No Fear Here! No Really I Mean It

Have you seen those T-shirts with a pair of eyes drawn on it and the words "No Fear Here!" written on them? None of us is immune to fear. I don't think there is anyone beyond the scope of some fear. Fear of losing your job, losing a loved one, losing your finances, losing your house. Fear can paralyze any man. These are fears that try to choke out God's plan and hope for our very life. Some recognize fear and shrink away from doing whatever needs to be done to tackle it, some think they have no fear but are unknowingly operating from it and live in denial and never conquer it.
We are created to be the person that God has fearfully (reverential fear) and wonderfully made us to be on this earth. Let no one snuff out our life by creating fear in our lives. 

You see fear is exactly like faith but flipped! 
Fear = Expecting something negative to happen 
Faith = Expecting something positive to happen 
Its very easy to walk from one into another in the speed of a thought. 

 The one place I have found where fear is completely nullified and faith is strengthened is in the Presence of our Living God. God has not given us the Spirit of fear again to become slaves but the Spirit of Power, Love and a Sound Mind! Yes truly in God's Presence there is no fear.

In Psalm 27 God gives David the formula to become an overcomer. David had to go through times of intense fear, for his very existence was in danger. He declares

"The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?"
"⁸ You have said, Seek My face [inquire for and require My presence as your vital need]. My heart says to You, Your face (Your presence), Lord, will I seek, inquire for, and require [of necessity and on the authority of Your Word].

You have that power in God, for He knows every need you have and every need you will ever have in the future! Take heart, live boldly and get closer into His Presence where fear is rendered helpless for God is an ever present help in times of trouble. Jesus Christ our Lord lived on this earth knowing He was to become a sacrifice every single day of His life on earth but He never once feared it. Father and Son who had never in all eternity had to be separated and the wrath of sin had to be quenched through sacrifice of a Holy One so all mankind may benefit! You and me ! The price for our freedom from fear is very heavy so let us draw near to the One , even our Lord Jesus, and learn through Him to approach our God of Love and live out everything God has planned for our lives as He placed us upon this earth!

Be not afraid for God is with us, even until the ends of the earth!

Dwelling in the Presence of a Living God

Recently I have been desiring more of God's presence in my life because of multiple things...I for my own self want to see God's glory and live in the middle of His Presence every moment because, the fleeting encounters I have had in His Presence have been unforgettable! What's more in this new desire of mine are these words of Jesus that have been bothering me!

¹² Very truly I tell you, whoever believes^(A) in me will do the works I have been doing,^(B) and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
John 14:12

Now if I profess I am a Christian or a follower of Jesus then I should be able to truly do the things He said, then why can't I?

As I read Psalm 26 I realized David worked really hard to remain righteous(in right standing with God), so he could  well in the Presence of God! He had experienced God's Presence in such a way that his heart cried out ^"8 Lord, I love the habitation of Your house, and the place where Your glory dwells."

His righteousness depended on him. There was no other option for him but to habitually strive for right living if he needed to hear from God! For me the equation has been made way easier - I have to become a sheep of Jesus and acknowledge Jesus as my shepherd, then as His sheep I am enabled to hear His voice and know Him.

Unlike David, I have got another work to do - work out my salvation -with trembling and reverence and shrinking away from everything that would offend God. This is such serious business, that I am sure I can absolutely mess up very easily and I have so many times.Now I was very worried that if I had to cry out to God on my own merits, I might as well just give up for me by myself I have no hope or scope to ever be able to converse with God Almighty! But you know what - more than I can be desperate to talk to God, He has been desperate to talk to me, how amazing is that. Phillippians 2:13 continues in saying

 "¹³ [Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while ^[c]effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and ^[d]delight.

Ah wonderful God my Creator desire to talk to me and through Christ in me, energizes and creates in me to desireto be in right standing before Him, just so we could commune.

It is like an extremely passionately in love fiance who has bought me his fiancee the very best cellphone and has charged it to last for eternity just so we could talk! AAH....

Dear Loving Heavenly Father,
Thank you for Your everlasting Love that upholds me, keeps me connected to You through Your precious Son Jesus my Lord. I cannot do life without You! So many more of Your children around me need to know of this awesome gift of communion with their Eternal God, help me so I can...
Amen

Legal Permission to Build God's Temple

Ezra 6
Background:Atleast 3 books are running in parallel to this book of Ezra that I read. The book of Nehemiah, Haggai and Zechariah. As the Israelites began their spiritual journey back to their God, with the rebuilding of the temple of their Living God under the leadership of 2 great leaders God has raised up for them, Ezra the priest and Nehemiah the governor, the enemies did not like the idea of Israelites rebuilding the temple of their God.

