you have to make time and spend time reading God’s Word. Just begin to do it! If you only wait to hear from preachers and prophets, you may miss ‘the Master’s Voice!’

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, my Good Shepherd, teach me to listen to Your voice and follow You like the poor sheep! You carry helpless lambs on Your shoulder. Carry me too. Amen.

No Discipline No Favor

JESUS GREW IN WISDOM AND STATURE, AND IN FAVOR WITH GOD AND MEN. Luke 2.52.

Not so long ago, my wife and I were with our daughter, her husband and their three children for a few days. We always look forward to short holidays with them because they are the only members of the family who are away in a different town. It gives us the opportunity to talk to them, find out how they all are getting on and give some ‘parental advice’ to each member. We also take time to share our lives with even the grand children and encourage them by telling about God’s goodness to our family for more than four generations.

We are extremely glad and thankful to God that our son-in-law, a surgeon, apart from his professional work is also actively involved along with his family in the church where they worship. Because of such responsibilities, we always exhort him, our daughter and their children to live lives that are exemplary before the believers and their neighbours. Sometimes my son-in-law gets exhausted with his work and his spiritual commitments and feels like giving up the latter. We give our wise and mature counsel and tell that the Lord wants all to ‘seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness. Jesus exhorted, ‘give to Caesar what is his and God what is His!’

Luke’s physician’s account of Jesus’ growth as a child always fascinates me. This is how he put it, “Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men”. As a medical doctor, I know well that stature as well as wisdom are from God alone. There is nothing one can do to increase these, except pray.

But parents, especially godly parents, have a great part in helping their children grow in ‘favour with men God and men. They can and should do it with great diligence. That’s how Jesus grew, even though he was only a child from a poor carpenter’s family in Galilee! Joseph and especially Mary, His mother, ‘kept many things about her son in her heart’ and acted wisely, the Gospels say. While honest Joseph groomed his young son to be the best carpenter in favour with the people, Mary His wise mother, disciplined Him at home spiritually, in favour with God.

The child Jesus “grew in favour with men’ too! Don’t miss the importance of what Luke didn’t forget to add! I am surprised and even shocked that today, many Christian parents do not care about this. The behaviour of some children is atrocious! Not only in their own house but even in stranger’s homes they are unruly, running around and pushing things, jumping on furniture and destroying everything in sight! Parents sit around and do nothing! Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it (Prov 22.6).

Dear Christian parent, don’t miss your God-given opportunity now! Don’t listen to today’s shifting ideas the world dishes out, ignoring God’s eternal Word and regret it tomorrow! TRAIN UP YOUR CHILD THROUGH DISCIPLINING! There no other way with children, believe me, a grandfather with 4 children and 13 grandchildren, and a family physician too for more than half a century! Let them earn the favour of God and the people. If you are a Christian young person, receive discipline from your parents and from God Himself through His Word.

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, help me to grow in wisdom and stature and in favour of God and men. Help me to train and discipline my children, even with a rod if necessary, as the Bible teaches, to grow like the child Jesus. Amen.

Pray Like Paul

WE ALWAYS THANK GOD FOR ALL OF YOU, MENTIONING YOU IN OUR PRAYERS. 1 Thessalonians 1.2.

Sometime ago, I was outstation for a few days, visiting my daughter and family. Even though on leave, I managed to keep up reading Bible passages for my daily meditation. The above passage in which the dear apostle Paul expressed his deep feeling of responsibility for the believers and his care and concern for them, touched a fresh chord in my soul. At times, before beginning to write the day’s devotionals, I specially take time to remember you before God, my devotional readers from all over the world, and make mention of you to Him, following the example of the great apostle.

Somehow, I feel that God in His providence has placed on me the burden of your souls, to feed, nourish and strengthen you that you will continue well to the end. I continue to “pray for you, asking God to: 1) Fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 2) That you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way; 3) Bearing fruit in every good work, 4) Growing in the knowledge of God, 5) Strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 6) Joyfully giving thanks to the Father” (Col 1.9-12).

The apostle Paul constantly thanked God for the believers, wherever they were, scattered all over Asia and Europe and belonging to churches, large and small, and consisting of Jews and Gentiles. Paul had a true shepherd’s or pastor’s heart. Otherwise, he could not have been constantly praying for the believers and mentioning them to God. Thank God for all the faithful servants, pastors and leaders of churches all across the world who labour day and night for the sheep under their care and above all, remember each one of them before the throne of grace of God.

