Month: May 2023

Great Leader and Great Servant

Genesis 2:19 – 20  Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.

• Humbleness:

God created everything – birds, animals, plants, sky, sun and man. All of them were the works of HIS hands. Despite possessing the authority to effortlessly assign names to all the animals and other living things He had brought into being, God graciously entrusted Adam with this profound task, eagerly anticipating the names he would bestow upon them. Whatever name Adam chose, it became the identity of each creature. In this remarkable display of magnanimity, God regarded Adam not merely as His creation but also as a cherished companion, treating him with profound respect and affording him the honor of naming the entire animal kingdom. God, not concerned by any sense of superiority, did not harbor thoughts such as, “I have created all things, and therefore, I alone should assign their names.” Instead, He illustrated through His own actions the essence of genuine humility that befits a true leader. By voluntarily giving credit for His awe-inspiring creations to Adam, God exemplified the virtue of humility.

• Gives changes to fix mistakes:

Gen 3:8 -9 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

In the wake of their transgression, God, in His omniscience, possessed complete awareness of their fall from grace. His divine understanding includes every event in the universe, extending to the minute details, such as the very number of hairs in our heads. Despite this intimate knowledge, the Lord approached them and inquired, “What have you done?” In this act of inquiry, He extended to them an opportunity to account for their actions, to express remorse and seek forgiveness. Had they chosen to genuinely repent, rather than deflecting blame and casting accusatory fingers, the outcome could have unfolded in a manner, altered by their sincere contrition.

• Lead by example:  

When Jesus lived on earth,  Jesus exemplified a life guided by principles rather than mere words. He carried His own cross, bearing the weight of ultimate sacrifice as He offered His life selflessly for our sake. In a parallel manner, we too are called upon to make sacrifices for those entrusted to our care. We are encouraged to approach the Lord fervently, asking Him on behalf of the lives and souls of those placed under our leadership.

Mat 16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

A servant gives glory to his master:

1 chr 29:14 – 19 “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand. 15 We are foreigners and strangers in your sight, as were all our ancestors. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope. 16 Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you.

In humble recognition, he abstained from harboring pride over the contributions made by himself and his people towards the construction of the temple. David’s contentment did not arise from the abundant generosity displayed by his people. Instead, he firmly believed within his heart that it was solely the Lord who gave them the means to accumulate such wealth and the heart to give everything. In his profound understanding, David acknowledged that the essence of generosity originated solely from the divine source, and thus, everything they offered rightfully belonged to the Lord. He refrained from claiming ownership or seeking personal credit for his people’s magnanimity, as he attributed the credit to the Lord, recognizing that all praise and honor were due to Him alone.

Now, let us evaluate ourselves. Do we possess the qualities of a commendable leader? Are we dutiful servants, both to the Lord and to our fellow human beings? Whether we assume the roles of a father, mother, elder sibling, manager, leader, coordinator, or hold positions such as SMP, SMLA, or speaker in AOJ, we are entrusted with the responsibility of guiding, enlightening, and uplifting those placed under our care. In this regard, we are called to emulate the example set forth by the Lord Himself, with Humbleness,  by giving chances, Leading by example,  Not taking credit but giving glory to the Almighty,  by being Happy for them, encourage and pray for the people the Lord has given us.

Sol.Edvitta

SALVATION BEFORE CHRIST

we are saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus and not by our own efforts or works (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Grace Alone. Faith Alone. Grace alone means that God loves, forgives, and saves us not because of who we are or what we do, but because of the work of Christ.

1. Salvation was by grace through faith in the Old Testament, the same as today. They looked forward to the coming Messiah; we look back to the cross.

2. Compliance to the law of God in the Old Testament could be summed up in these words; “Do or die.” In the New Testament: “Die and do.”

3. The gospel message was given throughout the Old Testament and in the New Testament as well; from Genesis to Revelation.

4. Jesus and the apostles usually proclaimed the gospel in the context (setting) of the kingdom of God.

5. The primary purpose of the proclamation of the gospel, was so God would receive honor and glory unto Himself through the holy and righteous life of the repentant sinner. When his heart and will is changed, he reflects the character of God to those around him. “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever”,

6. The God -centered gospel is taught throughout the Scriptures, but is often overlooked. In Ephesians 1:3-14,it mentions different aspects of our salvation; and this is usually what pastors focus on. Somehow they overlook the primary reason that God extended His grace to man; “it was to the praise of the glory of His grace.” This phrase is basically repeated in verse 12, and also in verse 14, “to the praise of His glory.” Isn’t it time we went back to the God glorifying gospel of the Scriptures?

