Friday, November 30, 2007

Look Up To The Sky!

LOOK UP AT THE SKY WHO CREATED THE STARS YOU SEE? The one who leads them out like an army, he knows how many there are and calls each one by name! His power is so great--- not one of them is ever missing! Isaiah 40.29.

Many a time what I write in my devotionals are my soliloquies (solitary communion) with my God! This is particularly so when the Bible passage I am dealing with is complex and its meaning unfathomable! At other times, it is about some puzzling situation in life for which I am searching for answers from God for myself. When you feel a oneness with me as you read, it is because you are human like me and we are all in the same boat that is threatened by the storms of life. We are looking for an anchor!

How glad we should be that there is an Anchor for us in our great and awesome God, the creator and sustainer of all things! His mighty power is revealed in the Bible so clearly in many places. He manifested this in His many deeds throughout the history of peoples.

Yet, it is a great puzzle to us today as we face ‘impossible situations’ and God’s help does not arrive as we cry out! That is the enigma (mystery) of our present life of faith. Until our faith is turned to sight in eternity and our doubts vanish, we have to cling on to our Almighty God and His Word. In times of severe testing of faith, you need to reassure yourself over and over again by the unchanging Word that you are not alone. That the Lord God Almighty is with you. He is able to deliver you or take you through! You shouldn’t base your faith on your experiences. The foundation of your faith must be established on the eternal Word of God that abides forever!

In the Old Testament God told His people, Israel, “There is no one like your God, who rides on the heavens to help you and on the clouds in his majesty. The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deut 33.26,27). In the New Testament our God is described as “the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (Jas 1.17).

When you are buffeted by the storms of life and your faith in God is wavering and you are full of doubt, read the majestic description of our incomparably great God, in chapter 40 of Isaiah's prophecy. The words of the prophecy is most eloquent and beautifully poetic, yet extremely truthful. The Lord God knows your problems and pain and he hears your complaints and cry. Here is what He says to you, “Why do you complain that the LORD doesn't know your troubles or care if you suffer injustice? Don't you know? Haven't you heard? The LORD is the everlasting God; he created all the world. He never grows tired or weary. No one understands his thoughts” (vs 27-28).

Dear believer, the next time or maybe even now as you are sorely perplexed and puzzled over your trials and you are wavering in your faith, why not get out somewhere in the open at night and “look up to the sky! Ask yourself, ‘Who created the stars you see? The one who leads them out like an army, he knows how many there are and calls each one by name! His power is so great--- not one of them is ever missing!" Do not come away until you are convinced that 'Your God is great and He knows you and He is able to lead you', and begin to praise Him!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, my problems overwhelm me! But let Your power and love amaze me and cause me to cry out, “Lord, I believe You can help me. Increase my faith. Help my unbelief!” Amen.

Don't Rely On Own Wisdom

TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART. NEVER RELY ON WHAT YOU THINK YOU KNOW. Proverbs 3.5.

If you need wisdom, read the Book of Proverbs. Even if you do not read it daily, make it a point to read a few chapters now and then! It is bursting with wisdom – divine wisdom. Some say the wise King Solomon collected all the wise sayings of the world and made it into a book. The frequent mention of his son, suggests that Solomon wrote it mainly for his own son. However, as you read through it, you will come to the realisation that it is not merely man’s wisdom but Divine Wisdom! Look for instance at the proverb, “The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom” (Pro 9.10). No worldly wise man would admit to such a divine statement!

Much of the sayings and teachings are about seeking, acquiring and applying the wisdom of God in one’s life. Solomon was desperate in pleading with his son to listen to him and to his mother, and to learn wisdom from them. Having learned invaluable lessons through real-life experiences, and many of them through mistakes, the anxious father pleads with his son not to repeat what he encountered. The saying that ‘history repeats itself but man never learns’ is very true. But it is utter foolishness for a man to repeat his own foolishness or that of his father!

Have you ever thought why you repeat foolishness, ours or that of others? Consider today’s Bible text – “NEVER RELY ON WHAT YOU THINK YOU KNOW”. Most translations have it as, “never lean on your own understanding”. It is natural that you make your decision based on what you know or what you have heard! But the truth is that the information or knowledge on which your decision is based may be flawed or totally wrong! We live in the ‘information age’ and we get all kinds of knowledge through the media, literature and especially the internet. However, only those who are wise know that the information we obtain may be right or wrong and act accordingly.

But when you read the Book of Proverbs from the Word of God, written by inspired writers, it is distilled and pure wisdom from the mind of God and from the oven of life. It can never be wrong. Hence, listen to Solomon when he says, ”My child, don't forget what I teach you. Always remember what I tell you to do. My teaching will give you a long and prosperous life… “Never rely on what you think you know” (vs 1,2). Instead, he counsels him to “Trust in the LORD with all your heart”.

Dear believer, in an age when there are all kinds of voices calling for your attention and compliance, you need to decide on the course of action you are going to take on any issue. Never let yourself think that you are wiser than everyone, even God's Word. Simply obey the LORD and refuse to do wrong. Relying on the instruction of God’s Word and the wisdom of divine maturity will be your salvation instead of sorrow and disappointment.

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, help me to trust in YOU with all my heart and never rely on what I think I know! Help me to daily read and meditate on Your Word so that I will obey it. Amen.

We Are Equal

THE SHARE OF THOSE WHO GO INTO BATTLE MUST BE LIKE THE SHARE OF THOSE WHO STAY WITH THE SUPPLIES. 1 Samuel 30.24.

The text from the Bible that we are considering deals primarily with the soldiers, those on the battlefield and others in the barracks. It was a splendid principle that David set up for the army. But it has a parallel in our modern-day family and society life.

Sometime ago, I was writing the manuscript of my book on “witnessing in the market place”. The work of women in the house and mothers at home seemed to me as important or even more important than the work the men folk accomplish in the offices. But, how do we Christians consider our womenfolk who stay at home and hold that front for us? We men are out working all day and night and we leave our children entirely under the care of our wives. For long, they have been subjugated, doing supposedly ‘a menial kind of task’. They were belittled by the common name we gave them – ‘housewives!’ It is time that we Christians take a radical step toward the proper recognition of our wives and mothers.

