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OUTSIDE GOD’S TEMPLE IN SHILOH

The priests have violated my law and profaned my holy things. They put no difference between holy and unholy, clean and unclean (Ezekiel 22.26).

​It is said that Joshua placed God’s tabernacle in Shiloh and later it was placed in Jerusalem by King David. Before Samuel’s birth, Priest Eli was ministering in Shiloh and his two sons Hophni and Phinehas helped him with the offerings of the Lord outside God’s temple.

​The son’s of Eli were sons of Belial. They paid no attention to the Lord or to the regulations concerning what the priests could demand from the people. (I Samuel 2:12)

​While a man was offering his sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three pronged fork and take away from the pot whatever it brought out. It belonged to the priest. In addition, even before the fat was burnt,their servants would demand by force raw meat for the priests which was totally wrong.

Thirdly, the priests had illegal relationship with women who assembled at the door of the tabernade (I Samuel2:22)

​The sin of the young men was extremely serious before the Lord’s sight. Men abhorred the offering to the Lord. It is sad that even today, in some churches, Priests are after earthly things.

Warning

​Eli was very old, and heard the wrong doing of his sons. He said “If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him, But if a man sin against the Lord, who shall intercede for him? But they did not listen to him.

God’s revelation to Samuel about Eli’s family

​God said, “Someday I am going to do to the people of Israel that is terrible. Everyone who hears about it will be stunned. I will carry out all my threats against Eli’s family, from beginning to end. I am going to punish his family for ever. No sacrifice or offering will ever be able to remove the consequences of this terrible sin”. (I Sam 3:11-14)

The lessons we learn are that today we, believers of Christ are ordained as priests. We should obey to God’s command as such and should set example to others. When warnings come, one should repent. Otherwise God turns against us.

Testimony: 

Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s voice and they were sent out of Eden. Today the entire world is living in sin.

Prayer: 

^{Lord! You have given priesthood to your children. Help us to safeguard your commandments with the help of “Holy Spirit”. Amen.}

Sol. Victy Mithyla

Wisdom from above

James 1:5
“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”

We have all been reading these words from the Bible and also encourage our young ones to ask for wisdom during their hard times in their studies and so on……

Is it the only time when we need wisdom? What is the wisdom that God is talking about here? Why do we need wisdom?

We need wisdom everyday for everything and we see in this verse as we read ahead that if we lack wisdom it will be given but we need to ask in faith without doubt.

Let us see what the wisdom God is talking about…..

1. Wisdom to understand God’s decision and God’s way

Romans 11:33
“Oh how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!”

There is always confusion in our life when we do not get what we pray for, when things do not go according to our expectations. It’s hard at these times. This happens only because we do not have the wisdom to understand God’s decision about that matter in our life. We need wisdom to understand God’s decision and God’s way for us.

2. Wisdom to understand the mystery of God, his plan

1 Corinthian 2:7
“No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.”

This is the wisdom we should ask for to understand God’s plan in our life. The verse says he made the plan for us even before the world began, but it is kept as a mystery with him and to understand this mystery we need wisdom. Therefore the crave should be for a wisdom to understand God’s plan in our life.

3. Wisdom to understand and know Jesus Christ

1 Corinthians 1:30
“God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin.”

God made Christ the wisdom, those who have it, will have a correct relation with God. Christ when as wisdom is inside us, we will be pure and holy and above all will be free from sin. So if we ask for wisdom we ask for Christ in us. And when Christ is inside us we will be able to lead our life according to God’s will and God’s purpose. That is the wisdom word of God is speaking about.

And when we have this wisdom to understand God’s decision, God’s way, God’s plan and wisdom as Christ himself in us… James 3:13 -15 says that we can prove this wisdom and understanding by living an honourable life, by doing good work with humility that comes from wisdom. The wisdom from above is pure peace, gentle at all times and willing to yield to others, full of mercy and fruit of good deeds with no favoritism but always sincere.

Heavenly Father, we lack wisdom and according to your word we ask for wisdom to understand your decisions, ways and plans for us. Above all we ask for wisdom to understand Christ as he is. Fill us with the wisdom from above.
Amen

Sol.Shibi John

” And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.”

             Matthew 19:29

     Jesus talked about how hard it is for the rich to enter into the Kingdom of heaven. It was because the rich want to rely upon their wealth to live and not The Lord.  Jesus finishes out talking by telling them that everyone who has left anyone or anything for Him, will receive much more and eternal life.

     ” But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,  and all these thing will be added to you.”

