Lessons from Life

2021-05-27T07:47:00.004-05:00

Feed on God's faithfulness

You might be familiar with quite a few verses in Psalm 37. You might even have your favorites like verse 4

Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart

Today you might be looking around only to find other people flourish, whereas you've been waiting on the Lord and seemingly everything is at standstill from your vantage point. Psalm 37 encourages us to see the permanent and final work that God is doing in our lives and how we can bring them forth in our lives.

Lessons

1. Feed on God's faithfulness - v3 says "Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness" . Here befriend also means to feed on or find safe pasture in God's faithfulness. In God our Loving Father we find stability. Change is good for growth, but we should be wary of inconsistency. Inconsistency is not growth, it breaks faith, causes worry because we never know what the outcome might be. However in God, Who is the same yesterday today and forever, we can find that rest (dwell in).

2. Commit your way to the Lord v4, 5 - "Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act". When you focus and feed on God, Who is faithful, you can rest assured that when you've committed something in His hands, He WILL ACT! He takes His responsibility as your Heavenly Father, very very seriously. So much so that He gave His one and only begotten Son, for the world.(John 3:16) So then "He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things" .

3. Stay in God's way, as you wait on Him - v34 "Wait for the Lord and keep his way" So what should we do as we wait, v7 onwards it says fret not. Fret means being constantly or visibly worried or anxious. Every time we look around and lose our focus, we begin to worry. Psalm 37 encourages us to not get angry(v8), turn away from evil and do good(v27). Just keep staying your course, for God is at work on your behalf.

4. God will exalt you to inherit the land - The phrase inherit the land occurs 5 times in this chapter, God must have been putting great emphasis on this.

v9 those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.
v11 the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace,
v22 for those blessed by the Lord[c] shall inherit the land
v29 The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it forever.
v34 Wait for the Lord and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land;

To me inherit the land means, we no longer have to wander or move. Not restless. No longer wondering where we may have to travel. It means settled. It speaks of permanence and stability. This reminds me of the verse in Ephesians 4:14 "so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes." In the New Covenant God has given to us provided every means to enable us to be stable and grow in stature as a child of God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Conclusion

No matter what we are waiting on God to do on our behalf, let us feed on His faithfulness. God has not left one stone unturned to bring His Salvation to you. What makes you wonder He would do anything less for you in the circumstance you're in?
Let this verse encourage you as you wait upon the Lord and do good, that you may prosper as you feed on God's faithfulness Who cares about your physical well being as much as He does your spiritual well being!

Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul. 3 John 1:2

Where is the Good?

2014-04-11T23:12:00.001-05:00

In this world, now seemingly dominated by evil and hatred all around obviously nobody is out highlighting or making news of the good stuff people are doing. I am so disheartened with all the sights and sounds of the world!

I can almost feel what King David would have probably been going through. Where was anything good around him? He writes a comparison of how he felt when he was struggling for that ray of light when despair and trouble loomed.

Psalm 36:1-4 begins with David almost ranting about the twisted mind of a person who has completely pushed God out of his life. The clear repercussions of throwing God out of your life is that it makes you vulnerable to attacks from evil. Life can just become a black-hole that draws evil in every form. Where there is no light, darkness will take over.

When we invite God into our life, we are inviting Light (1 John 1:5) and Love (1 John 4:8). The two best things in life!

Let us soak in the goodness of our Living God in the following verses that David declares in Psalm 36:5-9

5Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens;
    your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds.
⁶Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
    your justice like the ocean depths.
You care for people and animals alike, O Lord.
⁷    How precious is your unfailing love, O God!
All humanity finds shelter
    in the shadow of your wings.
⁸You feed them from the abundance of your own house,
    letting them drink from your river of delights.
⁹For you are the fountain of life,
    the light by which we see.

Crying Out For Justice

2014-03-28T12:06:00.002-05:00

My little 6 year old came home crying after school the other day.

"...it is unfair mommy, I am deeply sad" she cried. Scooping her up in my arms, I asked her what had happened.

"I won it mommy but they said the other boy won, when clearly I reached first ..and these people know Jesus, why would they do that?"

I encouraged her to tell me more so I could understand.

The story was that, there was a race at Sunday School and my little girl said, she finished first but they did not see her and declared another boy a winner.

She felt betrayed, she was disappointed with the unfair treatment and was wondering, why the people who know Jesus would be unfair? This was a hard thing for her to understand and harder for me to explain.

David, in Psalm 35:12, pleads with God to do something on his behalf against his enemies "They reward me evil for good" and in Ps35:22, "You have seen this, O Lord; keep not silence! O Lord, be not far from me!"

All I could say to her was, "Honey, even if your Sunday School teacher didn't see, God has seen it and let Him reward you in a much greater way, than any man can. He is a Big God and His rewards are big." So we prayed for God to bless those who unknowingly hurt her and help us forgive them as God forgives us. It was hard but we did it anyway. I then asked her to compare who was bigger, man or God and whose reward would then be bigger? Of course she was delighted for being sure that God was indeed bigger and it was a good thing He sees us all the time.

Yes, whether anyone else watches your progress or not, God is always entirely aware of you!

Psalm 35:28 And my tongue shall talk of Your righteousness, rightness, and justice, and of [my reasons for] Your praise all the day long."

What Can You Get From God?

2014-03-24T11:43:00.003-05:00

Now this Psalm is for those who are humble and brokenhearted. So, if you do not fall in these two categories, you may proceed onto the next blog on the web!

When life has you strapped onto a never ending roller-coaster that seems to ruthlessly rock your world and its not fun any more to be on the ride, you want to get off and run, right? David was in such a roller-coaster. Sometimes the people who are the closest are the ones that hurt you the most and that's what happened with David. Well the good thing for him was that he continued to look to the Face of God from where He always received help from all his troubles.

Now I have read Psalm 34 many times but this thing I did not see...watch this

...if you hear from God - it'll make you glad

...if you seek the Lord - He will hear you

...if you require Him (out of necessity and authority of His Word) - He will deliver you from ALL your troubles

...if you look to Him - you will become radiant

...if you cry out to Him - the Lord hears you and saves you from ALL your troubles

...if you revere and worship Him with awe - His Angel encamps around you and delivers you

...if you taste Him - you will see He is good

...if you trust Him & take refuge in Him - you will be blessed (happy, fortunate and to be envied)

...if you inquire and require of the Lord according to His Word - you shall lack no beneficial thing

What have you got to lose? I see nothing but gain.

Psalms 34:22 "The Lord redeems the lives of His servants, and none of those who take refuge and trust in Him shall be condemned or held guilty."

It is written in Colossians 2:14-15

¹⁴Having cancelled and blotted out and wiped away the handwriting of the note (bond) with its legal decrees and demands which was in force and stood against us (hostile to us). This [note with its regulations, decrees, and demands] He set aside and cleared ^[j]completely out of our way by nailing it to [His] cross.¹⁵[God] disarmed the principalities and powers that were ranged against us and made a bold display and public example of them, in triumphing over them in Him and in it [the cross].

God or Nothing!

2014-03-21T09:47:00.003-05:00

What is it that is threatening or mocking you today? That which looms over you, seeking that it may devour you. Something that makes you feel like crying out "God, if You don't help me, its over."

This man David, he spent most of his young years running for his dear life. What a pain that would be to constantly live in fear for your life. It is worse when you know that you were specially anointed by the man of God himself - Samuel to be king over Israel! With that kind of an amazing history in your life, how weird it would be that you had to live like a mad man in another country!