A good principle to apply could be borrowed from the rule that David prescribed for his army. We Christians are in the Lord’s army. While the men are on the battlefront our women are holding the fort for us! They are not only the keepers of our belongings but more importantly they are the keepers and trainers of our children. They must be given equal status and more respect than ever.

The duties they perform, the responsibilities they carry and the blessings they are capable of bringing are enumerated in the excerpt from my book given below: “There are few places as strategically important to us as our homes where mothers work. It is their workplace or ‘marketplace’. Hence they form more than half of the world’s workforce. It is there that the lives of our future generations are moulded and their destinies settled for this world and for the next! If only the world had never coined that belittling name ‘housewives’ for that noble and honourable profession of ‘mothers and homemakers”, we would have given them more respect and mothers would have had more self-pride.

Homemakers or mothers should be proud of their profession for it is their divine calling! They should consider their homes their God-ordained domain and thank God for it. Every member of the family is a gracious gift from your Father in heaven to be loved and cherished with utmost care. It is the mother’s divine duty to pray for, feed, clothe, guide, train and help each one to develop to his or her highest potential in God. Together with her godly husband, she must accomplish this.

When her worldly, non-Christian counterparts swear and curse at every chore they have to do, the godly mother must view each task as a deed done unto God and a divine duty performed for the welfare of the members of her ‘home church’. The Lord has made her ‘the lady bishop or pastor’ of her little flock and she must give God an account for each one. In the measure of the gravity and responsibility with which she accepts and discharges her God-given duties, she will be respected by her family members, her church and the society, and richly rewarded by God!”

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, You created us man and woman and gave us our separate functions to perform. Help us to mutually respect and equally share our rewards. Amen.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

God Will Forgive

I WILL FORGIVE THEIR SINS AND FORGET THE EVIL THINGS THEY HAVE DONE. Jeremiah 31.34.

I came to know the Lord as my Saviour as a small boy through my mother and grandmother who were godly, praying women. Naturally, there weren’t many 'so-called great sins' that I had committed before that! But there were enough bad things I had done! I was a child of God and I knew as a child of God, I shouldn’t sin. But I had just started my life as a boy and I knew that I was going to confront all kinds of temptations and sins one by one. So I always prayed to God to keep me from sin. When I did sin, I quickly asked for forgiveness. I know that God has forgiven all my sins, since my youth upwards!

I am particularly glad for God’s promise in today’s text: “I will forgive their sins and forget the evil things they have done”. Remember prophet Micah saying, “You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea” (Mic 7.19). God Himself said “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more” (Isa 43.25).

That is what God in His grace, mercy and forgiveness has done with the sins we have confessed to Him. But, do you ever remember some of your worst sins against God? I do. It always makes me sorry. But never should I feel guilty because God has done away with them!

God’s Word says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn 1.8). See, God not only forgives the sin that we confess but He goes ahead to purify us from everything that is not right in us! How good it is to confess whenever we sin! Unfortunately, seeking God’s forgiveness doesn't seem to be a priority with you and I. We assume that it is God’s duty to forgive when we sin. But only when you ask are you forgiven!

There are Christians who are in the habit of going back often and resurrecting their past sins which God has buried and doesn’t care to remember. If you are one of them, then you must stop doing it! It is an affront and insult to our God. The Scripture says, “Who is a God like you? You forgive sin and overlook the rebellion of your faithful people. You will not be angry forever, because you would rather show mercy” (Mic 7.18). However, if you happen to remember and feel sorry, it's alright. But you do not have to ask forgiveness for them nor keep remembering them anymore!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, help me to keep rejoicing because You have forgiven and forgotten all my sins from my youth up! Help me to keep short accounts with You daily. Help me to forgive others as You have forgiven me. Amen.

No More Curse

NO LONGER WILL THERE BE ANY CURSE. THE THRONE OF GOD AND OF THE LAMB WILL BE IN THE CITY. Revelations 22.3,4.

It is a terrible thing to fall under the curse of man and worse still that of God Almighty! Have you heard people say, “There is a curse on that family!” or “That place is under a curse!” It is not an uncommon remark by people, “That man is under a curse. Whatever he does, does not prosper!” People fear the curses of others. I have heard parents curse children, and do it lightly! It is wrong to curse children, even if you do not mean it! It may never happen but it could affect the behaviour of children.

But when pushed to the extreme people do curse! It was what Adam and Eve did. They made their God curse them. God had created them. He put them in a beautiful garden to live and enjoy its fruits. God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground” (Gen 1.28). God frequented them and they had wonderful evening strolls daily.

It was their greatest folly to have antogonised such a Maker, their Lord God and friend. He was no tyrant! There was only one thing God commanded them: “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die” (Gen 2.16,17). Satan deceived Eve and told her not to take God’s warning seriously but to go ahead and do what pleased them! They did!

Disobedience brought a curse instead of blessings from God. To Adam God said, “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return” (Gen 3.17-19).

From that fateful day, all men and women have begun to experience the effect of the curse of God – pain, toil, thorns, thistles, sweat and eventually death! All of us are smarting under the curse of God on our sins. But the Bible says, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us" (Gal 3.13). Hence, dear believer, don't be afraid of any curses, whether God's or man's! Go to Jesus and He will remove all curses! You do not have to find another mediator!

The book of Revelations give us this wonderful news of a coming day! “No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.” Let Jesus remove your curse and set you free to serve Him in this life and reign with Him in the next.

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, help me to stop listening to the devil and bring God's curse and punishment on me. Help me to obey You and start experiencing Your blessings instead of the curse! Amen.

Monday, November 26, 2007

Resist The Evil

PLACE YOURSELVES UNDER GOD’S AUTHORITY. RESIST THE DEVIL, AND HE WILL RUN AWAY FROM YOU. James 4.7.

There are many ‘good Christians’, and even mature ones, who struggle with sin! They cannot get rid of it. The writer of the Hebrews calls it, “sins” that easily “beset us”, “clings to us so closely”, “easily ensnares us”; “easily entangles us” (Heb 12.1 various versions). Sounds familiar? There are many new Christians also who cannot overcome their sinful habits. Why can’t we get rid of our sins?

