Month: July 2023

“But one thing is needful and Mary had chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her”. Luke 10.42

Jesus’s words to Martha May be an invitation and not a rebuke.The ‘ one thing needed’ is to receive the gracious presence of Jesus and to listen to His Words. Listening and doing,receiving God’s Word and serving others are vital to the Christian life.

Luke12:31 says “But rather seek ye the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you”.

Luke 10:41 and 42 is a call to lay aside worry and with thanksgiving present our request to God,and the peace of God,Which transcends all understanding will guard our heart and mind in Christ Jesus(Philippians 4:7). Stay at Jesus feet and listening to His Word is the one thing necessary in life. It will give us security, satisfaction,power and grace than worldly pleasures.

We need to keep our priorities in the right order. It is good to set apart a time to read, study the scripture and pray. We can invite Jesus into everything we do.

The problem with Martha is not that she is serving and hospitable, but she is worried and distracted.So she didn’t get time to pay gracious attention to the guest.She tried to embrace her sister in front of her guest and ask the guest to intervene in the family dispute.She accused Jesus for not caring about her. Thus Martha missed out the “one thing needed” for true hospitality.That is why Jesus said, Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her”.

In day to day life we have to make so many decisions. Let us take the correct decisions with the help of the guidance and enablement of Jesus. So that we won’t be messed up with our decisions. Deutronomy 30:19 says”……..that I have set before you life and death,blessing and cursing:therefore choose life,that both thou and thy seed may live”.

^{Mathew 8:36 says”For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul”. The enemy of our soul may try to distract us, deceive us but the spirit of Lord will guide us, lead us, counsel us and enable us to focus on what is good, noble and perfect.}

Our spirits should consider His Words more. Our body and mind has many needs but our heart can be satisfied by filled with the love of Jesus and the love for Jesus. David showed in psalms 27:4 his heart desire. One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in His temple “.

Father God help us to be at your feet always and take decisions by your guidance. We want to choose the better part, Jesus , and to abide in and by Your Word. We ask everything in Jesus name. Amen

Sol.Gigi Jacob

Exodus 20:12 “Honour your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

One of the very important commandments of our Heavenly Father is to “Honour our parents” – to give respect and to obey them till they live even at our age of 50 or 80 from the day we were born into this world

We should never look down on them, when they do mistakes, we need to pray for them instead of mocking at them. When they didn’t understand try and help them to understand instead of getting angry with them.

Now a days we all give more important to our Job, things, and other material pleasure. Instead of using material and taking care of people we use people and take care of things.

This is the only commandmentsl which has an earthly blessing as an outcome when we obey it completely. Ephesians 6 :2 “Honour your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise: 3 “that it may be well with you, and you may live long on the earth.

Testimony

”My mother-in-law is single mom, and she has 2 children a son (my husband) and a daughter. As she is a single mom in those days she went through tough situation in society and need to work hard to bring up both her loving kids. When I got married and came, we shifted to Pune and my mother in law was with us. Last 5 to 6 years were very tough for her, she had paralytic attack and fallen and had hip fracture.

She is heart patient and as her kidney is not working properly so she can have only 1 litre of water and her mental state fluctuate when there is a change in potassium and sodium level. In all these situations my husband took care of her very well with loving and compassionate heart.

At times I have fought with my husband that he loves her more and gives all his attention towards her. He never given his ears to my nagging but continue to be faithful in serving his mom in her death bead and till her death. Now we are reaping the reward mentioned in above verses.

Lord blessed my husband with amazing wisdom and knowledge and stand out in his organization. He submits research paper in foreign universities, it gets selected, and he was invited to present his paper there. Last month he presented his paper in Greece and we as a family went there along with him by Lord’s amazing grace.

Lefkada was a such a beautiful place and their, Holy Spirit spoke to me about the blessing my husband inherited because of his steadfast love towards his mom. Being his wife, I too got opportunity to enjoy the blessing. I immediately repented and asked for forgiveness and thank our Lord for His unmerited favour and amazing grace.

^{Today I pray, May Lord give us loving and patient heart that knows our parents need even before they tell us and to be with them during their time of need. Let our heart don’t become weary to do right things and let us also don’t act lovingly to inherit the blessings. May Lord transform our heart into loving heart so we do it wholeheartedly. Amen}

Sol.Stella

ENCOURAGE YOURSELF

1 Samuel 30:6-20

If we need encouragement and no one is around to give it, encourage yourself as David did. He had a positive attitude about himself, and you should also. We all should be careful of having a prideful attitude, but it is not wrong to have a good and confident attitude towards ourselves.

