The Lord’s plan for our lives is good – Jeremiah 29:11
The Lord is our Abba father. He loves us and wants to give us the best in life. We should always remember that all good things come from the kingdom of God.
But sometimes, when things do not turn out, according to our expectations and our human plans, we feel sad ,disheartened, and maybe question the will of God in our lives. This is a test of our faith. Do we stand firm on the word of God, which he has promised us in Jeremiah 29:11 or do we try to do things according to our human will and not God’s word .
When we face challenges in our lives, we must remember Jesus has said in John 16:33 “ In the world, you will have trials and tribulation but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world”. Sometimes we are only willing to listen to the word of God when it is beneficial or according to our human will, but we have to be aware that if things are not going, according to our expectations then we should slow down and try and understand what is God’s will for us in that situation and time.
Are we living a life of surrender to God’s will or trying hard to resist God’s will .
When we were living in Bangalore , we wanted to buy an apartment in a particular complex but nothing was falling into place, which made me feel extremely disheartened and disappointed. Then finally we were able to book an apartment and gave the deposit for it but after a few months due to some issues we had to take back the deposit .
As this entire process had stretched for long time it was frustrating .But then a few months later we relocated out of Bangalore and then by God’s infinite grace very easily we were able to buy a house instead of an apartment. Looking back I realize that it wasn’t God’s will that we should purchase that apartment and He stepped in and took things in a different and better direction when we were able to surrender to His divine and perfect will.
For we know that according to Romans 8:28 “God works for the good of those who love him.”
Prayer
ABBA father, we pray that you work in each and everyone of us, in our mind and heart that everything we say ,think and do should be according to your will not our human will. Because you know what is best for us for the plans you have for us is to prosper us and not cause us harm , to give us hope and a future. So Lord we trust in you and will not rely on our own understanding but in all our ways we will acknowledge you, and you will make all our paths straight . In Jesus mighty name we pray. Amen
Mathew 15:11:- Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man ; but that which cometh out of the mouth this defileth a man.
Acts 10: 14 But Peter said, Not so Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean
Mark 7:15 There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.
Psalm 52:2 The tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.
Mathew 15:18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.
James1:26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.
Here Jesus Christ calls each one of us to hear His Word and to understand His Word. He wants to tell us that He has come and made everything clean. Whatever we eat (excluding the drugs and alcohol) will not defile our body nor will it effect our brothers and sisters. We have to be careful about the words which come out of our mouth. As we are living in a generation where all give importance to the health benefits of the food and water that we intake, but do not bother about the ill feelings which is spread by our words. There are times when we do not hesitate to gossip, tell lies, spread rumours or utter harsh words. Jesus Christ tells us that we have to control our tongue at all times.
As in James 1:16, those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves and their religion is worthless.
We have to remember that the spoken words cannot be taken back. The hurtful words will always be remembered and not easily forgotten.
Testimony:-
I am a person who does not tolerate injustice, and will always fight for right. Hence I was always put in the forefront by my colleagues when we had some demands. On one such occasion we had a meeting with the management and before going to the meeting I said a small prayer asking Lord Jesus to take control of my tongue and allow me to speak only if He wants me to speak.
I entered the conference hall sat quietly. As the meeting progressed I didn’t utter a single word. Many rose on that day to speak but Lord Jesus shut my mouth. My Matron was surprised and later asked me as to why I did not speak. I just told her that I prayed before the meeting and that I was not allowed to speak by Jesus. After that day whenever I had to meet up with some authority, I always ask Jesus Christ to utter the words that should be spoken.
Hence we have to take care about what words come out of our mouth. Whatever comes out of our mouth should be edifying, encouraging and enable other person to grow more closer to Jesus Christ.
Prayer:-
Lord Jesus we come into your Holy Throne room of Grace with a humble heart and we surrender our tongue into your mighty hands. Help us to utter the words that will glorify your name and will be beneficial to grow more closer to you and to establish a deeper relationship with you. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
The name of the Lord is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe. Proverbs 18:10
Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. I Samuel 17:45
The Name of the Lord was David’s strength. According to the Bible a Name reveals character and attributes of a person. Adam gave names to animals and birds as he looked at them and perceived their nature. He gave name to his helpmate also. Man experienced the attributes of God and he expressed his relationship with God through the names he called God. Abraham met God in His glory and set out from his home in Ur to reach the place where God was leading him to. God introduced Himself as El Shaddai, the Almighty. He called God Adonai, the master as He was his Shield and his Exceedingly great reward. At mount Moriah Abraham called Him Jehovah Jireh as God provided a lamb to sacrifice in place of his son Isaac. Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. And Abraham called the name of the place, The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.” Genesis 22:13-14
Moses wondered how he could identify the Lord before the Israelites. Moses asked the Lord, what he could call Him and what should he tell the people about who was sending him. The Lord answered ” I am that I am”, the One who is always there. The self Existent. When the Lord brought victory for Israelites over the Amakekites, Moses called Him Jehovah Nissi, the Banner. For Gideon He was Jehovah Shalom. Then the Lord said to him, “Peace be with you; do not fear, you shall not die.” So Gideon built an altar there to the Lord, and called it The-Lord-Is-Peace. Judges 6:23-24 NKJV
All these experiences and encounters brought several names to the Lord. David was shepherd and he knew how well the shepherd cares for his sheep and he knew God as his Shepherd. David was a man according to God’s own heart and Jesus introduced Himself to His own people as the Good Shepherd. Israelites were herdsmen and it was their livelihood. God chose them as the special people and He wanted to be their shepherd. God deals with people according to their situations and requirements.