At the same time, we hear astounding testimonies of criminals and crooks, the immoral and the perverts. They tell of their wonderful stories of “instant salvation of their souls and also from the sins that kept them captives!” The drunkard vomits at the smell of liquor as he passes by a pub! The chain-smoker wretches at the puff of cigarettes! The sex maniac hates the sight of the brothels he frequented! Everything happened all at once when they accepted Jesus Christ as their Saviour.

What then is our problem? The problem is “US”. You love your sins and hold on to your bad habits and wrong desires. You don’t want to give them up! It is said of the Lord Jesus Christ, “You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions” (Heb 1.9). The crooks and sinners who get miraculously converted experience salvation from sin and from their love for sin. This is because God anoints them with His Spirit and the bondage and slavery to sin is instantly broken!

I remember counselling a young drug addict brought up in a Christian family. He had tried many times to stop his habit but failed. Rehabilitation centres couldn’t do him any good. Then, I found out his problem. He wanted to run his own life! He didn’t want to submit to God’s authority. Dear believer, you cannot win alone. You need God. You need the help of the Spirit of God, which is freely available.

The Word of God says, “Resist the Devil and he will run away from you”. I get ‘unwanted visitors’ at our clinic sometimes. I have told my nurses to drive them away. They manage to do that fairly well. But there is a tough ‘drug addict’ who never leaves. Every time they have to call me to drive him away! He taught me a wonderful lesson. Now I know why the devil doesn’t run when I try to drive him out by myself! He is not afraid of me. So I do what my nurses do, “I Call the Boss!” I am like that small boy who said, “When the devil comes knocking at my door to tempt me to steal the jam, I ask Jesus to open the door! Immediately, he scoots off!”

While you must 'resist the devil', there are times when you must flee from him and his temptations and escape! "Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart" (2 Tim 2.22). Remember, that is what the brave young man Joseph did when sorely tempted to commit adultery with Potiphar's bewitching wife! That cigarette, that alcohol, drink, that drug, that bad habit, whatever it may be - they are temptations from which you better 'run once and for all'. You cannot get rid of them little by little.

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, help me to hate sin and love righteousness. Deliver me from evil and the evil one! Set me free from the sin that clings to me. Amen.

Careless Talker

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU SAY AND PROTECT YOUR LIFE. A CARELESS TALKER DESTROYS HIMSELF. Proverbs 13.3.

It is a good practise in many churches to have altar calls for prayer. The leader invites members to go forward to be prayed for. My aged mother was fond of going to receive prayer for fresh blessings from God! One Sunday, I remember praying for two youngsters, a boy and a girl. Each asked me to pray specially for family unity and peace.

I emphasised to them the importance of ‘forgiveness’ for unity and peace in the family. Two parties at least are involved in the issue of

‘forgiveness’ - you and the other person or persons. As far as you are concerned, it could be as simple as to “Just forgive”, if you are serious about it! Don’t make it a big deal. Through Christ, God has forgiven whatever wrong you have ever done.

Dear believer, therefore you are obliged to forgive others. Even if you do not want to, you have no choice. Jesus equated 'God forgiving you' to 'your forgiving others!' He taught us in the Lord’s Prayer, “Forgive us our sins as we forgive others their sins!” He went on to emphasise the imperative need of forgiving others by saying, “If you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins” (Mt 6.14,15). It is natural that when you have forgiven someone, in due course he may begin to respond. Make sure that you don’t keep irritating the person by giving lectures on ‘your great act of forgiveness!’

I counselled the youngsters: “Once you have forgiven your family, you must be careful how you talk to them and what you say!’ The tongue is the major culprit in causing strife and division. The apostle James calls it a “fire” among the members of the body! He says, “no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison” (Jas 3.6,8,).

Yes! No natural man can control his tongue. But the spiritual man, the renewed and regenerated man could and should by the Holy Spirit who abides in Him. Once, I attended the wedding of a young man with a chequered past. At the wedding dinner, two members of his family began yarning about his sad past! But they were not careful to observe that the bride’s sisters were also at their table. What problems and family turmoil this unwise wagging of tongue would have caused is anyone’s guess!

You need to be careful of what you say about others. It could destroy them. But as the wise King Solomon said, it could destroy you too! “Be careful what you say and protect your life. A careless talker destroys himself”. No one has ever got into trouble by 'not' telling tales! It is good not to say anything evil about any person! If you have something good to say, say it! If you have nothing good to say, “Shut up!”

The Bible says, “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore” (Psa 133.1,3). Dear child of God, to God it is important that you live in love and harmony with your brother and sister and family members. It is a good testimony before others.

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, help me to think before I talk about others. Let me tell only things that contribute to peace. Help me say only things about others that the Lord would approve. Amen.

Just Be Faithful

THE ONE THING REQUIRED OF CHRIST’S SERVANTS IS THAT THEY BE FAITHFUL TO THEIR MASTER. 1 Corinthians 4.2

It seems very funny to me now that when my grandfather encouraged me to become first in my Standard One class, I retorted, “Grandpa, but isn’t that being selfish?’ I have ‘become a man’ and having imbibed the values of the world, there is no end to my dreams and greed too! Whereas, when young I didn’t ‘aspire to be anything’, today when I see a champion, - we see plenty of them on TV - I want to be him! I haven’t been to a Formula One race – I hate the heat, the traffic jam and the crowd. But I wouldn't mind replacing Michael Schumacher on the podium! And of course, if I had just listened to the greatest preacher, evangelist or even singer (I can't sing for nuts, as they say!), I still cherish a secret desire ‘to be them!’ I have a feeling you too have such secrets! We are human! We should have some dreams anyway!

Friend, God has raised simple saints and made them great. He still can and will do it, if He wants to and if you will give yourself unselfishly to Him. The Word of God reveals that ‘we could and we should aspire to be ‘bishops’ (overseers, elders, leaders and deacons) in God’s Church. Do you know that you are encouraged to do so? “The saying is true: whoever aspires to the office of bishop desires a noble task” (1 Tim 3.1). I trust you will. But note that 'the office and the designation' call for the work and the responsibility and not just the seat and cassock (attire)!

