Month: February 2017

Dear All,

When we accept Jesus Christ as our personal savior, He seals us with the Holy Spirit in our heart as a guarantee. Jesus said that He will not leave us as orphans but send us a comforter and that is the Holy Spirit. Are we led by His gentle voice or do we give Him the second place?

Is My Prayer Directed By The Holy Spirit?

¹⁴ For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.

Romans 8:14

⁶ In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. ²⁷ And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.  Romans 8:26-27

The Holy Spirit Helps in our weakness and when we do not know what to pray. He also intercedes for us through wordless groans and knows the mind of the spirit and prays according to the will of God. Our limited wisdom through vocabulary cannot explain this mystery. However I am sure all of us would have experienced this in our week moments of our lives.

I want to recall this morning the story of David at Ziklag from 1 Samuel 30: 3-4.When David and his men reached Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive.  The distraught men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep.

David’s heart was very heavy and broken and this heaviness broke into tears like the heavy clouds falling down as rain. His cry did not bring victory.  His own soldiers, the people whom he handpicked, wanted to stone him. This can happen in our lives as well when people who are close to us turn against us.

At times like this when we are crushed in spirit, if we seek the Lord in prayer our prayer will be directed by the Holy Spirit.  David cried before the Lord and the Lord directed his path towards victory. He will lead our prayer also in the same manner because He is the same yesterday and forever.

Dear Lord,

Thank you for the Holy Spirit who intercedes for me in my brokenness. Thy word says that you are close to the broken hearted and to those who are crushed in spirit.  Hear my cry as I  seek your face and as You led David lead me in to Your path of peace and rejoicing. Amen
God bless you,
Theo and Manju

Talents are given to us from the Lord. We may have noticed this when we were in school. Some students excelled in sports, and some in academics. When you watch some athletes running the one hundred meters, they are able to run much faster than others without a lot of training. This is a God given talent and when these are used wisely, they produce good results.

Choose wisdom in using His talents

Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed.  And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’
Matthew 25:24-25

Jesus compares the kingdom of God to a man who had gone for a journey and had given each of his servants talents. The servants did not know the hour of coming. The one who was given five made another five, and the one who was given two doubled his talents. However the servant who was given the least, buried it, and had a complaint to give his master on his return

When God gives us a talent we are held accountable to Him. The talent belongs to Him and we work for the master and for His kingdom. The success is the product of our work. It is like the dedicated athlete who trains hard to win the gold using his God given talent.

When a talent is given to us we should not delay in using it because these are precious talents given to us by the master. When the talent is not used it is wasted and the result is negative. This is what the master had to say:
Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Matthew 25:28-30

Therefore let us seek the Lord to give us wisdom to use His talents for His glory rather than burying them.

Dear Lord,

I thank You that You have given me many talents .Give me Your wisdom so that I will be able to bring You glory and honour and not use them for selfish gain. Amen

You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.  James 4:4

A Lifestyle of Holiness

 Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at His coming. ¹⁴ As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. ¹⁵ But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; ¹⁶ for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy   1 Peter: 13-16

The value of grace is in His precious blood and this cannot be compared to any created thing.

Once we understand the value of God’s grace, we will not conform to the evil desires of the world which are the result of living in the darkness and being ignorant about it.  Now that we are saved by His grace, our spiritual eyes are opened and we have the knowledge and God given wisdom to distinguish between living in holiness and conforming to the evil nature that is of the world.

We are called to be vigilant of the spiritual dangers and enemies, and watch and pray against the sins to which we are susceptible.  We as Christians can live a victorious life and be like a city that is set high on a mountain by doing what the written word of God instructs us to do.  God’s word and its guidelines lead and direct us towards holiness in every way.

Prayer

Dear Lord, I thank you for the precious blood that you shed for me on the cross of Calvary. Thank You for saving me and for leading me into Your holiness each day.

Amen

Theo & Manju

All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! ³ Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” ⁴ And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt    Numbers 14:2-4

The servant leader

 I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them, but I will make you into a nation greater and stronger than they.”Numbers 14:12

The Lord brought the people of Israel from the clutches of Pharaoh after making the ruler of Egypt aware that He was the Ruler of heaven and earth. Though Pharaoh witnessed all the signs and wonders of the Lord, his heart was not willing to give up the control that he had on the people of Israel.