Salvation in the Old Testament was, of course, according to the same gospel that we know today ( Gal. 3:8), though it was revealed less clearly. It was by grace through faith, apart from personal merit. Saving faith in the Old Testament, like saving faith in the New Testament, was faith in God himself. Most basically, it is generally presented as a belief that God exists, in submission to God especially in the form of believing that what God says is true (e.g. Gen. 15:6), and in trust in God as Savior. In the Old Testament, the idea of God as Savior did not appear in the fullness of the revelation as in the New Testament.

The specific content of saving faith was different at different points in time because, as time went on, God said more things. The greater the revelation God had given at any point in time, the more he expected people to believe. The point was that they believed that God was who he said he was (as far as they knew it), that they loved him, and that they trusted him to take care of them (especially by forgiving, saving, blessing, etc.). For example, Abraham believed God when God said he would bless Abraham, and Abraham was justified on this basis. We aren’t told that Abraham understood all the theological arguments regarding the means of salvation, or that he understood the relationship of faith to works, or even that he understood that he was justified on the basis of faith alone.

In a very important sense, the primary referent of our faith must be the object of our faith, namely God himself, the one in whom we have faith, rather than the content of our faith. This is in no way to depreciate the importance of recognizing all three aspects of faith: knowledge, assent, and trust. It is just to emphasize that we need knowledge of a person, not just of facts; we assent by agreeing with a person; and we trust in the truth of the gospel, but not apart from trusting the God whose gospel it is. As Calvin put it, faith is more than a “common assent to gospel history” — nothing is worth knowing except Christ (Institutes 3.2.1).

_{Now, none of this is to suggest that we can be saved apart from faith that includes Christ in its content: the person who has never received Christ will not be saved. (Of course, God can work miracles, and can give faith in the gospel to whom he wishes, even apart from the normal means of preaching.) But it is Christ’s divinity we worship and trust, which was present and revealed in the Old testament also in the New.}

Lord there are various sects and cults raising even inside Christianity, because of various different opinions and  not preferring the truth. Ignorance of scriptures, lack of knowledge, Old testament is as important as New testament.. Old testament is the shadow foundational truth on which the new testament manifests.. Thankyou for unfolding the truths step by steps.. Lord we give you all glory.. Help us to draw nearer and nearer and to know you more.. How could a person know you more by reading and believing the Word of God.. Amen..

Sol.Celin Portia

  GIVING

Righteous gives without ,Sparing.

Proverb 21:26

**  If it is said about a Righteous and our God is the Creator of the Righteous , then how much more He must be having a passionate and deep desire to give an overflowing one, to the righteous whom he has created in love and in his own image.

Remember what He said in John 3:16. “For God so loved the world that he GAVE..            

**  When God gave Jesus to this sinful world, there was nothing more PRECIOUS and GREATER left in heaven.He was God’s BEST.

Love and Giving cannot be separated. They are complimentary to each other like two sides of the same coin.

If you see from the world’s point of view ; it is not very easy to give. Specially when our giving is being watched by God Himself.

Believe me–When you give, God doesn’t see how much you are giving but rather how much is left in your wallets and purses.

That’s what He saw in the Temple, and commented on the giving of a poor widow who put two copper coins in the collection bag , saying “She gave more than all the wealthy people because she was putting ALL SHE HAD TO LIVE ON .Can you imagine  the Reward she must have received in heaven.

And yet some people put in the bag coins and old crumpled notes. What God said in —Zachariah 11: 13 b……

 “The handsome price at which they priced me ! the thirty pieces of silver…throw it to the potter”—-Therefore we must honor God by our giving.

When we were dead in sin, He poured out all.. his Blood ; to give us eternal life.. Redeemed us from Eternal  Condemnation.

What can a man give in exchange for his life? Jesus said,” This is my Blood given for your life..l give them eternal life. “What have we given  to God for taking our place on the Cross.

