Month: November 2022

“But cleave unto the Lord your God,as you have done unto this day”.

Joshua 23:8

                This is Joshua’s advice to the people of Israelites towards the end of His life. He asked them to remember the ways God prepared for them to have victory over the enemies. He asked them to cleave or cling to the Lord as a leech cling onto our bodies. We need salt to remove it from us. Similarly sin cling on to us always and we need the word of God as salt to remove it from us.We have to depend on the Lord and not the world or anything or anyone. We should understand the  depth and breadth of God’s love and rejoice in it.We must invest our time in His service and always keep His promises on our lips.

    “My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips”. Psalms 63:5

     Joshua23: 6 —11 gives us the ways to cling to the Lord.V6  says give attention to His Word. Disregard the word is the first step towards spiritual rebellion.

   V7 says avoid pagan influence.  V8 says attach yourself to God.  V 9–11. . says cultivate a deep affection for God in every way.  “Take good heed  therefore unto yourselves, that you love the Lord your God”.Joshua 23:11.

              God promises to be with us in all these challenges and reveal His awesome power. So when we surrender to Him what little strength and power we have, will be magnified.

         The Lord is involved personally in all our struggles.The battle is truely the Lords. We need to take time in prayer and claiming  His promises to get the victory. We need His guidance and wisdom in all our struggles. We have to cling on to the Lord and His Words.

        His promises sustain,encourage ,deliver,heal and impart strength and power to give us victory in a variety of domains in our lives.The Lord is the source of our success, victory and personal triumphs.

“For if you shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you,to do them,to love the Lord your God,;to walk in all His ways, and to cleave unto Him; Then will the Lord drive out all these nations from before you…….”.Deuteronomy 11:22–23.

         His banner over us is love and victory . We have to collect every promises that God has spoken,to one place, that is in our heart ,for these are the things neither rust nor moth  nor thief can destroy.We need to thank God ahead of time for the fulfilment of His promises Lord recognises our belief in His promises,that we consider it valuable,more precious than gold and money and delicious than finest honey and ponder it in our brains.When we pray mix with His promises,He will do more than what He promised. When each promise is fulfilled our intimacy and love for God increases.

   Today the world ,like. Israel, cling to its icons of various domains — sports, films, glamour world , politics and so. on.People forgot or ignored God. People are too busy to spend time in the presence of God. Hence we are facing pestilence,death,fear,despair and disruption of our  normal life.Only that way our attention to God can be drawn . We have to cling to the Lord and leave the world.

Prayer

            ^{Heavenly Father, thank you for the word which is doing wonderful things in our life. Help us to store the word more and more in our hearts.}

^{We ask in the name of Jesus Christ,}

^Amen

Sol. Gigi Jacob

 ‘ …we are God’s WORKMANSHIP created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do’. Eph. 2: 10.

                  Yes, we’ve been created  to do good works – meaning “whole life  disciple -ship”- not only in the church or in the Bible class, but in our relationship with the family,neighbourhood, and in the workplace. It’s a calling and a privilege reflecting the nature of God doing good in whatever we do and wherever we go.
                    We are not here ( on earth) by accident, He has pre-determined and pre- destined us ‘ …he chose us in Him before the creation of the world’ Eph. 1:3 )to be in the likeness of His son, i. e. the Divine Nature of God in us. He has even decided ‘ the times set for us and  exact places where we should live ‘ ( Acts 17:26).
             We are the master piece of God, unique and He does not duplicate anyone of us.David also says we are ‘ fearfully and wonderfully made’ ( ps 138:  ) and again in ps. 8 he says ‘ we are made little less than the angels’.
             Once we are saved and received a new life, it’s a NEW LFE, NEW WALK, NEW AUTHORITY and we become a  member of God’s family – which motivates, compels and makes us do good works in Christ.

             We don’t have anything to boast about  it ,’ for it is by grace we have been saved through faith ‘ and this is not from ourselves but “ it’s a gift of God” (Eph.2:8).

Each one of us is created to do different things for the glory of the Lord. We have received the Salvation freely and should strive to do good things “intended by God for each one of us”.

Let’s ask the Lord for which we have been sent to earth and what is “our role” in building the “Kingdom” (Acts 9:6) and let’s be guided accordingly.

            Sol Amala Arunachalam.
                

“Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them…..(Mark 11:1-11)

In our daily morning worship on 25th November this year, God was speaking to us saying that many folks, much like the untied donkey in Mark’s gospel, feel as though they have come to the end of the road. WAITING. Never really discovering what for. If this is you, I have good news! The human spirit will always cry out for more—God created us this way. And because of this, He calls out to us and draws us to Himself. He is coming after us!

Out of any animal in the world He chooses a Donkey to ride on.

It’s a week before Resurrection Day, the people cry out – Hosanna – Hosanna in the highest – Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord – mind you – some of these people next week are yelling Crucify Him.

You were not created to stay tied up on the post of the city gate. If you feel ordinary and insignificant, I submit to you that He uses ordinary people, strengthening them in the significance of relationship with Him—all for the advancement of His kingdom.

Jesus has made arrangements to use this donkey ahead of time this specific donkey had been set aside for a noble purpose. a prestigious purpose- the example of His Kingship.

And he has selected you also-

John 15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.

We did choose Him as our Savior.

Ephesians 2:10 – For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Trying to find a friend to hang out with, is a painful feeling of not being picked- like you’re the cast out- the one that no one wants. God chooses YOU- You’re his number one Donkey- You’re the one he wants to show His glory on-God takes the lowly of the world and uses it for HIS glory- will you allow Him to use you? We see many examples in the Bible of God doing so, Moses, Abraham, Job, Ruth, Esther…

But His purpose was NOBLE- it was a demonstration of the Kingship of JESUS

you must be sanctified from the world also to be useful to the Lord

2 Timothy 2:21 If a man cleanses himself from [wickedness], he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.

Are you willing to be a Donkey? To be used by God? To be the one He can ride on? We must Preserve our time and energy to use for the Lord’s service.- an old tired mule isn’t of much use- a fresh donkey can do a lot of work!

Being Sanctified also means being Prepared for the Lord’s use. They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them. The donkey was prepared for the Lord’s use and we need to be prepared too.

1 Peter 3:15 Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.

2 Timothy 2:15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

This Christian life is serious business- being prepared for everyday ministry opportunities.

He is looking for men and women who will stand in the gap as intercessory catalysts, people who proclaim His promise, whose lives are patterns to be followed, who pave the way for younger generations, whose prayers invoke His presence, and cry out for His return.

To be useful to the Lord, like the Donkey We must-

 ^{Carry cross on our backs}

This interesting mark is found on most donkey breeds- a cross on their backs-

Matt 16:24 24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. We, like the Donkey, must daily have the cross on our back- a remembrance of whose we are and who we are in Christ Jesus.

You’re just a donkey without Christ on your back”

Yes, the Lord has need of you for there is yet another triumphal entry He has planned—one that will not happen until “the Spirit and the Bride say come.”

_{Join a generation that is crying out for the glorious return of Christ!}

Sol. Joan

Mark 9:38-41, “Teacher,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.”

“Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us.

Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward.”

The apparent meaning of verse Mark 9: 40 (Luke 9:50) as we all understand is that there are many who are proclaiming the name of Jesus, preaching and teaching His word in their own way, right or wrong, they are all called reapers, the laborer’s of his harvest. God will correct them in His time. Apostle Paul also says in Philippians 1:15-18 that we should rejoice that at least, somehow, the name of Jesus is preached.

Similarly we see in Matthew 12:30, Jesus said in a different context, “He who is not with me is against me …..” implying that one who is not following Jesus in rooting out the power of enemy, can not stand in the Kingdom of God and can not be His follower.

When I was meditating upon these verses in my morning worship group, I was thrilled to understand these verses in a different way. Holy Spirit reminded Matthew chap. 5, Sermon on the Mount wherein Jesus tells us who are the true and blessed people of God. If one is walking upright with God, is not denying the name of Jesus and showing reverence to His name, will receive their blessings. Psalmist says in Psalm 15:1-2,” who can Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain? The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart. The Righteous will flourish like the palm tree (Psa. 92:12).

When I shared the Vision of God for India in my institutional church, I was taken back by their response to it and had to leave the Church because of their reluctance to seek God in continuing their traditional practices not supported by the scriptures. However, someone shared the above verses and I blessed the Church as they are preaching Jesus anyhow. God will admonish and correct them. I thank God for giving me an inclusive not exclusive ministry of the Lord-“The Army of Jesus”.

Prayer

^{“Father! I thank you for expanding your kingdom and blessing all those who are just showing reverence to your name and not denying you. You are a good shepherd Jesus, gather your lost sheep so that all can be saved.}

_{In Jesus name, I pray.}

_Amen.”

