Hi there, welcome to a safe haven...a place where you cud just lean back and relax to spend a few moments to reflect on whether you have lit your candle today."Don't curse the darkness;instead, light a Candle" someone once said...We may not be able to do much to overcome the darkness around us;but let that not stop us from doing our lil bit to make this world a brighter place.Hence the blog ....His Lil Spark in the Dark!
James 5:8 "You, too, must be patient. Take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near."
Hi friends,
Hope this post finds you in good health and spirits!
This week, I’d like to share something that I’ve been learning in the past few
months in my life. At some points in our life , we may be totally overwhelmed
and here may be no one who can understand us
no even we ourselves, but what we need to remember at such times is that
no matter what we go through we can always be certain that the Lord understands
and loves us. There will be nothing to change that.
Sometimes life does get messy and we wonder how to get
it all cleaned up. We may run to this person or that person thinking that they
could help but they either don’t have the time or the energy to help us out. At
that time, the best thing is to surrender everything at the Lord’s feet and
simply wait patiently on Him. Psalms 46:10 says “Be still and know that I
am Lord.” We remember then that all humans are mere mortals and that
they sincerely may not have what it takes to help us in our despair. We too may
not be able to take one more step …it is at that time that He whispers to us to
‘be patient’ and not to give up that easily!
What is Patience ?
“Patience is defined as the capacity to
accept or tolerate delay, problems or suffering without becoming annoyed or
anxious.” It may also be called Longsuffering.
No body likes to wait….be it in traffic, be it in the supermarket queue… We
call someone and roll our eyes wondering why they don’t pick up…. We send
another person an urgent email and wonder when they would reply….we wait for an
appointment that never seems to materialize…we wonder will I lose out on my
blessing if we don’t do something ? A voice cautions us - is it wise to just
allow things slip us by?;especially when it’s a thing we have wanted and have
been waiting for a long time ….all of these situations are really God
ordained delays to teach us PATIENCE- the art of waiting peacefully
no matter what the situation … Friendships could be restored…Relationships
could be saved…Offences could be avoided with a little more patience.
How to develop Patience?
How we develop this patience is by
focusing on none other than the One who is the Alpha and Omega – The One who
knows the Beginning from the End! So, if we have a loving
Heavenly Father who knows what’s going to happen beforehand itself, then why don’t
we just surrender everything into His hand and stop trying to make things
happen in our strength? We could pray,” Lord Do something about my situation ….and
He will see us through…. instead of sharing our frustrations and doubts with
just anyone ,we should share them with the Only One who really cares and who
could really do something about it! Our Loving Heavenly Father! Let’s ask Him
for vision to see things as they really are and the wisdom to do things as He
would do them …. In the meantime, let’s just love Him with all our soul, strength,
mind with all our heart! Luke 10:27 …Hallelujah! He is King of Kings & Lord
of Lords and reigns forever! “He’s a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
“-Heb 11:6
"And the Spirit & The Bride Say Come!..."- Rev 22:17
Hi friends,
Hope this blogpost finds you in good health and spirits. The
signs of the times point to the soon coming of our Lord and King Jesus! Mathew 24
outlines some of the different signs of His coming being so near…
1)Wars & Rumors of War (vs 6)
2) Nations rising against nation
and kingdoms against kingdoms (vs 7a)
3) Famines (vs 7)
4) Pestilences (vs 7)
5) Earthquakes (verse 7)
6) Hated for Jesus’s sake (vs 9)
7) Many will be offended (vs 10)
8) Betrayal (verse 10)
9) False Prophets & many will be deceived (vs 11)
10) Lawlessness (vs 12)
11) Love of many growing cold (vs12)
12) Gospel will be preached in all the world (vs 14)
13) Sun will be darkened, moon will not give light, stars
will fall from Heaven, powers of Heaven will be shaken. (vs 29)
Amidst the gloom and doom surrounding us, one thing that
gives us hope and keeps us looking upward and marching onward is that Jesus is
coming soon for His Bride -The Church.
There is no doubt that we are in the last of the last days;
the question for us to consider is ARE WE READY FOR HIM? 1 Thessalonians 5:2
says that the Day of the Lord shall come as a thief in the night. Meaning that No
man knows the day or hour, not even the angels of Heaven but only the Father knows.