The Bible says "Ezra 4:4 "Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building. [a] 5 They hired counselors to work against them and frustrate their plans during the entire reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia." The opposition worked, not only during the reign of King of Cyrus but through the reign of king Xerxes and Artaxerxes until King Darius arrived on the throne. Though the opposers might have thought they had brought to halt the work of God when Artaxerxes sent a decree refraining the Israelites from building the temple of God " Ezra 4:24 "Thus the work on the house of God in Jerusalem came to a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia."

It might have seemed to the enemy they had won, when the work stopped, the Bible records "Ezra 5:5 "But the eye of their God was watching over the elders of the Jews, and they were not stopped until a report could go to Darius and his written reply be received. " So the Israelites continued to work with the encouragement of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah. This time, the governor of Trans-Euphrates , Tattenai's attention came upon the Israelites who were still working at the temple. He sent the right letter to King Darius, seeking, whether King Cyrus had really sent a decree to rebuild the temple of the Israelites' God. What happened after Tattenai's letter reached King Darius is so glorious, I think you should read it yourself , here.

Lessons

• Activate God's divine intervention through obedience to His Word-All this while, atleast for the past 400yrs or so the Israelites had been running away, in disobedience, from God and they saw defeat upon defeat till they lost the kingdom. As they started returning to God, God began to intervene and change their lives into a blessing. He changed the heart of King Cyrus to give them authority to build the temple and now He moved King Darius' heart to affirm the decree King Cyrus had given, with even more fervour. As we walk in obedience toward God, we get closer into God's intervention so that our lives may be transformed and God will not leave any stone unturned, in order for His good pleasing and perfect for our lives to be completed.
• Hurdles are not road blocks-When the Israelites started rebuilding the temple of God, their enemies discouraged them, defamed them even to bring their work to a halt for a time, but God kept watching His people and did not rest until the hurdle was overcome, until Darius' response had come(Ezra 5:5). When we are at God's work, in obedience to God, there will be many hurdles the enemy places in our paths to prevent us from running the race that is set before us. However God knows, He watches over us and will not rest until the solution for our situation has come to us.
• Legal Permission to Rebuild-It was God's desire to rebuild the temple of God for the Israelites, then. Even so for us, God desires for us to rebuild His body, His temple, us, the body of Christ. God desires ever so greatly that every soul be reunited to His body and we have a permission to rebuild. King Darius sent out a decree, saying no one should hinder the Israelites from working on the temple, infact the Israelites should be provided for their need from the national treasury, everything they need to rebuild the temple. Can you imagine that, Persia(Iran) paying Israelites to rebuild God's temple!!!
• When God's in the middle of the work, your provisions are taken care of- Darius declared Ezra 6:8"v8 The expenses of these men are to be fully paid out of the royal treasury, from the revenues of Trans-Euphrates, so that the work will not stop" God is able to provide for all the needs we might have during the rebuilding of His temple, from treasuries you never thought of.

Conclusion:Through this reading of Ezra 6 a great revelation dawned on me. We have a legal permission and calling to build the temple of the Living God. Jesus commanded Mark 16:15 "He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation."

Our King Lord Jesus has given out a decree Matthew 28:19-20 "19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." And all our needs, while we work, are met by the royal treasure, just as another builder of God's temple, wrote in his letter to us "Philippians 4:19"And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus." Whatever be our need, spiritual, physical, financial, be it anything, our King Jesus is able to provide from His royal treasury, as we continue at our work for His Kingdom

Our Privilege of The Presence of God

2 Samuel 6
David now being king in the City of David, wanted to bring the ark of God to the city, so that the ark of God would remain there. In the process of bringing the ark, Uzzah touched the ark and died on the spot. David was initially angry at what had happened, but soon he was afraid of how such a powerful and holy God could be brought (so tp speak) and kept in the City of David. Hence David asked people to keep the Ark of God in the house of Obed Edom. As the ark of God was kept in Obed Edom's house, their house was blessed and his entire household. David now felt ok about taking the Ark of God into the City of David, and so he did, with great fanfare, joy, dancing and singing...to the point that his wife Michal saw him and despised him for disgracing himself like this before the servant girls and "21 David said to Michal, "It was before the LORD, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the LORD's people Israel—I will celebrate before the LORD. 22 I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor."

