I kings 20:28, “Thus says Yahweh, because the Syrians have said, Yahweh is a God of the hills, but He is not a God of the valleysill I deliver all this great multitude into your hand and you shall know that I am Yahweh".
In other words, Our God is a God of the hills and God of the valleys too. Or our god is not only a God of the hills but for the valleys too. What is the meaning of this Syrians comment here? What is the peculiar thing in the hills? According to me, Hills are the best place, where you could see Gods promise in action. Hills are the places where you would have long sight; I mean you could see from far distance too. For example, Abraham and Lot went to one of the hills and by standing on the hills, Lot had seen wonderful well watered plains for his possession. And God took Moses to the hills to show the wonderful Promised Land to him. Elisha lived on the hills and dwelled in God’s presence.
Servants of the king of Syria said to him, “Their God is a God of the hills, therefore they were stronger than we but let us fight against them in the plains and surely we shall be stronger than they". Is this assumption right? Are they not judging our mighty God’s power? Our God is a God for all seasons. Our God is God for all problems, big or small, our God is a living God whose mighty hands are stretched out towards us in all the places, hills or valleys, top or bottom, ups or downs, beginning or ending etc. He is an awesome God, and He is in our midst.
Ok, why did Syrians think, our God will not be powerful in the valleys? Valleys are the leveled place and your sight is limited compared to hills. Syrians put their trust and dependence on their valleys. Syrians were under estimating God’s mighty power or in other words, Syrians were limiting God’s action. Now,lets analyze our spiritual life. How many times, we failed to see Gods mighty power in our life?. How many times we tried to zoom our strength and tried to weaken Gods power in our daily life? How many times, we jumped to misjudge or miscalculate Gods risen power in our spiritual life?
For past few weeks, I was seeking Gods presence and answer for my problem, but I could not hear His voice not even a small indication from my bible readings, sermons and other fellowships. Is my God busy and not interested to talk to me? Is my God powerful in the early stages of my Christian life? Is my God sufficient only for the hilly situation and not for the plain valleys? Scripture assures that, our God is a God for the hills and for the valleys too.
II Kings 4:27, we see Shunamite woman came to the man of God to the hill, she caught hold of his feet, though Gehazi, Elisha’s servant trying to move her away, she was determined to hold God’s servant feet. When Elisha was replacing his servant to relieve her problem, she was more determined to hold Elisha’s feet. Verse 30 says, “As Yahweh lives and as your soul lives, I will not leave you". This pictures the scene of Jacob at Jabbok river, pleading God’s angel to bless him. When we see, our God is a God for both hills and valleys, it is our responsibility to hold his feet for a deliverance. Till he blesses, till he gives answer to us, till He showers His blessings, let us continually look unto Him.
Psalmist says in 123 Psalm, “Behold as the eyes of servants look to the hands of master, as the eyes of a maid to the hands of mistress, so our EYES LOOK TO THE LORD OUR GOD, UNTIL HE SHALL BE GRACIOUS TO US.
May risen Lord Jesus help us to look to our Lord at all seasons both hills and valleys and help us to look to Him till he blesses us?.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Do you want to get well? Lord Jesus asked this question to an invalid man or in other words useless for 30 years at the pool, near the sheep gate which was rebuilt by Nehemiah at Jerusalem. Before going into detail, let stop at the pool and get some imagination about this event. This is a place where a number of disabled people gathered, where, one was there for 30 years. Even though the crowd was large, Lord Jesus could able to locate or find one invalid person in that crowd. How is it possible and why? One of my friends said, the world is humongous and our God is busy with so many important things, so why do you bother Him for everything, just bring big issues and big problem to God. Scripture says that God is mindful on even invalid or useless person in a large crowd. Have you ever thought, I am so little for God being mindful on me? The most important person in the universe remembers His children. Where ever you are, what ever you are in need of, our savior is mindful on you and me.
Verse 6 says, Jesus saw this invalid man lying there for a long time and asked him, “Do you want to get well? It is obvious to know that person wanted to get well. Then why did Jesus ask him like this? I personally feel that, this is a wonderful compassion questionnaire time in that person life. That was also interesting moment for that man to draw the crowd attention to him. Though he was invalid for 30 years, the moment when Jesus came near to him and asked such a caring question made him valid person in his entire life. The moment of Jesus love and care is not far away, it is so near to us. Let’s focus on Jesus for this wonderful one to one questionnaire moment in our life..