(Mathew 24:36) So it is imperative that we do everything in our power to be
ready for Him.
1) Accept Jesus as Our Lord & Savior/
Rededication – Rom 10:9-11 says that if we confess with our mouth
and believe with our heart that Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead
and is now seated at the right-hand side of the Father interceding for us. If we have already accepted Him, we can check
how far we have backslidden and must return to our First Love & be red hot
on fire for the Lord. All this can only be done by the Blessed Holy Spirit who
cleanses us from all impurities that we pick up as being born in sin and living
in a fallen world. 2 Corin 1:21,22 NLT says that “It is God who enables us to stand firm for
Christ. He has commissioned us, and He has identified is as His own by placing
the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first instalment that guarantees
everything He has promised us.”
2) Baptism – In water and Spirit. We
need to follow the example of Jesus and be baptized by Immersion in Water, and we
need to pray for a Baptism by Fire which is being filled with the Holy Spirit
and the demonstration of gift of Tongues. John 3:5 says “Most assuredly,
I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, He cannot see the
kingdom of God.”
3) Prayer in the Secret Place- We need
to build up our prayer altar and make it a habit to have a Quiet Time with the
Lord when He will speak to us and we can listen and learn from Him. We have to
make Prayer our lifestyle and pray without ceasing in all things and for
all things. 1 Thess 5:17
4) Praise & Worship- Singing Psalms
and songs and hymns to usher in the Presence and Glory of God. Eph 5:19
says that we must sing unto the Lord from our heart.
5) Bible study and meditation - We need
the Word to be successful in the spiritual warfare that we enter into the
moment we become real Christians. We read in Mathew 4 how Jesus used the Sword
of the Spirit which is the Word of God to fight against the temptations of the
Devil. We need to put on the whole armor of God as mentioned in Ephesians
6: 11-18 in order to stand against the wiles of the enemy.
6) Fellowship with the saints- We need
to find the right people we can share with and encourage one another. If we
pray to the Lord for the right people , He will bring them into our lives. As
Iron sharpens Iron we will be able to grow quicker by learning from one
another. (Proverbs 27:17)
7)Sowing in to the Kingdom of God- We
read in 2 Corin 9:6-7 that “God loves a cheerful Giver.”We must give to the work of God that which we
have in our hand and He will provide us with more than we can ask think or
imagine. However, we must be sure that we are sowing into the right and fertile
soil where help goes to the needy ones and not into the wrong pockets.
8) Always be ready to learn-John
14:26 “It is the Holy Spirit who will teach us all things”, sometimes
through His Word and sometimes through other people. We must always be
teachable and ready to learn. If we are teachable, God will put into our hands
different resources like books and tapes, different websites and blogs. We can
also go for the right Conferences and build up our faith from time to time.
Learning from the mistakes of others prevent us from making the same mistakes
and this would accelerate our learning capacity.
9) Serve – We have a Savior who never
hesitated to serve the people around Him. “He taught, healed the sick, cleansed
the lepers, fed the hungry and delivered those oppressed of the devil.” -Mathew
4:23,24. He went to the extent to wash the feet of His disciples! (John
13:12,15) What a wonderful example to follow we have! We see in Eph 4:11 that God has blessed every one of us with
some gift of the Holy Spirit. Whatever the talent that the Lord has given us, we
must use it to further the Kingdom of God. If it is singing, we can join the
Music Ministry, if it is to prophecy, we can encourage /edify another with it, if
it is to take care of the old /sick we can do that. If it is to cook, we can
share the love of God with the hungry, or we can be a friend/ listening ear to
someone who is hurt and broken and in need of a shoulder to cry on. If we have
the gift of time and tears, we could be an Intercessor and stand in the gap and
pray to God for people around us in need of breakthrough in their life. Jesus
will help us to pray and put fresh ideas for us to intercede. It is said that
Intercessors are very close to the heart of God for He shares His burdens with them,
and they call things into being with their prayers.