Lessons I learnt

1. How can one stand in the Presence of such a Holy God?-Our God is a very Holy God and He had commanded in Exodus 30:29"You shall sanctify (separate) them, that they may be most holy; whoever and whatever touches them must be holy (set apart to God). " Not, just any body could go and say "Hi" to God in those times, there was no one automatically pure to go into God's presence...they had to and had to be prepared in an elaborate manner to be able to enter God's Presence, probably with days and days of preparation, that too only the chosen high priest from the tribe could enter..not everyone. This gives me all the more reason to honour and appreciate the importance and impact of my Lord Jesus' sacrifice on the cross."15For we do not have a High Priest Who is unable to understand and sympathize and have a shared feeling with our weaknesses and infirmities and liability to the assaults of temptation, but One Who has been tempted in every respect as we are, yet without sinning.
   16Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God's unmerited favor to us sinners), that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find grace to help in good time for every need [appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it]."Hebrews 4:15-17 . Thats what Jesus our High Priest had opened up for us. David himself, was afraid to take the ark of God into the city of David..but its not so for us. What a privilege we have in Jesus our Lord!!!
2. Where the Presence of the Lord is, there is blessing-2 Samuel 6:11 "And the ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite for three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household." It must have been such a great blessing for Obed-edom to have the ark of God in their house isn't it. Yet for us its even better, Jesus says "Matthew 18:20"For wherever two or three are gathered (drawn together as My followers) in (into) My name, there I AM in the midst of them." and we know from reading in David's life that the Presence of God brought blessings ..not only upon Obed-edom, but on his entire household (meaning-A domestic unit consisting of the members of a family who live together along with nonrelatives such as servants.)The entire group of people under that house were blessed. How much more our houses and churches should be blessed when even 2/3 gather in Jesus name. If not, then we better check our motives for gathering...is it for the great musicians?, or our wonderful pastors? or just for fellowship? or for the food and family fun time? or is it really and truly ONLY about Jesus..to worship and adore Him. I think most of us gather together for different motives, hence we don't see God's presence very often when we're gathered together. Our Lord Jesus has made spiritual life so simple for us, yet if we're not able to make use of it, then something is definitely wrong.
3. So who's ashamed of celebrating in God's Presence-I can see David wasn't...oh he knew who had made him king, he knew where he had come from, how his journey had been. How, every time when he had surrendered his problem to God, God had brought him victoriously through them all. Oh he even dared to say "Hey Michal, your dad did not make me king, neither did any of the people around me..God Himself made me king and I will dance before God...even more than what you have seen, if this is what you think is undignified, I will become even more undignified than this". Yet we would be so shy to sing about God, to dance before our Lord with joy. Isn't danceing a reciprocation of joy? We dance when we go for a party don't we, happy to get nice good, happy to probably meet the people who're hosting...then why are we not joyful before our God?

Conclusion:What I read today, from David's life, has shown me how great is my God, how awesome is His power and His Presence, in transforming lives. David says "11 You have made [c] known to me the path of life;you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand." (Psalm 16:11). There is joy in God's Presence, there is power in God's Presence to change and transform lives and alter situations. I don't know what kind of situaiton Obed-edom was in when the ark of God was brought into his house, but the result of the ark of God being in his house is recorded and that it was a blessing, not only to him but to his entire household. Our Lord Jesus Presence is not only for our individual lives, but also for the blessing of the lives within our households, people connected to us in any manner. Isn't that amazing!!! I pray that God would urge our hearts today to make use of the benefits that Jesus made for us, by His sacrifice on the cross. That we may be blessed in our Lord's Presence and propagate that blessings into the lives of ALL OUR HOUSEHOLD.

Get to Work God's people!!!

Background: Once the ark of God was captured by the Philistines, they took it and placed it alongside their god Dagon, in the temple. The idol of Dagon, kept falling every day, until it broke(1 Samuel 5). The Philistines moved the Ark of God to a different location and in that location plague broke out. People had blisters and sores.The hand of the Lord was heavy upon their god and their people.(1 Samuel 5:7) The Philistines could not handle the presence of the Living God and sent it back to the Israelites, with offerings. When the ark of God reached the Israelites, the Levites performed the sacrifice on behalf of the five Philistine kings and the Philistines returned. (1 Samuel 6:15-16)In the meanwhile, as the ark of God remained in Kiriath Jearim, the Israelites, mourned and returned to the Lord. Samuel asked them if they really did want to return to God, they must leave all other gods they were following.(1 Samuel 7:2-3).Now while the Israelites were sacrificing to the Lord, the Philistines heard that all Israelites were gathered in one place and attacked them.(1 Samuel 7:10) God came in between them and the enemies and thundered before the enemy and put them in confusion.