            Matthew 6:33

     Giving up something now for something greater later is often hard for people to do. Investors tell people that they must give up a little money now in order to have a large amount of bank balance later. Some people will follow that,  while most will not do it. They do not see the value in giving up some money now in order to have greater wealth later.

    Following Jesus requires that a person puts Him first in his life.  ” If anyone comes to me and does not hate is own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters,  yes, and even his own  life, he cannot be my disciple.”   Luke 14:26 However, some will go to the point of following Jesus that they neglect others in their life. This was not what Jesus was saying.

    Looking at the whole of God’s word,  one will see that they are to love every person. They are to work for their food. Following Jesus means that you will love every person and will also work. Jesus means you will do the ministries, and will also work for livelihood. Jesus is not saying that you give 24 hours for ministries.

    The challenge is to not let other people or your work get in the way of doing what Lord wants you to do. In the Bible the people wear to be willing to give up their land to follow Jesus.  This was their livelihood, their job.

     Today Lord  may call us to leave a job in order to do another work for Him.  He may call us to not spend the time with family members, on mobile, watching tv, or may be readying other materials or may be chatting with people in order to do another work for Him. This does not neglect others, but puts Lord and His work first.

     ^{Trust Lord today as you follow Him. He knows what our needs and responsibilities are.  He will make a way where there seems to be no way. Be willing to step away from the things and people of this earth to follow Lord when He leads.  He can do great things through us and redeem all the time. We will receive much more in the end.}

     “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the Sur passing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.”.

             Philippians 3:8

Prayer

           Lord Almighty I pray today that we will follow you Lord with all our hearts and mind that we will put you our Lord first in our lives . then in other things that we will trust Lord's leading in our lives, and that Lord will redeem all that we give up for Him. Amen.

Sol. Dr. Mohan Parmar

Psalm 5:12For You, Lord, will bless the [uncompromisingly] righteous [him who is upright and in right standing with You]; as with a shield You will surround him with goodwill (pleasure and favour).

The word favour also means grace and this favour is extremely powerful. Here the psalmist says that the Lord will surround, encircle a person with favour if he is in right standing with God.

How can we be righteous in God? Simply by receiving Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour as mentioned in Romans 3:21-22 But, now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile. 

Let us examine, what favour from God can do to our lives. We all know the very familiar story of Exodus, the Israelites were liberated from years of slavery in Egypt, under the leadership of Moses, by the strong arm of the Lord and now the Lord said in Exo 3:21 And I will grant this people favour and respect in the sight of the Egyptians; therefore, it shall be that when you go, you will not go empty-handed. In Exo 11:3 And the Lord gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians. It was God who gave favour and ensured that His people would not leave empty handed from Egypt but, be compensated for all the years of slavery.

Esther 2:17 “And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti“.  Esther was an orphan, a Jew, raised by her cousin Mordecai, when God’s unusual favour came upon her an unnoticed young woman who had no chance of anything great, had special preference, became a powerful queen of Persia and came to prominence, thanks to favour.

Genesis 39:3 And, his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all he did ^[a]to prosper in his hand. ⁴ So Joseph found favour in his sight, and served him. Then he made him overseer of his house, and all that he had he put ^[b]under his authority. When Joseph’s brothers sold him to the Ishmaelite’s, Potiphar an Egyptian, an officer of the Pharaoh, bought him and noticed that Joseph was successful in anything he did. The secret was that the Lord was with him, and he had favour in God’s eyes thereby he had favour in the eyes of Potiphar. He set him as overseer over his house and all that he had. Later Joseph is promoted to be ruler over Egypt, and the Pharaoh’s house and his people, he became the Prime Minister of Egypt in Genesis 41:40. God’s favour promoted Joseph, gave him honour and wealth.

Psalm 30:5 says For His anger lasts only a moment, but his favour lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.

Psalm 84:11For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favour and honour; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.

Let us strive to walk uprightly with the Lord, let us ask the Holy Spirit to help us to do so. It’s His desire to bless us not one good thing will He withhold from us, His children. Amen!!!

Sol.Lalitha Menon

I am the Lord God of all flesh, is there anything too hard for me – Jeremiah 32:27

Such a wonderful God we have who is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble according to Psalm 46:1. We believers in Christ, trust and lean on Him every day in our lives. We need to everyday learn to choose God’s truth over the enemy’s lies. And we can do that only when we read, know and meditate on the Word of God. Because we know that the Word of God has power because John1:1 tells us, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

When we pray with the Word of God, we get instantaneous answers to our prayers. We need not pray long, beautiful prayers which sound grand because we cannot please God with our words. The only way we can please God is through our unfailing faith in Him for it is said in Hebrews 11:16 –

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.”