10) Share the Good News- In Mathew
28:19,20 Jesus has given us the Great Commission to “go and make disciples of
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit
and to teach them to obey everything He has commanded us.” We may never
be able to travel as a missionary to the Nations, but we can be faithful and
bloom where the Lord has planted us. We can pray to God to make us a Blessing
wherever we go. We can ask the Holy Spirit for direction and guidance about
what He wants us to do to share the Good News of the Gospel with the people
around us. We can shine our light so brightly that people would see Jesus in
us. Everybody needs Jesus! We can pray for the salvation of the people in our
life and those who ask us to pray for them. Of course, we need to depend on the
Holy Spirit for wisdom and discernment always; for apart from Him we can
do nothing. John 15: 5 we can be available to Him and He will use us in
small ways to bring life to those in need of His touch.
So, there is indeed so much for us to do to fan into flame the
gift of God in us. For God has not given us a spirit of timidity but of power,
love and self-discipline and we should never be ashamed of sharing our
testimony of how the Lord has transformed our lives by saving us, giving us
purpose and making us holy by His grace. (2 Tim 1:6-8)
In Mathew 25, verses 1-13, we read of the Parable of
the Ten Virgins. There were 5 who were wise and five who were foolish.
We read that all 10 of them fall asleep waiting for the bridegroom. However,
the wise ones had kept extra oil ready, unlike the foolish ones who miss the
wedding banquet because they were not ready for Him. And the door was shut!
Let us always be ready for the Bridegroom (Our Lord & King
Jesus) is coming soon to receive His Beautiful Bride, (Us , the Church) without
spot or blemish and let is keep our lamps burning with the oil which signifies
the anointing. Jesus ends this beautiful parable once again by warning us in Mathew
25:13 “to keep watch because you do not know the day or the hour!”
We read in the book of Revelation chapter 22 and verse
12 “Behold I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to everyone
according to his work.” Let that be an encouragement for us to always
be ready for Him and “to redeem the time coz the days are evil.”- Eph
5:14-17
Enjoy this song: He’s Coming Soon! By Bebe & Cece
Winans.
"My sheep hear My Voice and I know them, and they follow Me."- John 10:27
Hi Friends,
Hope you are doing fine. All of us know John 10 which speaks
about Jesus as our Shepherd. No matter what we are going through, we can get
through it if we hear the voice of our Shepherd and follow His instruction.
This morning as I was reading this portion, I felt the emphasis on how we
should hear the right voice. Just listening to any voice that comes to us is
one of the biggest mistakes we could make. The same mistake that Eve made in
the Garden of Eden. In the cacophony of voices around us, how do we know which
Voice to listen to and which voice to ignore and which voice to totally reject.
Based on this Scripture portion, let’s see how we can recognize and obey the
right Voice- the voice of our Shepherd Lord Jesus Christ
1) The Right Voice is selfless, the wrong voice is
selfish – “The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy but the Lord comes to
give us sustenance and abundant life.” – John 10:10 The Voice that is selfish
and does not have our good interests in mind is the voice we should ignore
totally. The Word says in John 10 that our Good Shepherd even gives up His own
Life to save the sheep. That’s how selfless the love of our Shepherd Jesus is. (John
10:11)
2) The Right Voice is true, the wrong Voice is
false- The Word of God says in John 14:6 says "I am the Way, the Truth and the life." However we read in 2 Corin 11:13-14 that there may be many false
voices around us that may appear good but are deceitful and we should never
fall for these voices as “even the devil masquerades as an angel of light.”