Yet, in the midst of all this David wrote this amazing Psalm 34 when King Abimelech (also known as Achish 1Sam 21:10-13) found out he was David and would have probably killed him. Remember Goliath? Yep David was hiding in Goliath's country, Gath, at the time he wrote this Psalm and this king Abimelech was king during that time.

David says in Psalm 34:4 "I sought (inquired of) the Lord and required Him [of necessity and on the authority of His Word], and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears."

What word did David have from the Lord that he was holding on to? David was anointed king as a little boy and since then the Spirit of God was mightily upon him (1 Samuel 16:13) I am sure he had the acute awareness of God's hand in every even in his life and he was sure that God is always true to His word and if God said he would be king, he would surely be king which means he would have to be alive and God would take care of it. That's the authority of God's Word David relied upon.

I am struggling with tooth problems and I hate it. It bothers me that in my belief, I can accept that God can heal big things like cancer and raise people from the dead but it is so hard to trust God for pimples and tooth ache!!! Why would my faith / brain separate sicknesses into categories? Then perhaps I have believed a lie - would God do this for me? No its true, I believe God can heal our diseases but would He want to heal mine?

The Bible is clear about healing, Jesus heals us from all our sicknesses and forgives all our sins! He paid an extremely high price for mankind. His Word has authority! Believe His every Word!

Dear Lord, Help my unbelief and heal all our diseases. Help me comprehend your goodness and your mercy which you showed by sacrificing your own Son for a sinner like me, even when I did not deserve it. Help me to remember Romans 8:32 " ³²He who did not withhold or spare [even] His own Son but gave Him up for us all, will He not also with Him freely and graciously give us all [other] things? " . May this be done for Your glory! Amen

Consider God for He Considers You!

2013-11-19T02:40:00.003-06:00

The moment we begin too much to look within the more we are lost in the myriads of memories of sin and how horrible we are. Of course the good thing that comes of it is this, we learn and realize how good God is.

I am a person who is constantly looking inward,introspecting, sorting things out inside me, trying impossibly to become perfect every single day. That's all good you might think but there is one thing wrong here! Well the one thing is my focus is me, instead of looking at Jesus and concentrating on His works for my life, I am dwelling on me and I have no hope to give myself on how to get out of my situation.

Therefore I love how David considers himself and looks at his pathetic self and then looks up to God and describes Him and all His grandeur and glory and awesomeness and there he finds his strength and hope!

In Psalm 33 David describes why we should Rejoice in God

For the word of the Lord is right
All His work is done in faithfulness
He loves righteousness and justice
the earth is full of the loving-kindness of the Lord
By the word of the Lord were the heavens made
The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the thoughts of His heart through all generations

And much much more.
For some may ask if all this is true, then why is there so much unrest and sorrow on the earth if God's loving-kindness is all over the earth?

¹⁸Behold, the Lord’s eye is upon those who fear Him [who revere and worship Him with awe], who wait for Him and hope in His mercy and loving-kindness

There are a group of people who expectantly wait and watch for His mercy and loving-kindness. God's mercies are spread everywhere and they are visible in the lives of those who wait and depend upon Him! He has given us the choice of receiving or rejecting His mercies for our lives!

As for those who do wait upon Him for their very existence....God watches out for them

¹⁸Behold, the Lord’s eye is upon those who fear Him [who revere and worship Him with awe], who wait for Him and hope in His mercy and loving-kindness,

¹⁹To deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.

Why not try out this relationship with God your Creator Who is constantly and intently looking at the people on the earth to seek out whom He may bless!

2 Chronicles 16:9 For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.

Unconfessed Sin and Bone Diseases - Get Forgiveness from God

2013-11-14T04:56:00.000-06:00

Some sicknesses, I believe, are spiritually related. The Bible especially relates diseases of the bone to un-confessed sin.

David says in Psalm 32 about the time when he remained silent about his sins and hoped everything would eventually go away, but his bones began deteriorating as he continued to hide his sin.

When I kept silent, my bones wasted away

It is not good enough to be a good person. No matter how good we are, our goodness will still measure up only to filthy rags in the presence of a Holy God! We might be doing everything right, everything good, beneficial for others but if we do not have forgiveness of our sins through believing in Jesus Christ's death and resurrection, we will not see God. No wonder all other religions don't have a clearly defined end for the people who believe in it. Some believe, the person keeps on going through the cycle of birth and rebirth till they live one perfect life and find moksha (get rid of their cyclic life). Some believe they need to get rid of certain types of people on the earth in order to achieve their salvation! Only Jesus said "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life! No one comes to the Father God but through Me. How then can we find peace with a Holy God? David says in Psalm 32:5

Then I acknowledged my sin to you
    and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
    my transgressions to the Lord.”
And you forgave
    the guilt of my sin.

Why is this the way to do it? Why not just concentrate on doing a lot of good things here on earth and then ask God if this is good enough for Him to take us into His Kingdom? This would not work for about 3 reasons that come to mind

God is the Creator of all things and He is the lawmaker and none of us are above(greater) than His law so we cannot bend it to suit ourselves.
God is so Holy, an all consuming fire. If we think we can put our hands in fire and hope it does not burn aren't we being foolish? The nature of fire is to burn anything that comes in contact with it! God is Holy and this anything that comes in contact with it and is not Holy will be consumed in His Holy Fire!
By ourselves, there is no way that we can ever break out of our sinful life, which obviously God knew we could not so He had a plan (and always does) and sent His Only Son Jesus (equally Holy, equally God, equally human) to suffer the wrath that would have otherwise come on us because of God's nature of Holiness. Only God can handle God's wrath! Only God can create a heart of Holiness in us! Only God can cover us in His sheet of righteousness so He could come near us, without consuming us in His Holy Fire, just to commune with us like He loved to with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day.

God's call for being Holy is His call to restore our fellowship with Him! He has taken all the initiatives needed for us to be restored to Him, unhindered! All that we have to do is accept His sacrifice for us, acknowledge His plan for our salvation through Jesus Christ alone and be restored in fellowship with Him. If it be hard for you to grasp this fact, lets read Psalm 32:8

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.

God longs for you to commune with Him, way more than you can ever imagine!

God knows your every trouble and feels your every pain

2013-11-12T01:03:00.000-06:00

The stuff that David wrote down during his times of trouble are the same ones that help us word our own pain and sufferings to God. Also the fact that God called him "man after His own heart" could help us speak with God the way David communed with Him and get close to God's heart. David had no one else to call friend on earth, except Jonathan (his enemy's son). He found a friend in God with Whom he shares all his cares and worries and through this David learned that God did really respond in his situations and delivered him out of all troubles.

v7I will be glad and rejoice in your love,
for you saw my affliction
and knew the anguish of my soul.

He was absolutely sure God had heard every single cry he made and had felt every single hurt he felt. These are the sufferings David is going through in private and no one else knows it but God. Yet when God blesses him, He blesses him in the sight of all.

v19 How abundant are the good things
that you have stored up for those who fear you,
that you bestow in the sight of all,
on those who take refuge in you.

Take heart my friends in God, your Creator and His Son Lord Jesus. All the trials you go through, in private and you think no one knows or no one cares, God has seen your anguish and your secret tears in the night! He has seen it all and when we completely lay down our sorrows before Him and like David when we say

Into your hands I commit my spirit;
    deliver me, Lord, my faithful God.
...But I trust in you, Lord;
    I say, “You are my God.”
¹⁵My times are in your hands;
    deliver me from the hands of my enemies,
    from those who pursue me.