Dear believer, God has called you to pray for all saints (Eph 6.18) and even for all people and their rulers (1 Tim 2.1,2). You too must begin to pray like Paul daily, not just for yourself but also for your fellow-believers! We need it do it for each other! The Lord Jesus Christ, ‘the head of the church’ (Eph 5.23) and the ‘Great Shepherd of the sheep’ (Heb 13.20) came from heaven to seek and to save sinners and make us saints unto God the Father. He has made you a leader of some sort, to God’s people: children, youngsters, adults and old people; small group or large. May the Lord give you His shepherd-heart so that you will be filled with love and compassion for each soul under your care. Thank God that His love is for the wayward and lost. His love is more for those within the church (Heb 9.14). The Bible says, “Jesus, having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love” (Jn 13.1). Those whom your God loves, you too must love and pray for! When Job began to intercede for his three friends, God turned his hitherto misery into blessing! It can be so for you too!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, give me a heart like that of the apostle Paul so that I will pray like him for all saints, instead of finding their faults. I ask in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

We Will Never Die

JESUS SAID, “THOSE WHO LIVE AND BELIEVE IN ME WILL NEVER DIE. DO YOU BELIEVE THIS?" John 11.26.

People do not think about death or fear death until they face the possibility of death. Yet, the number of people who buy life (death) insurance is not small! A friend of mine, a medical specialist, bought an insurance for one million pounds! He was drinking and smoking and dissipating his life as though he would never die! But he died young! Of course, he didn’t live to see his money. But as it happens, it became a boon to his distressed wife and young son.

Yes! Death is the only certainty in this life, as someone once said. The Bible also is in agreement with it. Only it adds more to it saying, “It is appointed unto man once to die and then the judgment” (Heb 9.27).

Even if you have bought a life insurance you will still die! But here is the promise of Jesus Christ that ‘if you believe in Him while you are alive and still here on earth you will not die!’ To die without Jesus is to die without hope and not knowing where you are heading to! Jesus Christ died and rose again, conquering death. Therefore, if you believe in Him, He will receive you when you die. His angels will carry you into His presence the moment your soul and spirit leave your body! That is what Jesus explained when He said, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Therefore those who believe in me will live, even though they die”. When you die, death will not be the end but the beginning of a new life with Christ in heaven. That is the joy and confidence of believing in Jesus now!

When Jesus said, ‘those who live and believe in me will never die’, He was not referring to your physical death which you cannot avoid. Rather He was speaking about ‘the death of your soul and spirit!’ No! They will never perish or die! The Bible says, “God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to be its judge, but to be its savior” (John 3.16,17).

Dear friend, have you believed in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God, your Saviour? If you have, you do not have to fear death. You will live with Christ for eternity even if you die here on earth! My friend who was eighty and in the ICU with a heart attack was scheduled for an angiogram and angioplasty. The cardiologist told him all about the risks at his age and in his condition. When I went to visit him and pray for him, it was encouraging to hear him express his confidence in life and in death because of Jesus Christ his Saviour who was dead and is alive forever more! You may be in the pink of health today, but tomorrow you may face the struggle of life and death! Are you living in a day to day abiding faith in the risen Christ that will assure you of the victory that overcomes death?

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, help me to keep my faith alive and active in this life so that I will be assured of a wonderful life with You in ‘paradise’ after death. Amen.

Do You Believe This?

JESUS SAID, “THOSE WHO LIVE AND BELIEVE IN ME WILL NEVER DIE. DO YOU BELIEVE THIS?" John 11.26.

People do not think about death or fear death until they face the possibility of death. Yet, the number of people who buy life (death) insurance is not small! A friend of mine, a medical specialist, bought an insurance for one million pounds! He was drinking and smoking and dissipating his life as though he would never die! But he died young! Of course, he didn’t live to see his money. But as it happens, it became a boon to his distressed wife and young son.

Yes! Death is the only certainty in this life, as someone once said. The Bible also is in agreement with it. Only it adds more to it saying, “It is appointed unto man once to die and then the judgment” (Heb 9.27).

Even if you have bought a life insurance you will still die! But here is the promise of Jesus Christ that ‘if you believe in Him while you are alive and still here on earth you will not die!’ To die without Jesus is to die without hope and not knowing where you are heading to! Jesus Christ died and rose again, conquering death. Therefore, if you believe in Him, He will receive you when you die. His angels will carry you into His presence the moment your soul and spirit leave your body! That is what Jesus explained when He said, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Therefore those who believe in me will live, even though they die”. When you die, death will not be the end but the beginning of a new life with Christ in heaven. That is the joy and confidence of believing in Jesus now!