3) The Right Voice is personal and intimate (John
10:3);the wrong voice is manipulative and controlling – The Shepherd knows His
sheep and calls each of them by a special name. The Sheep know the Voice of
their Shepherd and follow Him alone. The enemy doesn’t really care for the
sheep , they just want to use us to fulfil their evil motives and though the
voice of the enemy may be persuasive as with Eve in the Garden , we should
always recognize the cruel manipulations behind the wrong voice and stay away from it immediately. Arguing or thinking on the suggestions of the evil one will only lead us to confusion. Thank God that we have a Shepherd who cares for us so much that if we seek Him He always answers us.(Jere 29:13)
4) The Right voice, draws us to the Word while the
wrong voice drives us away from the Word–The Sheep runs away from the Wrong Voice as
they do not know the Voice of the Stranger- The Lord’s Voice is always
recognizable as gentle and will always be in line with the Word of God but the stranger's Voice never lines up with the Word of God. We too should flee the
wrong voice as we have nothing in common with this Voice and the enemy would use
even the smallest bit of attention that we give that voice to fill us with doubt as
he did in the Garden of Eden and distract us from the wonderful plans that the
Lord has for us. (Jere 29:11)
5) The Right Voice will save us while the wrong voice
leads us to danger – Our Lord Jesus willingly lays down His life for us to save
us from danger (John 10:15,18) there is always a hedge of protection when we
adhere to the Voice of our Shepherd. However, the hireling flees in times of
danger as he does not care about the sheep. (John 10:12,13) He leaves the sheep,
and the wolf comes and catches and scatters the sheep. John 10:28 says That Our Good Shepherd gives us Eternal Life and we will never perish and no one can snatch them out of His hand.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank you for being our Good Shepherd. We shall
not lack in anything. (Psalms 23:1,2) Please keep our ears attuned to hear only
Your still small voice; help us to recognize Your still small Voice and always
obey You Lord. Forgive the times we have unknowingly and carelessly heeded to
the Wrong voices around us – the Voice of our Flesh, the Voice of people around
us, the Voice of the Enemy. Help us to be Yours and Yours alone and to hear Your
Voice more and more clearly Lord in these Last Days. We surrender to You Our
Good Shepherd, You who loves us so much that You went to the greatest extent to
prove your Love for us by willingly laying Your Own life for us that we could enjoy Abundant Life here on Earth and ever
afterwards forever.
Hope and pray that we, His sheep will always hear His Voice
alone!
"Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him."- Jeremiah 17:7
Hi friends,
Hope you are doing good! This morning I came across this beautiful passage in Jeremiah 17 which calls us to be the blessed of the Lord. The blessing or the curse depends on our choices. These are some truths that can be universally applied to each one of us no matter which walk of life we come from! First let us discuss the three kinds of people who can actually lose out on the blessings of God.
1) The One who puts his trust in man- Jer 17:5,6 -
Jeremiah actually calls this kind of person as a cursed one. Since he puts his trust in man and puts his strength in flesh. He goes on to describe the condition of this man is like a shrub in the desert place. The growth of this plant is stunted meaning its barely alive. It is also called a lonely bush in the wilderness. This is its survival strategy as there is very little water and nutrients in that parched place due to low rainfall & poor soil (salt land). When we put our trust in people, it is sure that they will disappoint us sometime or other in life! Our Anchor in life should always be God and not people, no matter how powerful or influential they may be, our God is bigger than any other person on this earth.
Antidote - Psalms 118:8,9 "It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord, than to put confidence in princes." NKJV
2) The One who trusts in his Own heart- Jeremiah 17:9,10
Nowadays there's a popular saying, " go by your heart." Though this may seem like the right thing to do, the Word of God speaks differently about this. Jeremiah 17: 9,10 says "the heart is deceitful above all things and also is desperately wicked."
Proverbs 28:26 says "Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered."
Proverbs 3:7 says "Do not be wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord and depart from evil."
As long as our hearts and minds are surrendered and sanctified by the Blessed Holy Spirit we can make wise decisions but if we put our trust in our human knowledge or past experience, we may be wrong. Wrong choices without being guided by the blessed Holy Spirit may cause us to make wrong decisions and thereby lead us away from the blessings God has kept for us.
Antidote - Psalms 37:5 " Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him and He will help you."- NLT
3) The One who trusts in his Riches-
In Jeremiah 17:11, we come across another beautiful imagery that explains this point beautifully. Here we read about "the partridge that broods but does not hatch" - this refers to the Jewish belief that the partridge is a bird that steals the eggs of other birds and adds them to her own. So when the eggs hatch, the chicks leave the partridge because they really don't belong to that bird. Similar is the case of people who have acquired riches unjustly. Such wealth disappears just when the owner is counting on it for security.