Lessons I learnt

1. What a powerful God!!!- The Philistine's God kept falling before our God. No other god is as powerful as Our Living Lord Jesus and Father in Heaven and imagine a God like this One,"23"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"[d]—which means, "God with us." (Mathew 1:23)
2. Who can stand in the Presence of such a Powerful God? "20And the men of Beth-shemesh said, Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? And to whom shall He go away from us?" (1 Samuel 6:20). You know who can? We can, we who have accepted Jesus to be our Lord and Saviour. Now when we stand before this Living God our Father, He looks at us through the introduction of His Son Jesus. Hebrews 4:14-16 says because of having a wonderful high priest like Jesus, who has entered through the heavens, we can approach the throne of grace with confidence. A'int that amazing and glorious!!!
3. Presence of God with power to draw His people nigh to Him-Its so fascinates me that, no one was preaching when the ark of God was kept in Kiriath Jearim, but the people of Israel, were turning to the Lord. Imagine, if all the believers in Jesus Christ, were sooooooo obedient to God that God's presence would remain in them, how many lives could be saved!!! how many lives would turn to Jesus. WOw!! So is this presence only to draw God's people near to Him?? Yes it is. So who are His people? Ps 24:1 says "The earth and everything in it BELONGS TO GOD" So I understand its for everyone. So lets be good carriers of God's presence and be a blessing.
4. Whats in it for me?(WIFM)-When the people of God are busy doing God's work, God doesn't like anyone and I mean anyone disturb them. WHen the Israelites were busy preparing and sacrificing to God, the Philistines, chose the wrongest time to attack Israel."10As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to attack Israel. But the Lord thundered with a great voice that day against the Philistines and threw them into confusion, and they were defeated before Israel." (1 Samuel 7:10)Thats the kind of protection God has for His people, who are working for His kingdom. Can you imagine that??? SO lets get busy, what are we waiting for??

Conclusion: We've got an Awesome, Wonderful, Powerful, Glorious, Almighty, Loving, Caring God. Who is always there to support His people. However His power and heart , in these days, cannot be manifest, until the carrier is ready. The enemies will not see defeat, until we do what God has planned for us to do. So lets prove ourselves as diligent workers for God.Like the testimony that Bible gives about Samuel. "Throughout Samuel's lifetime, the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines."(1 Samuel 7:13). Who dare stand against God's plan when God's people get seriously busy at God's work for them, like Samuel.

Yielded Carriers of God's Presence

As I read 1 Samuel 4, I am once again reminded that, for God's power and work to be seen in our lives, it depends on what type of carriers we are, for God's Presence. It matters who's carrying God's presence. The moment we accept Jesus to be the Lord of our lives, we know that we become a temple where God Himself dwells, to guide us, to help us live the life that we're called to live.

In 1 Samuel 4, I see the Israelites went to fight the Philistines, they took the ark of God with them. Eli's sons, the priests also went with them. They all rejoiced when the ark of God reached the battle field. However as I continued to read, I found that they lost the battle. How come? Everything was perfect. The ark of God was with them, the priests were there too. They were a pretty good number of people too, then how come they lost? More than that, even the Philistines were afraid when they heard that God had come to their camp.1 Samuel 4:7-9 records "Hearing the uproar, the Philistines asked, "What's all this shouting in the Hebrew camp?" When they learned that the ark of the LORD had come into the camp, 7 the Philistines were afraid. "A god has come into the camp," they said. "We're in trouble! Nothing like this has happened before. 8 Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? They are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the desert ". The enemies of the Israelites knew, the power of the Israelites God, but they mustered up whatever strength they had and won. How can that be? How can they win against God's people?