David was in a seemingly hopeless situation, his city was destroyed, its woman and children captured, and his men blamed him for their misfortune. He encouraged himself in the Lord. Later on, that situation was totally turned around.

Earlier in his life, when David was just a boy, everyone around him discouraged him concerning his ability to fight Goliath. David, however, was confident in God. He believed that God would be strong in his weakness and give him the victory. He went out in the name of Lord, with a heart full of confidence, and became giant-killer who was eventually crowned king. David had no one to believe in him but God, so he believed about himself what God believed about him; he believed in God’s ability in him.

^{Confidence is something we decide to have. It is a decision to step out boldly into whatever we feel God is leading us to do. We learn about God about his love, his ways, and his Word then we have confidence. If we do not believe, we live in doubt about everything. Self-doubt makes us double minded, and James 1:8 teaches us that a double-minded person is unstable and uncertain about everything. We really cannot go forward until we decide to have confidence in God and in ourselves.}

We have to take a big step of faith and stop doubting yourself. As the old saying goes, “Don’t sell yourself short. “We have more capabilities than we think we do, we are able to do a lot more than we have ever done in the past. God will help us, if we put our trust in Him and stop doubting ourselves.

Like everyone else you will make mistakes but God will allow you to learn from them and will actually work them out to your good if you will decide not to be defeated by them. When doubt begins. Believe whole heartedly in God, believe that the he is in you, and believe you are able to do whatever you need to do through him.

Let us pray:

Heavenly Father you are our strength, does not matter what situation we are , your peace joy and encouragement is our portion. Your name always glorifies in our life. Amen Amen

Sol Pia

The Power Of Prayer

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. James 5:16

There is no hopeless situation that we can’t change through prayer. If we read the above mentioned scripture in Amplified version: it says – The earnest prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available. Our prayers are not empty

If we think about Paul & Silas for a moment , they were captured , beaten , tortured in areas, thrown into prison with their feet clamped. But the Bible says in Acts 16:25-26 that all midnight they prayed & sang praises unto God .. and all the prisoners heard them , And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so the foundation of the prison was shaken and immediately all the doors were opened and their bands were loosed

How remarkable this is ! The door opened by the power of their praise and worship and their prayer

^{There is nothing that we can’t change . Therefore we have to make prayer a major feature in our life and a major part of our daily routine along with singing Psalms, hymns & melodious songs to our Lord. It will strengthen us & help us to maintain focus even in the face of the toughest temptations & persecutions}

Prayer

^{Thank you Father for the privilege to pray and to lead us into the kingdom of love to enforce your will in the earth and in our lives. I declare peace, progress & prosperity for all the nations of the earth in Jesus name , I pray. Amen}

Testimony

Last year my marriage was about to break when everything was finalized. But my dear sister in the morning fellowship , they frequently prayed for me & God gave them Rhema and He did miracles in my life, My husband was changed , He came out of extra martial relationship & me went to abroad for vacation last month . Praise be to God

Sol. Mili Dey

1John 3:9 says ”Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.”

Now the question comes who is born of God? If we go to verse 1 of Chp 5 it says.”  Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.” 

So its clear that we are born of God when we put our trust on Jesus and on His saving work in our lives.  Now the verse says, whosoever is born of God sins not. What is Sin?  Sin is transgression or disobedience to God’s laws. (1 John 3:4)

What is Seed? Seed is the Word of God, i.e. Jesus as also mentioned in 1 Peter 1:23, “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.”

1 John 1:8, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” Why? These verses seems contradictory as one end, he is saying that if we are born of God, we can not sin and on the other end he is saying its impossible for us if we say we are pure, divine and have no guile. The NIV version of Verse 3:9, it says NIV says. “No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.” Same fact is also mentioned in 1 John 5:18

So as we were all born in sin but after accepting JESUS, we cannot continue in sin. It’s a choice we need to make minute by minute, day by day. Whether we will surrender to the temptations, lusts and immoral thoughts or will put an end to all such thoughts by binding all such spirits in Jesus name. The flesh hates what comes from the Spirit of God and therefore Paul says, “No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave.” 1 Corinthians 9:27

Besides we have the assurance as Paul says. “God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13. 