Psalms 49:16-20 NLT also speaks about this :" Be not afraid when a man becomes rich, when the glory of his house increases. For when he dies he will carry nothing away; his glory will not go down after him. For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed —and though you get praise when you do well for yourself— his soul will go to the generation of his fathers, who will never again see light. Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish."
Even Jesus speaks a parable about a rich man who built bigger barns to store more crops - Luke 12:16-21. We read that God calls this man a fool. In spite of all the wealth that he amassed, He could not be truly blessed.
Antidote - Proverbs 11:28 "He who trusts in His riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf.
THE TRULY BLESSED ONE !
How then can we be blessed? We can find the key in Jeremiah 17:7-8.
Psalms 1: 2-3 describes them. Those who trust in the Lord are those who take delight in His Word. They will be like a tree that is planted by rivers of water and thus brings forth its fruit in its season. Their leaves will not wither, and whatever such people do, they will prosper.
They are the ones who trust in theLordwith all your heart and lean not on their own understanding .In all their ways they acknowledge Him and He directs their paths."Prov 3:5,6
How can such people who are totally surrendered to the Lord not be blessed by Him? They are the ones who are blessed to be a blessing. We are called and created not just to survive here on this earth but for so much more! We are called to Blossom and Bloom where God has planted us.
"God doesn't abandon or forget even the small sparrow He has made. How then could He forget or abandon you?"- Luke 12:7 Passion Translation.
Hi friends,
Hope you are doing fine. Today morning as I awoke I could hear these words "His eye is on the Sparrow." We all know that the Sparrow is a very small bird often overlooked because it is so small and insignificant! Mathew 10:29-31 " You can buy two sparrows for only a copper coin, yet not even one sparrow falls from its nest without the knowledge of your Father. Aren't you worth much more to God than many sparrows? So don't worry. For your Father cares deeply about even the smallest detail of your life."In the Bible, the sparrow represents God's love & care for His creation as well the importance of humility and trust in God's provision.
If the Lord cares so much for that small bird then how much more we matter to Him? In this life, we may go through different situations where we may be overlooked or misunderstood or belittled just because we are smaller or appear weaker than others, yet we should remember that we read in 1 Tim 4:12 "Don’t let anyone belittle you because you are young. Instead, show the faithful,young and old,an example of how to live: set the standard for how to talk, act, love, and be faithful and pure." Moreover , God in spite of being the Creator of all mankind, never despises anybody. He celebrates His children. He only has love, acceptance and good plans for His children. The world may look down on us, criticize, ridicule, mock or even reject & hate us ..but our Lord Jesus has gone through that path and suffered even the Ultimate Rejection when the Holy Father God turned His face from our beloved Jesus just because He carried our sins on Himself! None of us will ever go through that kind of sorrow or rejection.
Similarly, we should never limit God nor ever underestimate what He can do with someone who is totally dedicated and surrendered to Him. It really does not matter how small or insignificant we may appear to others. We have a God who uses a stammerer like Moses, a ruddy shepherd boy David. a young maiden like Mary, a fearful Gideon and a coward like Peter. We have a God who specializes in using the misfits and imperfect people to fulfill His will. We read in 1 Corin 1:27 " God purposely chose what the world considers foolish in order to shame the wise, and He chose what the world considers weak in order to shame the powerful. He receives the Glory."
Now, let's learn something from the Sparrow. The sparrow is a singing bird and has a beautiful Voice and its chirping and singing can be heard all over. Sometimes we hear the bird's song and that brightens our day. In the same way, we may not be recognized or noticed by anyone but we can praise and worship God from where we are and give Him the Glory. That 'song' or whatever we have in our hand, be it our time/ talents/ treasure; God will take it and will use it to encourage another weary traveler on this journey called life. Nothing is ever wasted in His hands!