When Jesus said, ‘those who live and believe in me will never die’, He was not referring to your physical death which you cannot avoid. Rather He was speaking about ‘the death of your soul and spirit!’ No! They will never perish or die! The Bible says, “God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to be its judge, but to be its savior” (John 3.16,17).

Dear friend, have you believed in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God, your Saviour? If you have, you do not have to fear death. You will live with Christ for eternity even if you die here on earth! My friend who was eighty and in the ICU with a heart attack was scheduled for an angiogram and angioplasty. The cardiologist told him all about the risks at his age and in his condition. When I went to visit him and pray for him, it was encouraging to hear him express his confidence in life and in death because of Jesus Christ his Saviour who was dead and is alive forever more! You may be in the pink of health today, but tomorrow you may face the struggle of life and death! Are you living in a day to day abiding faith in the risen Christ that will assure you of the victory that overcomes death?

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, help me to keep my faith alive and active in this life so that I will be assured of a wonderful life with You in ‘paradise’ after death. Amen.

Ask & Receive

FOR EVERYONE WHO ASKS WILL RECEIVE, AND ANYONE WHO SEEKS WILL FIND, AND THE DOOR WILL BE OPENED TO THOSE WHO KNOCK. Matthew 7.8.

I am against those who tout ‘riches for faith’ or ‘healing for believing in God’! Don’t these add fuel to the non-Christian critique against coercive conversions? However, one of the fundamental reasons why man believes in God is because he is helpless and he needs help!’ He needs help spiritually most of all and emotionally, physically and materially. God is more interested in the soul than body, and righteousness than unrighteous mammon.

The truth is that you and I are helpless creatures, though we may be reluctant to admit it. You might boast in your self-sufficiency in health, wealth, intellect, power and achievements. You may not believe in God or ignore Him in your everyday life. But it is all for a time only! The other day, I went to one of our local hospitals to visit a dear old friend and a fellow Christian. Two nights later, suddenly, he had a mild attack of chest pain and sweating. The heart specialist who looked after him told me that he had a serious ‘heart attack’. I spent some time with him and prayed for him with anointing of oil as I always do in obedience to the Word of God (Ja5.14,15).

My friend is eighty plus and until lately he had never visited a doctor or been admitted to a hospital, even though all his working life he carried a health insurance cover. But things suddenly changed as it usually does. Are you prepared for it? You need God desperately, like everyone else who gets into trouble beyond their power to get out!

How wonderful it is that our God is more than willing to help. In today’s passage, we have one of the greatest promises of the Lord Jesus Christ to His disciples to answer their prayers. It is not a reluctant God we find here who is unwilling and stingy with His answers. Jesus repeatedly said in different ways, how willing and ready God is to hear the prayers of His children. Listen, to His Words that it may build your faith. “Ask, and you will receive; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks will receive, and anyone who seeks will find, and the door will be opened to those who knock”. He compared prayer to “asking, seeking and knocking”. It shows the increasing degree of desperateness of the plaintiff and the intensity of the need.

Our compassionate and loving Lord Jesus, knowing the doubts and weakness of their faith in prayer, gave the disciples a very convincing argument by relating a common experience with which all were familiar. He asked, “Would any of you who are fathers give your son a stone when he asks for bread? Or would you give him a snake when he asks for a fish? As bad as you are, you know how to give good things to your children. How much more, then, will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him! (vs 9, 10,11).

Dear believer, if you cannot trust God and believe His simple promise, “Ask, and you will receive”, your faith is not of much use to you or others!’ Simply trust God and keep on asking until you receive. Receive you will, in God’s time and in His way. God is faithful, He cannot lie (Heb 10.23; Tit 1.2).

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, help me to believe in Your plain and simple promise and keep on praying and not give up. Amen.