When we are about to transgress God’s will, our conscience means our understanding of right and wrong tells us and reminds us when we have sinned. It is meant to be a help to prevent us from committing sin. But our understanding is limited and it certainly may not be exactly in line with God’s perfect will, since it can easily be influenced by outside factors- the culture that we have followed, the prevailing norms in society and our upbringing, the kind of friends we are with and most importantly sin stands in enmity of our conscience and makes it dull. But its only when we have the desire to know God, know Jesus as our personal saviour and to do everything for Him, to surrender our life for Him, its then only that He will send us the Holy Spirit to guide us to His perfect will. The Spirit can enlighten us in areas where our conscience cannot, and our understanding comes more and more in line with God’s will. 1 Corinthians 2:10 –But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit:  for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 

Romans 8:26– Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”

So when we pray, invite the Holy Spirit and put on the whole armour of God as stated in Ephesians 6:11. 

“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)

I asked this question to the person who introduced Jesus to me is it right to ask forgiveness again and again from God after knowingly committing sin as I didn’t have any knowledge of scriptures then. He said every other sin can be forgiven except the sin of the Holy Spirit. Not convinced with his reply, when I opened my Bible, the Word of God spoke to me from Romans 6. 

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? (1-2 Verses)

Prayer:

Father, we thank you for giving us this new life. Help us to walk in this newness of life and prepare us to ward off all the temptations from our lives like Jesus did when he was in the wilderness for 40 days. We know you are faithful and will not allow us to be tempted beyond our capacity. Thank you Lord. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

Sol. Neha

Matthew 1:20 But after he had pondered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to embrace Mary as your wife, for the One conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

(Cambridge dictionary) Ponder means to think carefully about something. Other words are reflect or agonize.  It comes from Latin ponderare, which literally meant to weigh, and pondus, which means weight.

In the above verse we see Joseph contemplating or pondering or considering to put away Mary quietly since she his fiancée, was found pregnant. It is obvious that he must have been shocked about it and surely cannot accept Mary as his wife. But while he went round and round about it in his mind, the all-knowing Lord intervened on behalf of Mary by sending an angel to clarify of the situation so that no damage is caused to Mary’s future and life.

Luke 2:19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.

We see a different kind of pondering here. Mary playing with her new born baby looking at the cute fingers and toes and tiny eyes like any new mother, the shepherds have come to see this new born baby, directed by the angel of the Lord, to see this Messiah, the Lord. They conveyed what the angel of the Lord had said and Mary thought, oh yes, the angel of the Lord said the same Luke 1:30-33. She decides to preserve, hold dearly those words, and meditate on them.

When Mary and her family were travelling back home after a trip to Jerusalem, they realize Jesus was not with them. They had lost him, like any mother she must have panicked, cried if mobiles were available a few calls could be made but that was not possible. They travel back looking for him for three traumatizing days, asking other fellow travellers if they had seen him and finally find Jesus learning and discussing with scholars in the Synagogue , His Father’s house. Mary must have forgotten that Jesus was different from other children since her question was, how could you do this to us? He answered that He must be on His Father’s business, why do you seek me mother? Have you forgotten what I came for? And, His mother remembered and pondered, kept, preserved all these things in her heart. Luke 2:51

Ps 143:5 I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that You have done; I ponder the work of Your hands. King David wrote this psalm in which four verses communicates to God of the challenges he faces which was almost like being long dead, but he decides to meditate on all that God has done for him in the past. As a result of this in Psalm 144 God makes him sing a victory song.

Isaiah 43:18 “Do not call to mind the former things, Or ponder things of the past. The Lord of Israel one who makes way in the sea and a path in mighty waters is commanding to forget the past failures, lack, misfortunes, joblessness, debts, broken life.

 Do not carry that heavy load in your mind but think of what I am capable of doing for you, I the one who can make a road in the wilderness and rivers in desert, I the Lord God of Israel, the Holy one, the Lord of Hosts.

Think of true things, My word in the Bible, pure and lovely things, things of good report, see what I have to say about your situation. Phil 4:8, 9 then the God of peace will be with you.