{The song "His eye is on the Sparrow" originated in the year 1905 by Civilla Martin. She describes the context out of which the hymn was born: “Early in the spring of 1905, my husband and I were sojourning in Elmira, New York. We contracted a deep friendship for a couple by the name of Mr. and Mrs. Doolittle—true saints of God. Mrs. Doolittle had been bedridden for nigh twenty years. Her husband was an incurable cripple who had to propel himself to and from his business in a wheelchair. Despite their afflictions, they lived happy Christian lives, bringing inspiration and comfort to all who knew them. One day while we were visiting with the Doolittle s, my husband commented on their bright hopefulness and asked them for the secret of it. Mrs. Doolittle’s response was simple: ‘His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.’ The beauty of this simple expression of boundless faith gripped the hearts and fired the imagination of Dr. Martin and me. The hymn ‘His Eye Is on the Sparrow’ was the outcome of that experience.”}
“Not by might nor
by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord Almighty.”-Zech 4:1
Hi friends,
Hope you are doing fine. In my previous post, we saw that Confidence is one of the most important traits we should possess for success in
our life. There is however a difference between having Self Confidence and
Confidence in GOD. As we think about it, often self-confident people think that
they are able to achieve anything in their life by their willpower or talent.
The truly wise know that of our own we are not able to do anything. Even the Lord
says in John 15:5 “that apart from Him we can do nothing!” Does that mean we
should not trust ourselves and not to try to do anything in life? Actually, it’s just the opposite; the ones with their
Confidence in the Lord are the ones who will go to the greatest heights in life
in His power & strength and achieve the impossible because of HIM. As I was
ruminating over this thought, …a new word
came to my mind; - GODFIDENCE …I just looked it up and found that surprise of surprises
there is a word like that! It is the belief that we can do anything because of our
firm belief that it is HE who strengthens and enables us to do so. Philippians
4:13 says “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
We can attempt the Impossible and know that it is the Lord
who has done it through us and so we will give Him all the Glory. The more we
use what He has given us and in His name , the more He will empower us and we
will be so grateful to Him that we will say like the psalmist says in Psalms
118:23 “This is the Lord’s doing and it’s marvellous in our eyes.”
The Bible is full of such men and women who did exploits in His
name and brought Glory to our Lord. Daniel in the Lions Den, Moses in the
Wilderness and David when he stood against & defeated the giant Goliath. We too are called to defeat the Giants in our life in His name and power.
One thing however we should remember is that the moment we
depend on our ability we will not be able to accomplish His will in our life.
We need the power of the Holy spirit to do what God has called us to do. Peter walked
on the water when he fixed his eyes on the Lord. However when he saw the waves
he remembered his frailty and panicked but the Lord took hold of him
immediately. The same way, we can rest assured that as long as we are walking
with our eyes fixed on Jesus the author and Finisher of our faith , we may slip
but we will never drown for His eye is upon us always! Just like an eager mother
watches her little toddler take his first tottering steps…encouraging the baby
to take small steps…always ready to reach out and help the baby in case he
falls, in the same way, our Father is EL ROI – the God who sees and watches us
take steps as He directs us :)
Sharing a song that speaks about facing our Giants with GODFIDENCE!
"But you shall know the Truth and the Truth Shall Set You Free! " - John 8:32
Hi friends,
Hope you are doing fine. Today, I'd like to share some thoughts on this lovely song
that I came across sometime back.
Everyone knows that Confidence is one of the most crucial
elements to succeed and win in today’s rat race. If we look around, one thing that
we can see is no matter what people go through ; they put on a strong face and
their best foot forward. Many people especially the youth of today go through
many hardships behind closed doors and yet we would never know that until
something bad happens and we are too late. This lack of openness and transparency
among us may also be one of the causes of the rising rate of suicides and other
shocking destructive behavior like the school shootings etc. Much of such
tragedies could be avoided if we realized that its okay not to have all the answers
and that we don’t need to be filled with shame and hopelessness if we feel we don’t
fit in sometimes. Truth be told, none of us has it all together and all the
time. We all have seasons of great joy and sorrow, ups and downs.
The key that
helps us get through this all is to first and foremost admit that we need help
and to approach someone we can confide in, sometimes a friend you can trust or
a teacher, pastor, parent, or someone who would be able to help you. And of
course, the best person we could confide to is our Lord Jesus Christ who never
misunderstands us and is always happy to help us out no matter how messy a
situation we are in! And when we cross over from that state to a better one,
there’s so much we have learnt that we are then anointed to offer the same comfort
to another person who God will put in our path. The best thing we can do to
help someone is point them to the Cross to the Savior who saved us and loves
us. “A safe place for the sick, the sinner and the Prodigal…”
I love this song by Matthew West which speaks to us about
this problem and how to address it. May it bless you today!