On the other hand, when twelve leaders among the Israelites were asked to spy the land before they took possession of this promised land of milk and honey, In spite of witnessing the signs and wonders of the Lord, ten of the appointed spies were found to make excuses, wanting to return to Egypt so that they could make among themselves a leader of their own. Their negative attitude influenced the mass of people like wild fire. The Lord heard their murmuring and was greatly displeased and wanted to destroy them and make a nation out of Moses. However as Moses interceded and pleaded with  the Lord for the lives of the wicked hearted people God spared  the people of Israel.

Even though the people repeatedly were against Moses and spoke negatively about him, the heart of Moses was selfless and with full of love for the people of God. His desire was twofold; firstly to honour the Lord and secondly to be faithful to His call.

The lesson for us today is that we need to be faithful in all things that God has called us to do in spite of the resistance and oppositions from the others and  honour the Lord in every way.

Prayer

Dear Lord help me to be faithful in everything  that you have called me to do and may I find joy in accomplishing  what you have called me to do. Amen

Theo & Manju

Skyscrapers are the world’s tallest buildings. A skyscraper needs careful planning before it can be built. The foundations of a skyscraper are a few stories deep. When the foundation is dug out it often reaches into solid rock. When built on this, the enormous weight of the of steel and concrete beams will spread evenly and hold the superstructure securely.

Strong Foundation

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

Romans 8:28

Joseph was in prison for several years and it could have been a very challenging period of his life. Nevertheless, he knew that he was in the perfect will of God. This knowledge helped him to endure the challenges and difficulties in his life and also made him depend on the Lord. This was possible for Joseph because from his small age, his foundations were built on trusting the Lord.

We are sometimes thrown into prison situations through no fault of ours. Just as a building’s foundation is unseen to human eyes, we often do not see the reason for why we go through the struggles in our lives. This could be God’s plan for our lives and He may allow situations to melt and mould us. If we are not quick to be discouraged and are able to overcome fear and frustration by steadfastly looking to God through our prayer and supplication, the foundation under us will be strengthened.

On the other hand the cause of our trials could also be due to stepping out of God’s will. This requires us to come to the Father with repentance and seeking His guidance. In doing this, the faulty foundations are mended and strengthened.

A strong foundation allows us to withstand the storms of life, as we have learned by experience to seek Him and know for sure that our help will come from the Lord who made heaven and earth. Let our whole life be built on the solid rock of Christ Jesus. He has promised us to come to Him when we are tired and weary. No load of life’s problem is too heavy for Him to bear.

Dear Lord,
I thank You for this day. I want to be in the perfect will of You so that my foundation will be strong, and will be able to weather the storms of the day.

God Bless you,
Theo and Manju

Singing in a choir requires the members to have their focus on the Choirmaster in order to follow him. This is easy if the choristers know the tune and the words. The Choirmaster will lead the choir with clarity to start and stop at the right time, and also to sing high or low in tune with all the other members.

Be in tune with the Master

To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his steps.

1 Peter 2:21

If we have to walk in tune with the master, we have to follow in His steps. Steps indicate climbing and it needs effort like the choristers learning the tune and the words, and looking at the Choirmaster to sing in tune. We will look at some baby steps to move forward this morning.

The first step is that we need to love Him and thereby love others as He has loved us unconditionally. When the soldiers mocked Jesus and spat at Him, He was still able to say ‘‘Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing”.

How then do we love others? It is by sharing the love of Christ with people around us. The soldiers saw the risen Lord, but they did not share the good news. Instead, they buried it because of their love of money and fear of people.

One commandment that the Lord gave the disciples is seen in the following scripture. He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation” (Mark 16:15).

Are we able to walk in tune with Him to love God and love people?

Dear Lord,
I thank You for this day, and I remember that You picked me up from the miry clay and I am able to walk in tune because Your light shines on me. Help me to share the same love with others to bring them to the light. Amen.

God Bless you,
Theo and Manju