Battle In The Flesh

WHILE WE WERE LIVING IN THE FLESH, OUR SINFUL PASSIONS, AROUSED BY THE LAW, WERE AT WORK IN OUR MEMBERS TO BEAR FRUIT FOR DEATH. Romans 7.5

When we were children, during family devotions, our parents used to skip reading certain portions of the Bible that were ‘adult x-rated stuff’ (we didn’t know it then). Being inquisitive and naughty like all children, we used to read them secretly. That was how we came to learn about ‘sodomy, homosexuality, lesbianism, incest and even bestiality!’ The Bible teaches us God’s laws, commandments or instructions that forbid the common sins as well as these queer ones. The apostle Paul explains in today’s text how the law works to our disadvantage before our conversion. The passions of our fleshly nature are aroused by the knowledge of sin through the law and tempts us to indulge in them! The righteous laws of God bring sin and death to the unbeliever!

But thank God the knowledge of the commandments of God works differently and brings righteousness, life and blessings to the believer! It is the lack of knowledge that causes us, the people of God, to perish! (Pro 29.18). Last Sunday, I was teaching a class of men, both young and old ones, “Holiness – overcoming temptation”. The day’s lesson was focused on “overcoming sexual sins”. I said that one of the main reasons for our falling into different kinds of sexual immorality is because of our ignorance of the law or because we do not what all constitutes such sins!

I told the story of a grown-up girl who attended a seminar in “Holiness – overcoming temptation” held by Bruce Wilkinson in a hotel. During the course, the girl happened to meet Bruce and tell him how she enjoyed the sessions. She said that she was there with her boy-friend of five years, who was not a Christian and not a participant. Naturally Bruce asked her, “So, you are not a Christian?” To his utter amazement she said she was! She was active in her church and taught in Sunday School!

When Bruce showed her from the Bible that she was disobeying God’s clear commandment not to commit ‘fornication’ (sexual acts between unmarried partners), she quickly admitted, “Then what I am doing is sin!” My church and my leaders never taught me that it is a sin! I never knew!

You and I sometimes commit sins because we do not know God’s law – what is right and what is wrong. Many young believers begin to date early and commit fornication like their worldly counterparts because they are not taught that it is sin. Older ones indulge in pornography through magazines and the internet because they are not sure and have no conviction that it is sin. Even pastors get trapped in this modern evil! Lustfully looking at nakedness in ‘person or picture’ is sin. There are many Christians who do not know that greed is idolatory; anger is murder; lust in thought and flirting is adultery; gambling is not trusting God; drinking, smoking and drugs are sins for it destroys the body which is the temple of God (1 Cor 6.9-11).

Pray with me: Dear Lord, help me to learn like David to hide Your law in my heart so that I will not sin against You (Psa 119.11). Let me be like Joseph of old, who knew God’s law and hence stood firm and did not sin against God! Amen.

I Will Come To You

I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU COMFORTLESS: I WILL COME TO YOU. John 14.18.

It was Sunday. The church was full of people. Being one of the biggest churches, literally thousands came in, all kinds of people with every imaginable need! They were all mostly believers. They came to worship God in His temple. But we come into the presence of the Almighty and our blessed Saviour also because we trust in God’s promises to meet our needs and rely on His compassion.

Every weekend and especially on the Lord’s Day morning, we make time to pray for the blessing of every Sunday Service everywhere, including ours. We plead for the Lord’s manifest presence and power in our midst so that none who comes into His sanctuary will leave without a touch from the Lord. We pray that all may receive forgiveness, healing and restoration of body, soul and spirit.

In our church, as part of our service, we have a special time to pray for the needs of God’s distressed people. Every Sunday, a very large group of needy ones of all ages stand up for prayer. Sometimes they come to the altar for prayer. It is a privilege to lay hands on some of them and pray. I make it a practise to anoint the sick ones with oil and pray, as the Scripture teaches.

In such helplessness and need, the parting words of our dear Lord Jesus Christ to the disciples and to us is greatly encouraging: “I will not leave you comfortless or as orphans; I will come to you”. How comforting it is to you and me who are in various needs and are even badly hurting! The Lord has for us more words of consolation and some great promises too! Listen to some, dear child of God: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me” (Jn 14.1). “You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it” (Jn 14.13). “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (Jn 16.33).

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, I thank You for Your words of comfort and cheer. In my troubles grant me Your peace that passes human understanding. Your overcoming presence and power be with me always as You have promised. Amen.

Jealousy & Quarreling

SINCE THERE IS JEALOUSY AND QUARRELING AMONG YOU, ARE YOU NOT WORLDLY? 1 Corinthians 3.3.

One of our readers, a dear sister, wrote to me a disturbing letter with a heavy heart. She is a young Christian. She and her friends were attending a local church. Then the church had problems with the pastor because of financial and moral scandals. The pastor was asked to step down until they investigated the issues.