Word says,” Without shedding of Blood there’s no forgiveness.” He not only cancelled our sins but also wiped away the written code with all its Regulations which was against us.

What are we giving him for all this ?

The Word says…Give ,because we receive to give.

lt is a sin to Test God .  ** When Jesus was being tested by Satan in the wilderness he replied to him by saying “,lt is also written” Do not put the Lord your God to test.,”

But for Offering he says in Malchi 3:10 . “Bring the whole Tithe  into my house and Test me in this .if l will not open the floodgates of heaven, and pour out such blessings,  that u will not have room enough to store it. Lets not hold back but honor God by our giving .

Proverb 18: 16 A gift opens the way for the giver and ushers him into the presence of the greats.

PRAYER

 Thank you Lord for making us understand  how important it is to give generously ,trusting you for all the blessings promised in Mal:3:10.11.Amen

                        Sol. Noreen .

Using words with diligence

Matt 22:15 Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap Jesus in his words.

Matt 22:22 When they heard this, they were amazed. So, they left him and went away.

In this chapter, Pharisees are looking to trap Jesus legally to arrest him and kill him. So, they were acting like good people and asking Jesus about paying taxes/tithes to the temple and the Roman government. Jesus gave a great answer by telling them to show a denarius. It has Caesar’s inscription. So, he answered them, pay to Caesar what is Caesar’s and pay to God what is God’s.

Jesus’ words are very apt, to the point and extremely knowledgeable and diligent.

We also see in the book of Nehemiah, how he started to use words very carefully and diligently to convince many people to rebuild Jerusalem, starting from the King, his fellow brothers, priests, local religious leaders who were opposing, other kingdoms who were trying to destroy him, etc. He did not tell his plans directly to anyone directly of what he is going to do.

Nehemiah 2:12 I set out during the night with a few others. I had not told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem.

We will all need to learn to use words very carefully and diligently to accomplish certain tasks.

Let us look at a few verses from the Bible about how we use words/tongue to bring success/failure or life/death into our lives or into others’ lives.

Proverbs 18:21: “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.

James 3:5-6: “So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!

Proverbs 21:23: Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble.

Proverbs 17.28 Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent, and discerning if they hold their tongues.

We can generate spiritual fruits through our words/lips.

Hebrews 13:15 The fruit of our lips is giving thanks to His name.

Prayer

Our father in heaven, give us wisdom to use our words diligently and carefully so that we will give life and build. In Jesus name we ask. Amen.

Sol. Theodore Mohanty

“The breaker is come up before them: they have broken up, and have passed through the gate, and are gone out  by it: and their king shall pass before them, and the Lord on the head of them”.  Micah2:13

            The power of God is revealed through this promise. God is a barrier breaker( chain breaker), a strong hold destroyer and a way maker.Micha prophesied that Israel’s sins were going to bring God’s stern discipline upon them. This is a warning for us today.Sin brings judgement.But the good news of the Gospel is that our Heavenly Father would appoint a person to be the people’s king who” passes on before them”. This king would lead God’s people out of  captivity. We can call this king” the breaker—the one who opens the breach”. He will lead His army out from captivity.This is God’s promise of salvation for His people.

                  Sometimes we have to go through some challenging experiences. The king who breaks through and goes on before the people, is none other than the Lord Himself. What Micah prophesied hundreds of years before the birth of Christ, has been fulfilled by Jesus Christ. He was born to set the captive free .”The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor: He hath sent  me to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised”. Luke4:18

    The king , our leader goes ahead of us to remove the hurdles in our path. He has wisdom ,power and strength to remove the obstacles in our path.

“….Christ the power of God,and the wisdom of God “.  1Corinthians 1:24

He is both king and servant.He had walked the paths of suffering,leaving us an example.

       The opening of a door needs Faith.Jesus proclaimed Himself as the gate to everlasting life, the door to salvation.He is an over comer and expects us to be an over comer.Every difficulty or challenge is a gate or door that the Lord breaks open for us. “ Jesus saith unto him,I am the way the truth and the life:no man cometh unto the Father,but by me”. John 14:6

  _{We have to be patient. He will send His angels to help us, to break through in tight situations. We would be careful not to rely on the opinions of others or compromise with the world but to rely entirely on the promises of the Lord.}

          Father God give us wisdom, power and strength to endure the challenging experiences patiently and to rely only on your promises. I pray in Jesus name, Amen

Sol. Gigi Jacob

Understanding and submitting to the Perfect will of God

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Galatians 5:24

What do we understand about crucifying our own passions and desires. Many times we have a big question in our lives what is the will or purpose of God in my life or am I leading my life as per God’s will.