Sol. Neha

“The Kingdom of God is in your midst”

Luke 17:21

Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come. Jesus answered them, “The Kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say ,”Look,here it is ‘!or ‘There!’ for behold , the kingdom of god is in the midst of you”.

Story

There was a carpenter in a village . One day an angel come to him and said “Your time is up , come let’s go”. The carpenter said,” Please give me some time. I need to set and repair the plough’s so that this season farmers can plough their field and be prepared to sow the seeds

Next time the angel come’s again and says “Your time is up and come let’s go”. The carpenter again pleads the angel to give some more time to repair the houses of the people so that they are made safe in coming rainy season

After some time again the angel come’s to take carpenter . He again urges to give some more time to help the family who need his help. This continues for few days. When the carpenter become old when he no more can help people he calls the angel and request him to take him . Then the angel said “Where do you think you are now?” You are already in HEAVEN.”The Kingdom of God is in midst”

What is God’s Kingdom? We took for God’s Kingdom everywhere, but Jesus say God’s Kingdom is Within us. Every time we see acts of LOVE, CHARITY,JUSTICE ,PEACE, PATIENCE,GENTLENESS,KINDNESS,GOODNESS,HOLINESS and SELF CONTROL the kingdom of God is present there

GOD’S KINGDOM IS THE PRESENCE OF JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF

The kingdom of heaven is in our hearts

1. The Kingdom Of God is essentially inward, within man’s heart
2. The Kingdom of God is within your reach if you make the right choices
3. The Kingdom of God is in your midst in the person and presence of Jesus

Prayer

Heavenly father, we thank you for you are dwelling amongst us. Help us to realise your presence in our lives all the time. Lead us & guide us lord

In Jesus name we pray

Amen

Sol.Annapureddy Bala Reddy

Psalm 127:1 – ” unless the Lord builds a house the work of the builder  is useless .

Hebrews 3:4 ” for every house is build by someone but the builder of all things is God.”

     Today everyone needs a house to be safe protected and to live a happy life people are running towards all other means to build a house for themselves builders are making houses and doing construction but it is only possible When God Himself builds a house .It is our God our creator who is the solid foundation (Rock) for our house.

   Proverbs 24 :3-4 ” a house is build by wisdom and becomes strong through sense. Through knowledge its rooms are filled with all sorts of precious riches and valuables. Isaiah 65 :21 “they will build houses and dwell in them they will plant vineyard and eat their fruits. One who trusts in the lord with all his heart and depend on God only, God blesses that person with wisdom ,understanding and knowledge to build his own house and dwell in them. They will enjoy and eat the fruit of their labour .Isaiah 32 :16 -“My people will live in peacefully dwelling places, in secure homes in un disturbed place of rest.

           Samuel 25 :6 “Peace be to you and peace be to your house and peace be to all that you have.” The house that God gives you will be full of peace with no disturbance and problem. There will be happiness, joy in that place of rest (house). God Himself will watch over your house. He Himself will take care of your house and protect it because you have made your house on a rock, that is our true living God. Our God is our real home where we find peace and rest with joy .

Prayer

     Heavenly Father I pray that you bless all people with a house whose builder is God where they and their household will serve the lord only and worship him alone. Bless all with wisdom and understanding which comes from you to build the house on rock (God ).

In Jesus name I pray .

Amen

Sol. Himakshi

 “Told me all his heart”

Jdg 16:18  When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up again, for he has told me all his heart.” Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hands. 

This incident is about Samson one of the judges of Israel who reigned on Israel for 20 years. His fall came by letting out all his heart to a woman who betrayed him for money.

King Hezekiah is another example in this who let all his heart to foreigners induced by  cheap popularity and vain glory.

When King Hezekiah got healed miraculously by God he wanted to share his testimony with others. Many came to meet him. One of the Kingdoms was  Babylon. There was nothing in his storehouses that he  did not show them. This became a trap for him. The Lord sent a prophet to tell him what is going to happen in future.

Isa 39:6  Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the LORD. 

Even while you share your testimony with others, we should be careful in our words. No unnecessary word should come in our mouth. The enemy will be waiting to catch hold of your weakness. That is why David prayed the following prayer.

Psa 141:3  Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips!

Even while sharing testimonies, words which will accuse others, judge  others, words which will bring ill reputation to others should be deliberately avoided. I have come across  people who are tempted by devil to give a long narration of  their past rotten sinful life.  It can be a temptation to weak listeners.

