Come take a stroll with your Living God!

OH Yeah!

This is the Almighty God I serve,

• He Who never lets His people down!
• He Who never lets His people be put to shame when they are following Him exactly!
• When His people humble themselves and pray, HE DOES Answer!
• Oh death where is thy victory!

When Jesus lived on this earth, He did not live like the way His followers are living now. He did not live in constant fear of what will happen next. He did not live in any fear for His provisions. He did not live worrying whether Father God would answer His prayer or not! He knew His Father way more intensely and deeply for anything on this earth to put a dent in their relationship. In return, Jesus never had a loss!

In Jesus God dealt with death with the ultimate punishment for sin and rendered it powerless so God's creation can now have life abundantly. So what profit is there in a human's death, nothing but sorrow especially if one leaves without knowing God their Creator. David says in Psalm 29 as follows

Psalm 30 : 9-12

⁹ What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit (the grave)? Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your truth and faithfulness to men?

¹⁰ Hear, O Lord, have mercy and be gracious to me! O Lord, be my helper!

¹¹ You have turned my mourning into dancing for me; You have put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladness,

¹² To the end that my tongue and my heart and everything glorious within me may sing praise to You and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.

There are people on this planet who are struggling and living in ignorance of this Loving and Living God. The ones who think they know God (mostly because they were born into the religion that sort of believes in Him) but have no real relationship with Him, continue living a nominal and powerless life.Blending in just like the rest of the people around them, with no difference to show forth for this AWESOME GOD. Some followed a protocol viz. believe - get baptized - receive the Holy Spirit - continue with your life like nothing happened!

I have a bone to pick with such as these. No, I am not saying I have completely grasped all that God has spiritually, scripturally, theologically offered to me, but now that I have begun listening more than just blabbering during my prayer times with Him, I am getting a chance to hear Him. So from this point of time in my spiritual journey in life, I want to urge my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Rise up, take charge, sit down with God Your creator, to Whom you have access because of a very heavy price that His Own Son Jesus paid for you and more than that He even sent His precious Holy Spirit to guide you into your relationship with Him!

NOW because of Jesus Christ there is nothing stopping you from having a relationship with your Heavenly Father, the same One Who strolled with Adam and Even in the cool of the day in the garden of Eden. So come brothers and sisters to take a stroll with Your Living and Loving God!

P. S. Check out the other meaning of stroll

1. walk in a leisurely way
2. a victory or an objective that is easily achieved

Stroll with God like you have all the time in the world to hang out with Him!

Christ in You the Hope of Glory!

When we are surrounded by troubles, it stares at us in our face and stuns us, to paralyze us with fear! It attempts first to take out your faith, for fear is the opposite of faith! 

If the enemy can zap out your faith you have nothing else to depend on, nothing to hold onto and then the problem before you seems insurmountable, way bigger (which it probably is for a human anyway), way out of bounds, something that, by human reasons, cannot be solved! 

What we inadvertently do then is, ascribe more power to the enemy, the power he never had in the first place! The power/position you give to him is what he will use to intimidate you and after all is done, to destroy you. Remember always, the enemy has come only to steal, kill and destroy but Jesus came so we have life and life abundantly!!! That is that and this divine truth should be embedded in our hearts!

This is exactly what David talks about in Psalm29:1

^"1 Ascribe to the Lord, O sons of the mighty, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength."

Now what does this mean? Lets first look at the meaning of each word, even though we have assumed some kind of meaning in our head!

Ascribe means to give credit for, to attribute, to credit.
Glory means high renown or honour won by notable achievements.
Strength means the quality or state of being physically strong. 

We give God far less of a credit than He deserves for things that He can handle! On the other hand, we give the enemy too much credit for things he cannot do. We must be very careful of what we decide to ascribe to God and what we don't!

Now as you continue reading, David gives powerful descriptions of God's voice in the following verses. It is the sound of God in raw power resonating through nature, like lightning and what were God's people doing in the meanwhile..."while in His temple everyone is saying, Glory!"