“Do you want to get well?” This is a very simple question, expecting ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer, but to my surprise, we see different answer. “Sir, I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in some one else goes down ahead of one” what does this reply to us? The invalid took the pleasure to explain his situation to Jesus. What a mind blowing truth, some one else goes down ahead of him. This pictures that, when invalid goes with his little strength, there was some one with more strength, this world is mixture of both, have you ever felt, you are of little hope, you are of little strength, you are in midst of no help,you are in midst of lacking? Scriptures says, “Yahweh your God is in the midst of you, a great and awesome God”
Verse 6 says, Jesus saw this invalid man lying there for a long time and asked him, “Do you want to get well? It is obvious to know that person wanted to get well. Then why did Jesus ask him like this? I personally feel that, this is a wonderful compassion questionnaire time in that person life. That was also interesting moment for that man to draw the crowd attention to him. Though he was invalid for 30 years, the moment when Jesus came near to him and asked such a caring question made him valid person in his entire life. The moment of Jesus love and care is not far away, it is so near to us. Let’s focus on Jesus for this wonderful one to one questionnaire moment in our life..
“Do you want to get well?” This is a very simple question, expecting ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer, but to my surprise, we see different answer. “Sir, I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in some one else goes down ahead of one” what does this reply to us? The invalid took the pleasure to explain his situation to Jesus. What a mind blowing truth, some one else goes down ahead of him. This pictures that, when invalid goes with his little strength, there was some one with more strength, this world is mixture of both, have you ever felt, you are of little hope, you are of little strength, you are in midst of no help,you are in midst of lacking? Scriptures says, “Yahweh your God is in the midst of you, a great and awesome God”
Our Savior said to him, “Get up, pick up your mat and walk”. The meeting started with a question and ended with commanding answer. There are 3 commands in Lords answer.
Get up: Enough of your failures get up from your invalid situation.
Pick up your mat: Gather your strength, gather your hope and finally gather your faith in Christian life.
Walk: Do it in action. Walk in His light
Where did the invalid get power to do this? The invalid simply obeyed to Lord Jesus. Verse 13 says, “The man who was healed had no idea who it was”. Without even knowing who Jesus was, the invalid man obeyed to Lords command. The invalid might have felt the power and authority in Lord’s command. He might have sensed Gods mighty power when he started his conversation with Lord in the beginning. How is our time with our Lord? Do you take time to talk to Lord Jesus and explain your situation? Are you in hurry to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ with your God? This invalid, unnamed man took time and efforts to spend time with our Lord Jesus, which in turn helped him to sense Gods power and authority and healing in his life.
May God of all wonders help us to get well physically and spiritually and let our Savior find time and place in our life? Amen.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Once saved always saved
Dear Friends,
Salvation in Christ is not temporary, it is Eternal. Now the question is what if saved person commit sin? What if they commit lot of sins? Is it possible to be saved and then lose the salvation? The answer is NO, NEVER. JOHN 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have ETERNAL LIFE".
Salvation is not a one day act, it is life long act in every believer’s life, and we need holiness, reverence and obedience to retain the joy of salvation. Once we become a child of God, getting adoption to call Him as Abba father, SALVATION will not be taken away from us. So once saved is always saved. No human’s goodness, human works, human morality or religious activity can gain acceptance with God or get anyone into heaven. Eph 2:8, “For by grace, you are saved through faith and this is not of yourselves, it is the GIFT OF GOD.” When I get saved, I am no longer a sinner, I am child of God, my old nature has been erased and I am new in Christ. What if I sin again, will I lose my salvation? How much sin is too much? Is there any small sin OR big sin? There is NO SCRIPTURAL YARDSTICK given to tell us how many or what kind of sins are enough to void our salvation. I personally feel that, after I trust Christ as Savior, God will never again deal with me as a sinner, all His dealings from that point on will be as a with a son/daughter.