^{Sol.Lalitha Menon}

Alive & Active

Isaiah 55:10-11

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

I want to share my personal experience. When I was in primary school my teacher in the catechism class taught us some small prayers which I didn’t know that they were from bible at that time but learned them as prayer

For Example:

• Jesus, son of David. Have Mercy on Me (Mark 10:47)
• Lord, Increase our faith (Luke 17:5)
• For nothing will be impossible with God

These were some of the prayers we learnt. I used to repeat these several times a day while going to school during recess period or lunch time

At that time I never knew that power in The word of God. But I used to sincerely follow the instruction of my teacher

Later After my marriage with two children, we were buying a property , we paid a very huge amount to the seller and on the day of registration my husband was bit tensed called a priest asking him to pray. He did not pray but gave a verse from Psalm 46:10

BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD

My husband and I repeat this verse several times that day . Everything went on well & we got the documents at the earliest. After this experience I used to repeat this verse whenever I was troubled & worried. Within no time, I was made comfortable , because I believed that I have a God who is all powerful and it is his task to calm the storm and I will be still. This worked wonders in my life .

Hebrew 4:12 says

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double edged sword it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit

When we repeat and recite the word of God it will work . Deu 8:3 says Man does not live by bread alone but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord

Gen 1:3 says “Everything was created by the word of God”. And when you believe in word of God it will be a great blessing. Is 55:11 says so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

Word Of God never return empty till it accomplish its purpose.

As I read Bible everyday I pick up verses from Bible and more than my personal prayer and recite it several times a day

Prayer:

Psalm 119:11 I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Lord , let me treasure your word in my heart so that I may not sin against you. Amen

Sol.Annapurereddy Balareddy

JESUS THE HIGH PRIEST OF
OUR CONFESSION.:—

This means that Jesus is the HIGH PRIEST of what we say.(Heb 3:1). Heb 4:14:-l know that ” We have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens.JESUS the son of God”.
Our heavenly Father is sitting on the throne and JESUS is sitting on the right hand of the FATHER.

OUR ACCUSER:-

But there is someone else before the throne of God.Who is it? The Scripture gives the answer: “There was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before God and satan came also among them, please see that the satan is among the sons. The Scriptures also say that…the accuser of our brethren (satan) accused them before God day and night( Rev 12:10). So satan stands before the throne of God accusing the brethren.

OUR ADVOCATE:–

But thank God we have a lawyer with us (1Jn 2: 1) Jesus,who is pleading our cause against the accusations of satan.

OUR TESTIMONY:–

With what is He pleading our cause? What is He High priest of ? The MIGHTY TRUTH is that He is using YOURS and MINE CONFESSIONS against the accusations of the devil.He is the High Priest of our confession.

So now you must see the importance of what we say. ARE WE GIVING JESUS A GOOD CONFESSIONS to plead against Satan’s accusations ? When the trial is going on, Jesus bends down to hear what you are saying. If you are grumbling, complaining and charging God for allowing the trouble to come to you then Jesus has nothing with which to fight for you , instead we stregthen the words of satan against us before the Father. There by we increase our trial’s duration because we accept defeat and give the devil authority before God to keep us defeated.

BRING VICTORY:–

But if we have this confession: ” Thank God who always causes us to triumph in Christ”

…”God whom we serve is able to deliver us…but if not ,we will not serve any image or worship it” ….”though he slay me yet will l trust him”…(Dan3: 17,18.Job 13: 15). Jesus picks up such promises in our confesssion and begins to present them before the Father. Then the case is dismissed and the accuser of the brethren is cast down.We come into victory .”ln all this Job did not sin with his lips.”

CONCLUSION :–

Hallelujah ! Here is your way to victory i.e confess, proclaim, and speak the Testimony of Faith. Jesus is waiting to hear it that he might become the High Priest of our confession.Devil will hear it and tremble.

• Deut 30: 14 “The WORD is very near, lts in your mouth .” Say words of deliverence wherever you go ,proclaim it far and wide. OUR GOD will stand behind His Word to perform it. Calvary’s victory belongs to you.
  Isiah 65: 24:… “while they are yet speaking, l will hear.”
  PRAYER:
• Thank you Father for all you did on the Cross for us ,thats why Calvary’s Victory belongs to us.Amen.
• Sol. Noreen Francis

James 1
Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.

James brings an action-oriented perspective to the principles that we can trust God to provide for us and that we must work for the benefit of others in need. If faith is real—if we truly trust God—then our faith will lead to all kinds of practical actions for the benefit of others in need.