This poor sister and her friends, not wanting to take sides or get involved in church politics, went to another church in the locality. Unfortunately, there were strife, divisions and parties in that church too! The pastor too was not without blame. She wrote and asked, “Do the standards set for the leadership in the church in the epistles to Timothy and Titus still apply or not?”

In these days, churches are mushrooming in every corner of nations all across the world through the initiative of energetic young men and women with a vision and passion to serve God and men. This should be a matter of great joy and pride to every Christian.

However, there are churches established by disgruntled, dissatisfied and disappointed leaders! This doesn’t include those established by scandalous leaders who have been disciplined, thrown out or who have taken off by themselves. Quite often it is true that the people who join these newly established churches are also members from other churches with similar problems in their own lives! In many new churches, the members are like the men in the army of David when he was a fugitive! “All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their leader. About four hundred men were with him” (1 Samuel 22.2). All these make for a very explosive situation in some churches.

Any Christian who is young or old who wants to join a new church in his or her locality should be wise enough to do some research as to the background of the church. In addition, it is good to go to that church for a period of time to find out more about its leadership, teachings, practice and fellowship. Not all churches are the same!

The church you choose to go to must be one that teaches the Bible and holds fast its precepts and practices literally, both by its leadership and members. It must be a church where there is visible love and unity among the people and the leaders. Look for a church with leaders who show care and concern for the people and are willing to shepherd them. It must be a lively church with active worship of God in truth and Spirit. The church should be a place where your spiritual as well as social and physical needs and that of your family are met. If you are young or you have young children, you must look for a church with an active young congregation. Avoid any church where there is a party spirit or rivalry. Join a church not to cause problems but to build it up with your prayerful support and hearty cooperation.

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, I pray for a good church (if you are looking for one) where Christ is honoured, the Bible is taught and people are cared for. Lord, bless my church and make it reflect more and more of Your love and compassion and purity. Lord, show me ways in which I can contribute towards that end. Amen.

Teach Me To Pray

I PRAYED FOR THIS CHILD AND THE LORD HAS GRANTED ME WHAT I ASKED OF HIM. 1 Samuel 1.17.

Often when we have our family prayer, I pray for our needs and remember the needy and distressed people of God. As I do so, I become acutely conscious also of all the millions of needy and desperate in our world, who do not know the Lord. Hence, I pray to the Lord to remember them too. They also pray, but to gods whom they do not know and who cannot help!

Where do their prayers go? God said, “Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any” (Isa 44.8). I argue with myself and set my mind at ease by hoping that the prayers of all people ‘addressed to any god’ will find their way to the throne of our LORD GOD ALMIGHTY who alone hears prayers! How else can you explain the answers to the prayers to the pagan gods who have no existence? The psalmist once said to the Lord, “O you who hear prayer, to you all men will come” (Psa 65.2). Sadly these people go back to their temple-gods to offer ‘thanksgiving!’ I pray that somehow God would let these people know that HE ALONE IS GOD!

“The Lord granted me what I asked of Him!”, said Hannah. Poor old Jabez ‘who was the name-sake’ of pain, cried out to the God of Israel. The Lord granted his request (1 Chr 4.10) I am thrilled to hear such testimonies from mouths of God’s needy and desperate people!

Dear believer, are you searching for the secret of answered prayers? Let us learn from Hannah the secret of prayer that lets God grant our requests. She went through the school of prayer unlike us who depend on teaching, preaching, and seminars! Necessity, desperateness and urgency are the mother of all secrets of prayer! You will never learn to pray as you ought to unless you too are needy. That is why adversity is a greater teacher in the school of prayer than prosperity. We do not have to invite trouble. But we must use every trial to soar higher in prayer and petition, towards the throne of grace.

1) Hannah fasted. The very first thing we learn from Hannah is that she couldn’t eat or enjoy food, for her need was too great. Fasting reveals the intensity of our need. 2) She cried to God. Crying out to God demonstrates the degree of distress of our soul. 3) She groaned in her spirit. ‘The inward groaning by the Spirit that cannot be uttered’ contrasts greatly with loud prayers and shouts we are accustomed to today. Ignorantly we assume that the louder the prayer, the more attentive God will be! God who spoke to Elijah in the ‘still small voice’ listened to Hannah’s unuttered pleadings.