David was circumcised at his young age and got saved, he was a man of His own heart, and Lord heard David words before it came from his mouth. Did David lose his salvation when he committed adultery, murder etc?. No. David lost the joy of salvation. When prophet Nathan said that David sinned against God, David didn’t use his power to hide or20support his unrighteous act instead he yielded for God’s correction and submission. David repented for his sins and reviewed his joy of salvation back in his life. So CONFESSED SIN is always forgiven in midst of His abundant grace.
By saying, once saved always saved, is there a license for a Christian to sin continually and willfully? NO, NOT AT ALL. The Holy Spirit will convict every believer in His won way. Ok, what if a person didn’t have time to repent for his sins???
Scripture says, He (God) chastened every son whom he received, if the believer sins after he is saved, God will chastise him, but the chastisement is not payment for sin, because Christ has already paid for our sins on the cross.
Some may argue with Judas, how about Judas? Did he lose salvation, if once saved always saved, did he get eternity. Judas was never saved in t he first place to lose his salvation. He was an unbeliever from the beginning of his apostleship to its end. (John 6:64, 68-70). He was a devil (John 6:70), devils never get saved. Judas perished never gained eternal life. (John 17:12) and he was called a son of perdition. Judas went to his own place not heaven (Acts 1:28) and finally Judas did not repent to God but felt sorry to himself and chose death instead.
May God of heavens bless everyone not to lose the joy of salvation in our life?
Love and Prayers
DP. Vathani
Since one of my friends raised thought provoking question about his friends(believer) sudden death(suicide) and eternity, with His mighty guidance and constant inspiration, I am writing this small article to connect christian salvation to eternity. I trust in Christ that my finite knowledge on my Savior will help every reader to find the truth in it.
Salvation in Christ is not temporary, it is Eternal. Now the question is what if saved person commit sin? What if they commit lot of sins? Is it possible to be saved and then lose the salvation? The answer is NO, NEVER. JOHN 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have ETERNAL LIFE".
Salvation is not a one day act, it is life long act in every believer’s life, and we need holiness, reverence and obedience to retain the joy of salvation. Once we become a child of God, getting adoption to call Him as Abba father, SALVATION will not be taken away from us. So once saved is always saved. No human’s goodness, human works, human morality or religious activity can gain acceptance with God or get anyone into heaven. Eph 2:8, “For by grace, you are saved through faith and this is not of yourselves, it is the GIFT OF GOD.” When I get saved, I am no longer a sinner, I am child of God, my old nature has been erased and I am new in Christ. What if I sin again, will I lose my salvation? How much sin is too much? Is there any small sin OR big sin? There is NO SCRIPTURAL YARDSTICK given to tell us how many or what kind of sins are enough to void our salvation. I personally feel that, after I trust Christ as Savior, God will never again deal with me as a sinner, all His dealings from that point on will be as a with a son/daughter.
David was circumcised at his young age and got saved, he was a man of His own heart, and Lord heard David words before it came from his mouth. Did David lose his salvation when he committed adultery, murder etc?. No. David lost the joy of salvation. When prophet Nathan said that David sinned against God, David didn’t use his power to hide or20support his unrighteous act instead he yielded for God’s correction and submission. David repented for his sins and reviewed his joy of salvation back in his life. So CONFESSED SIN is always forgiven in midst of His abundant grace.
By saying, once saved always saved, is there a license for a Christian to sin continually and willfully? NO, NOT AT ALL. The Holy Spirit will convict every believer in His won way. Ok, what if a person didn’t have time to repent for his sins???
Scripture says, He (God) chastened every son whom he received, if the believer sins after he is saved, God will chastise him, but the chastisement is not payment for sin, because Christ has already paid for our sins on the cross.
Some may argue with Judas, how about Judas? Did he lose salvation, if once saved always saved, did he get eternity. Judas was never saved in t he first place to lose his salvation. He was an unbeliever from the beginning of his apostleship to its end. (John 6:64, 68-70). He was a devil (John 6:70), devils never get saved. Judas perished never gained eternal life. (John 17:12) and he was called a son of perdition. Judas went to his own place not heaven (Acts 1:28) and finally Judas did not repent to God but felt sorry to himself and chose death instead.
May God of heavens bless everyone not to lose the joy of salvation in our life?
