His sovereign control,

Plants on the slope... @Kodaikanal

30 April 2012  His sovereign control

 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light. Ephesians 5:8

World has numerous lines of thinking patterns. People may be forced to adopt to different thoughts in life.

But we have to use common sense  and acquired knowledge in making decisions, for the routine  matters of life.

When we are waiting for God’s will for major issues , then too much of reasoning may in fact be harmful.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9

 Take the problem into your hands and analyse the pros and cons.

Discuss the issues.

 It will help you to define the problem more precisely and you can focus on that clearly .

Nothing wrong in our analysis or decision.

But we must not stay longer than required in that decision making process alone for a long time.

For we live by faith, not by sight.. 2 Corinthians 5:7 

Our knowledge ( based on our senses) seems to be adequate to comprehend  God’s ways.

Keep your ears sensitive and heart soft to listen to God’s still voice.

God is never do anything in haste because everything is under His sovereign control.

Praise the Lord

God Bless

29 April 2012  Discourage Discouragement…

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5: 7

 Discouragement is a powerful and effective tool used by satan against God’s people. Nobody can escape from this satanic attack (even in the bible  no saints could escape this.

Paul had divine  revelations but bothered by a thorn I the body- he calls it "messenger from satan” sent to to beat him.(2 cor12:7)

Paul  wished as well as repeatedly pleaded to God to  that the thorn could be removed. God strengthened Paul to learn to live with that.

Learn from this to live with your weakness and let all your mourning be turned to dancing..

Life in this era of scientific advancement with more gadgets and facilities life is filled with tension and stress. We are prone to more new diseases ( with no medicine to cure) .

Life has been hectic always for everyone.Satan uses all these to discourage us at the slightest provoke.

Bible has answers to all the problems. It tells us to cast all our anxieties on God because HE cares for us. Leave it at the Lord’s feet and donot carry it again.

 

“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

 Be alert and of sober mind. 

Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  

 Resist him, standing firm in the faith,…1 Peter 5:7-9

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  

 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7

This is the joy of the Lord, which turns to be your strength to resist the devil.

“Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings..  1Peter 5: 9

Faint not, nor fear; His arms are near;

HE changeth not, and thou art dear;

Only believe and thou shalt see

That Christ is all in all to thee.( John S.B. Monsell)

God bless…

promise of God

Red flowers @ tirunelveli home

25 April 2012

A promise can be defined as :"Words said or written, binding a person to do or not to do something." 

            We make a promise , giving our word that we will do something  or  may not do something.  Since the world is filled with a mixture of happy and unhappy substances, we are mostly interdependent, clinging on to somebody for something throughout our life time.

       As Christians we usually claim the promises God has given us. 

The Promises given by God to provide strength and  faith ,to walk victoriously.

 

God has given no promise which HE will not do or HE cannot do, and HE encouraged us with hope saying that He will fulfill or accomplish it in appropriate time.

           God is unchangeable, and   since He will not lie as we humans do, He will continue to be mindful  and watchful of us to fulfill His promise for the future as  He has doing   in the past .

Remember how HE lead you in your trails, troubles and in your inabilities.

       A promise is a promise from GOD – nobody can change it.

No power of this world can overrule it or make it a failure

GOD will do that in HIS own time.

 Wait  patiently and Pray. 

Have Faith in HIM. 

                       A big  question arise, Will God break His promise then?

No, God keeps His promise and God will be right there   beside you , talking and  dealing with his heart until things may turn to be alright.

There is a difference between A command from God is something man should do; a Promise from God is something God will do.

A command must be obeyed, A Promise must be believed. 

When God gives a command He says, "YOU WILL"-

 “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.”(Deuteronomy  6:5) 

             When God gives a promise He says,

 "I WILL", ‘I am the LORD', and I will bring you out ….. I will free you …. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and … I will take you as my own people, … I will be your God. ( Exodus 6:6-8)

The emphatic way "I WILL’s"  from this verse automatically will strengthen us.

         

“Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:7-9

Stand still and consider the wondrous works of God. Job 37:14
                                                                                 

Come unto me, ye who are weary and overburdened, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28
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Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart.  Wait, I say on the Lord. Psalms 27:14
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"For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11

BE CHEERFUL.

GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIMES

ALL THE TIMES GOD IS GOOD.

God bless

Faith accomplishes in Trouble

Golden yellow pears @ Kodai garden

17 April 2012  

 “Therefore, having been justified by faith,

we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace ….. but we also glory in tribulations

 knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts… ….