Lessons I got from reading the above passage

1. God's presence manifests itself in a life that is totally yielded to Him.- It is an awesome thing to be carriers of a Living God's presence. So, God looks for lives which are totally yielded, totally surrendered to be able to handle such power, such divinity, without arrogance, without being a snob, without being a controller of others, but with humility, with being a servant to be a leader kind of attitude, like Jesus. Israelites weren't totally and wholely serving God Almighty, they were also worshiping bal and the other gods. Sometimes in our life too, we would serve God, but we may also have someone in our family, who we depend upon solely sometimes more than God
2. God's power is not for manipulating situations to one's favour, but to yield for the maximum benefit of ALL- In the process of this, it may not bring benefits solely to the person through whom the power is manifested, but for the benefit of people around. The Israelites, had not bothered obeying God all this while as we find in 1 Samuel 7, but they now needed God, to win a battle, not because they wanted God to guide them into it. We too do that sometimes, don't we? When we give all of our time and energy somewhere else, other than God and then suddenly when things turn wild, we run to God for help, how can we avoid the trouble at the last minute? Why not stay on top of everything by getting God right in front before us and follow after Him, every day?
3. Above all it matters, who is carrying God's presence-It is not enough that one is a christian, if we really want to be a blessing, we've got to be more than a christian, we've got to be obedient children of God. Samuel's life was given or surrendered to God even before he was born, and because Samuel's mom was so diligent in following God, it was so easy for God to just come down and talk to Samuel, point blank(1 Samuel 3). How yielded are we to hear God's voice?
4. When we work according to God's plan for our lives, we can see God's presence working on our behalf, for God's perfect will- In this battle(1 Samuel 4), the Israelites lost, however they realised their mistake in a period of 20yrs, that they had been in disobedience to God and followed other gods besides the Living Lord God, and when they turned from their wicked ways, they won the battle against Philistines in 1 Samuel 7. Now on another instance, in Samuel's life we see an amazing testimony from the Bible, 1 Samuel 3:19-21 records " 19 The LORD was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground. 20 And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the LORD. 21 The LORD continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word.". So when Samuel interceded for the people, God helped the Israelites win the battle.

Conclusion: God would love to get connected to His people, but He would need the right wiring system for it. We are His cables, we are the people who can show to this lost world, what we have in Jesus Christ. If we ourselves are living a life of defeat, like the Israelites, how can we be of any help to someone else? We are the vessels, which can shine out for our Living Lord, and show to them, how great and mighty and loving our Lord is. But that cannot happen, until we are yielded, like Samuel, totally and completely following God's plan for our lives. Hey, I miss out on this a lot of times. I am myself, learning to be a good vessel, a vessel which is able to carry God's presence without any flaw, I am being made ready for God, to help people around me through me. May our Lord delight in His children who are completely yielded to Him, so He can show to others, what an awesome Friend and Blessing He is.

Facing Difficulties

The Red Sea before them and the pharoah's army behind them, and here's what the Israelites had to say to Moses out on the first day of their journey to the Promised Land-"They said to Moses, "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Didn't we say to you in Egypt, 'Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians'? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!" (Exodus 14:11-12) And Moses replied-"Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still." (Exodus 14:13-14).

Have you ever felt that you know for sure what God has promised you and there are people around who don't agree with you? You might feel frustrated because no one seems to understand the value of the promise you're holding on to.I do.

Well we needn't give up hope and start thinking like the people around.When we put our trust in God, He takes charge of everything that concerns you. He knows your concerns even before you do and is willing to help you out if you will let Him.

For the Israelites, even if Moses and maybe a few others were the only ones steadfast in their faith, God stood between them and the enemy. So does God do for you. When God has promised you regarding your situation, be strengthened that God will see that it comes to pass and if you allow (by faith) God to work, He stands right in between you and your enemies or tough situations. So if you're facing difficulties and are holding onto God's promise from His Word, know that God is right in the middle of it, protecting you.

Conclusion: I like what the Word of God says to confirm this-"We know [absolutely] that anyone born of God does not [deliberately and knowingly] practice committing sin, but the One Who was begotten of God carefully watches over and protects him [Christ's divine presence within him preserves him against the evil], and the wicked one does not lay hold (get a grip) on him or touch [him]." (1John 5:18 Amp)

God's Presence-Individuals

1. Impact of God's Presence on society-1Samuel 7:2 says "It was a long time, twenty years in all, that the ark remained at Kiriath Jearim, and all the people of Israel mourned and sought after the LORD." Sounds like a revival, without a meeting, or any special gathering, all because of the Presence of God.
   Isn't that amazing what God's Presence can do. There was no one preaching, no singers singing but because of God's presence, people were just turning to God. They were just getting reconciled to God.
2. Impact of God's Presence on individuals- (a) Moses' face shone-(Exodus 34:29) (b) Peter's Shadow brought healing-(Acts 5:15) (c) Paul's touching clothes brought healing and deliverance-(Acts 19 :11-12)
   They were in such a wonderful state of being a vessel of God's Presence through their lives that their life could impact people around them and do just like Jesus did. They were like a true branches of the True Vine Jesus.