Love and Prayers
DP. Vathani
Friday, December 12, 2008
Dear Friends,
We had Christmas play practice after Sunday worship, there were many characters in the play including, Joseph, Mary, baby Jesus, Sheep, Star, Angels, Shepherds, King Herod, Magi, Simeon, Anna Prophetess etc. Out of all these, Joseph character caught my attention during this Christmas Advent season. I request everyone to take few minutes to meditate on this righteous man Joseph. Mathew 1:20 ,"An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, Joseph son of David, do not afraid to take Mary home as your wife because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit, verse 24, "when Joseph woke up he did what angel of the Lord commanded him and took Mary home as his wife." As I started to meditate more on this Joseph, I have learnt following characters from him.
Complete Obedience:When angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph, he never doubted or questioned the authority of God's power. When an angel of the lord appeared to Zachariah, father of John the Baptist, he doubted God's power in the beginning. Even Abraham's wife, Sarah doubted God's authority in her life. But to my surprise, I found Joseph as a depending and yielding servant to Gods commands, Joseph did exactly what the angel of the lord commanded. How many times, we doubted Gods mighty power in midst of our proud confident situations???
Constant walk with God:Mathew 2:13, "an angel of the lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, Get up, he said, take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you". This confirms that Joseph has a constant walk and faith in our Lord. When the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph first time, he was a bachelor, obeyed to take Mary as his wife, now he is a earthly human father to baby Jesus, yet he maintained his obedience to His Lord still. In the beginning of our salvation period, we depend our Lord for everything and obey to His each and every command and go to His presence more often, but when days pass by, years pass by, we slowly revert or put some speed breaks in our spiritual life. Our pride pops up sometimes, which leads to doubt His faithful calling. But Joseph, may be after 2-3 years of Jesus birth, he still maintained his obedience to our Lord. We see angels command to be little straight forward and there is no room for Joseph to think or give his opinion. Are you ready to walk constantly with HIM? If so, ask God's power to empower your walk in the year 2009.
Discerning God's Voice: Mathew 2:19, "an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel." This is the third time, angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph, Joseph was in Egypt this time, but still able to discern God's voice in his life. My imaginations traveled like this. In the beginning, it was easy for Joseph to follow God's command to take Mary as his wife, because he was in prime youth, looking forward to settle in a life. Second time, Joseph followed God's command to make sure, he and his family is out of danger, but this time in Egypt, when God's angel commanded, Joseph had nothing to say except to obey with whole heart.If Lot was in that place, he should have given his option to escape to the nearby places instead to the land of Israel. I think, Joseph was just right to his righteousness. He never allowed his flesh to dominate in any of these times. He maintained his service constantly to our Lord through out his life.
May the God of almighty rule everyone's heart with HIS Devine peace and prosperity during this Christmas season?
Wish you all a Merry Christmas and a joyful blessed New Year 2009.
Love and Prayers
We had Christmas play practice after Sunday worship, there were many characters in the play including, Joseph, Mary, baby Jesus, Sheep, Star, Angels, Shepherds, King Herod, Magi, Simeon, Anna Prophetess etc. Out of all these, Joseph character caught my attention during this Christmas Advent season. I request everyone to take few minutes to meditate on this righteous man Joseph. Mathew 1:20 ,"An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, Joseph son of David, do not afraid to take Mary home as your wife because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit, verse 24, "when Joseph woke up he did what angel of the Lord commanded him and took Mary home as his wife." As I started to meditate more on this Joseph, I have learnt following characters from him.
Complete Obedience:When angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph, he never doubted or questioned the authority of God's power. When an angel of the lord appeared to Zachariah, father of John the Baptist, he doubted God's power in the beginning. Even Abraham's wife, Sarah doubted God's authority in her life. But to my surprise, I found Joseph as a depending and yielding servant to Gods commands, Joseph did exactly what the angel of the lord commanded. How many times, we doubted Gods mighty power in midst of our proud confident situations???