We have a little puppy, and our daughter was sitting with her on a tall chair and the puppy jumped off and landed at an awkward angle and hurt her back right paw. She was crying incessantly and could walk only on 3 legs and her 1 leg couldn’t touch the floor. It hurt us to see her in so much pain, and I remembered a similar incident where the dog fell and broke her foot and needed surgery. I picked her up and instead of taking her to the vet, I prayed to God first. Claiming his promise in Jeremiah 32:27, I prayed that ‘Lord you have said that You are the Lord God of all flesh, is there anything too hard for you. Yes Lord, nothing is too hard for you everything is possible for you, in you and through you. And Lord we trust in you with all our heart and will not lean on our own understanding. And in all our ways Lord, we will acknowledge you and you will make all our paths straight. Thank you, lord, for your healing.’
After praying and thanking the Lord I put the puppy down and checked if she was able to walk properly. What a powerful name it is the Name of Jesus, the Name above all names, nothing can stand against it, my puppy started walking properly without any pain or hitch.

We glorified and thanked the Lord for His powerful and instantaneous healing. When thanking the Lord, I asked Him ‘Lord we know for you everything is possible as you have shown us time and time again and today again you healed this puppy instantaneously. And we know that you love us humans so much more, then how is that you gave immediate healing to this puppy, but we know of so many people praying for years and still waiting to be healed. ‘The powerful revelation received was that God has given us humans ‘freewill ‘, God doesn’t force us to choose Him or do anything according to Deuteronomy 30:19

“Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!”

We pray with faith and God answers our prayers, but then with faith and thanksgiving we also need to receive the Lord’s blessing and answers. Sometimes we may think that God cannot heal us completely because the doctor might have diagnosed that the disease is incurable or lifelong. But we have to remember God has promised us in Isaiah 53:5 “by His stripes we are healed “. So here we have a choice do we choose to believe in the words of the doctor who is limited by his medicinal knowledge and medical science, or do we trust in the Lord God Almighty words who says in Psalm 107:20 “He sent His Word and healed them “

For the believer it should be easy to choose God’s promise Word over man’s worldly words but not every time it’s the case. But we can always choose to obey and trust the Lord and His promises. For in John 10:10 the Lord says the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy but Jesus has come so that we can have life, life abundantly. It is not that we should not take doctor’s advice or medicines, but along with that we should have the faith of a mustard seed that these mountains of oppression and pain will be totally removed in the Name of Jesus, the name above all names.

Prayer

Abba Father, I know that you are the God that heals me for you have sent forth your Word and healed me. Lord, I thank you for your love, compassion and mercy. Lord, I believe, help my unbelief. Bless me Lord so that I can receive your divine healing in my life.
In Jesus’s mighty name I pray Amen

Sol.Rumna Gomes

Therefore I will look to the LORD.
I will wait for the God of my salvation.
My God will hear me.
Micah 7:7

God sees, He knows and we know God hears us, therefore we wait in hope for the God of our salvation.

Looking to the Lord must be our earnest desire as children of God to please Him.

See, as the eyes of servants look to the
hand of their masters,and as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look
to the LORD our God, until he has mercy on us.Psalm 123:2

Until He shows us favor, till he help us, ..
Our expectations must always be with the Lord..

For He is provider, protector, deliverer and our everything
Spiritual things are important to equip us to grow in more faith and into more maturity.

So is also our needs in the world. God knows even before we ask, and believingly we get too.

The state of Judah before Hezekiah’s reformation was most unsatisfactory, Apart from idolatry – bottom of all evil; practical unbelief widely existed; high places were not destroyed. Micah begins with a grand description of the coming of the Lord to judge Israel and Judah for their sins and idolatry.

The prophet speaks in the name of the ideal Israel. Though love and confidence have disappeared, and the day of visitation has come, and human help fails, yet Israel loses not her trust in the Lord.

Will look; gaze intently , will wait with longing trust, unbroken by delay. The God of my salvation ( the God from whom salvation comes)
My God will hear me, my prayers are sure to be answered..

Israel in her sorrow and captivity asserts her undiminished confidence in the Lord.
Yeah sometimes we lose our hope and strength at times of distress and troubles.

God is our ultimate provider. His providence is timely. The providence of God is unfathomable.