God hears it and constantly covers His children who have taught themselves to make God their first point of contact for anything pertaining to their life. So no matter what conspiracy any human devises against a child of God - God protects them.

In the shelter of your presence you hide them
from all human intrigues;
you keep them safe in your dwelling
from accusing tongues.

So go ahead you children of the one True Living God

Pour your heart out to Him, for He hears and knows and feels everything you are going through
Commit your spirit in His hands to learn from God's Presence.
Surrender your times on this earth in God's hands to make them beautiful in His time
Take refuge in Him for God saves you in His dwelling!

Psalm 31:23-24
Love the Lord, all his faithful people!
    The Lord preserves those who are true to him,
    but the proud he pays back in full.
²⁴Be strong and take heart,
    all you who hope in the Lord.

Come take a stroll with your Living God!

2013-11-08T01:33:00.000-06:00

OH Yeah!

This is the Almighty God I serve,

He Who never lets His people down!
He Who never lets His people be put to shame when they are following Him exactly!
When His people humble themselves and pray, HE DOES Answer!
Oh death where is thy victory!

When Jesus lived on this earth, He did not live like the way His followers are living now. He did not live in constant fear of what will happen next. He did not live in any fear for His provisions. He did not live worrying whether Father God would answer His prayer or not! He knew His Father way more intensely and deeply for anything on this earth to put a dent in their relationship. In return, Jesus never had a loss!

In Jesus God dealt with death with the ultimate punishment for sin and rendered it powerless so God's creation can now have life abundantly. So what profit is there in a human's death, nothing but sorrow especially if one leaves without knowing God their Creator. David says in Psalm 29 as follows

Psalm 30 : 9-12

⁹What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit (the grave)? Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your truth and faithfulness to men?

¹⁰Hear, O Lord, have mercy and be gracious to me! O Lord, be my helper!

¹¹You have turned my mourning into dancing for me; You have put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladness,

¹²To the end that my tongue and my heart and everything glorious within me may sing praise to You and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.

There are people on this planet who are struggling and living in ignorance of this Loving and Living God. The ones who think they know God (mostly because they were born into the religion that sort of believes in Him) but have no real relationship with Him, continue living a nominal and powerless life.Blending in just like the rest of the people around them, with no difference to show forth for this AWESOME GOD. Some followed a protocol viz. believe - get baptized - receive the Holy Spirit - continue with your life like nothing happened!

I have a bone to pick with such as these. No, I am not saying I have completely grasped all that God has spiritually, scripturally, theologically offered to me, but now that I have begun listening more than just blabbering during my prayer times with Him, I am getting a chance to hear Him. So from this point of time in my spiritual journey in life, I want to urge my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Rise up, take charge, sit down with God Your creator, to Whom you have access because of a very heavy price that His Own Son Jesus paid for you and more than that He even sent His precious Holy Spirit to guide you into your relationship with Him!

NOW because of Jesus Christ there is nothing stopping you from having a relationship with your Heavenly Father, the same One Who strolled with Adam and Even in the cool of the day in the garden of Eden. So come brothers and sisters to take a stroll with Your Living and Loving God!

P. S. Check out the other meaning of stroll

walk in a leisurely way
a victory or an objective that is easily achieved

Stroll with God like you have all the time in the world to hang out with Him!

Christ in You the Hope of Glory!

2013-11-07T02:27:00.000-06:00

When we are surrounded by troubles, it stares at us in our face and stuns us, to paralyze us with fear! It attempts first to take out your faith, for fear is the opposite of faith!

If the enemy can zap out your faith you have nothing else to depend on, nothing to hold onto and then the problem before you seems insurmountable, way bigger (which it probably is for a human anyway), way out of bounds, something that, by human reasons, cannot be solved!

What we inadvertently do then is, ascribe more power to the enemy, the power he never had in the first place! The power/position you give to him is what he will use to intimidate you and after all is done, to destroy you. Remember always, the enemy has come only to steal, kill and destroy but Jesus came so we have life and life abundantly!!! That is that and this divine truth should be embedded in our hearts!

This is exactly what David talks about in Psalm29:1

^"1Ascribe to the Lord, O sons of the mighty, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength."

Now what does this mean? Lets first look at the meaning of each word, even though we have assumed some kind of meaning in our head!

Ascribe means to give credit for, to attribute, to credit.
Glory means high renown or honour won by notable achievements.
Strength means the quality or state of being physically strong.

We give God far less of a credit than He deserves for things that He can handle! On the other hand, we give the enemy too much credit for things he cannot do. We must be very careful of what we decide to ascribe to God and what we don't!

Now as you continue reading, David gives powerful descriptions of God's voice in the following verses. It is the sound of God in raw power resonating through nature, like lightning and what were God's people doing in the meanwhile..."while in His temple everyone is saying, Glory!"

If you were thinking all this raw power of God is a distant thing which only the fortunate or the sternly faithful ones can experience I would like to present to you John 17:22

²²I have given to them the glory and honor which You have given Me, that they may be one [even] as We are one!

David could only see this glory in things that happened external to him, but through Jesus we have God's unfathomable power at work within us, transforming us and the very world that surrounds us. No matter what situations you are going through or you are in, when you have accepted Jesus to be Lord of your life, all of your frail self is transformed to His power, His honor and His glory!

Colossians 1:27 "To whom God was pleased to make known how great for the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ within and among you, the Hope of [realizing the] glory."

Christ dwells in you to demonstrate His glory through you to the world around you!
So you child of God, go ahead demonstrate Christ fully before the ones who are yet to know Him!

Bless Your Heritage!

2013-11-06T04:02:00.001-06:00

What beautiful prayers the Psalmist prays for him and the future generations. That's a prayer of investment. A prayer you pray towards your own future, towards your future generations (kids, grandchildren, great-grandchildren)

Psalm 28:6-9

⁶Blessed be the Lord, because He has heard the voice of my supplications.

⁷The Lord is my Strength and my [impenetrable] Shield; my heart trusts in, relies on, and confidently leans on Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song will I praise Him.

⁸The Lord is their [unyielding] Strength, and He is the Stronghold of salvation to [me] His anointed.

⁹Save Your people and bless Your heritage; nourish and shepherd them and carry them forever.

When he was in the midst of desperate times, David calls out to God for mercy. He cries out vehemently, passionately and in pain. Like, nothing would help, unless God Himself intervenes. I am going through a time like this. I need God to intervene or else... I need God to show up, like really really show up in my life. I need God not just be in the books or in the teachings I have heard, but in practicality or else nothings gonna change! People in my family need to be saved. (period). So I am hanging in there in the gap! No one can leave the earth, without having met Jesus first! Nobody should leave without having experienced ALL that Christ wanted them to have and for which He died a miserable death,paying a high price for them even before they were born.

Pray for your children, your children's children and make investments in their spirit even as you make investments in their earthly life!

Bless your heritage oh God!

No Fear Here! No Really I Mean It

2013-10-28T12:10:00.000-05:00

Have you seen those T-shirts with a pair of eyes drawn on it and the words "No Fear Here!" written on them? None of us is immune to fear. I don't think there is anyone beyond the scope of some fear. Fear of losing your job, losing a loved one, losing your finances, losing your house. Fear can paralyze any man. These are fears that try to choke out God's plan and hope for our very life. Some recognize fear and shrink away from doing whatever needs to be done to tackle it, some think they have no fear but are unknowingly operating from it and live in denial and never conquer it.
We are created to be the person that God has fearfully (reverential fear) and wonderfully made us to be on this earth. Let no one snuff out our life by creating fear in our lives.