Constant walk with God:Mathew 2:13, "an angel of the lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, Get up, he said, take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you". This confirms that Joseph has a constant walk and faith in our Lord. When the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph first time, he was a bachelor, obeyed to take Mary as his wife, now he is a earthly human father to baby Jesus, yet he maintained his obedience to His Lord still. In the beginning of our salvation period, we depend our Lord for everything and obey to His each and every command and go to His presence more often, but when days pass by, years pass by, we slowly revert or put some speed breaks in our spiritual life. Our pride pops up sometimes, which leads to doubt His faithful calling. But Joseph, may be after 2-3 years of Jesus birth, he still maintained his obedience to our Lord. We see angels command to be little straight forward and there is no room for Joseph to think or give his opinion. Are you ready to walk constantly with HIM? If so, ask God's power to empower your walk in the year 2009.
Discerning God's Voice: Mathew 2:19, "an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel." This is the third time, angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph, Joseph was in Egypt this time, but still able to discern God's voice in his life. My imaginations traveled like this. In the beginning, it was easy for Joseph to follow God's command to take Mary as his wife, because he was in prime youth, looking forward to settle in a life. Second time, Joseph followed God's command to make sure, he and his family is out of danger, but this time in Egypt, when God's angel commanded, Joseph had nothing to say except to obey with whole heart.If Lot was in that place, he should have given his option to escape to the nearby places instead to the land of Israel. I think, Joseph was just right to his righteousness. He never allowed his flesh to dominate in any of these times. He maintained his service constantly to our Lord through out his life.
May the God of almighty rule everyone's heart with HIS Devine peace and prosperity during this Christmas season?
Wish you all a Merry Christmas and a joyful blessed New Year 2009.
Love and Prayers
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Jabez Prayer
Dear Friends,
Greetings to all in the sweet name of our Lord Jesus Christ. For past few days, I was meditating on prayers in the bible. The following prayer caught my attention. I Chronicles 4:10, “Now Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, Oh that Thou wouldst bless me indeed and enlarge my border and that Thy hand might be with me and that Thou wouldst keep me from harm that it may not pain me. And God granted him what he requested.”
The most remarkable person in this chapter is Jabez. Much account had not been given about Jabez but he was more honorable than his brethren and I found that he was a praying man. Jabez called on the God of Israel to bless him. We could see this praying attitude in Jacob’s life too. Though Jacob was blessed with wives, children, flocks, servants etc, He was crying to God in a Jabbok river to bless him again. Genesis 32: 26, “ Jacob said, I will not let you go unless you bless me”. Spiritual blessings are the best blessings: Gods blessings are real things and produce real effects in our life. Lord answered Jabez prayer, now the question is, how many of us are willing to come to HIS throne once again for this type of prayer attitude in our life?
Second part of Jabez prayer talks about enlarging territory. He was asking God of Israel to enlarge his tents or territory, it represents once again, we need to enlarge our spiritual walk, lets ask God to enlarge our bible reading, prayer time, sharing time etc in our earnest prayers. In Psalm 147: 13, 14 say that, “For He has strengthened the bars of your gates; He has blessed your sons within you. He makes peace in your borders; He satisfies you with finest of the wheat.” Our God is sufficient to enlarge our borders and also He is more than sufficient to keep our borders in peace and prosperity. A re you not blessed to ask Him to enlarge our hearts to inherit His portions and goodness in our life?
Third part of his prayer is asking God’s hand to be with him. What a wonderful idea? Psalm 46:1 says that God is our refuge and strength. Jabez was asking God to keep him from evil, the evil of sin, the evil of trouble, all the evil design of his enemies that they might not hurt him. His mother named him Jabez because she delivered him in sorrow and pain; so basically, Jabez was a man of sorrow. Jabez aimed to live in Gods shelter where evil cannot enter in to it. Psalm 91 1: says that “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty”. Jabez wanted to dwell in a HIS Shelter. Are you ready to choose God’s protection and shelter in our daily life in the midst of all evil things?
I would like to encourage everyone to read this prayer and focus on the last line, “And God granted him what he requested. Wow, what a great assurance to every child of God. Our God is a prayer hearing and prayer answering God; He is God for all impossibilities. Psalm 20: 4 says that, “May He grant you your hearts desire, and fulfill all your counsel”. He is God for all mankind. Let’s pray earnestly in our Christian life to lead a victorious life because, our God is ever ready to hear prayer and his ear is not now heavy. May the risen Lord Jesus Christ help us to pray like Jabez in our life? Amen.