Dear believer, for a moment forget about your dreams and aspirations, good or bad or extreme. Think about the talents that God has already given you, according to your ability! Listen, “We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully” (Rom 12.6-8). There is a vast variety of gifts. Do you have any of these? You MUST have at least ONE!

The other day, I heard a thrilling story of a disappointed and disillusioned ‘gospel tract writer’ escaping suicide. It put sense into me. May it do the same to you. This poor servant of the Lord envied the glare and glamour of platform preachers! He pitied himself and stopped writing tracts for 15 years because ‘no one knew’ him, a simple tract writer. One day, a man stopped him from jumping off a ferry boat on a raging river. It so happened that this man was a famous evangelist who had been ‘saved’ by a tract! It was this disappointed man who had written the tract but had thrown the stack away into the river in disgust and disappointment 15 years ago! The evangelist had kept the tract in his pocket and was looking for the writer!

“The one thing required of the servant is that he be faithful to his master with his talent”. Are you? It is your faithfulness that counts and not greatness! Commendation from God is greater than the recommendation of men!

Pray and pratcise with me: Dear Lord, the Bible tells me that You have given me a talent to use for You and others. Help me to recognise it and use it faithfully. Amen.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Labour For The Lord

CHRIST HAS BEEN RAISED FROM DEATH, AS THE GUARANTEE THAT THOSE WHO SLEEP IN DEATH WILL ALSO BE RAISED. 1 Corinthians 15.20.

ONCE I gave the message at the funeral service of a very dear old friend and fellow servant of the Lord. He was only a few weeks away from his 85th birthday!. At the age of 50+, he took optional retirement and began serving the Lord and the church ‘full-time!’ Relentlessly, he laboured ‘almost single-handedly’ and built one of the finest churches in the land, in membership and building. It was heartening to hear from the younger leaders of the church how this man had brought up and moulded each of them from their Sunday School days!

None of us who spoke or testified about this man expressed any disappointment at his passing away into the presence of the Lord in glory. Our reason was solid, “Christ has been raised from death, as the guarantee that those who sleep in death will also be raised”. We had the assurance that our dear brother will rise again in the last day when “the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first” (1 Thes 4.16).

The immortal words of that soldier of the Lord, Paul, were quoted by some, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing” (2 Tim 4.7,8).

Easter was just round the corner. The message of the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour was already in the air. As we lowered his mortal remains into the grave, we were looking up into the cloudy sky wishing, “Come Lord Jesus. Come soon bringing all Your saints with You. Come and take us too, to be with You!”

Fondly remembering my dear friend Henry's faithfulness and arduous labour for the Lord and the people, I had only one last thing to do. I did it. Quoting the words of the apostle Paul I encouraged all his friends gathered in the chapel, “So then, my dear friends, stand firm and steady. Keep busy always in your work for the Lord, (like dear Henry) since you know that nothing you do in the Lord's service is ever useless” (v.58).

Dear believer, ‘No labour for the Lord and His kingdom, no lasting gain!’

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, however busy I may be in my daily life, help me to seek first Your kingdom and do what is right, laying up treasures in heaven, which will not be lost! Amen.

Monday, November 19, 2007

Have You Found God?

IF YOU SEEK HIM HE WILL BE FOUND BY YOU. 1 Chronicles 28.9.

No one can understand the heart of a father when he gives his son some significant counsel, unless he too is a father! Here King David was giving his son, Solomon, the king-designate, the command to build a temple for His God. It was David’s one great desire to build it for His God whom he loved with all his heart. Great was this one man’s love and devotion to God in spite of all his fallen man’s human traits. When the LORD sought out a man after his own heart to appoint him leader of his people, the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY said, “David is a man after My own heart!”

The only desire the dying king David had for his son Solomon, the new king of Israel, was that ‘he would come to know his father’s God and be faithful to Him!’ I know the heartache of many a godly father whose sons and daughters did not follow their footsteps of seeking God and loving and serving Him faithfully.

We were delighted to welcome to our home once, the evangelist son of a good friend, a great Indian evangelist and ardent church planter. The boy did take an excursion into the world of sin in spite of his background. But the gracious Lord brought him back from his unbelief as he sincerely sought after Him.

Dear friends, that is God’s precious promise to you. Read carefully today’s text from the mouth of a man like David, who knew and experienced what he said, “If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever”. What David told his son Solomon was the same thing the Lord Almighty has promised, “When you look for me, you will find me. When you wholeheartedly seek me, I will let you find me, declares the LORD” (Jer 28.13,14).

How do you seek God? ‘Seeking God’ is a common cliché among Christians. It can mean anything from attending church; praying sometimes; reading the Bible occasionally and that may be all! Or it could be, and of course it should be, as David said, “My son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts”.

Dear believer, ‘it is time that you make a break from your mediocre Christian life. It is time to seek your God with the desperateness of David!’ It is time you begin to serve Him will all your heart. Whatever you will achieve or accumulate in the world will all be lost and forgotten when you are gone! Only one life and ONLY what is done for Christ will count! David is not remembered for his kingship but his love for God.

Dear friend, if you haven’t found God yet, or you haven’t found Him satisfying, it is because you haven’t sought Him and searched for Him with all your heart. Why not seek Him NOW?

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, You called me saying, “Come to me and I will give you..!” Lord, I come with all my heart. Fill my inmost being with You and let it overflow to others too! Amen.

Friday, November 16, 2007

Their Eyes Were Open

THEIR EYES WERE OPENED AND THEY RECOGNIZED HIM, BUT HE DISAPPEARED FROM THEIR SIGHT. Luke 24.31.

My wife and I often get upset as we witness the dire need of the people in the Church and in the world around us. We get depressed when we recognise our sheer impotence as Christians to rise up and meet those needs in the mighty name of our risen Lord Jesus. Didn’t He send us into the world to be His witnesses in the power of the Holy Spirit? (Acts 1.8). He said, “As the Father has sent me so have I sent you into the world” (Jn 20.21). Jesus said, “The works I did and even greater works than these you will do!” (Jn 14.12). The last words of the risen Lord to us was, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28.18).

Each Sunday, thousands of us worship the Lord in our churches singing and shouting to the Lord with a loud noise, making melody to Him with our musical instruments. I honestly believe we are seeking the presence and power of the Almighty One to be manifested among His people.