The words which will bring glory to God only be selected and used. I remember one incident where the Lord led me into a strong prayer while I was giving counseling to a prisoner so that I may forget everything he narrated about his past life, once I come out of that place.

After coming out of the convent, many people asked us to give testimonies about the difficulties we faced while coming out.  I had to be very careful  not to bring  ill reputation on others  who brought me up in my spiritual life.

 Let us declare with the Psalmist:

Psa 49:3  My mouth shall speak wisdom; the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.

Sr. Angelica

And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they  know not what they do. “

Luke 23:34

He also says in Hebrews 10:7,”Behold I have come to do Your will,O God,….”. This way Jesus does away the first in order to establish  the second.

What is this first ? In the book of Genesis we see that God created Adam and Eve. After sometime  we notice that due to their disobedience towards God they were separated from the holy presence of the God, their creator. He also gets separated from the godly nature what he got from God by staying in His presence. When we read Bible, we see God’s nature of forgiving mankind.  When Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, their behaviour changed to an extent that they started blaming each other .They were not ready to accept their mistakes and the godly nature of forgiveness could not be seen in them anymore. God was observing  this selfish and carnal behaviour of mankind which carried on in their coming generations but God was desperate to bring back the godly nature of mankind what He had given to Adam and Eve and He kept continuously working on it. Right from Cain and Abel till now He could hardly get anybody with this type of godliness what He was expecting in His creation. Noah was a righteous person but he also failed to forgive his son and cursed him  on a petty issue . Noah was lying naked under the influence of liquor. His son Ham saw him in that state which Noah did not like and as a result we see that instead of forgiving his son he cursed him.

   Israelites were the blessed people of God and nobody could curse them as we see in the case of Balak .The king Balak called prophet Balaam to curse the israelites who were trying to pass through his Kingdom but God warned Balaam to not do so.In Numbers 22:12 God said to Balaam “You shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people ,for they are blessed”.As a result the prophet Balaam refused to curse the israelites. This means that every person who is in Christ is blessed by the God Almighty.There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ  now and they are completely forgiven. So in Jesus Christ our  God the Father is pleading to all His children that we are forgiven and we are blessed. Even if the priest stands against us, the blessed children of our Lord God then also God will favour us.

             Jesus by His sacrifice on the cross has turned down the old covenant by sacrifying Himself on the cross and taking away all the curses upon Himself.Mathew 26:39 says,”   And going a little further He fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will”. Blessed is our lord Jesus Christ who showed us the divine love,kindness and forgiveness of God.

Prayer

       ^{Lord Jesus Christ , give us the grace of spending every moment here on the earth in Your Holy presence.  You sacrificed yourself  and forgave us our trespasses and blessed us with eternal life. Help us also in forgiving every person who trespasses us. In Jesus name we ask .}

^Amen.

Sol.Khushi

A REAL THANKS GIVING

What can I offer the Lord for all the Goodness to me? I will take a cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord (psalm 116:12, 13).

The best method of expressing gratitude is depicted through the life of Mary Magdalene of Galilee. Jesus had cast seven demons from her (Mark 16.9). There after, she followed him like a shadow till she had seen the resurrected God. We believers have received many blessings from God and we are expected to do the same. Now Let us trace her noble deeds.

Jesus travelled through towns and villages and spread the gospel. His 12 disciples were with him and so did some women. Among them, Mary Magdalene, Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household and Susanna are mentioned. These women were helping to support Jesus out of their own means (Luke 8:1-3)

• Some women were following from Galilee to care Him. They were Mary Magdalene. Mary the mother of James and Jose’s and Wife of Zebedee (Math 27.55, Mark 15:41)

• Mary Magdalene was among many women, who were watching the Crucification of Jesus from distance. (Math 27:55 a)

• Mary was among the one, who stood near the cross, besides, Jesus’ mother, his mother’s,sister, and Mary the wife of Cleophas, (19:25,26) His only disciple observed near the cross was John.

. On the first day of the week, at dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb, to place spices on his body. (Math 28:1)

• They heard the angles say “Do not be afraid, He had risen, just as he had said” (Mat 28.6) The Angel said “Go quickly and tell his disciples that He had risen from the dead and was going to Galilee” (Math 28.7).

• In John 20:11 -16, we see Mary was crying. She turned around and saw Jesus. Thinking Him as a gardener, she said to him “If you took him away Sir, tell where you have put him” Jesus said to her “Mary “and she said “Rabbani”. He said “Go to my brothers and tell them “I am returning to my father.”