Many don’t understand we presuppose things and miss the real blessings that comes from God.

Like the Israelites we also need to put our complete trust on God.. No matter what I get it only from God..

^{No matter what I will follow only God of the Truth. Determination and consistency is required to balance Christian life.}

Prayer

Lord we fall down often, our strength is brittle help us to stand strong and with the spirit of God have a constant relationship
Guide us and lead us always.
In Jesus precious Name we make this prayers Amen.

Sol.Celine Portia

The secret of blessings

Isaiah 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decked himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorned herself with her jewels.
I will greatly rejoice in my God.

Rejoicing is an act of doing. It’s practical. I must rejoice, it’s my part of daily activity. My soul shall be joyful in my God. Have you noticed it.what does the Prophet says, My soul. I must be emotionally involved in rejoicing in my God my savior.why does the Prophet rejoices?

Because he was clothed with the garments of salvation. Salvation belonged to the Lord who has clothed us with His salvation. Therefore I must rejoice, leap for joy. It is an act. I must do it. The more we do it the more we glorify God and greatly value His salvation. Apostle Paul even writes to us about so great salvation in Hebrews 2:3 it says :-

How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; Therefore He goes on to say in verse one of Hebrews 2:1 Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.

Our topic was To rejoice and be joyful in the Lord our God. It is He who has saved us not ourselves. We were cranky all the time, complaining and being critic and sinful. He picked us up from the miry clay and clothed us with the garments of salvation and covered me with the robe of righteousness.

The Prophet explains what he means by clothing us with the garments of salvation and putting on the robe of righteousness as a bridegroom decked himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorned herself with her jewels.
Wow, Aren’t you going to rejoice now? We have enough reasons to rejoice in our God our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ.

Dear Soldiers of Christ let’s rejoice and be joyful in God our Savior who has given this salvation free of cost. Certainly we have not earned it, but freely given us and made us Kings and Priests.

I have decided to rejoice and be joyful in God my Savior come what may. The Prophet very clearly understood this and wrote for our admonition and comfort.
The more we rejoice the more we will manifest His blessings all over our life and as Apostle Paul said in Ephesians will come to pass We are blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places.

^{Sol. Francis}

Thanksgiving

The first thing we do on awaking is thank You Lord for this wonderful day .The very breath we breathe comes from You Lord ,so thank You .

There are various ways to thank the Lord ,as well as to the people we see and work with .

One of the most beneficial attributes a person can exercise is thankfulness .
We can also express our thankfulness to people who serve us at stores ,daily bread man ,the person who collect garbage ,she too responds , welcome and a smile on her face gives me
joy .

Having an attitude of thankfulness is contagious .

In 1st Thessalonians 5 :18 says .
In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you .

Ephesians. 5 :20 .
Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of oir Lord Jesus Christ.

Colossians 3::17 .
And whatsoever you do in word or deed ,do all in the name of Jesus giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.

Philippians 4:6
Do not be anxious for anything but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be. made. known unto God .

Our Father desires to give good things ,and He desires to hear that we appreciate all His blessings and His dedication to us.

Parents love to hear their children share gratitude and their happiness.Similarly, our Father in Heaven wants us to actively include thankfulness to Him in our thoughts ,our prayers,our words and our deeds.

Even Jesus Christ gave the Father thanks for His blessings; And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples, and the disciples gave to the multitude .( Mathew 15:36) .Then. He took the cup , and gave thanks ,and gave it to them(Mathew 26:27)

During lockdown , my daughter- in – law went around distributing food and essential commodities ,people had no food for days and when they got. their ration supply , one person almost fell at her feet crying bitterly as if to say thank you .

Thankfulness can be a conscious habit and one of the most beneficial traits a person can possess .

^{Thankful people are positive lights in a troubled world often encouraging others to be more thankful,too , by their example.God. blessed the nation and the people who are thankful and express gratitude for His many gifts .Be thankful to Him and bless His Name.(Psalm 100:4).}

Keeping a simple ,daily log of things for. which we are thankful helps us in many ways .Our society is so fast paced that we can easily overlook the simple things but if you can jot down ,it can help us sort through the mental clutter and recognize the good in our lives ,particularly on rough days or when we are going through. difficult trials.

It need not be time consuming project .Note down just three things each day that you are thankful for .

After a while, you may want to increase the number to five or more .Try to choose. fresh items each day .Over time you may even enjoy going back to review your thoughts ,and the review may reveal some character growth .
Be blessed in Jesus Name.Amen.