Notice that all the three essentials of Hannah’s prayer were “God-ward!” I had the rare privilege to learn these lessons as a boy from my grandfather. He was just an ordinary school teacher. But he had a testimony of being a man great in faith and prayer! Our folly has been and still is that WE DO NOT PRAY ENOUGH! DEAR BELIEVER, JUST PRAY! KEEP ON PRAYING. PRAY FOR EVERYTHING!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, teach me ‘to pray’ not ‘how to pray’ - for myself and all others! When the need is great, Lord teach me to pray like Hannah, AND YOURSELF! Amen.

Have Seen A Great Light

THE PEOPLE WALKING IN DARKNESS HAVE SEEN A GREAT LIGHT; ON THOSE LIVING IN THE LAND OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH A LIGHT HAS DAWNED. Isaiah 9.2.

The other day, my wife and I with some of our children and grandchildren went to a big city mall and spent the day there. Being a holiday, the mall was jam-packed. Thousands of youngsters, boys and girls with a sprinkling of older ones, roamed the place. No one would have thought that there was anything wrong with our world! But the truth is far from it.

Our newspapers reported lately that according to a recent survey, more than 98 per cent of lower high school students had engaged in sexual exploits. A staff of mine came to me crying that her little daughter was sexually abused by her own older brother. A friend complained that her handsome son is constantly pestered by college girls looking for sexual encounters. A Christian mother complained that her son brought his girlfriend home to stay in his room overnight.

Crime and violence are on the increase day by day and it is happening in every country. Epidemics and malignant diseases are on the increase. Mudslides in Flores, Indonesia, earthquakes in Japan and Sumatra, and floods in Malaysia, India and China, are taking the lives of countless people, injuring many and making thousands suddenly homeless.

People are walking in the darkness of sin and shame. Many are living in the shadow of sickness and death. Things have been the same ever since the dawn of man. But thank God, Jesus Christ, His Son, came into the human scene two thousand years ago. It is the one central, undeniable fact of history! Of that the Bible declared, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned”.

I received an e-mail from a dear reader I do not know. Here is an excerpt: “Thank you for your emails with instruction and encouragement. I am an American living in Florida, married with five grown children. I take care of my wife’s parents in our home and they have many health conditions which require long hours of attending to them”.

Jesus came and died on the cross of Calvary for our sin and sickness. He rose again on the third day and ascended into heaven and lives forever as our mediator. Jesus gave you and I His light to carry and His life to share with our sin-stricken, dark and dying world. You could project His light and purity among others. Look out for the opportunities that God gives you each day!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, let me be like You. Make me do something for others each day to dispel their darkness, remove their distress, and bring life and joy. Amen.

You Are Building Church

JESUS SAID, I TELL YOU THAT YOU ARE PETER, ON THIS ROCK I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH, AND THE GATES OF HADES WILL NOT OVERCOME IT. Matthew 16.18

Many have a problem with this statement of the Lord Jesus Christ. They think that Jesus said that Peter is the rock on which He will build His Church. The Roman Catholic Church has made Peter its first pope! But there were no popes until several centuries after the church at Jerusalem first began on the Day of Pentecost!

Did Jesus really say that He would build His Church on Peter, His disciple? No! Let me refer you to RYRIE’S BIBLE NOTES: Vs. 16:18 Thou art Peter. The name Peter (Gk., Petros) means "rock" or "rock-man." In the next phrase Christ used petra (upon this rock), a feminine form for "rock," not a name. Christ did not say "upon you, Peter" or "upon your successors," He will build His church. But "upon this rock"--upon this divine revelation and profession of faith in Christ uttered by Simon Peter, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Mt 16.16).

Jesus began to build His church on Himself. All the apostles, including Peter, built on that sure foundation. The apostle Paul said “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 3.11). Peter himself said that Jesus Christ is the chief corner stone! (1 Pe 2.6).

Whatever faults and failures you may find in the Church: strife, division, financial and sex scandals, immorality and perversions coupled with all kinds of false doctrines, teaching and practices, you may be sure of one thing, “Jesus Christ has loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless at His appearing!”(Eph 5.25-27).

You are called of the Lord to be a co-worker with God. You too are building His Church on earth. The kind of life you live as a member of Christ’s church in this world before the people, either builds or destroys it. Therefore the Word says, “But each one should be careful how he builds. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames” (1 Cor 3.10, 12-15).