I pray to God, “Lord God, we are doing our very best to exalt You and give You all the glory. We can do nothing more. But now it is up to You to rent the heavens and come down in power and mercy and visit us in our low estate. Let Your glory fill this place as You did it for Israel. O! that Your outstretched arm and mighty hand may once again begin to work for us as it did for them. Come Lord! Touch each one of us at the point of our need and restore and satisfy us!”

Often as we break the bread and drink of the cup of communion, we sing longingly, “If now, with eyes defiled and dim, We see the signs, but see not Him; O may His love the scales displace, And bid us see Him face to face!” (C H Spurgeon 1866).

But how wonderful and satisfying it would have been if, 'Jesus sat down with us, took the bread, and said the blessing; then broke the bread and gave it to us. Then our eyes will be opened and we will recognise him, and he will disappear from our sight!' But He had said, "I will not part take of the wine until I come in My kingdom". But think of it, if He drops in and does for us what He did for those two disciples, what a day it will be! What a dream come true!

It is my prayer (it has always been!) and I believe it would be the prayer of all His people, to give us an all-transforming experience of that of the two disciples on the way to Emmaus. Their eyes were opened and they recognised the risen Saviour Jesus Christ! Think of them before they saw the Lord, and after He met with them and they recognised Him.

Dear believer, that is what will happen to you when you have a personal encounter with the risen Lord! There will come a power from the Lord that will take you past your sorrow, pain, disappointment and disbelief to unspeakable joy in knowing that He is alive and with you! God is your refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble (Psa 46.1).

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, every time I enter Your holy temple, let me come with a passionate desire for my eyes to be opened that I may see Your presence and power! Amen.

Reconciled To God

GOD HAS RESTORED OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM THROUGH CHRIST, AND HAS GIVEN US THIS MINISTRY OF RESTORING RELATIONSHIPS. 2 Corinthians 5.18.

I know of a woman who said about her sister-in-law, “She never wanted her brothers and sisters and family members to live in harmony! For herself, if she was friendly with some, she was against the others!” It is sad when people and families do not want to live in peace and harmony, loving and helping one another.

This chequered relationship with one another began with our broken relationship with God. It all started at the very beginning of man’s history. Adam and Eve had a wonderful relationship with God. But when they disobeyed God and sinned against Him, that relationship was broken. But God has restored your relationship with him through Christ.

Cain offered a sacrifice which pleased him – the best of his crops, instead of offering a sacrifice from the flock, as God had shown him. “On Cain and his offering God did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? (Gen 4.5-6).

Friends, sin breaks your relationship with God. You suffer the consequences of your sin. It doesn’t end there. You become angry with your brothers and neighbours. That is what happened to Cain. He got angry with his brother Abel. Abel didn’t do any wrong to Cain. Yet out of jealousy, Cain picked a quarrel with him. It led to the murder of Abel.

By dying on the cross, Jesus Christ has reconciled us to God. The apostle Paul says, “God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation”. Now, you are to do your utmost to live in harmony with your brothers and neighbours. You are to be reconciled with everyone. You also have the ministry of reconciliation to help others to mend their broken relationships. You are to make every endeavour to bring reconciliation between people, in families, the neighbourhood, society, nation and the world. The Word exhorts us, “Make every effort to live in peace with all men” (Heb 12.14). The Lord Jesus Christ said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God” (Mt 5.9).

Dear believer, you need to live in a vital relationship with your God. In today's ultra-busy life, you must make every effort to read God's Word daily and keep in touch with Him in continuous prayer. If you do not read regularly and know God's Word you will not know how to live a righteous life. You will disobey God and live in a broken relationship with Him. It will lead to wrong dealings and relationships with others.

True relationship with God can grow and mature only by keeping in continuous contact with God through His Word and prayer. Then, you will be a peacemaker in your family, neighbourhood and church, and not a 'peacebreaker'.

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, keep reminding me that You have reconciled me to God by dying for me on the cross! I am given the ministry to reconcile others to God and one another and not to quarrel or create strife. Amen.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Two Criminals Beside Jesus

THEY CRUCIFIED CHRIST, THE CRIMINALS ALSO, ONE ON HIS RIGHT AND THE OTHER ON HIS LEFT. Luke 23.33.

Have you tried to picture the scenes in your mind when you read the Scriptures? It is a good thing to do. The people and places and events will become vivid and focused. Everything sticks in your mind and you do not easily forget.

I can easily visualise the crucifixion scene as I read the Bible because in 1972 we had the rare privilege of standing on Mount Calvary. The locals called it ‘the place of the skull’ for, from a distance, the hillside has the semblance of a skull. Try imagining the scene in your mind. It will do you good to picture in your mind what you are reading. It is interesting as well as helpful for understanding and remembering! See the huge wooden cross at the centre. The Lord Jesus Christ was nailed to that tree. See His mangled body, blood-stained all over by the scourging and the piercing of the nails on his hands and feet. Water and blood gushing forth from His side when the soldier thrust his cruel spear! His thorn-crowned head hung over his bruised shoulders that carried the cross!

Suddenly you hear these words from a criminal hanging on the cross on his (right) side, “Don't you fear God at all? Can't you see that you're condemned in the same way that he is? Our punishment is fair. We're getting what we deserve. But this man hasn't done anything wrong”. Turn around and you see that he was speaking to another criminal who also was crucified on the other side of Jesus. This man speaks up again, this time to Jesus, “Jesus, remember me when you enter your kingdom.”

We can never forget the scene. Three crosses on Calvary. Jesus hung between the two criminals. But the truth is that one died still a criminal for he never repented but only reviled the Saviour. The other admitted his fault and sought forgiveness from Jesus. The response from Jesus was immediate, “I can guarantee this truth: Today you will be with me in paradise.”

Dear friend, the Bible says, 'we are all like the two criminals' beside the cross of Jesus. But 'It is up to you to be like the one you choose to be!’ You can acknowledge Christ who was crucified for you as your Saviour. You can let yourself be with Him 'now and day by day'. You can let Him live in and through you moment by moment. It will be like paradise on earth now, and in the hereafter!