You see fear is exactly like faith but flipped!
Fear = Expecting something negative to happen
Faith = Expecting something positive to happen
Its very easy to walk from one into another in the speed of a thought.

The one place I have found where fear is completely nullified and faith is strengthened is in the Presence of our Living God. God has not given us the Spirit of fear again to become slaves but the Spirit of Power, Love and a Sound Mind! Yes truly in God's Presence there is no fear.

In Psalm 27 God gives David the formula to become an overcomer. David had to go through times of intense fear, for his very existence was in danger. He declares

"The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?"
"⁸You have said, Seek My face [inquire for and require My presence as your vital need]. My heart says to You, Your face (Your presence), Lord, will I seek, inquire for, and require [of necessity and on the authority of Your Word].

You have that power in God, for He knows every need you have and every need you will ever have in the future! Take heart, live boldly and get closer into His Presence where fear is rendered helpless for God is an ever present help in times of trouble. Jesus Christ our Lord lived on this earth knowing He was to become a sacrifice every single day of His life on earth but He never once feared it. Father and Son who had never in all eternity had to be separated and the wrath of sin had to be quenched through sacrifice of a Holy One so all mankind may benefit! You and me ! The price for our freedom from fear is very heavy so let us draw near to the One , even our Lord Jesus, and learn through Him to approach our God of Love and live out everything God has planned for our lives as He placed us upon this earth!

Be not afraid for God is with us, even until the ends of the earth!

Dwelling in the Presence of a Living God

2013-10-25T03:28:00.000-05:00

Recently I have been desiring more of God's presence in my life because of multiple things...I for my own self want to see God's glory and live in the middle of His Presence every moment because, the fleeting encounters I have had in His Presence have been unforgettable! What's more in this new desire of mine are these words of Jesus that have been bothering me!

¹²Very truly I tell you, whoever believes^(A) in me will do the works I have been doing,^(B) and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
John 14:12

Now if I profess I am a Christian or a follower of Jesus then I should be able to truly do the things He said, then why can't I?

As I read Psalm 26 I realized David worked really hard to remain righteous(in right standing with God), so he could well in the Presence of God! He had experienced God's Presence in such a way that his heart cried out ^"8Lord, I love the habitation of Your house, and the place where Your glory dwells."

His righteousness depended on him. There was no other option for him but to habitually strive for right living if he needed to hear from God! For me the equation has been made way easier - I have to become a sheep of Jesus and acknowledge Jesus as my shepherd, then as His sheep I am enabled to hear His voice and know Him.

Unlike David, I have got another work to do - work out my salvation -with trembling and reverence and shrinking away from everything that would offend God. This is such serious business, that I am sure I can absolutely mess up very easily and I have so many times.Now I was very worried that if I had to cry out to God on my own merits, I might as well just give up for me by myself I have no hope or scope to ever be able to converse with God Almighty! But you know what - more than I can be desperate to talk to God, He has been desperate to talk to me, how amazing is that. Phillippians 2:13 continues in saying

"¹³[Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while ^[c]effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and ^[d]delight.

Ah wonderful God my Creator desire to talk to me and through Christ in me, energizes and creates in me to desireto be in right standing before Him, just so we could commune.

It is like an extremely passionately in love fiance who has bought me his fiancee the very best cellphone and has charged it to last for eternity just so we could talk! AAH....

Dear Loving Heavenly Father,
Thank you for Your everlasting Love that upholds me, keeps me connected to You through Your precious Son Jesus my Lord. I cannot do life without You! So many more of Your children around me need to know of this awesome gift of communion with their Eternal God, help me so I can...
Amen

How to get out of trouble!

2013-10-09T13:12:00.001-05:00

If you are living a nightmare, then here's a Psalm from David, who's life revolves around, running and hiding from the king. What a scary life he must have led, hiding from his own people because the king,Saul, didn't like him. I cannot imagine such a life yet I am sure there are people who would want to run away from their life or their situations! But take heart for the way David shows us how he faced his situations and did not give up and ended up becoming a king who will be remembered and known by the whole world. I bet he felt like nothing, as he survived in caves and foreign countries.

Psalm 25

Lessons

Bring your life to God-^v1Unto You, O Lord, do I bring my life.-You have tried life on your own and nothing is working out the way it ought to, then you must bring your life to God because He is able to turn any situation around!
Put your trust in God-"²O my God, I trust, lean on, rely on, and am confident in You. Let me not be put to shame or [my hope in You] be disappointed; let not my enemies triumph over me.
³Yes, let none who trust and wait hopefully and look for You be put to shame or be disappointed; let them be ashamed who forsake the right or deal treacherously without cause." David had nowhere to go, noone to trust but he had consistently found help in God. God truly never let him ever go out of his radar. So it is for you. God always has you in His radar so trust Him!
Ask God for directions -⁴Show me Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths.
⁵Guide me in Your truth and faithfulness and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; for You [You only and altogether] do I wait [expectantly] all the day long. It is usually a wise thing to follow the one with a map or a GPS and never someone who has no clue of where to go. This resonates with me because often I find myself lost in what route I have to take and who better to give us directions than the one Who is constantly watching over us. He's got the entire view in His eyes, He knows the end from the beginning and He can show us which way to go. Jesus Himself stated "I am the Way the Truth and the Life." He got all the most important aspects of life covered, then why not ask Him for directions?

Conclusion If you got your feet stuck in a net, your life jumbled up in a mess ask God to get you untangled. He is the best! David says in the following verses

¹²Who is the man who reverently fears and worships the Lord? Him shall He teach in the way that he should choose.

¹³He himself shall dwell at ease, and his offspring shall inherit the land.

¹⁴The secret [of the sweet, satisfying companionship] of the Lord have they who fear (revere and worship) Him, and He will show them His covenant and reveal to them its [deep, inner] meaning.

¹⁵My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for He will pluck my feet out of the net.

Though David is not completely out of his troubles, he knows through his experiences that God is absolutely able to deliver him out of anything and any situation. God could have easily got Saul out of the way but Saul's presence enabled David to lean more on God and his tough training gave him such special experiences with God that when he received the kingdom, he knew where his heart must lie. Not with the riches and power he would receive as a king but in the secret companionship of the One True Living God.

Bridge the Gap, Don't Be the Gap

2013-09-08T03:26:00.001-05:00

"When the going gets tough the tough get going" we've heard this saying before but the thing is, the going in the world is continually tough and even for those who are tough, there seems to be nowhere to get going to! I think the one place I can find help for disappointments in my life, is in the Book of Psalms. No one would have gone through tough situations like David did and here is one of the Psalms that encouraged me today.
Psalm 24
³Who shall go up into the mountain of the Lord? Or who shall stand in His Holy Place?

***⁴He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted himself up to falsehood or to what is false, nor sworn deceitfully.***

⁵He shall receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

⁶This is the generation [description] of those who seek Him [who inquire of and for Him and of necessity require Him], who seek Your face, [O God of] Jacob Selah [pause, and think of that]!

Background

How many times as a believer I have wanted to be able to be in God's Presence continually to be able to know Him, to be able to know for myself how wonderfully I am made and how I am to function on this earth. To be safe and secure in Him. This needs a protocol. Yes, we cannot just stroll into the Presence of a King with no preparation. David understood that for him to survive his difficult situations he needed to get clear feedback from God on every decision he took. Here he gives us a glimpse of what God has put in his heart as a way to reach out to Him.