The bible says in 1 John 5:14

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

In our prayers we have to identify whether I am praying as per the will of God or as per my will own will or desire to be fulfilled.

Some of us may think or quote the below verse and say I have not asked anything wrong or sinful to God.

When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. James 4:3

Our prayer maybe about good things and not evil things but all good things may not be the will of God in our lives. Without this understanding some times we move astray from God’s will and work on our own desire and sometimes feel frustrated and sad when these things  don’t happen the way we expected.

A bible teacher once quoted on how to find the will of God. When we have a good relationship with your husband or wife and spend more time with our partner we tend to know their will in the same way when we spend more time with Jesus and have a good relationship with Him we can understand the will of Jesus in our lives.

In my life when I was searching for a bride for my marriage I had a lot of confusions in mind since my marriage was getting delayed. I had the faith that God will lead me to the right person but had a tough time to find out who would that be.

A relative of mine guided me to submit myself completely to God’s will and let go of all my desires. I used to watch a lot of movies before my salvation and I had a lot of things in mind which was inside of me secretly desiring to want those. In the outer I had no much interest on that but inside my heart it was still there expecting me for those things to happen. I have attended a lot of weddings before and heard a lot of things about marriages which was there in my mind which lead me to a fix a criteria and to pray for that expect rather ask God what he wants.

When I understood this I submitted to the perfect will of God and crucified all my own desires. I wanted my wedding to be in a big church and to be in western style and I wanted all to boast how good all the arrangements were made. I wanted my wife to be of noble character but at the same time good looking. But when I submitted to the perfect will of God I let go of all these desires, crucified it in The Cross and asked The Lord please guide me the way you want my wedding to happen and I am letting all of my desires for you to take away from my heart. But to my surprise God gave me everything I previously desired for but the change is this time I didn’t want it happen yet God gave me. God always gives us the best in our lives but we should be careful that we may not always claim the blessings only to happen in our lives but to submit all our desires to God.

Whether you are buying a car, a house or even doing ministry or even daily things in your life always submit to God letting go of your own desires. God will guide you in the right way cause He is our Father and he knows what is best for our life. So how do we know we have let go of all our desires and submitted our selves to God’s will. When we dont have perfect inner peace we have not submitted to God’s will completely. When we die for our self and crucify all our desires we will have that perfect peace in us God will lead us according to His will. When we see a graveyard there will be a common word written on it. RIP (Rest in Peace). The same way if we die for our self we will have the same peace in and no unrest in our hearts.

When we take out all our own desires one by one and crucify it in The Cross there will be inner peace. And God will place His will in our hearts one by one when we take out ours one by one.

For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. Philippians 2:13

Sol.Leo

Be strong and courageous.

In the book of Joshua ,the very first chapter itself ,is written not once but four times .

• Verse 6 ,Be strong and courageous ..
• Verse 7,Be strong and very courageous.
• Verse 9 I command you — Be strong and courageous .
• Verse 18 So be strong and courageous .

^{God was just preparing Joshua ,to be strong and courageous. God had a plan for Joshua ,and He was assuring him  ,that He will be with him He will never leave nor forsake him. While God was speaking to Joshua ,his faith was on the rise ,he had full assurance that God was with him, and He will never fail him.}

Listening to the voice of God and obeying Him is what God wants from His chosen ones . Why was God telling Joshua to be strong and courageous ?

Joshua was appointed as a new leader of Israel. After Moses death ,Joshua had to bring the Israelites into the promised land.

God was placing a huge responsibility on Joshua’s shoulders; forty years before that, the Israelites were on the brink of entering the Promised Land but because of their unbelief that generation spent forty years in the wilderness .That was not the will of God had for them .God’s heart desire was to bring them into the land flowing with milk and honey. He wanted to give them Land filled with large and beautiful cities they did not build,house filled with good things they did not fill , wells they did not dig ,vineyards and olive trees they did not plant (Dt.6:10 to 11).