Philippians 2:10,11 " ...that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, in heaven and on the earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
Hi friends,
Hope you are doing fine. This week I'd like to share with you a song that I came across rather accidentally but which has ministered to me so wonderfully. Its called Battle Cry! (written & recorded by Aaron Lee.) The word battle cry is a word or a phrase that is shouted by soldiers going into battle to express solidarity and to intimidate the enemy.
This song as I understand it is mainly about how sometimes we get so weary with the constant spiritual warfare coming against us. What we need to remember at such times is that it is not us, but Jesus who will do the warfare for us. He has already won the fight for us (about 2000 years ago) when He died for us on the Cross and was resurrected on the Third Day! We can run to shelter ourselves in the arms of our Lord where we can rest and our wounds can heal. Just like in any war, when the army needs direction , they turn to their Commander who will always give them the right advice at crucial times , in the same way, we too can turn to our Chief Commander Jesus who will guide us with His Voice .He has promised us that His Holy Spirit will never leave nor forsake us. And because of this ,we can march confidently behind the Lord Jesus and be sure that we are more than Conquerors coz this fight He has already won! So our Battle Cry is the name of Jesus - The name above every name!
" But by the Grace of God, I am what I am, and His Grace towards me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I , but the grace of God which was in me."- 1 Corin 15:10
Hi friends,
Its been a while since I've jotted down something. Hope you are doing fine in His Grace! I recently came across this beautiful song which has ministered to me through some of the toughest phases in my life!It is a song that comes straight from the Father's heart and resonates with every fiber of my being. Hope it blesses you as much as it blessed me!
No matter who we are, how old or young we are or from which part of the world we come from, it is a common factor that we all want to be understood, accepted and loved. However, often we may be misunderstood, rejected and even hated by people who think they know what we are. Yet, we can be grateful for the few people in our life who know us inside and out, our failures and victories, our strengths and weaknesses and love us deeply for who we are. Such is the love of our Loving Father, our Creator. In Psalms 139:13- 16 it says " You knitted me together in my mother's womb....Your workmanship is marvelous! ....You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed." This means that no matter what we think or feel or others tell us , we are no accident. We are created by Our Father God for a definite time and purpose. Since He crafted us with His hands , none of what we say, think, do or imagine surprises Him. According to Luke 12 :17 : "Even the number of our hairs is known by Him." That is how intimately He knows us and how unconditionally He loves us.
Often in life we have to put our best foot forward before we approach people but with God we can come just as we are... there is only love and acceptance for us; His children! Just like a small puppy who has rolled in a muddy puddle and rushes to his Master when He hears him coming, we too can rush into the loving arms of our Lord & Savior no matter how broken and shattered we may be. People may doubt us or speak bad about us but we have a God who sees and knows us and will take us and cleanse us with His Holy Blood and fill us with His Living Word. As David sings in Psalms 40:1-3 : The Lord picked me up from the miry clay, set my feet on a rock to stay; put a song in my mouth to sing ...a song of Praise to my Lord & King." That's what our Lord does with us; so we can always rest with this assurance in our Heart that our Lord loves us so much that He gave His only begotten Son Jesus to die on the Cross of Calvary for us so that we could enjoy abundant life here on earth and ever after. (John 3:16)
Hope you are blessed and do enjoy this wonderful video of this song by City Alight . Always remember that no matter where you are at this point in your life. You are known , You are loved! 💓
Today I would like to share some thoughts from a portion of
the Bible that most of us are familiar with. It is from Psalms 23. This portion
was written by David who himself was a shepherd boy in the earlier part of his
life.
Let us go verse by verse;
Vs 1 “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.”
The Shepherd - Our
Lord Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd who gives His life for the sheep ( acc
to John 10:11) and we are the sheep ( sheep are not a very intelligent animal as
compared to other animals ) but the Shepherd knows how to take care of the
sheep and to safeguard the sheep from any attack by wild animals like bears or
lions or wolves etc. The Shepherd knows those who are truly His sheep (John
10:27) As long as the sheep listens to the Shepherd's voice, (John 10:14) the
sheep will be safe.