Clean hands

Pure heart

Not a follower or recommender of false things

Not a person who will swear to false things (deceit)

Lesson

By our own efforts we can hardly achieve any of those things and more often than not I am grateful to God for having placed me in the time period after Jesus Christ was born and for giving me the privilege to be born in a Jesus believing family and I got introduced to Jesus my Savior in my youth so I had a chance to escape Godlessness. Through my High Priest Jesus Christ I have the opportunity to talk to my Heavenly Father Who willingly did everything just so I could connect with Him. Who is to benefit from all of this except me, just plain old me. v5 says such a person will receive blessing and righteousness from his God of salvation.

You know the most important thing that God requires of His people is "holiness" or "righteousness". You know why God would want that as the first priority? Because God our Creator is Holy and in Him or lets say in His Presence evil cannot exist. Now we were made for fellowship with God our Father and that means meeting with Him, walking with Him and talking with Him being close to Him and being close to his proximity. If we are allowed in His Presence we must follow the protocol of Holiness and Righteousness - which we are not, which we cannot achieve by ourselves ever! God is so awesome and so loving He decided to give that ability to us through His Son. How incredible! Has any leader or any king or queen of any country ever worked out everything just so his/her subject can come and dine with him/her at his/her table? Never! But this is our God our Maker Who desires to commune with us.

Conclusion

God is Love. He is not full of love, which can mean that He can be made full or empty which would mean He is changeable, which He is not. But God Himself is Love, the embodiment of Love. In His Presence there is fullness of joy. He is the source of Life. I hear people say, why did God cause bad things to happen or why are there bad people? God's Presence I think has density. The more we press on, follow the protocol to invite this King of Glory, the more His Presence engulfs us and becomes denser. The lesser we host Him it fades or wanes away. That does not mean God is not omnipresent. He truly and completely is, because His Word says "in Him we live and move and have our being" There is never a moment in time that God is not aware of us, NEVER! But there are moments when we do not carry His Presence. Remember God calls us His temple. He meant for us to be carriers of His Presence to wherever we may go. As in Acts 17:26 we are made and placed in prime locations where God desires to touch His people, He created on this earth (v1) and the way He can do it easily without His Judgment and His Glory consuming the carrier of sin in his/her body is through people who are His mobile-Temple.

Let us therefore be lifted up, raise your door heights for the King of Glory is Big and Mighty. Set your thoughts on things above and don't have the earthly perception. Make way for the King of Glory to come in and dine with you and change lives around you, for eternity!

The Lord is my Good Shepherd

2013-08-31T05:37:00.000-05:00

Psalm 23

¹The Lord is my Shepherd [to feed, guide, and shield me], I shall not lack.

²He makes me lie down in [fresh, tender] green pastures; He leads me beside the still and restful waters.

³He refreshes and restores my life (my self); He leads me in the paths of righteousness [uprightness and right standing with Him—not for my earning it, but] for His name’s sake.

⁴Yes, though I walk through the [deep, sunless] valley of the shadow of death, I will fear or dread no evil, for You are with me; Your rod [to protect] and Your staff [to guide], they comfort me.

⁵You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with ^[a]oil; my [brimming] cup runs over.

⁶Surely or only goodness, mercy, and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life, and through the length of my days the house of the Lord [and His presence] shall be my dwelling place.

Lessons

When the Lord is my Shepherd

He takes care of feeding me
He guides me
He shields me
He picks out the best, fresh, tender green pasture for me to lie down(notice: not work)
He leads me where there is still and restful waters
He refreshes me when I am dirty
He restores me when I am tired
He leads me in the right way, close by Him, not because I deserve it in any way but for His name's sake because I belong to Him, I am His sheep!
Even though I must walk through deep and sunless valley-a path through dark of seemingly no direction and no light on the path to show me the way- this is the time my Shepherd guides me with His rod for protection and His staff to guide me. I walk through such a dark and directionless time with comfort!
When my enemies perceive me, they see I am well provided for and that I am anointed with oil and my portion is so full that it is runs over!
Surely(ONLY) goodness, mercy and unfailing love follow me ALL the days of my life and through all my days the house of My Lord and His Presence shall be my permanent dwelling!

Conclusion

Dear Lord God,
I want You to be my Shepherd, for You are a Good Shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep. I want You to be my guide, my provider and my protector. Please help me to be sensitive during the times I walk through the valley where it is dark and sunless, so that I may pay attention to your rod and staff which guide me and protect me. Help me to be a good sheep, who follows and knows beyond a shadow of a doubt, her Owner's voice. In Jesus Name I pray.
Amen.

Know Your Impact!

2013-08-13T00:47:00.001-05:00

Psalm 22

A Psalm of pain and prophecy. Little did David know the words he was speaking would be the exact words Jesus(Son of God) would speak down his own generation.
When David is speaking this Psalm, he conjures strength from his past for his present and projects faith onto his future. What David invested toward God, during his life - his emotions, his suffering, his obedience, throwing himself at God's mercy, worked out to be a blessing for his future way beyond what he would physically be able to see.

Lessons

Drawing hope from God's work in the past -^v4Our fathers trusted in You; they trusted (leaned on, relied on You, and were confident) and You delivered them. ^v5They cried to You and were delivered; they trusted in, leaned on, and confidently relied on You, and were not ashamed or confounded or disappointed.
Talking God's presence into his present -^v9Yet You are He Who took me out of the womb; You made me hope and trust when I was on my mother’s breasts.^v10I was cast upon You from my very birth; from my mother’s womb You have been my God.
Prophesying to the future -^v30Posterity shall serve Him; they shall tell of the Lord to the next generation. ^v31They shall come and shall declare His righteousness to a people yet to be born—that He has done it [that it is finished]!

What David went through, enabled him to completely and utterly depend on God for his dear life. He went through preparation to be king like nobody else. His life after being anointed was full of toil and hardship and a lot of running away. Yet he learned that God is more merciful than men, more powerful than men, more loving than men. Ps 20:7 ⁷Some trust in and boast of chariots and some of horses, but we will trust in and boast of the name of the Lord our God. Now these things that David learned he would be transferring through his generations and because of all the trouble he was going through, his descendants would be blessed.

Conclusion
No matter what you are going through, God has complete knowledge of it. He knows how you will fare in those circumstances and He knows how much you can handle. This being said, it does not mean that we are to settle down with our troubles but we need to realize that God must have thought us capable of handling that kind of a storm and coming out victorious. If David had quit in the midst of it all would we have all these wonderful Psalms to encourage us? David had no clue when he said "Posterity shall serve Him..." how far that impact would go! But I am sure God did. Our daily victories are building in us and through us a posterity who will remember and take courage from the works of God in our lives way beyond what we can see right now.

God Will Fight to Fulfil His Wonderful Plans for You

2013-08-02T01:32:00.001-05:00

Psalm 21

David gives God glory for ALL that God has and is doing in His life!
v1 He is joyful for God's strength
v1 He is rejoicing for God's salvation (saving power)
v2God has answered all things David has asked for
v3 God sends His blessings to meet David
v4 David asked for God to save his earthly life but God granted him life forevermore
v5 David is getting all the good name and being glorified by men on earth because God helps him
v6 God makes David exceedingly glad because God's Presence is with him
v7 David has completely trusted and has abandoned himself to the care of God and through God's mercy and steadfast love David cannot be moved out of God's protection
Now watch this!
v8 "⁸Your hand shall find all Your enemies; Your right hand shall find all those who hate You." Weren't the people actually chasing and trying to kill David but David here says those enemies are the Lord's and also includes "v9(NIV) When You Lord appear in battle!" David knows that though he is viewed by the people as the warrior guy, it has always been the Lord's battle and God will take care of it!