God wanted to see His children live a life of abundance .They  were never sick, never were they hungry ,there was no lack for them.

He wanted them to enjoy the fruits and labour of another .

In other words ,He was willing to give them readymade  ,that the giants had built.

Out of the 12 spies sent by Moses to spy the Land (Numbers14 :7-9) these 10 spies saw huge giants , and fear gripped them ,even though they were able men who feared God.They were men of Truth and hated covetousness .Despite having all the leadership attributes none of these spies or leaders whom Moses appointed entered the Promised Land ,except Joshua and Caleb , because these two focused on the promises and goodness of God .

Actually the people of Israel had seen God’s mighty hand when they crossed the Red Sea ,they saw the miracles God showed to His people when Pharaoh rebelled against God .They saw the water turned into blood .The plague of frogs , gnats ,flies ,plague against livestock hail ,death of Egypt’s firstborn .

The 10 lacked courage and fear paralyzed them because these leaders were fearful and the entire generation was robbed of God’s promises in their lives .

Many times we too have such problems in our lives ,instead of fixing our eyes on Jesus ,we look at our problems and we fail ,negativity enters our mind ,fear grips us ,we become doubtful ,and nothing seems to go right .

Let us be like Joshua and Caleb and focus on God .

Father , You are a loving God ,your desire is to see your children enjoy the abundant life in Christ .Teach us  to stay focused on Your goodness , by worshipping You in spirit and Truth . Being obedient to Your Living Word ,but to fix our eyes on Jesus the author and developer of our faith .

He is the Promised Land ,flowing with milk and honey .

No matter what comes our way  ,challenges. problems ,tension ,sickness , we choose to see how Christ has paid the price in full for us so that we enjoy the abundance of His unconditional love ,peace  protection and provision in every area of our life .Thank You Lord ,be glorified in our lives .

Sol.Helen Pereira

Difference between praying in the spirit and praying in the tongues:

Praying always in the Spirit with all kinds of prayers and requests, and being alert for this with all perseverance and requests for all saints. (Ephesians 6:18)

 praying in the Spirit and praying in tongues refer to separate, though related things. Not all Christians have the gift of tongues (speaking in a language they don’t know).  However, Paul tells all to pray in the Spirit, i.e., pray from your innermost being and not merely your head.

 So praying in the Spirit and praying in tongues are prayers that originate from the spirit of the person praying.  Praying in the Spirit relies on the Holy Spirit to help, whereas praying with the spirit (or in tongues) is possible because of the Holy Spirit. Both are spiritual prayers, but one is a special case with regard to the language spoken.

Our spirit is engaged with God’s Spirit and He speaks out things in prayer that could never otherwise have occurred to us. These are not prepared prayers but spontaneous, Spirit-led utterances in our known language. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would “show us things to come” (John 16:13), so at times such utterance may take the form of praying for future events understood only in the infinite mind of God. It could include prophetic utterances speaking forth the perfect will of God into certain situations, or proclamations of God’s Kingdom and will, establishing them in the spiritual realm.

Such utterance proceeds from the same well as the supernatural utterance in tongues. At times the Holy Spirit may prompt you to pray in tongues, and then directly from the same flow bring forth interpretation of what has just been said, thus establishing it in the heart and mind of the believer, and affecting God’s will in the spiritual realm.

Such prayer is powerful and carries great authority. We are no longer ‘asking’. When spiritual utterance in our known language begins to flow from our inner man, the answer is coming forth. It carries the authority of the One who is speaking, the Spirit Himself. It may include the declaration of Scripture, or the proclamation of known or unknown truths, yet is endued with creative power; it has the stamp of divine endorsement.Hence every believer is encouraged to press into this as well as other kinds of prayer, knowing that the Lord is the Spirit (2 Cor 3:17), and that He is looking for someone who will yield their heart and voice to Him in order that He can birth God’s purposes in to the earth.  Such prayer is speaking under divine inspiration just like the gift of prophecy, and is open for all believers who will work with the Holy Spirit in the realm of prayers.