Once the apostle Paul pictured himself beside the crucified Lord and said, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Gal 2.19,20). The choice is yours – reckon yourself to be crucified with Christ and be with Him here on earth and after life in paradise. Don’t forget the other thief. He never repented of his sin; never called on Christ. Though he too was by the side of Christ, yet he died and went to hell!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, I too have to take sides like the two criminals crucified beside You. Let me repent and die with You to my wicked ways of the world. Let me live in the power of Your resurrection. Amen.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Bear Jesus' Cross

A MAN NAMED SIMON FROM THE CITY OF CYRENE ..THE SOLDIERS FORCED HIM TO CARRY JESUS' CROSS. Mark 15.21.

We find fault with the disciples because they left their Master to suffer alone the ridicule, the persecution and the crucifixion. How could they have thought only of their own safety? Why didn't they stick with their Master in His darkest hour of suffering? At least Peter, who had a little earlier told the Lord, “Though all become deserters because of you, I will never desert you", should have remained with Him! (Mt 26.32).

The disciples were not with Jesus on that fatal night of trial and the terrible day of crucifixion. Had they been with Jesus there would have been no need for the soldiers to force an alien, Simon from Cyrene, to carry the cross for Jesus! They could have easily helped the poor exhausted Master to carry it along. They could have wiped His sweat, blood and tears. They could have comforted Him. Probably the soldiers would have scourged and flogged some of them, which would have reduced the number of stripes Jesus received! Peter, John and James, who were the closest to Jesus, could have been there to bear the cruel cross under the weight of which their Master fell again and again. Jesus had already warned them of the terrible things that would happen and they could have braced themselves up to be with their Master and even dared to die with Him! What a privilege it would have been!

There were no disciples when Jesus needed them. What a blessed opportunity the disciples missed because they left Jesus and ran away for their own safety! A foreigner, Simon the Cyrene, had to carry the cross for Jesus. Some say that he and his two sons, Rufus and Alexander, were among the disciples! If they were, what a distinction and divine privilege Simon had to be ‘the co –bearers of the cross of the Son of God!

Today, you may not be called to bear Jesus’ cross but there are many brothers and sisters of ours who are burdened with their heavy crosses. Dear believer, don’t be misled by the preaching and teaching that God's plan for you is 'health, wealth and happiness in this life!' 'Terrible times will come' in some measure for every child of God. If you are not in it now, you only have to see the suffering of your fellow believers and the reality of life will strike you!

There are many in great need and they are struggling along alone. Jesus expects you to go alongside and lend a helping hand in whatever way you can. The Lord once said about certain people, "They will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me' (Mt 25:44,45).

It may be said to the shame of the affluent Christians of today that the 'Unbelieving' business people are the greatest aid-givers to the three quarter of the world's billions who are starving and suffering! They are taking the place of Simon the Cyrene which you and I should! It is time that you begin to ACT!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, what a great privilege Simon had to bear Your cross. Today, we are given the privilege to bear one another’s burden. Help us to follow Simon’s example and help them out as doing to You. Amen.

You Ask & Will Receive

JESUS SAID, “I TELL YOU TO ASK AND YOU WILL RECEIVE. SEARCH, AND YOU WILL FIND. KNOCK, AND THE DOOR WILL BE OPENED FOR YOU.” Luke 11.9,10.

Many Christians do not take these words of the Lord Jesus Christ as a literal promise! I am afraid, you and I also take these words of the Lord with ‘a pinch of doubt!’ Probably we are not to be totally blamed for it! Many of our prayers have gone ‘unanswered!’ How then, can we really believe ‘the blanket offer’ of the Lord to ‘hear all our prayers?’

If Jesus had qualified His promise and said, ‘Some of the things we ask for, we will receive’, we could have easily believed! But Jesus makes a categoric offer with no bars or limits! According to that promise, you and I have asked for many things, fully believing that we would receive them. But we haven’t! So not to shake out faith too much, we take the easy way out. We pray for whatever we want. If we get them, we thank God for them. When we do not receive what we ask for, we are sad and disappointed and try to forget about it! But we slowly lose our faith in the promise. We faint and we do not persist in our prayers. We no longer have the faith to do so.

Dear friend, instead of losing faith in the Lord’s precious promise to answer your prayers, you must fully believe it. Don’t make your faith dependent on your experience. Rather, put your trust in a faithful God and His unchanging promises. Jesus laboured to explain the need for you to believe and persist in prayer in order to receive answers to your prayers. In order to emphasise it, He described prayer by three different terms: Ask; Seek; Knock. It is not mere repetition. He was telling that you could and should increase the intensity of your prayer. He then reassured us by saying, “Everyone who asks will receive, etc.” Jesus encourages you to brace yourself up in prayer and go ahead and keep asking, seeking and knocking!

So persistent was Jesus in His insistence that you should ask and keep asking. Hence, He also added a simple example from everyday life. He told 'how a sleepy, reluctant man' would get up at midnight and give you, his friend, whatever you asked and much more, because you kept asking and knocking!

The Lord could have stopped with that story, but He didn't! He knew you and I needed more convincing arguments that touched our very skin! He said, "If your child asks you, his father, for a fish, would you give him a snake instead? Or if your child asks you for an egg, would you give him a scorpion? Even though you are evil, you know how to give good gifts to your children. So how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit (good gifts) to those who ask him?” (vs 11-13).

Instead of losing your faith in prayer, you need to try and understand ‘why your prayers are not answered!’ It is because you think that your prayer is answered ‘only when you get what you asked for!’ You need to keep believing that ‘God keeps His promise and answers ‘all’ our prayers’. God’s answer could be ‘Yes to what you asked' or 'Yes the way He thinks it good for you in the final count' or 'Wait'. God cannot say ‘No!’ Do not take ‘Wait’ for a ‘No’. Keep praying! He will always give something better in His reckoning! If God does not keep His promise, He cannot be God!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, help me to believe that You always keep Your promise and answer my prayers. Help me to keep on praying and not faint. Amen.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Walk With God Daily

EVEN THOUGH I WALK THROUGH THE DARK VALLEY OF DEATH, BECAUSE YOU ARE WITH ME, I FEAR NO HARM. Your rod and your staff give me courage. Psalm 23.4.