Lessons
Its not just this way for David, if you have met with this Awesome God you will know that His plans for you are exactly that- His plans! If anyone comes against you while you are walking in God's ways - they are coming against God's plan and agenda for your life and if that be the case then God will not let that be as it is, for He will bring His plan to pass for your life in His all knowing, all perceiving, all powerful way which we cannot fathom! While God is defending you, your prayers are getting answered because they are exactly what God has put in your mouth to pray for! Your heart is one with God's and you are becoming slowly and steadily a man or woman after God's own heart! You are changing life here on earth for the people around you and establishing the Kingdom of God on earth! You are allowing God's light to so shine before men that they are seeing your good works and glorifying your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16) . This is exactly what happened with David in v5⁵Through the victories you gave, his glory is great; you have bestowed on him splendor and majesty. Just keep dwelling in the midst of God's Presence and you will remain in His Joy!

Conclusion
God is truly no respecter of persons! Throughout history God has been demonstrating His power in the life of people who will lean, rely and completely depend on Him for their life - Do you know why?

To show that we are created for fellowship with our Father in Heaven
To show His majesty to the people around us who are in misery for they do not know Him
To show His love for the people, His people whom He created
To snatch us all back into life if only we ask

What He has done for David He will do for you but only if you let Him! So let God be God in your life and watch Him satisfy you with His mercy and steadfast love like only God your Creator can!
God's plans are to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future and if we trust God with His plans - He will Himself fight to make all things happen on your behalf!

King David's Prayer for You

2013-08-01T04:38:00.002-05:00

If there is a prayer you have been praying and have not received an answer then today's Psalm is for you!

Psalm 20(AMP)

¹May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob set you up on high [and defend you];

²Send you help from the sanctuary and support, refresh, and strengthen you from Zion;

³Remember all your offerings and accept your burnt sacrifice. Selah [pause, and think of that]!

⁴May He grant you according to your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans.

⁵We will [shout in] triumph at your salvation and victory, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners. May the Lord fulfill all your petitions.

⁶Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven with the saving strength of His right hand.

⁷Some trust in and boast of chariots and some of horses, but we will trust in and boast of the name of the Lord our God.

⁸They are bowed down and fallen, but we are risen and stand upright.

⁹O Lord, give victory; let the King answer us when we call.

The prayer David prays for YOU

God's answer come to you
May God's Name raise you up from your trouble and set you high above it
Send you help directly from His Presence to refresh and strengthen you
Grant you your heart's desire and fulfill the plans He has for you
May God grant your petitions and we will all rejoice

If you are not convinced by this that God WILL answer you because He CAN reach out to you where you are then here David writes his own testimony to encourage to continue believing God for your answer

⁶Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven with the saving strength of His right hand.

How about us who believe in The Living God? Will He answer us? Are we anointed so we can avail of God's answers?

The answer is a most resounding "Yes"

2 Corinthians 1:20-22 (NIV)

²⁰For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. ²¹Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, ²²set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

Now lets go ahead my brothers and sisters in Christ and let us agree with God's plan for humanity and say "Amen" to God - so be it Lord for Your glory, forever and ever Amen!

Bringing Justice to Your Unjust Situations

2013-07-19T02:51:00.001-05:00

^{Psalms 19:7-14}

⁷The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the [whole] person; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

⁸The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure and bright, enlightening the eyes.

⁹The [reverent] fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the ordinances of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

¹⁰More to be desired are they than gold, even than much fine gold; they are sweeter also than honey and drippings from the honeycomb.

¹¹Moreover, by them is Your servant warned (reminded, illuminated, and instructed); and in keeping them there is great reward.

¹²Who can discern his lapses and errors? Clear me from hidden [and unconscious] faults.

¹³Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then shall I be blameless, and I shall be innocent and clear of great transgression.

¹⁴Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my [firm, impenetrable] Rock and my Redeemer.

Background
When we have good laws that help citizens become better, be safer, be empowered, be free-it is worth being praised. This is what David says about God's laws!I heard something worth thinking about from a preacher on Youtube. He said the angels in heaven are constantly declaring "Holy, Holy Holy" do we know why? They are acclaiming not only the being, the composition of God but also His acts, every single one of His Acts are Holy, Perfect, Just, Worthy of praise! So in heaven the angels aren't saying Holy, Holy Holy as a chant, in rhythm following a beat-but more like as declaring, as and when the acts occur, not in unison but perhaps, what I can think of is, like kids answering a question when a teacher throws a question at the whole class and its an answer everyone knows! But only in a continuous process, forever, non-stop! With wonder, with Awe, With admiration! Whoa Holy, Holy Holy the angels declare! That's how wonderful God's Works are on this earth.

Lessons
These verses in Psalm come from David, a man who after being anointed to be king did not really become king the very next day. The Bible records in the book of Samuel how he went through struggle every single day of his time of preparation with Saul trying to kill him for no fault of his own except that Saul was jealous of David. How crazy is that!!! Yet God gave him twice a chance to take out Saul but David maintained that he would rather have God's justice for his situation rather than exercise his justification by himself!
The Laws of God have the ability to

Restore a person and make him complete in every way
Giving you wisdom
Bring rejoicing in your heart( a permanent thing)
Enlightening your perception-increasing your ability to observe the situation on a grander scale
Fear of the Lord makes a person clean!

How can we receive God's Justice through His Laws

Just by observing ONE THING-keeping yourself Holy before a Holy God - in mind, in heart, in words and in deeds that means making a very painful but conscious effort to have/harbor no evil thought towards the person or group who has wronged you!

David does exactly that - He asks God to clean him up of everything evil, even hidden sins, presumptuous sins. Stuff we do without knowing. David considered it important, very important to be clear of everything. Now when God looks at David, He sees no offense in him and is ready to bring His Perfect Justice into His circumstance! So when Justice is delivered you are clear of it!

Conclusion
So, there will always be people or groups who will despise you! Seek to do wrong to you even though there is nothing you have done to offend or hurt them! Take heart and make effort and ask God to help you clear up every malice from your heart, every bitterness toward them, every single thing that is not of God, so when God's justice is dealt out, you will observe it- standing and beholding and your spirit will cry out "Holy Holy Holy are the works of my God towards me!"

Creation -The Silent Declaration of His Glory

2013-07-17T00:40:00.001-05:00

Psalm 19:1-6
The heavens declare the glory of God;
    the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
²Day after day they pour forth speech;
    night after night they reveal knowledge.
³They have no speech, they use no words;
    no sound is heard from them.
⁴Yet their voice^[b] goes out into all the earth,
    their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
⁵    It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
    like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
⁶It rises at one end of the heavens
    and makes its circuit to the other;
    nothing is deprived of its warmth.