 Tongues has many benefits for the believer who exercises the gift. It is not just a one-time manifestation, but a permanent gift given when the believer who receives baptism in the Spirit, and is thereafter at the believer’s disposal. Tongues can be exercised at the will of the believer. We do not have to wait for a special anointing to come upon us; we can open our spirit at any moment and speak forth in our prayer language.

Benefits of tongues include the following (the benefits listed are not in any order of importance):

• The ability to speak directly to the Father (deeper intimacy)
• The ability to build yourself up spiritually
• The ability to worship God in Spirit and truth
• The ability to pray the perfect will of God (even when it is unknown)
• The ability to engage in spiritual warfare at a higher level
• The ability to speak and call forth God’s prophetic purposes
• The ability to release spiritual refreshment
• The ability to operate in the spiritual realm with greater accuracy and effectiveness: human spirit, not the mind. They can be in a human language unknown to the speaker, or in a language not of this world.

Paul refers to tongues as being either the tongues of men or the tongues of angels. Both are supernaturally inspired and carry significance in the spiritual world:

“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels…” (1Cor 13:1)

“There are, it may be, so many kinds of languages in the world, and none of them is without significance.” (1 Cor 14:10 NKJV)

 The Scriptures clearly define a major category of ‘praying in the Spirit’ as praying in tongues. Consider the following Scriptures:

“praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—” (Ephesians 6:18 NKJV)

“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,” (Jude 1:20 NKJV)

“For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries.”   (1 Corinthians 14:2 NKJV)

“For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding.” (1 Cor 14:14-15 NKJV)Tongues allows the disciple to pray in a manner which brings forth and prays according to the perfect will of God. It allows us to harmonise our prayers with the prayers of Christ, through His Spirit, and intercede on behalf of the saints. Yielding to the Spirit at this basic level often carries the praying believer into the deeper levels of utterance

“So too the [Holy] Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance.”  (Rom 8:26 AMP)

At times the Lord by His Spirit may roar and cry out through us in holy indignation against His enemies and ours:

“The Lord will go forth like a mighty man, He will rouse up His zealous indignation and vengeance like a warrior; He will cry, yes, He will shout aloud, He will do mightily against His enemies.” (Is 42:13 AMP)

The disciple must learn to yield to many flows from the inner man, including aggressive flows that devastate the enemy, and destroy demonic bondages.S peaking in tongues is a vocal miracle. So, no matter how often we do it, we must never cease to reverence it. We must be careful not to grieve the Holy Spirit by flippantly turning our mouth on automatic pilot, chattering away in tongues while our minds wander off to the baseball field or the shopping mall. Such a heartless manifestation of tongues is not only unprofitable for us, it is rude…

…(many) have the mistaken idea that because our minds don’t understand the words we are saying, it makes no difference what we do with them. Nothing could be further from the truth. For tongues to be the genuine form of communication God designed it to be, we must have our hearts and minds hooked up to Him. Mentally we may not be able to grasp exactly what we are saying but we can maintain an attitude of reverence and appreciation for God, turning our attention toward Him as we speak.

^{Making that one adjustment alone will change the way many of us now use tongues. For if we must employ our whole selves – heart, mind and mouth – in the effort, we won’t be so apt to resort to tongues simply because we’re too lazy to put together a prayer with our understanding.”}

Prayer:

Lord help us to pray in the spirit with understanding and truth, & also give us the gift of speaking in tongues. We understand both are important Thank you for teaching us this valuable lesson of effective and fervent prayer.Help us to build your kingdom on earth.. Amen hallelujah.

Sol.Celin Portia

KNOWLEDGE OF THE WORD OF GOD

Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.

Psalms 119:105 NKJV

The Word is light to our path and so we should have the knowledge of  the Word. When we lack the knowledge of the word we get misguided by false prophets.

By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. Matthew 7:16-17 NIV

Jesus is warning people against false prophets. They misguide people with their dreams and visions and people are easily carried away by their stage performance. Recently I saw a video of a performance on the stage; a so called  famous spiritual leader waved his hands with a great shout and people were falling down. He continued doing that several times, shouting ” take it, take it, and people kept falling and behaving hysterically. It’s explained to be anointing. Has Jesus done like this? What’s the purpose of giving and receiving this sort of anointing? In the Bible we have seen people convulsing and twisting and wiggling themselves when evil spirits left them. What is the spirituality of such stage performances and the resultant falling, rolling and wiggling?