A common question which troubles our mind is’ What is the real meaning of Faith? 

It has multifarious answers.
 

When  we say "We have our faith". It means that" We have our religious ideas , doctrines, our traditions, our customary dealings  - passed down through the generations to follow. Faith is not religion.  Nor it is the Biblical idea of faith.

Faith is not a way to manipulate God. It is not a power by which we make God do what WE want- when otherwise He would be unwilling to give that to us. 

Faith is not hope, nor positive desire. Faith, however, takes the promise as done at the moment. Many people have greater hope and wait anxiously for results, but they lack confidence and present assurance which faith has. 

faith is to believe in something or someone, to fully trust, to be so confident that we can put our actions on what we believe. 

Faith in God, is having the kind of trust and confidence in God that leads you to commit your whole soul to Him as Saviour’ 

"Faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1 

Faith is a spiritual substance. it communicates to you a certain inner knowing that the thing you are hoping for is certainly established, even before you see any material evidence that it has happened.

Faith in God must be from the heart. "For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." (Romans 10:10)

“Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”John7:38

God wants to share the faith in us with others. Sharing increases  and improves our faith.

….And he who waters will also be watered himself”.Proverbs11:25

Faith causes you to know in your heart before you see with your eyes. "For we walk by faith, not by sight." (2Cor 5.7)

Through faith we can know we have the answer to our prayer .Jesus said, "Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them." (Mk 11:24). 

God expects us, even commands us, to believe that our requests are answered by God AT THE MOMENT WE MAKE THEM.

AMEN
God bless

Right kind of fear

Plum flower @ Kodaikanal

 16 April 2012  Fear the LORD

The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverse mouth I hate.Proverbs 8:13

Fear is defined as a godly emotion, feeling of reverence, awe, and respect toward the Almighty.

It is an unpleasant emotion caused by natural circumstance of supernatural attack. 

Fear may be either healthy or harmful-may lead to unpleasant consequences.

Fear is a must ,if it is healthy and leads to our growth in life.

A healthy fear is reverence or respect can be observed from the following verses:

• ‘Each of you must respect your mother and father, and you must observe my Sabbaths. I am the LORD your God. Leviticus. 19:3

•  ‘However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. Ephesians 5:33

• ‘Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Ephesians 6:5.

The scriptures declare that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge"
(Proverbs 1:7) as well as the beginning of wisdom" (Proverbs 16:16) thereby indicating the decorum and good sense of fear before God and His Word.

It says "the fear of the Lord is to hate evil".

 This tells me that  if I  want to respect God, then I will hate everything He hates, (all things evil, pride, and arrogance as well as a perverse mouth.)

We tend to think of "evil" as being sins such as murder, burglary witchcraft, Satanism and so on. 

The OPPOSITE of good is evil. 

Therefore if something is not good, then it has to be evil. 

Sin is sin. 

God doesn't say well this sin is worse than that one.

So beware of you words, actions and foremost your inner thoughts.  

 Have a clean slate,so that no one can raise their hands against you.

Praise the Lord.

Covetousness

Ripened Pears @ Kodaikanal Garden

9 April 2012  

 Covetousness like jealousy, when taken its root, never leaves a person, grows steadily and become a big one, spreading its roots and branches everywhere.

 None of the area in life has left out of its hold.

Covetous: “Inordinately desirous; excessively eager to obtain and possess; avaricious” - Webster

'And He said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth” Luke 12:15.

 

"For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." I Timothy 6:10.

Bible warns : "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor." Exodus 20:17

Materialism is a barrier to contentment. 

"People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction." I Timothy 6:9

Greed (or insatiability) often accompanies prosperity and may lead to crime.

"What is causing the quarrels and fights among you?

 Isn't it because there is a whole army of evil desires within you?

 You want what you don't have, so you kill to get it. 

You long for what others have, and can't afford it, 

so you start a fight to take it away from them. 

And yet the reason you don't have what you want is that you don't ask God for it." James 4:1-2

Wealth may give us wrong attitudes ( may incorporate anti-social elements) about material things. 

"Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." Luke 12:15

Beware of resorting to materialism.

 

The Wealth (blessing) God showers on you will not tag along with pain.

‘The blessing of the LORD brings wealth, without painful toil for it..Proverbs 10:22

Think twice before doing anything out of line- inclusive of all our daily routines.

Read   Philippians  chapter 4--- the biblical antidote for covetousness.

Have a good day

God Bless