They were the ones to run in joy to tell his disciples about the risen god. (Math 28.8)

Testimony

_{God has done great things and many miracles in my life. Yet, what I do for him is like mustard only.}

Prayer

Sol. Victy Mithyla.D

Behold Children are an heritage from  the Lord,  fruit of the womb is a reward.

Psalm 127:3

Whenever we think of heritage (an Inheritance)  in a worldly point of view we think of Land, some wealth producing asset, Jewelry or Money. Usually whatever you receive as Inheritance is not earned or not toiled for. You receive Inheritance only because you are the heir. To be more clear, our fathers or grandfathers toiled and sweated to procure some wealth and when the time comes it is passed on to us as we are the rightful heirs. It’s at best a gift, a possession that can accelerate our standing or a value addition to what we have or what we toil for. Moreover our Inheritance puts us in advantageous position and has the potential to reduce our burden.

Now when we use this context of Inheritance to Psalm 127: 3 it changes our perspective on our children.

God gave a wonderful realization to me while I was meditating this verse. Did you realize your children are the only gift that directly comes from heaven, that you can feel and touch. You don’t receive any Gold or silver directly from heaven of course God provides it through his creations but Children are known by God even before they are put in their mothers womb. This proves they directly come from God.

Now that we have clearly seen that children are an Inheritance which clearly  means we are blessed to receive them. With this is in mind I would like present the 3 attitudes or mindset we have to cultivate or  about our children

_{1) Children are an Inheritance and hence a blessing:}

A Inheritance is always a blessing when we receive some form of wealth from our ancestors, it’s always a blessing and everyone in his right mind will gladly receive a Inheritance as it is a blessing, we would not despise it or throw it away.

Similarly Proverbs 10:22 says when God gives a blessing he does not add sorrow to it. So our attitude towards our children should always be that they are a blessing and God will not add sorrow. Do not despise a child because of your current financial or social condition or because of gender. They are a precious blessing not to be discarded.

_{2) Our Inheritance needs to be protected:}

Imagine your ancestor gave you a piece of land in a prime area. If someone else tries to encroach would you not take any action even if the encroachment was a few centimeters.

The people of Israel were asked to posses the promised land and also to protect it from any form pollution or encroachment and the method God asked them to employ is to completely destroy the enemies swatting on their land.

This is the attitude you must have towards your children protect them at all costs. Destroy and annihilate the enemy completely. You may ask but how can I do this. God says put on the armor of God and use the sword of the spirit the word of God.

_{3) Inheritance needs to become an investment}

An Inheritance is useless if it does not grow. Imagine again you were given 1 million us dollars by your father, it would be useless if you simply lock it in your cupboard, the value of the money will decrease over time ( if you consider the current rate of inflation) the least you could do is put it in the bank and it will earn interest. Similarly your children needs to become an investment for the kingdom of God. With God’s guidance invest them, which means give all the necessary platforms, tools and empowerment for them to become productive and fruitful in whatever sphere or influence that God has ordained for them.

At this point of meditation, God reminded me of the parable of talents. We ( as parents) are only stewards just like those in the parable of talents ( Mathew 25: 14-30). God expects that we increase the productivity of our children by 10 fold or 5 fold, make them excellent in their fields by inculcating values and make them valuable assets that can do exploits for the Kingdom of God and give them completely back to him because they are his given to us as Inheritance. But if you cannot do that at least put them in the bank (Mathew 25:27). God revealed to me that just as banks are typically an authorized entity to mange and grow our assets and also has the infrastructure capability to keep our assets in safe, church ( body of God) and spiritual leaders are the banks, the least you could do is put them under a spiritual authority protected by the church they will surely bear interest.

With this attitude in mind let’s view our children as an Inheritance from God.

Finally in psalm 127: 4 & 5 the verse compares children to arrows. Why arrows ? God opened my eyes to this as well.

In Ephesians 6: 10 -18 we see the description of the armor of God but you must note all that is for personal defense and offense for your spiritual warfare. God is a God of multiplication he wants to always expand our territories and boundaries but we cannot be manning all gates or posts at the same time.

We can attack our enemy only to a small radius with a sword. But if we have an arrow we can use it to attack an enemy that stands at a distance. Arrows are the right weapon of choice when you need to secure your boundaries that are at a distance. The arrows will transform into an outpost and further expand the kingdom of God into the direction the God ordains

Sol. Paul