If you were thinking all this raw power of God is a distant thing which only the fortunate or the sternly faithful ones can experience I would like to present to you John 17:22 

 ²² I have given to them the glory and honor which You have given Me, that they may be one [even] as We are one!

David could only see this glory in things that happened external to him, but through Jesus we have God's unfathomable power at work within us, transforming us and the very world that surrounds us. No matter what situations you are going through or you are in, when you have accepted Jesus to be Lord of your life, all of your frail self is transformed to His power, His honor and His glory!

Colossians 1:27 "To whom God was pleased to make known how great for the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ within and among you, the Hope of [realizing the] glory."

Christ dwells in you to demonstrate His glory through you to the world around you!
So you child of God, go ahead demonstrate Christ fully before the ones who are yet to know Him!

Bridge the Gap, Don't Be the Gap

"When the going gets tough the tough get going" we've heard this saying before but the thing is, the going in the world is continually tough and even for those who are tough, there seems to be nowhere to get going to! I think the one place I can find help for disappointments in my life, is in the Book of Psalms. No one would have gone through tough situations like David did and here is one of the Psalms that encouraged me today.
Psalm 24 
³ Who shall go up into the mountain of the Lord? Or who shall stand in His Holy Place?

⁴ He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted himself up to falsehood or to what is false, nor sworn deceitfully.

⁵ He shall receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

⁶ This is the generation [description] of those who seek Him [who inquire of and for Him and of necessity require Him], who seek Your face, [O God of] Jacob Selah [pause, and think of that]! 

Background  

How many times as a believer I have wanted to be able to be in God's Presence continually to be able to know Him, to be able to know for myself how wonderfully I am made and how I am to function on this earth. To be safe and secure in Him. This needs a protocol. Yes, we cannot just stroll into the Presence of a King with no preparation. David understood that for him to survive his difficult situations he needed to get clear feedback from God on every decision he took.  Here he gives us a glimpse of what God has put in his heart as a way to reach out to Him.

• Clean hands
• Pure heart
• Not a follower or recommender of false things
• Not a person who will swear to false things (deceit)

Lesson

By our own efforts we can hardly achieve any of those things and more often than not I am grateful to God for having placed me in the time period after Jesus Christ was born and for giving me the privilege to be born in a Jesus believing family and I got introduced to Jesus my Savior in my youth so I had a chance to escape Godlessness. Through my High Priest Jesus Christ I have the opportunity to talk to my Heavenly Father Who willingly did everything just so I could connect with Him. Who is to benefit from all of this except me, just plain old me. v5 says such a person will receive blessing and righteousness from his God of salvation.

You know the most important thing that God requires of His people is "holiness" or "righteousness". You know why God would want that as the first priority? Because God our Creator is Holy and in Him or lets say in His Presence evil cannot exist. Now we were made for fellowship with God our Father and that means meeting with Him, walking with Him and talking with Him being close to Him and being close to his proximity. If we are allowed in His Presence we must follow the protocol of Holiness and Righteousness - which we are not, which we cannot achieve by ourselves ever! God is so awesome and so loving He decided to give that ability to us through His Son. How incredible! Has any leader or any king or queen of any country ever worked out everything just so his/her subject can come and dine with him/her at his/her table? Never! But this is our God our Maker Who desires to commune with us.

Conclusion

God is Love. He is not full of love, which can mean that He can be made full or empty which would mean He is changeable, which He is not. But God Himself is Love, the embodiment of Love. In His Presence there is fullness of joy. He is the source of Life. I hear people say, why did God cause bad things to happen or why are there bad people? God's Presence I think has density. The more we press on, follow the protocol to invite this King of Glory, the more His Presence engulfs us and becomes denser. The lesser we host Him it fades or wanes away. That does not mean God is not omnipresent. He truly and completely is, because His Word says "in Him we live and move and have our being" There is never a moment in time that God is not aware of us, NEVER! But there are moments when we do not carry His Presence. Remember God calls us His temple. He meant for us to be carriers of His Presence to wherever we may go. As in Acts 17:26 we are made and placed in prime locations where God desires to touch His people, He created on this earth (v1) and the way He can do it easily without His Judgment and His Glory consuming the carrier of sin in his/her body is through people who are His mobile-Temple.  