Background
It is amazing to me that the whole of creation just stands there declaring the glory of God our Creator and I we have no guts to do it! All that the wonderful heavens, the majestic mountain, the gorgeous sun and everything around us even our human body does is, declares the Glory of our Magnificent Creator! Now this has been on my mind, to be a carrier of God's presence all the time (24x7) . I do not mean to carry His Presence in only the words I speak, but just in my being anywhere that I am supposed to be. What I mean to say is that I desperately desire to so shine before men that they may see my good works and glorify my Father in Heaven! I love what St Francis of Assissi said "Preach the gospel and if necessary use words". How many times I have been waiting for the right words to say to prove to someone that I am truly a follower of Jesus Christ. But why can't I just shine in and through My God's Presence that people will see and know without the shadow of a doubt, this woman has something about her that makes me think of God or reminds me of God or makes me feel peace, love, joy and brings me hope.

Lesson
God has designed us so beautifully and His works are so marvelous that we don't really need words to convey His Glory! What better way to show off God to the people around us but by being like Him! He is awesome and amazing and glorious and love and in His presence there is fullness of joy and hope and He is an ever present help and He is slow to anger and He is rich in mercy....and so so much more that words truly cannot describe!
On my journey as a wife one of the first words that God gave me three months into my marriage was
1 Peter 3:1

3 Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, ²when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.

Boy did this make life easier for us. I was more joyful in being quiet than in being the blah blah girl I used to be. I had tried my best in using words to convince people of God's love with no real action to back it up. You know how that would backfire!

Conclusion
God could have called us anything existing in His Creation but He chose to call us the light of the world. Light does not speak, it just has the behaviour which can expel darkness merely by its presence.Or that God would liken us to be the salt of this earth, being the preservative and flavour amplifiers in food. The salt's being in the food can be tasted and known even though you don't see it in the food it is mixed in.
More often than not, I have used my own efforts and become a lightning and thunder of this earth rather than the salt and light of this earth(Matthew 5:13, Acts 13:47)!

Dear Lord Jesus, help us in being the people you made us to be. Help us to be the bearers of your presence therefore truly becoming your TEMPLE that you may dwell in us richly and we may carry Your beautiful, life changing presence wherever you send us. Let your light so shine through us that people on this earth may see our good works, that you have prepared for us from the beginning, and give all glory to our Father in Heaven!
Amen

God Can Reach You

2013-07-05T04:26:00.001-05:00

Psalm 18

Background
David wrote this Psalm when God gave him deliverance from all his enemies and also from Saul. David was a young man when he was anointed to be king by Samuel, but he did not immediately become a king! He was yet a shepherd boy and later, much later after a lot of running around and running away trying to save his life from Saul he would become the king of Israel at 30years of age.

¹⁶He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
    he drew me out of deep waters.
¹⁷He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
    from my foes, who were too strong for me.
¹⁸They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
    but the Lord was my support.
¹⁹He brought me out into a spacious place;
    he rescued me because he delighted in me.

Lesson
God knows how to rescue His people. People who are determined in being set apart for God their King. More than that God reaches out to people who cry out to Him, cling on to Him, completely lean on Him for their very existence. Such is our God who is a JUST God. His justice is beautiful and God is indignant daily, I love this verse I came upon from Psalm 7:11 God is a righteous Judge, yes, a God Who is indignant every day. It bothers God to see His children (the ones who acknowledge God as their Heavenly Father) in trouble. God cares about everything we are going through, He feels us, He knows us in His very being because we are living and moving and have our being in Him.

Conclusion
If you thought God does not know what you are going through, try calling upon God, ask for His forgiveness for the sins that has kept you apart from His presence and ask Him to bring His Justice to your situation, for HE KNOWS what you are going through even better that you do. He will not override the will of man. Unless you call upon Him and grant Him access to your life, yield to His work to set things right in your life in His ALL KNOWING way...He is waiting on your call to Him.

I love these verses from 2Peter2:4-9⁴For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell,^[a] putting them in chains of darkness^[b] to be held for judgment; ⁵if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; ⁶if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; ⁷and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless ⁸(for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— ⁹if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment

Take heart my friend, God knows what trouble you are in and He is more than capable in fixing anything we have messed up. If only we would invite God into our lives and situations and ask Him to turn it around and then wait on Him as He instructs us on His protocols to get us out and help us land on clear ground, just as David did in this Psalm 18: 19 "He brought me out into a spacious place;" God will bring you out into a spacious place. Ask God to come and rescue you today!

The Mind Game

2013-07-04T03:58:00.000-05:00

Background:This chapter from Nehemiah just hits the nail on the head regarding some issues in my life. Nehemiah's enemies Sanballat and Tobiah, could not discourage Nehemiah from doing the Lord's work, so they turned to use the mind game of intimidation.( They sent him various letters blaming his work as if it were some major political scam to go against the Persian kings(who were then in rule over Israel). Then they even tried a more spiritual method to discourage him , through a false prophetess saying he would surely die at the hands of Sanballat and Tobiah. In spite of all this, Nehemiah stayed true to the work God had assigned to him and completed the wall. In the end we see, the intimidation turned its face from Nehemiah only to face his enemies. The Bible records in Nehemiah 6:15-16 "So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days. When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God. "

Lessons
I don't know about you, but I find myself constantly in some kind of a battle of the mind. Here's an example- When I worship the Lord and feel His presence and enjoy it. No sooner has this happened the next moment as I move on to learn more deeply of Our Living God, I feel as if my head says "You did a good job at worship, God must really be very impressed with you, you are so good. You are perfect, see that other person there, they can't even sing one tune right, but look at you". When I was new to this problem, pride would immediately set in and the next stage of my worship wouldn't work, because I would start depending on my strength rather than God's Holy Spirit. These mind games could work either ways, either to condemn you or to bring pride in your heart. Then I heard in a message- "You can never fight a thought with a thought-Fight it with voiced Word of God and see them disappear." I tried that and it really worked.

Here are the lessons I found through Nehemiah's encounter in Nehemiah 6

Refuse any discussion with the enemy regarding your work-Nehemiah 6:1-4 When Nehemiah recieved letters of invitation to meet with Sanballat and Tobiah, he denied them, not once but 4 times. He could have thought oh finally these men have changed, they care about me, they want to talk to me. But Nehemiah knew better, he knew his work at the wall wasn't complete and refused to go with them. Our enemy works the same way. Eph 2:12-13 "12Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. " So as we worship, as we read the word of God, as we fellowship, as we testify, as we preach we are working our salvation, that which God has planned for us, and our enemy doesn't want us to finish it.Let us refuse to get into any argument with the enemy, whether he bring reasons in our mind or through other people, let us stand firm and refuse not once but as many times as he comes to stop us.

Be rooted and grounded in God's Word of Truth-When Nehemiah refused to go to meet Sanballat and Tobiah, they sent their important aide to convey the message. This message was promoting a false rumor and a lie. It said Nehemiah was building the wall in order to revolt against the Persians(who were then ruling Israel), and that Nehemiah had planned to become the king for Jews and moreover had sent prophets to proclaim himself(Nehemiah) as king so people would believe. To this Nehemiah responded, and I add, I love his response Neh 6:8 " I sent him this reply: "Nothing like what you are saying is happening; you are just making it up out of your head." Nehemiah knew the truth of his work and of God's work through him really well and was firmly established in this truth and this lie the enemies brought had no chance before him. Let us so be rooted and grounded in TRUTH of the word of God what God says about us, what our duty is in the Kingdom of God, what our stand is before God so that no matter what rumor the enemy concocts it will fall flat to the ground as we take a stand against it.

Add to Truth, Prayer-Neh 6:9 "9 They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, "Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed." But I prayed, "Now strengthen my hands." Not only did Nehemiah know the truth of God's work assigned to him, but prayed for strength to complete the work given.