Facing the Trial – We first recognize trials as an opportunity to develop a mature character (James 1:2-4). We can find a place of joy in the midst of trials because each lesson in life that brings trials and pressures allows us to learn how to exercise our faith, which is worked out by patience and endurance. It is only with our patience during such trials that faith can operate to bring us through the problems. Without such patience our faith can never be brought to maturity (James 2:22). Therefore, the epistle of James gives us different types of pressures and trials in life and teaches us how to patiently walk through each one by faith. James calls this the “testing of our faith” (James 1:3) and he will give us wisdom in his epistle on how to walk by faith (James 1:5).

This passage exhorts us to learn how to rejoice during times of distress. It tells us to look to God as our Maker, who is mighty to restore our lives.

Faith Overcomes by Patience: The Necessity of Trials – The process of patience and endurance is necessary in order to learn how to live by faith.

One of the preacher of Lord tells of a divine vision that the Lord gave him concerning the subject of faith and patience. In the vision he saw a set of keys to unlock a door. The Lord then asked him if this set of keys would unlock the door. He replied that it would not because the keys were not yet cut to match the lock. The Lord then explained to him that faith is like a set of keys. You can preach the Word of God to a congregation, but until they experience the pressures and trials of life, they will not know how to use their faith.

Just as a metal door key must be placed in a vise and pressure applied to its surface and cut to match a lock, so do the pressures in life serve the same purpose for our faith. Each lesson in life that brings trials and pressures allow us to learn how to exercise our faith. It is only with our patience during such trials that faith can operate to bring us through the problems. Without such patience our faith can never brought to maturity (James 2:22). Therefore, the epistle of James gives us different types of pressures and trials in life and teaches us how to patiently walk through each one by faith. James calls this the “testing of our faith” (James 1:3) and he will give us wisdom in his epistle on how to walk by faith (James 1:5).

James concludes this thought by reminding us that all goodness comes from God. That should be our focus in trials.

When persecuted we should look beyond the pain of the moment to remember God’s love for us, and those who persecute us should see that love and hope in our conduct under pressure.

When facing temptation, we should remember the promises of God are better than the passing pleasures of sin.

When facing personal tragedy or challenges, we should lean on the goodness of our God and our fellow Christians to help carry us past the pain and back to our hope in Christ.

^{Loving Father, as the pressures of life are pressing down hard on me, I want to hold fast to the faith and patiently endure. Give me grace I pray, the wisdom I need to face the future with all joy, knowing my life is hid with Christ in God. Help me to grow in grace and in wisdom as I rest in Your love and trust in Your Word.
In Jesus’ name I pray, AMEN.}

“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”
(James 1:5)

Sol.Neelima Singh

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. – Romans 8:28 (NIV)

The Apostle Paul wrote the book of Romans, which many consider to be the most rich theological treasure in Scripture. He begins chapter 8 by discussing the differences between living by the Spirit and living by the flesh. He points out that living by the Spirit makes us sons and daughters of God.

The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. – Romans 8:16, 17 (NIV)

Then Paul compares the sufferings that we face in this life with “the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). He entreats us to wait patiently and to trust that the Spirit intercedes for us when we don’t know what to pray for.

When God’s people experience more sort of troubles and trials we often become vexed and give up on God saying what’s the use of following God loyally and sincerely, though I couldn’t see anything working out good for me. We question God why is this to me? Why not to the wicked and evil people?

How often we speak in haste in not understanding God’s true love, His grace and Providence.. I myself am a walking testimony , in 2013 Nov 29th I met with accident while coming from my office when a crime patrol govt vehicle hit me.I went into unconsciousness coma indeed in Parvathy hospital. Doctors said if she doesn’t come out of coma within a week’s time we need to arrange a brain surgery for her. Though many prayed for me, it isn’t prayer’s but God’s grace that took me out of death bed.

Right on the 4th day I came out of coma, with little superficial abrasions. All cleared and healed as I prayed I was discharged in a month.

I have too asked God? Why me? What wrong I did? If I had died it would have been 9 years passed. Praise Jesus for his faithfulness and His wonderful love on me and On you all.. He works out everything for our good. As like Joseph in prison, Lazarus in tomb, Job in his sickness we may not know God’s purpose for why is this to us. Why are we going through it. But All knowing God omniscient and omnipotent does everything for our good to all those who love God and called according to His purpose..

Prayer:

Thankyou Lord for giving us life in abundance. That eternal and everlasting life in Christ Jesus. We understand that we are in love and called according to your purpose.. May our faith grow stronger and stronger so that we stand in Christ Jesus firmly in His promised word ,unshakable , until the end. Amen

Sol.Celin