1 Corin 3:19 says that “The wisdom of this world is
foolishness with God and He catches the wise in their own craftiness”
Verse 2 “ He makes me lie down in green pastures .
He leads me beside still waters.”
This speaks of
physical rest to the sheep. We can really trust our Lord Jesus and can rest
assured that He will take care of us even when we sleep as we have a God who
neither slumbers nor sleeps.(Psalms 121:4,5) He stays awake with His eye on us
always. How can we not rest when we have such a Protective Shepherd!
Verse 3 “ He restores my Soul”
This speaks about rest for our mind, will and emotions. It
is only the Lord who can repair the trauma/ damages that come to our soul due
to hurts ,rejection and the such that come to us as a result of living in a
fallen world. So we see that our God can revive us and makes us completely
ready to face the battles of life that come to us everyday. We can experience
this rejuvenation by daily prayer and cleansing by meditating on the Word of
God which is the Voice of our Shepherd Jesus.
Verse 3 b“He
leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake”-
It is the Lord alone
who leads us, His sheep into righteousness by cleansing us from all our sins
and shortcomings with His Holy Blood and by His Name and giving us His Robe of
Righteousness. (Isa 61:10)
Verse 4“Yea
though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death , I will fear no evil ,
for you are with me.”
Many times while grazing , the sheep lose their way and may
get stuck in unfamiliar and dangerous terrain and when the sheep cannot find
its way back, what it does is it starts bleating as loudly as it can knowing
that the Shepherd will hear its voice and come looking for it. In our Christian
life also when we make mistakes or get off track, if we cry out to Him in all
sincerity He will come and save us leaving the other sheep securely. That much
valuable each sheep of His is! It is His promise that “He will never leave us
nor forsake us.”Deu 31:8
Verse 4b “Your Rod & Staff they comfort me.”
The sheep know that the Rod is for scaring away the wild
animals and the curved part of the Staff is used by the Compassionate Shepherd
to gently draw the sheep towards Himself. His nearness comforts the sheep. In
the same way, our Lord gently corrects us and gently leads us in the right
ways. (Heb 12:6, Proverbs 3:12)
Verse 5 “ You prepare a table before me in the
presence of my enemies.”
It is the Lord who prepares a feast which signifies
abundance and fruitfulness in front of all for everyone to see and for His
Glory. “He is our Glory and the Lifter of our heads.” (Psalm 3:3)
Verse 6 “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life.”
As long as we run after Jesus our Shepherd, we don’t need to
run after blessings. Our Lord will provide it for us forever. Blessings will
chase us down.
Verse 6b “And I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.”-
We will always dwell with our Shepherd Lord Jesus. Our Lord
has a place prepared for us. In John 14:2,3 we read Jesus telling us that “ I
go to prepare a place for you . And if I go and prepare a place for you ,I will
come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am , there you may be also.”
Psalm 116:12 “What shall I render to the LORD for all his
benefits to me?”
Hi friends !
Hope you are doing well in the New Year! This year God
has promised us in Psalms 65:11 that “He will crown our year with His
Goodness and our paths would drip with abundance.”So, no matter what the scenario around us may
look like, we can be sure that as a Father takes care of His children, our Lord
is eager to take care of us. The Lord has many blessings in store for us. So
let us wait expectantly for the wonderful things He has in store for us. In the
meantime, I think we should praise Him while waiting on Him. The best way to
enjoy our journey on the path to our destination is to be thankful to Him on
our way. I would like to share this Malayalam song I have learnt right from my
childhood days. It reminds us to count our blessings for His unlimited mercies
in our lives. Recently I came across the Hindi version of this song and am
sharing it too! Let us decide in this New Year2023 to praise Him believing that His goodness and mercy would chase us
down with blessings galore!
ENNI ENNI STUTHIKUVAN
GIN GIN KE
Just came across this song today and had to add it to this list ...Its called Million Little Miracles by Elevation Worship & Maverick City... Hope u enjoy singing it as much as I did!