We have become a generation of 'X-TREMES' (even EXTREMISTS!) in everything and every way! During my recent trip to the UK, I happened to see a copy of an 'EXTREME YOUTH BIBLE' in a church I attended! Hollywood is inventing 'the extremes' but God is Lord over even the 'extremes!'

Notice the 'EXTREMES OF LIFE' that could confront God's people as described in today's well-loved and well-known Psalm! The Psalmist David says, "Even though I walk through the dark valley of death, because you are with me, I fear no harm. Your rod and your staff give me courage. Another translation has it: “Even if I go through the deepest darkness, I will not be afraid, LORD, for you are with me. Your shepherd's rod and staff protect me”.

Dear believer, it is good for you to be ‘PRE’-PARED for all 'extremes!' It will help you through if you ‘PRE’-LEARN how to overcome and outlive the most difficult situations when they come! But you need to know the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. You need to make him YOUR Good shepherd. You need to let him lead and guide you day-by-day. You need to walk with Him through the green pastures. Have you ever walked through a beautiful park with lush green grass and tall verdant (luxurious leafy green) trees and ponds with lilies, golden carps and cascading fountains? Have you strolled along with your Guide and Companion sharing your exquisite delight? Your soul is refreshed. Your mind is renewed. You feel like a new person. That is what the Good Shepherd will do for you, if you will let Him!

You need to learn to 'daily walk' with your Lord. You can do so in a park or garden, however small, or on the balcony of your apartment! Perhaps, you could take ‘a ride with Him’ in your car on the way to work or taking the children to school or going to the market. If nothing works, try ‘walking with Him through the Scriptures’ as you read your daily devotions! You have to make a start and learn to spend some quiet time with Him. You need to do it deliberately. Our days are getting busier and we are always surrounded by people, work or noises from the radio and TV, with no rest or quietness for our souls and spirit!

Dear believer, you need to experience walking with the Lord all the more because your good days will most certainly be overtaken by bad ones. None will escape them. They could be as bad as the psalmist says, “the valley of the shadow of death”. Some are still in that valley and smarting! The fire is on, the flames are rising, the furnace is hot. It is beyond your ability to handle. There is none to help or able to deliver except the Shepherd. The first SMS I received as I landed at the KLIA airport was from a desperate brother whose father is in his terminal state of cancer!

But if you have learned to walk side by side with the Good Shepherd all the way and have known His constant presence, then you will be sure that He is with you even when you walk through the darkest valley. You may fear the evil that has overtaken you. But imagine the Good Shepherd with His rod and staff in His hand walking beside you. Imagine Him using His rod to ward off the evil that surrounds you. Picture Him putting out His long curved shepherd’s staff to protect you from all evil. It may be a valley of shadows that will last for a time. He will comfort you. He will protect you. He will take you through. Or, it may truly be ‘the valley of death’ for you or for a dear one. Still the Good Shepherd will not leave you. He will comfort you with His presence and staff, in your agony and pain and carry you to ‘the other side’ safely! Make the LORD YOUR GOOD SHEPHERD today, and everyday!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, be my Good Shepherd. Let me walk with You daily in green pastures and the darkest valleys, knowing that You are with me to comfort and carry me through. Amen.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Walk In Your Commandments

Make me walk in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it. Psalm 119.35

This has been my prayer from my younger days – that was over 6 decades ago! It still is my prayer everyday! For I have found that with all my desire and determination, it still is difficult to obey the Lord, especially when on every side I am tempted by every kind of temptation!

When I got saved, I began to like and love God’s Word. I knew it was good teaching and it was profitable. There is much wisdom in it for right living which pleases God and wins man’s approval. I realised that it is ‘a light to my path and a lamp to my feet'. But reading everyday and meditating on it ‘day and night’ as God commanded did not come to me easily or quickly (Jos 1.8). Keeping the instructions of the Word was yet another matter! If reading the Bible was difficult, obeying the commandments was a constant struggle. It is so even today!

I felt like the apostle Paul during his early Christian life. “For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out…For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing. …When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am!” (Rom 7.14-24).

Do you know that the psalmist King David too knew the power and pull of sin. He experienced the disobedience, defeat, the consequent judgment of God and the tragedies that dogged his life. He realised that there had to be a solution, a deliverance that came only from God, the Giver of the Law.

But he knew that it had to start with a deep and passionate love for God and His law. It led him to delight reading and meditating on it day and night (Psa 1.2). When we constantly read, then the Holy Spirit who inspired the Word will make it ‘the sword of the Spirit’ which can fight 'the tempter and the temptation' and give us victory (Eph 6.17). Jesus did it!

Dear friend, King David makes a desperate plea to God, “Make me walk in the path of Your commandments.” When we delight in God’s Word and pray like David prayed and cry like Paul did, God will fulfill His promise. The Lord said through the prophet Ezekiel, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will keep my judgments and do them” (Eze 36.26,27). DO IT LORD!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, thank You for Your Word. Help me read it daily and to memorise it in my heart. Thank You for giving me Your Spirit. Let Him make me walk in the path of Your commandments. Amen.

Monday, November 5, 2007

For Those Who Trust In Him

But I will bless the person who puts his trust in me. Jeremiah 17.7.

Did you notice that the above promise of God starts with a “BUT”? The Bible is full of the promises of God for every occasion and all needs. BUT, all of God’s many promises for blessing are conditional! There is no blanket offer for everyone. God is good BUT He offers His blessings only to those who trust and obey Him. Even life eternal is offered to all freely BUT it is only to those who trust and keep trusting in Jesus Christ, God’s Son, our Saviour.

BUT there are many who are more anxious for His blessings than having a deep commitment to God. They blindly hope that because God is merciful and gracious, they too will receive all His blessings. Yes! The Bible says, “God causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Mt 5.45).

BUT the ‘blessings that matter, that are real, that cannot be taken away from us or lost, that make us spiritually rich and cause others to be blessed by us and those that bring glory to God Himself’, are only for those who trust in God. The prophet Jeremiah describes one such person, “He is like a tree growing near a stream and sending out roots to the water. It is not afraid when hot weather comes, because its leaves stay green; it has no worries when there is no rain; it keeps on bearing fruit (v 8).