Greetings to all in the sweet name of our Lord Jesus Christ. For past few days, I was meditating on prayers in the bible. The following prayer caught my attention. I Chronicles 4:10, “Now Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, Oh that Thou wouldst bless me indeed and enlarge my border and that Thy hand might be with me and that Thou wouldst keep me from harm that it may not pain me. And God granted him what he requested.”
The most remarkable person in this chapter is Jabez. Much account had not been given about Jabez but he was more honorable than his brethren and I found that he was a praying man. Jabez called on the God of Israel to bless him. We could see this praying attitude in Jacob’s life too. Though Jacob was blessed with wives, children, flocks, servants etc, He was crying to God in a Jabbok river to bless him again. Genesis 32: 26, “ Jacob said, I will not let you go unless you bless me”. Spiritual blessings are the best blessings: Gods blessings are real things and produce real effects in our life. Lord answered Jabez prayer, now the question is, how many of us are willing to come to HIS throne once again for this type of prayer attitude in our life?
Second part of Jabez prayer talks about enlarging territory. He was asking God of Israel to enlarge his tents or territory, it represents once again, we need to enlarge our spiritual walk, lets ask God to enlarge our bible reading, prayer time, sharing time etc in our earnest prayers. In Psalm 147: 13, 14 say that, “For He has strengthened the bars of your gates; He has blessed your sons within you. He makes peace in your borders; He satisfies you with finest of the wheat.” Our God is sufficient to enlarge our borders and also He is more than sufficient to keep our borders in peace and prosperity. A re you not blessed to ask Him to enlarge our hearts to inherit His portions and goodness in our life?
Third part of his prayer is asking God’s hand to be with him. What a wonderful idea? Psalm 46:1 says that God is our refuge and strength. Jabez was asking God to keep him from evil, the evil of sin, the evil of trouble, all the evil design of his enemies that they might not hurt him. His mother named him Jabez because she delivered him in sorrow and pain; so basically, Jabez was a man of sorrow. Jabez aimed to live in Gods shelter where evil cannot enter in to it. Psalm 91 1: says that “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty”. Jabez wanted to dwell in a HIS Shelter. Are you ready to choose God’s protection and shelter in our daily life in the midst of all evil things?
I would like to encourage everyone to read this prayer and focus on the last line, “And God granted him what he requested. Wow, what a great assurance to every child of God. Our God is a prayer hearing and prayer answering God; He is God for all impossibilities. Psalm 20: 4 says that, “May He grant you your hearts desire, and fulfill all your counsel”. He is God for all mankind. Let’s pray earnestly in our Christian life to lead a victorious life because, our God is ever ready to hear prayer and his ear is not now heavy. May the risen Lord Jesus Christ help us to pray like Jabez in our life? Amen.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Thanksgiving Supper
Dear Friends,
Greetings to all in the sweet name of our Lord Jesus Christ. In John 12: 1-3 we see a wonderful loving family at Bethany. John the gospel says that, Jesus loved this family, Martha and her sister Mary and Lazarus. When Lazarus was sick, his sisters sent a message to Jesus, saying Lord, behold he whom thou lovest is sick. The lord Jesus in His great love raised Lazarus from the dead; therefore they made him a supper.
For our meditation, lets focus on verses 2 & 3, so they made Him a supper there. This is a kind of thanks giving service to our Lord Jesus Christ. Has the Lord done same thing for you? Has He answered your long time prayer requests? Has he saved someone in your family? Has He raised someone in your family from physical illness& sickbed? If so, do you wish to make Him a supper? Preparing supper for someone is not easy thing. It needs time and focus, need to think a lot about guest’s liking and disliking and need lot of guts to entertain a guest. Have you decided to invite our Lord Jesus for a thanksgiving service? Be assured that He will not turn down your invitation. He loves to dwell in the midst of His people.
Secondly, lets see what each member of that family was doing?
Martha served. This shows her humble service to our Lord, I used to marvel at this woman many times when I read this. Martha was the one who opened her house door for Lord Jesus, she was the one who prepared the supper for the entire crowd and even she was the one who has said to Lord, ‘Yes Lord; I believed that you the Christ, the son of God even He who comes into the world”. She had a great knowledge on our Savior. Do you?