In the Gospel of John Jesus explains the “Great I Am” through seven different anlalogies. In the Old Testament man gives expressions to his comprehension of God. But in the New testament Jesus Himself gives His personal attributes through seven I AM s
And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. John 6:35 NKJV
2.Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” John 8:12 NKJV
3.Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. John 10:7 NKJV
4.“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. John 10:11 NKJV
5.Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. John 11:25 NKJV
6.Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. John 14:6
7.Jesus said “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. John 15:1, 4
All these analogies are to be perceived in the right spirit and truth. May the Lord Almighty grant us wisdom to know Jesus, Son of God, so that we would proclaim vehemently, with Apostle Thomas “My Lord and My God”. Prayer: Loving Heavenly Father, we thank you for Jesus. Thank you for the grace you have showered on us. Help us to remain in your love and blessings. In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen. Sol. Salomi Kurian
Many people met Lord Jesus Christ during His lifetime. Let us meditate on a few of them. One of them that lingers in our thoughts is Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-9).
Zacchaeus was a Jew and was the chief of the tax collectors who collected taxes from the Jews and paid them to the Roman Empire. And as many tax collectors did in those days, that is, they would collect more tax than they were assigned and pay it to the government and keep the rest for themselves.That is why he was rich. As he was going to many villages to collect taxes, there were people who heard about the miracles and wonders that Jesus had done and wanted to see him.
And the Jewish religious leaders were opposed to seeing and believing in Jesus, pushing them outside the synagogue.So Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus, without anyone knowing, climbed a sycamore-fig tree on the way in which Jesus came and hid himself among the leaves. Jesus, who knew everything, came down to the tree and called Zacchaeus and announced that he was coming to his house. Zacchaeus rejoices to see Jesus, feels guilty when he takes Him home, and declares that he will give back half of his (unjustly collected) wealth to the poor and fourfold to those who were unjustly taxed. Thus salvation comes to his house. He also becomes a son of Abraham.
There are only a few people who confessed their sins after seeing Jesus and changed their minds and received salvation. Among them Zacchaeus is the foremost. All the politicians in our country should have a change of heart like Zacchaeus’s change of heart. Let us pray that the crores of money they have, should be used for the poor people and for the welfare of the people.
Samaritan Woman:
One of the most important personal encounters with Jesus in the Bible is the encounter of Jesus with the Samaritan woman. There was hatred and enmity between the Jews and the Samaritans. They are not related. In this situation, the conversation alone is very interesting for both of them. She sees Jesus first as a Jew, then as a prophet, and finally as the Messiah.
Jesus declares “He is the Messiah who is called the Christ” in a few places. Although she had no connection with the Jews, this woman was knowledgeable about Jewish culture, customs, and Jewish scriptures.
After the conversation with Jesus, she stopped the work she had just come to and went into the city and announced the gospel like this. “A man told me everything I did. Come see him. She said, “He is the Christ.” The way she openly declared her sins immediately caused many of the Samaritans in that town to believe in Jesus.
And Jesus stayed there for two days and preached. This woman did not hear about Jesus or about the miracles and wonders He did. But she turned around expecting the Messiah to come. When she saw the Messiah, she believed and immediately proclaimed Jesus. She is an example of evangelism.
Nicodemus:
He was a Pharisee, a teacher, and a Jewish official. After learning about the miracles that Jesus had done, he met Jesus alone at night, conversed with him, and learned the truths. Neither believed nor followed Jesus. Because of the good impression he had on Him, he brought about a hundred pounds of white and black linen to bury Jesus. Undaunted by the religious leaders, he boldly came forward to help, Jesus to be buried according to the Jewish customs.
Thus the meeting of Zacchaeus, the Samaritan woman, Nicodemus, etc. helped to fulfill the salvation in their personal lives, the change in society, the proclamation of the gospel, and the opportunity for the burial of the Messiah.
Encounters that do not result in changes / impacts:
Herod, the tetrarch, heard all that Jesus had done and wanted to see him (Luke: 9:9) and even though he wanted to see the signs that Jesus would perform, he had been longing to see him for a long time. he did nothing and no attempts to do so.
Because Herod was the tetrarch , the ruler of the country, if he had sent someone, Jesus himself would have arranged an opportunity. No effort was made. But Zacchaeus and Nicodemus tried to see Jesus even though they were high position in society. They were also a blessing to others.
When Pilate sent Jesus to Herod to question him, Herod rejoiced when he saw Jesus, just for a few seconds. Jesus did not answer many of the things he asked. In the end he insulted and mocked Jesus. Meeting is of no use to anyone.
In this way a rich man came to Jesus, prayed and turned away with a sad face (Luke 18:18-23).
Witness:
When I was working in a country called Zimbabwe, I was advised by my wife who was saved a few years ago that “seek and you shall find and whoever seeks will find”.
I didn’t know how to search. I stood in front of the idols I worshiped and said, “Are you the real God? Then who is Jesus? I was asking. Then one evening a servant of God, led by Jesus Christ, came looking for me. Just that morning I had written an open letter to God. In that I asked Christians, Hindus and Muslims to pray for my problem. In that situation the servant of God came and prayed for me , I got peace of mind and was reassured and saved. The problem solved.
A prayer group was started in BSNL, Tamil Nadu and the love of Jesus was revealed to the workers there. After seven years , Christmas is celebrated every year in BSNL offices, and the gospel is preached as per the advice of Jesus. It continues till this day. Glory to God!
Prayer
Dear Lord Jesus Christ , You gave your life for us to be redeemed! May each one of us be like the Samaritan woman and have the grace to bring all the people in the village, town, and city where we live , into your salvation, so that all the politicians and contractors who are hiding crores of money in our country can be saved and thereby their wealth can be used for the poor people. Amen!
“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
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
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
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
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 1John 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.
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.