Sol.Helen Pereira

DEFEATING DECEPTION

Deuteronomy 11:18-21

In Deuteronomy 11:18-21
God told people to write his words on the doors of their houses, on their gates, on their foreheads, on their hands. They were to let the word guide them entirely, whether they were sitting, lying down, or walking around. God say to do all this because he is aware that knowing the word keeps a person from having a deceived heart.

This is what Jesus taught in John 8:31, 32 when he said:“If you abide in my word [hold fast to my teachings an live in accordance with them], you are my truly my disciples. And you will know the truth, and truth will set you free.”

If we do not really care enough about the Word of God to abide in it, we are going to be in for trouble in these last days in which we live. Religious activities is not going to be enough to get us through; we have to be deeply serious about learning the word. When we know the word, God will protect us and keep us. If we do not, we will be sucked up into deception. Simply stated, deception happens when we believe a lie, and Satan lies to us continually. Without a thorough knowledge of God’s Word, we do not even recognize the lies.

Some people deceive themselves but reasoning that contrary to God’s truth. Earlier in our life, we learned how to really surrender to the will of God, He sometimes inspired us to give something away we wanted to keep, or to do something we did not want to do. We learned from making mistakes that it was very easy to deceive ourselves when God asked for something we don’t want to release.

We make all kinds of excuses to keep us from doing what God asks of us. Sometimes we pretend, "well, it must not have been God dealing with me about that. It probably was just our imagination or the devil trying to make us miserable by asking for what's precious to us, "We can quickly become" spiritually deaf" to the voice of God when he says something we really do not want to hear.

A deceived heart will not acknowledge leaders or anyone who intends to be victorious in life. We should be diligent to root out any areas of our lives where we are susceptible to deception. We need to live openly and honestly, abiding in the light of God’s truth as he reveals it in his word.

SEEK THE TRUTH

Mark 4:14-15

If we hear or study the word, the devil will immediately attempt to steal it from you. He doesn’t want The Word to take root in your heart and begin to produce good fruit in you life. When we learn the truth, deception is uncovered and we are set free. Satan hates and fears The Word of God. He will do anything possible to prevent us from learning God’s Word

^{The reason Satan works so hard is to keep us from The Word :he knows the Word Of God is powerful weapon against him. It assures his defeat! That’s why it is imperative that we learn to use the spiritual sword. Reading, bearing, believing, meditating on, and confessing the Word cancels Satan’s evil plan.
From today, determine to defeat Satan and seek the truth to determine to make the Word of God a priority in our life.}

Let us Pray,

_{Father you are our strong tower, your word declare your glory. Increase our trust on your word so we that can have victory over Satan}. _Amen

SOL PIA

God will raise

1 Corinthians 15:9

“For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.”

Apostle Paul confessed about himself that he is to be considered the least of all the apostles. In the previous verse we see

1 Corinthians 15:8

“Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.he mentioned.Paul,after the Godly vision understood his condition and humbled himself.On the contrary in today’s world we see that the people,even without anything,exaggerate to show themselves as rich people.The powerful encounter with God made Paul realise that he is the least among all.Most of us have not experienced an encounter with God as such,therefore,it has not brought any light to our hearts.That is why we portray ourselves in an exaggerated way.

Only when one enters the Holy presence of God he realises and is disgusted about himself and is convicted of his sins.Paul doesn’t humble himself as the least due to any inferiority complex rather it is the divine power of God that transformed him to such state.

He who exalts himself out of nothing possess the spirit of the devil.This spirit of Lucifer always seeks self  praise and pride for everything.

The one who is filled with the Holy Spirit will humble himself like Jesus humbled himself unto death.

Paul has written many books in the New Testament and in his works, he has mentioned ‘in all things and amongst all ‘ he has considered him the least. Such words have been pleasing before The Lord and Savior Jesus  Christ.

Ephesians 3:8

_{“To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,”}

Paul claims he is the prime sinner,considers himself as the first sinner of all in this widespread world, this is due to his spiritual maturity .

We who live in these last days must humble ourselves in our ministerial labour for God, like Apostle Paul .God himself in His kindness will raise us up to His Throne.

Let us humble ourselves. God will raise us up.

Prayer

Oh Heavenly Father, In whatever high position we are in, we solemnly humble ourselves before you Lord, Help us to humble ourselves to a lowly state like The Apostle Paul and live in Your Grace. In Jesus Name we pray, Amen.

Sol. Pushpa Dennison