Dear believer, this is not some fancy stuff for the faithful Christians only! It is the reality! It concerns your everyday life in this world! It determines your eternal destiny. It influences the lives of others for eternity. You are either building the Church or destroying it. So be careful how you live each day.

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, I am a member of Your Church. Help me to understand that I am building it or destroying it every day by the way I live. Help me to be careful how I live. Amen.

Let Your Light Shine

LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE BEFORE MEN, THAT THEY MAY SEE YOUR GOOD DEEDS AND PRAISE YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN. Matthew 5.16.

When we children became adults and responsible persons, our aim was to do things that made our father proud. A long time ago, I was a young medical doctor working in a Mission Hospital in Kerala, S. India. We used to get a steady stream of Christians coming for medical treatment. When they knew that I was the eldest son of Mr. P.V. George, one of the well-known Christian leaders, their faces shone with pride. I was the first medical graduate from our churches and that added to their joy. They would speak often in a gratifying way to my father that I took interest in them and treated them well. It made my father happy and proud too!

Often when people meet elderly persons, they tend to ask, “How are your children?” They expect the children to have achieved something in life and be doing good to others. When they do so, children bring credit, glory and honour to the parents. King Solomon once said, “the glory of sons is their fathers” (Prov 17.6 NASB). The glory of the fathers is their sons and daughters!

Meditating on the Lord’s command to us, “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven”, I thought to myself: “Isn’t our heavenly father just like us, earthly parents?” Like us, He too expects you and I “to do good deeds to men!” For it causes people to give Him praise.

Sadly, many Christians are leading careless lives and doing things that bring discredit to their Father in heaven.

Dear believer, how about you? Are you diligently doing things that will glorify your Heavenly Father and make Him proud of you? You come across people everyday in whatever you are doing. Are you using the opportunities to do good as often you can to as many as possible? Remember, it will make your earthly father proud, but much more than that, it will glorify your Father in heaven. Do it!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, help me to be always mindful of doing good to everyone around me so that they will thank and praise You for me. Amen.

Husband & Wife

HUSBANDS BE CONSIDERATE AS YOU LIVE WITH YOUR WIVES, AND TREAT THEM WITH RESPECT AS THE WEAKER PARTNER and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers. 1 Peter 3.7.

Often I hesitate to write about biblical topics of contention or matters relating to today’s ‘interest groups’. There are issues that even the best theological minds and great leaders are unable to settle. I just watched a report on CNN about the momentous gathering of the Anglican leaders in UK to discuss about ‘the gay and women bishops!’ How would the Church of Jesus Christ and His followers seek answers to these contentious and vexing issues without fighting and division?

Let us take for instance today’s scriptural injunction: “Husbands, be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner”. Wives will agree to most of what the apostle Peter said. Husbands must be considerate to the wives. They must respect them. They must consider them as co-heirs of the gift of life.

But today, no woman wants men to consider her as the weaker sex or as more delicate! Women have proved their ability in education, sports, business and even as astronauts. How then should the husbands consider their wives and treat them?

It is a pity that Christians have no qualms in accepting the world’s changing standards of the society. Yet a billon Muslims are proud to say that ‘they are the people of the Book and they do not amend their Koran or its teachings to suit the society! Those who do will be put to death as heretics. We Christians too are ‘the people of the Book!’ But every generation of Christians is fretting to amend the precepts of the Bible to suit the changing standards of the society! One wonders why it is ‘these liberals’ (I want to be gracious and not call them ‘heretics’) do not start a new religion, have their own scriptures and leave us and our Bible alone!

The biblical injunction to husbands and wives are not only important to them but the whole family. If their relationship is not in total obedience to God’s Word, the lives of the children and other family members too will shattered. Just because your wife is stronger, wiser, more qualified, holds a job much higher than yours and gets ten times your salary, it is foolish to discard the biblical injunction to ‘treat your wife with respect as the weaker partner’. It would be disastrous for her to feel otherwise and show it in her attitude, inviting from you a careless and harsh attitude and rough treatment!

Dear married believer, it would be the beginning of the end of a biblical ‘husband and wife relationship’. It would destroy your prayer together and with your children. And of course, God who sees the disunity and the animosity wouldn’t care much to answer, even if you ‘manage to pray together’. Sadly, your individual prayer too will be hindered because of the lack of love, inconsideration, jealousy and strife that fills your life.

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, teach me to take seriously Your Word, “I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 5.18-24). Amen.