There are many ‘fair weather Christians’. When everything is going well, they trust in God. BUT when the sunshine is gone and the weather is not fair, they stop trusting in God because of the trials of faith. There are even those who, because of God’s rich blessings, begin to trust in them and stop trusting and depending on God. They even leave God and go after the blessing He has given them.

BUT God knows those who trust Him fully. They trust God not because He blesses BUT because HE IS GOD! God blesses them because they trust Him at all times. Sunshine or cloudy, rain or draught, they still keep trusting in God. In today’s text, God promises to bless such ones. Are you such a believer? You and I could be!

You and I need to decide to grow near the RIVER THAT FLOWS FROM THE THRONE OF GOD. It is full and overflowing with LIFE-GIVING WATER. BUT you must put your roots deep into the river of God by READING THE WORD OF GOD. You must make time to swim in the river and drink deeply THROUGH PRAYER. Be like prophet Ezekiel who at first was like the others playing in the shallow, ankle-deep water. BUT he decided to go deeper to knee depth, then to the waist until he was in the deep waters of the river which carried him afloat! (Ezek 37). Is that the picture of our spiritual lives?

You and I could be like the ‘Sunday Christians’, satisfied and PLAYING CHURCH in the shallow banks of the RIVER OF GOD. BUT, you can go deeper and deeper through decision, determination and discipline. Then, you will know the blessings of God. Friends, I am not talking about earthly blessings – like health, wealth and pleasure. God will give those and more. I am talking about ‘spiritual blessings’ which many do not know of!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, I will always trust in You. Let Your blessings flow over me. I thank You for You have promised “goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever (Psa 23.6).

Friday, November 2, 2007

Logs In My Eye

First take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. Luke 6.42.

This is part of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus preached from the shores of the sea of Galilee at the onset of His ministry. Through the beatitudes and the teachings on various practical issues of life, Jesus laid out the Kingdom Principles. They were not only very different from that of the world but they were in direct opposition with the world.

Just as in Jesus’ days, many people today are quick to criticise and slow to commend! By a simple yet vivid analogy, the Lord illustrated to us this truth. Doesn’t it stand to reason that you cannot see clearly the speck in your brother’s eye, when you have a plank or beam in your eye? Yet, how often and how easily we do this which even the Lord condemns!

It is time that you and I take seriously these basic teachings of the Lord about our daily life and begin to practice it. When you get into the habit of criticising everyone for everything, you must take it as a warning sign! It is time for a real eye-check. The beam in your eye has blinded you! You cannot see your fault anymore! Like King David, the man after God’s own heart, ask the Holy Spirit, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psa 139.23,24).

We often criticise people and even our leaders before everyone except them! IT DOESN’T DO ANY GOOD TO ANYONE. WE JUST HURT THAT PERSON AND OURSELVES! We do it because we are cowards and are neither concerned about the issue nor care for that person! If we did, then how good and beneficial it would have been if, even before we told anyone, we had taken it to the LORD in prayer to set things right.

If the matter needs to be pursued then take it to the person with love and humility. Or atleast, you should speak to someone who could approach the person about the matter. By doing so you would have spared the person from folly, exonerated him, and even saved the situation!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, there are ‘logs in my eye’ and they have blinded me from seeing my faults. Please help me to keep removing them. Let me not be quick to seek the specks in everyone’s eye and try to remove them but pray that You will do it for them too! Amen.

We Need The Air

Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? Psalm 85.6.

Every living thing needs constant regeneration and restoration for its growth. If not, it will soon die. Our Creator and Sustainer God has designed all living organisms to regenerate and be revived continuously. In order to steadily grow and be renewed, everything needs a constant supply of essential things like food, air and water! It is so with us human beings too!

Do you know that our spiritual life is also very much like our physical life? It needs to be constantly revived and restored! It is your responsibility and mine to take care of our souls, just as we are to take care of our bodies. Believe me, just as our bodies will die if not fed, our souls also will surely die if not fed! Today, many souls are dying spiritually due to starvation, while their bodies are fattened by over-feeding!

Your soul and mine needs ‘spiritual food, water and air’ to be renewed and revived. The apostle Paul teaches us that when we are spiritual babes we may feed on ‘milk’, but as we grow, we need to consume ‘strong meat’. ‘Spiritual milk and meat’ for the soul come only from the Word of God.

Dear believer, are you feeding yourself daily on God’s Word? Do you make time to read and meditate on the Word that feeds your soul and revives it. Job said, “God’s Word is my daily bread!’ (Job 23.16). Many are those who never get their milk or meat from the Bible and are not revived daily because they do not make the time to read and meditate on it! That is why many in our churches are as good as dead spiritually – never growing, producing fruit or reproducing!

You cannot grow without ‘air’ too, dear believer! Prayer to God is often compared to the air we breathe physically. You need to spend time in ‘prayer to God each morning, evening and at noon; it will keep you alive and well and also in tune with God!’ The Bible goes further and exhorts you and I to ‘pray always in the Spirit’ (Eph 6.18). In every version of the Bible, the word ‘Spirit’ begins with the ‘capital letter S’. It means the Holy Spirit. If you do not know how to ‘pray in the Spirit’, ‘ask the Holy Spirit to teach you to pray!’ He will put words in your mouth. How else could the Spirit intercede through you? “The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express”, God promises (Rom 8.26).

Our souls need ‘the Living Water’ – the Spirit of the Living God! Let us thank God not only for the gift of His Son Jesus Christ but also His Holy Spirit to abide in us always! But have you ‘received the Spirit’ consciously like you did Jesus so that you know the Spirit is in you and works in you?’ Friends, it is not ‘doctrine or theology but practical Christianity’ that we need! The apostle Paul says, “You be continually filled with the Spirit” (Eph 5.19). Only Jesus can fill you so! Remember Jesus pleaded in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him" (Jn 7.37,38). He will quench your thirst and fill you to the overflow!

Pray with me: Dear Lord, I will make time daily to meditate on Your Word and to pray. I come to You! Keep me filled to the full by Your Spirit. Let my whole being be filled with Living Water that revives and satisfies my soul and overflows to others. Amen”.