Lazarus layed at table with Christ. What a great privilege for this Lazarus who was dead for a while and now alive with Christ . We see same experience in Psalm 23, David said, Thou preparest a table before me. Lets learn from Him what it is really like to sit with Him at table. Am I privileged to sit with Him at table???
Mary: Mary worshipped Him, she poured all at His feet, her heart and her soul, her wealth and her pride, her desires and her longings etc. Will you do so??
I personally feel that these 3 were orphans, may be in upper teens, not married, may be kept outside the society because of their service mind to Christ. Whatever it is, this family loved Lord Jesus and in turn, Jesus loved them. May be that is the reason, Jesus came to Bethany before Passover and it was from Bethany that He ascended to heaven.
May the risen Lord Jesus who ascended to heaven from Bethany make everyone’s heart and home to be His dwelling place? Amen.Love and Prayers
Greetings to all in the sweet name of our Lord Jesus Christ. In John 12: 1-3 we see a wonderful loving family at Bethany. John the gospel says that, Jesus loved this family, Martha and her sister Mary and Lazarus. When Lazarus was sick, his sisters sent a message to Jesus, saying Lord, behold he whom thou lovest is sick. The lord Jesus in His great love raised Lazarus from the dead; therefore they made him a supper.
For our meditation, lets focus on verses 2 & 3, so they made Him a supper there. This is a kind of thanks giving service to our Lord Jesus Christ. Has the Lord done same thing for you? Has He answered your long time prayer requests? Has he saved someone in your family? Has He raised someone in your family from physical illness& sickbed? If so, do you wish to make Him a supper? Preparing supper for someone is not easy thing. It needs time and focus, need to think a lot about guest’s liking and disliking and need lot of guts to entertain a guest. Have you decided to invite our Lord Jesus for a thanksgiving service? Be assured that He will not turn down your invitation. He loves to dwell in the midst of His people.
Secondly, lets see what each member of that family was doing?
Martha served. This shows her humble service to our Lord, I used to marvel at this woman many times when I read this. Martha was the one who opened her house door for Lord Jesus, she was the one who prepared the supper for the entire crowd and even she was the one who has said to Lord, ‘Yes Lord; I believed that you the Christ, the son of God even He who comes into the world”. She had a great knowledge on our Savior. Do you?
Lazarus layed at table with Christ. What a great privilege for this Lazarus who was dead for a while and now alive with Christ . We see same experience in Psalm 23, David said, Thou preparest a table before me. Lets learn from Him what it is really like to sit with Him at table. Am I privileged to sit with Him at table???
Mary: Mary worshipped Him, she poured all at His feet, her heart and her soul, her wealth and her pride, her desires and her longings etc. Will you do so??
I personally feel that these 3 were orphans, may be in upper teens, not married, may be kept outside the society because of their service mind to Christ. Whatever it is, this family loved Lord Jesus and in turn, Jesus loved them. May be that is the reason, Jesus came to Bethany before Passover and it was from Bethany that He ascended to heaven.
May the risen Lord Jesus who ascended to heaven from Bethany make everyone’s heart and home to be His dwelling place? Amen.Love and Prayers
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Impossible things by Faith
Mathew 14: 22-33 describes a closer look at Peter’s walk on water, which reveals several key elements in our Christian life. Disciples had a long tiring day and Jesus sent them out in the boat to go over to another town. It was a dark stormy night and the wind was tossing the waves around in the middle of the night, they thought they were seeing a ghost when Jesus came to them walking on the sea. Peter says to Lord that, "Lord, if it's you, tell me to come to you on the water." "Come," he(Jesus) said.
We notice here that Peter asked Gods will first before getting out of the boat. After Peter sought His will in asking the Lord for permission he didn’t immediately jump out of the boat. Peter did not presume upon the Lord’s answers, but waited for it. Many of us jump out of the boat without sufficiently waiting on the Lord and end up in troubled waters. But Peter did not make a move until Jesus Said, Come. When Christ said “come”, Peter put his trust in God and came out of the boat. He simply obeyed Christ’s call and into the water he went. Faith is always expressed by obedience to Christ. Peter's confidence was based solely on Christ’s word not on his own strength.
When Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt and into the desert towards the Promised Land, they had no visible means of support other than God. In the desert there was no water, no food, no prospects for gainful employment, yet everyday God miraculously gave them water to drink and bread to eat. When Peter was still in the boat, there was no visible way for him to walk on the water. Christ didn’t show Peter a concrete or hardened path in the water first or gave him a detailed explanation of how it was going to work out. Only after Peter stepped out and walked towards Jesus, he saw how God would make the way as He firmed up the water under his feet. The laws of gravitation were suspended for his support. There were two walking on the sea, the one by his own infinite power, the other by the power imparted to Peter- the power of faith.
As long as Peter kept his eyes on Jesus Christ, he was fine walking on water, when he took of his eyes off on Christ and began to see the effects of the boisterous wind, he began to sink. The soles of his feet began to go below the surface of water. As soon as he began to sink, he cried, "Lord, save me!" . Immediately our Lord stretched forth his hands and caught him. It also confirms that our Lord was not far away to Peter and Our God didn't refuse Peter to drown i nthe water. The prompt help was ready for pressing emergency with our Lord. When we feel that we are starting to sink in our faith walk, we should not wait until we have sunk to the depths of despair. Cry out to God then Lord will rescue us in the storms of life. This is Peter who always prays in his life. This shows what a living thing his faith was. It might not walk the water always but it could always pray. The next time Peter went fishing, he still had to use a boat. Peter didn’t retain the power to walk on water within himself nor did he go on tour with a miracle show.
Do we keep our focus, our eyes, our thoughts, our actions on Jesus? Do we wait enough for His response before getting out of our life boat? Does God really pass by during the storms of our life? The lord is Sovereign and He decides when and how to answer our prayers. Our job is to humble ourselves under HIS mighty hands and seek to do just His will just like Peter.
We notice here that Peter asked Gods will first before getting out of the boat. After Peter sought His will in asking the Lord for permission he didn’t immediately jump out of the boat. Peter did not presume upon the Lord’s answers, but waited for it. Many of us jump out of the boat without sufficiently waiting on the Lord and end up in troubled waters. But Peter did not make a move until Jesus Said, Come. When Christ said “come”, Peter put his trust in God and came out of the boat. He simply obeyed Christ’s call and into the water he went. Faith is always expressed by obedience to Christ. Peter's confidence was based solely on Christ’s word not on his own strength.
When Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt and into the desert towards the Promised Land, they had no visible means of support other than God. In the desert there was no water, no food, no prospects for gainful employment, yet everyday God miraculously gave them water to drink and bread to eat. When Peter was still in the boat, there was no visible way for him to walk on the water. Christ didn’t show Peter a concrete or hardened path in the water first or gave him a detailed explanation of how it was going to work out. Only after Peter stepped out and walked towards Jesus, he saw how God would make the way as He firmed up the water under his feet. The laws of gravitation were suspended for his support. There were two walking on the sea, the one by his own infinite power, the other by the power imparted to Peter- the power of faith.
As long as Peter kept his eyes on Jesus Christ, he was fine walking on water, when he took of his eyes off on Christ and began to see the effects of the boisterous wind, he began to sink. The soles of his feet began to go below the surface of water. As soon as he began to sink, he cried, "Lord, save me!" . Immediately our Lord stretched forth his hands and caught him. It also confirms that our Lord was not far away to Peter and Our God didn't refuse Peter to drown i nthe water. The prompt help was ready for pressing emergency with our Lord. When we feel that we are starting to sink in our faith walk, we should not wait until we have sunk to the depths of despair. Cry out to God then Lord will rescue us in the storms of life. This is Peter who always prays in his life. This shows what a living thing his faith was. It might not walk the water always but it could always pray. The next time Peter went fishing, he still had to use a boat. Peter didn’t retain the power to walk on water within himself nor did he go on tour with a miracle show.
Do we keep our focus, our eyes, our thoughts, our actions on Jesus? Do we wait enough for His response before getting out of our life boat? Does God really pass by during the storms of our life? The lord is Sovereign and He decides when and how to answer our prayers. Our job is to humble ourselves under HIS mighty hands and seek to do just His will just like Peter.
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