Let us therefore be lifted up, raise your door heights for the King of Glory is Big and Mighty. Set your thoughts on things above and don't have the earthly perception. Make way for the King of Glory to come in and dine with you and change lives around you, for eternity!

Don't Move -You are being filled with God's Empowerment!

Psalm 17

¹⁴ From men by Your hand, O Lord, from men of this world [these poor moths of the night] whose portion in life is idle and vain. Their bellies are filled with Your hidden treasure [what You have stored up]; their children are satiated, and they leave the rest [of their] wealth to their babes.

¹⁵ As for me, I will continue beholding Your face in righteousness (rightness, justice, and right standing with You); I shall be fully satisfied, when I awake [to find myself] beholding Your form [and having sweet communion with You].

Background: Before David became something he was just a shepherd boy. He was a delivery guy for his brothers when he met his destiny! Yes, in terms of our overly educated society he was a nobody. Yet in the eyes of God he was somebody when he was yet in this state. He had to fight to get to where God would have him be. He faltered many a times as he attempted to grasp what God had shown him to do. Yes he made many a mistake, yet he did not give up on God and God did not give up on him.

To top it all God gave him the choicest army to work with when he debuted into God's plan for his life. Saul was trying to kill him, he was running away and  he found 300 losers to start his first army.

Here in this Psalm, David talks about the people, who he sees around him, prospering, having everything, storing up wealth for their children. In other words, if we looked at them in the eyes of our current society(my society), they were flourishing. Here nobody introduces a person without attaching their degree, qualification and job profile. Those are markers for the amount of respect that you are deemed to receive from the people around you. It doesn't matter what you are as a person on the inside. David saw it all, he grieved that he was (at this moment) not as successful as the one around him, but he knew something and thats our(my) lesson today..

Lessons

David understood one thing, he had tasted the Lord "Psalm 34:8". He had tasted something out of this world-extraterrestrial if I might add. I have not reached that level of tasting but this I have tasted-His love. Once while reading the Word of God, in the night I felt God's warm embrace hug me at even my cellular level infusing me with confidence and hope in this my God, my Creator who has plans to prosper me and not to harm me, plans to give me a hope and a future. He never fails. He has never failed, because He does not change like the rest of the things of this world(wealth, security, health, education). God has a plan for my life and it needs quiet preparation. Quiet means quiet-with no distractions and I will wait for my Lord do His work in me as He prepares me for what He has entrusted me to do(my portion of work on this planet)

Do not give up, all you who wait upon the Lord. You are being prepared for the very task God has created you for and placed you in the exact place you must perform the task and God is filling you up as you wait. By logic it is hard to fill a moving vessel, so don't be moved! Wait and get empowered by His awesome presence, which enables us to do His works on this planet so many will see and testify to the glory or our Father in Heaven.

Conclusion

Therefore I can say like David said in the above Psalm so I can say as it is written in 2 Timothy 1:12... for I know (perceive, have knowledge of, and am acquainted with) Him Whom I have believed (adhered to and trusted in and relied on), and I am [positively] persuaded that He is able to guard and keep that which has been entrusted to me and which I have committed [to Him] until that day.

Interact
Is there something you are going through and its hard for you to sit still and wait for the Lord to work it out on your behalf?

Not Slaves but Heirs

Background: Ezra 9-10 When Ezra heard of the disobedience of the Israelites, he was greatly disturbed, tore his clothes and cried bitterly before God. He repented for the whole nation. More than that, he took action so that, the Israelites would not continue in their disobedience anymore. Here are some lessons I learnt as I read through the last 2 chapters in Ezra.