People throng around such heroes and look forward to the next stage show to be anointed. And we find that such famous leaders are extraordinarily rich and influential persons who claim to serve Christ. When Judas came to betray Christ some people who were with him fell down.

Now when He said to them, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground.

John 18:6 NKJV

And when Jesus was on the mount  and He appeared in His Glory, as He transfigured the disciples fell down.

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. John 14:12 NKJV

These performers might be claiming  they have power from these above verses wrongly quoting and interpreting these verses to the people.

Prophet Ezekiel speaks the Word from God:-

The conspiracy of her prophets and Her priests have violated My law and profaned My holy things; they have not distinguished between the holy and unholy, so that I am profaned among them. Her prophets plastered them with untempered mortar, seeing false visions, and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ when the Lord had not spoken.

Ezekiel 22:25-26, 28 NKJV

Today also these things are happening and people do not realise their traps. All these because we lack knowledge of the Word of God.

Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. Matthew 22:29 NKJV

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. Hosea 4:6 NKJV

People lack knowledge, of the Word of God and so are victimized by false prophets and false spiritual leaders. Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper. Psalms 1:1-3 NKJV

So, delight in His Word and you will prosper.

The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;

Psalms 19:7-8 NKJV

Prayer:

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.

Sol.Salomi Kurian

What to do to Receive God’s Peace?

Philippians 4:7

“And the peace of God, which passed all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus”

Whether they are personal struggles, family troubles or community crises . “Peace will come as we must know that God’s only Begotten son has power to soothe our aching souls.

Jesus Christ died so that we can be saved and experience joy in this life. Find the happiness that can come because of him. He came to this world to give peace of God to us.

People often ask for God’s assistance at life’s Lowest points. But God your heavenly father, loves you and offers his hand in good times as well as bad. You can always turn to God in prayer. Praying to God bring answers and inner peace

God is our Heavenly Father:

The old Testament teaches that you were created in God’s own image (Genesis 1:27). Just as your mother and father created your physical body, your heavenly father created your spirit . That’s why God is called the Father of Spirits (Hebrew 12:9). This familial relationship means that you can turn to him when you need help.

Because God is your father he loves us and want to help us through our challenges . God’s Love is constant

In the New Testament, Jesus explains that because God is perfect. He knows perfectly how to help us when we ask him , and he wants to help even more than a loving earthly father desires to help his children

“If a son shall ask bread any of you that is a father , will be give him a stone? or if he ask a fish will he for a fish give him a serpent? If he then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children how much more shall your heavenly father give The Holy spirit to them that ask Him? (Luke 11:11,13)

God wants us to grow:

Because God loves us , he doesn’t eliminate trials and hardships from our life. Death, illness, financial hardships, natural disasters, and many other difficulties are part of God’s plan for long term happiness, because they allow us to learn and grow and become a better person. It may not seem like it when we are in the middle of a trial , but the Apostle Paul taught that this “light affliction is only temporary and can lead to a “for more exceeding and eternal weight of glory (2 Corinthians 4:17) Every challenge we face can help us progress. especially we turn to God for help.

God respects our freedom

We have no control over sense of life’s difficulties but rather it is a direct or indirect result of our choices , Because he loves us. God gave us tendency or freedom to make decisions. Our free will enables us to make good choices that lead to happiness, it also makes us accountable for bad choices , which lead to immediate or eventual unhappiness. God will not intervene in our choices. He allows us to decide for ourselves and to learn from the consequences. Yet he does offer the ultimate help to overcome mistakes and sins – the saving power of Jesus Christ . No matter how bad our circumstances may become or how many wrong choices we may have made , we can always choose to change and find peace through Jesus Christ .

Even through God’s love for us is constant , we must turn to him for help. We can do to seek God’s assistance in our life through exercising faith in God, prayer, and keep God’s commandments

The scriptures teach “Behold, the Lord estemeth all flesh in one ” In other words, every person is equal in God’s eyes. He loves all of his children. That verse continues “He that is righteous is favored of God” That does not mean that God has favorites.

It does mean that those who are righteous . those who follow him and do what he asks- qualify for God's favors, or bless us when we keep His commandment . God blesses us and His peace fills us. Amen

Sol. Arokia