Discernment-v10-14, the enemies had hired many prophets to intimidate Nehemiah with false prophecy regarding him being killed by his enemies. Nehemiah discerned, this was not from God. When we know our God really well, (not knowing about Him, but knowing our Living God as we know our best friend) nothing can cause doubt in your mind even if they speak God's language.

Conclusion:The result of all that Nehemiah did standing firmly in the knowledge of our Living Lord and continuing without falling, at the work God had given him, Nehemiah and the Jews who worked with him finished building the wall. Neh 6:15-16 "15 So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days. 16 When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God. "
Let us therefore, not give up the work God has given to us, either rebuilding a community, a family, a life, children, whatever it may be, let us not slack or lose at the mind game the enemy may want to trick us with, but let us work at our salvation, even as God wills to act in us according to His good purpose for our lives. We have the peace that our Lord Jesus has given us and I love the way Amplified Bible expands the work this peace does, especially the Word "garrison"-
Philippians 4:7(AMP) "And God's peace [shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

Don't Move -You are being filled with God's Empowerment!

2013-06-20T08:56:00.001-05:00

Psalm 17

¹⁴From men by Your hand, O Lord, from men of this world [these poor moths of the night] whose portion in life is idle and vain. Their bellies are filled with Your hidden treasure [what You have stored up]; their children are satiated, and they leave the rest [of their] wealth to their babes.

¹⁵As for me, I will continue beholding Your face in righteousness (rightness, justice, and right standing with You); I shall be fully satisfied, when I awake [to find myself] beholding Your form [and having sweet communion with You].

Background: Before David became something he was just a shepherd boy. He was a delivery guy for his brothers when he met his destiny! Yes, in terms of our overly educated society he was a nobody. Yet in the eyes of God he was somebody when he was yet in this state. He had to fight to get to where God would have him be. He faltered many a times as he attempted to grasp what God had shown him to do. Yes he made many a mistake, yet he did not give up on God and God did not give up on him.

To top it all God gave him the choicest army to work with when he debuted into God's plan for his life. Saul was trying to kill him, he was running away and he found 300 losers to start his first army.

Here in this Psalm, David talks about the people, who he sees around him, prospering, having everything, storing up wealth for their children. In other words, if we looked at them in the eyes of our current society(my society), they were flourishing. Here nobody introduces a person without attaching their degree, qualification and job profile. Those are markers for the amount of respect that you are deemed to receive from the people around you. It doesn't matter what you are as a person on the inside. David saw it all, he grieved that he was (at this moment) not as successful as the one around him, but he knew something and thats our(my) lesson today..

Lessons

David understood one thing, he had tasted the Lord "Psalm 34:8". He had tasted something out of this world-extraterrestrial if I might add. I have not reached that level of tasting but this I have tasted-His love. Once while reading the Word of God, in the night I felt God's warm embrace hug me at even my cellular level infusing me with confidence and hope in this my God, my Creator who has plans to prosper me and not to harm me, plans to give me a hope and a future. He never fails. He has never failed, because He does not change like the rest of the things of this world(wealth, security, health, education). God has a plan for my life and it needs quiet preparation. Quiet means quiet-with no distractions and I will wait for my Lord do His work in me as He prepares me for what He has entrusted me to do(my portion of work on this planet)

Do not give up, all you who wait upon the Lord. You are being prepared for the very task God has created you for and placed you in the exact place you must perform the task and God is filling you up as you wait. By logic it is hard to fill a moving vessel, so don't be moved! Wait and get empowered by His awesome presence, which enables us to do His works on this planet so many will see and testify to the glory or our Father in Heaven.

Conclusion

Therefore I can say like David said in the above Psalm so I can say as it is written in 2 Timothy 1:12... for I know (perceive, have knowledge of, and am acquainted with) Him Whom I have believed (adhered to and trusted in and relied on), and I am [positively] persuaded that He is able to guard and keep that which has been entrusted to me and which I have committed [to Him] until that day.

Interact
Is there something you are going through and its hard for you to sit still and wait for the Lord to work it out on your behalf?

God and Stability

2013-06-12T02:04:00.001-05:00

Psalm 15-16

A psalm of David.

¹Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent?
    Who may live on your holy mountain?
.........
Whoever does these things
    will never be shaken.

Background: I for one want to be a person who is steady. Not someone who is in constant panic with the cares of this world. The ever dwindling economy, society, morality and health. Is there anything man can rely upon? That which will keep them in peace for their own lives and the lives of their children. I like security, you know the kind where you don't have to worry about your future. In Psalm 15 David talks about the unmoved man who does all the right things. The way God dealt with the lives of the people during David's time is slightly different from the times we are in now (after receiving the option of salvation through Jesus Christ-God's only Son). They had to live righteously by law before God so God would be justified in acting on their behalf. People had to learn to choose the right acts to be in right standing with God. I cannot say I have met a man who can easily do all the works mentioned in Psalm 15 verses 2-5 Psalm 15
We must remember, the man behind this Psalm, is also recorded in the Bible as a wife-stealer, liar, evil conspirator. How could he ever make it through these verses?

Lesson

                   He knew his frailty too and so he cries out in Psalm 16 "Keep me safe Oh my God..." for he had done something, that God loved, David's heart

Realized his sinfulness- “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.”
Realized his insecurity -"Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure."
Realized his feeble counsel-"I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me."
Realized his instability-"I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. "

Conclusion: So here is our security - Jesus Christ. What we cannot achieve through our good actions Jesus has already paid for and those who have believed in His sacrifice have entered into "Grace-period" not that we may make use of this Grace to see how close to the edge of heaven we can dwell at, but so we can strive through the constant renewing and working out of our salvation, to get as close to God's throne room, which our Lord Jesus has made available to us through the rending of the curtains of the Most Holy Place. Above all we have a Promise Keeping God who says
Hebrews 8:10

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will imprint My laws upon their minds, even upon their innermost thoughts and understanding, and engrave them upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

God will Himself help us when we have decided to seek Him and His Righteousness.

Lessons from Life

Feed on God's faithfulness

Lessons

Conclusion

Where is the Good?

Crying Out For Justice

What Can You Get From God?

God or Nothing!

Consider God for He Considers You!

Unconfessed Sin and Bone Diseases - Get Forgiveness from God

God knows your every trouble and feels your every pain

Come take a stroll with your Living God!

Christ in You the Hope of Glory!

Bless Your Heritage!

No Fear Here! No Really I Mean It

Dwelling in the Presence of a Living God

How to get out of trouble!

Bridge the Gap, Don't Be the Gap

4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted himself up to falsehood or to what is false, nor sworn deceitfully.

5 He shall receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

6 This is the generation [description] of those who seek Him [who inquire of and for Him and of necessity require Him], who seek Your face, [O God of] Jacob Selah [pause, and think of that]!

Background

The Lord is my Good Shepherd

Know Your Impact!

God Will Fight to Fulfil His Wonderful Plans for You

King David's Prayer for You

2 Corinthians 1:20-22 (NIV)

Bringing Justice to Your Unjust Situations

Creation -The Silent Declaration of His Glory

God Can Reach You

The Mind Game

Don't Move -You are being filled with God's Empowerment!

God and Stability

Psalm 15-16

A psalm of David.

***⁴He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted himself up to falsehood or to what is false, nor sworn deceitfully.***

⁵He shall receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

⁶This is the generation [description] of those who seek Him [who inquire of and for Him and of necessity require Him], who seek Your face, [O God of] Jacob Selah [pause, and think of that]!