Don't Lift Against Master

I WILL NOT LIFT MY HAND AGAINST MY MASTER, BECAUSE HE IS THE LORD'S ANOINTED. 1 Samuel 24.10.

I know of a church which went through a period of great stress because of an unnecessary fight between the pastor and his congregation. Humility and Wisdom on the part of the young pastor, instead of asserting that he was the spokesman for God, could have saved the day! It was very sad that the believers had to act against their leader. Such things are happening all the time. Allegations against even internationally known leaders of exceedingly fabulous lifestyles and gross immorality have become common. These have become matters of contention! One safeguard is for every pastor or leader to have at least one counsellor or mentor who is an older, mature and wise believer of repute, and to seek his counsel constantly and be willing to abide by it!

We live in days of confrontations of children against parents, pupils against teachers, employees against bosses and the people against leaders and government. While some of these confrontations are unnecessary, there are others which are legitimate and even necessary. Whether Christians should get involved in confrontations is an age-old question with no foolproof answers. We need divine wisdom and patience not to do what is wrong and boldness to do what is right!

Did David do the right thing in not killing his enemy King Saul, but sparing his life when he was hunting him down like a poor fox? Listen to David’s men, "This is the day the LORD spoke of when he said to you, 'I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish'". If God had really reckoned Saul as David’s enemy, which he was, and decided to give him into David’s hand, do you think that David was wise in sparing his life?

There were many paradoxes in David’s life which are hard to understand. Certainly, there were times when David acted foolishly and sentimentally, and when he did things impulsively and rashly. Had it not been for the counsel of some of his trusted friends, he would have even perished or lost favour with the people. Being children of God is no guarantee that we will always act wisely. We need to seek wise counsel and God’s will every time and in all situations. Where as once people sought the counsel of God and godly leaders and heeded it, today no one wants to take counsel, though we have access to even professional counsellors.

Dear believer, here is some wise counsel from today’s lesson:

- God has a plan for you. Wait for His time for things to happen.
- Do not fret and try to take things in your hand too quickly to accomplish God’s plan for you.
- Whatever it is, don’t ever adopt wicked, crooked or violent methods to fulfill God’s plan sooner!
- When it is time to act, do not hesitate or postpone doing things, assuming an attitude of false piety or surrender to God.
- Acting when the opportunity presents shows your confidence in God.
- If you are not convinced, it is better to wait for God than hurry.
- No one has really lost out because he waited!
- Many have messed up their lives by going ahead of God’s time.
- Beware when one has to speak or act against a leader. Make sure that you have heard God well and followed biblical injunctions.
- Make sure that you have consulted one or more mature leaders, like pastors or elders.

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, save me from self-righteousness and self-will. Grant me wisdom to know what to do and what not to do. Sometimes I do not know what is right. Teach me Your way. Lead me in paths of righteousness. Amen.

Come Follow Jesus

COME FOLLOW ME, JESUS SAID, AND I WILL MAKE YOU FISHERS OF MEN Matthew 4.19

A few of us, members of our church, were having a discussion during supper after our Home fellowship. The topic was interesting. A friend insisted that following Jesus Christ will and should bring health, wealth and prosperity. He said, all the Old Testament patriarchs and other saints were all immensely rich. It should be the pattern for all Christians today. If not, why should we have all the good promises of the Bible? If we live godly lives then we shouldn’t suffer any deprivation or disease!

This, by the way, is a ‘shallow belief ‘ that is unfortunately being taught and propagated by many today! We ignorantly neglect the stark reality of millions of Christians suffering and dying of starvation and disease in the poor nations of Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Whatever the Old Testament promised, when the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came into the world, it was the Lord of Glory assuming the lowly state of a poor carpenter’s son in Galilee. He never knew wealth or prosperity. When a well-to-do lawyer told Jesus, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go”, Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head" (Mt 8.19,20).

Dear believer, the call of Jesus is clear “Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men." However, some of today’s affluent Christians of our wealthy nations are more interested in Jesus Christ making them healthy, wealthy and prosperous rather than following His footsteps and becoming like Him . We are more keen in enjoying our own lives than wanting the Lord to make us ‘fishers of men’, reaching out to the lost men, women and children around us! Seek first God’s kingdom and follow Jesus everyday and He will take care of you if you trust Him!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, whatever wrong notions I had about following You or becoming a Christian, I cast them away. I hear Your call afresh, “Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men." I commit myself to following You and reaching others. Amen.