Lessons I learnt

1. Complacent hearts cannot make magnificent changes-The greatest human achievements are applauded, when there has been a dramatic change in the life or lives of people, by the decision of one man. We've heard many rags to riches story, where the person was not content with their present condition knowing fully, they could become what they wanted. Ezra knew the Israelites could do better than that, and disobedience to the Living God was invitation to the enemy and he made the change.If our hearts are complacent that our neighbours or children, or family members do not know the Living God, we will never strive to make a change in their lives and vice versa.
2. Times of change are painful-It must not have been an easy decision for the Israelites to give up their families with the foreign people(Ezra 10:3). They could have possibly been in love with them, even though the foreigners were taking them away from their God. However, if the sin has been great, the correction also is great. I think, whatever distance we've moved away from God is the same needed to walk back to God. When we are willing to make a change in our lives or someone else's life or the society, its not going to be easy. It will bear a cost.
3. Slavery-Though the Israelites were enjoying free time, because of the generosity of the pagan kings whose hearts God had moved(Ezra 1:1,Ezra 6:14), they were still a slave. That land where they stood, in Jerusalem was theirs, but they were slaves under the Assyrians(Iranians). They were working the land to store up for the Assyrian king. In their disobedience the Israelites had lost their land to someone else, the land flowing with milk and honey which their Lord God had given them. Just because our slave masters haven't dealt with us severely it doesn't mean we are free from bondage, no matter how pleasant it may seem, we are still slaves to whatever controls us and uses our best efforts for their pleasure and not for our benefit. Only complete obedience to God can free us from our slavery to whatever it may be. God knows, even if we think we're not slaves to any. If anything other than our Living God is directing our lives then we are slaves. The Israelites realised it later and it is mentioned in Nehemiah 9:36-37

Conclusion:It is hard to notice when you're free and when you're not. I am amazed at this beautiful lesson I learnt regarding slavery. Anything other than the Living Lord , if it directs our lives then we are slaves, no matter how kindly, it may seem, they might be leading us. Jesus Christ our Lord, set us free from the power of sin and death, so that we are no longer to slaves of any other power. The Bible says in Galatians 4:7 "So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir." Isn't this what God was trying to bring out before the Israelites. That Jerusalem was their gift from God and even though they were in Jerusalem, they were slaves under an Assyrian king, not realising they were heirs to the throne of Jerusalem. What has enslaved us and we know not about? What is it that is taking away our authority as heirs to the Kingdom of our Living Father in heaven, lets make our lives right, that we may be slave to no one, except to our Father in Heaven, Who doesn't call us slaves, but joint-heirs.

Getting rid of what drags you down

Background:The Israelites, under the leadership of Ezra all ready to worship the Lord at their newly rebuilt temple, gather together in Jerusalem. "35 Then the exiles who had returned from captivity sacrificed burnt offerings to the God of Israel: twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven male lambs and, as a sin offering, twelve male goats. All this was a burnt offering to the LORD. 36 They also delivered the king's orders to the royal satraps and to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, who then gave assistance to the people and to the house of God." They had now taken their first step to return to their God.

"1 After these things had been done, the leaders came to me and said, "The people of Israel, including the priests and the Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the neighboring peoples with their detestable practices, like those of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians and Amorites. 2 They have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, and have mingled the holy race with the peoples around them. And the leaders and officials have led the way in this unfaithfulness."

Lessons

1. Urged to be separate-When the Israelites turned to God after many years of disobedience, God dealt with their past. They had mingled with the 'other' people. I have stood with the general crowd, not wanting to be the odd one out, even if it was wrong to join the crowd. I am guilty.


2. What drags you away from God, must be put away-The Israelites mingling with the neighbouring people wasn't helping them in their faith, in fact they were learning their customs and traditions rather than following what their Living God had taught them. . Isn't that the work of the father of lies. Any time something is dragging us away from God, must be dealt with and put away.


3. God searches our past to deal with any blockages to victory-The Israelites had been in bondage since the time they began disobeying God. From marrying foreign women, to following foreign gods. In order for them to move forward in obedience, their serious mistake in the past(which was constantly dragging with them) had to be removed

Conclusion:For the Israelites the separation was a physical separation from the foreign people whom they had married. For us it could be more than that. For the Israelites, just by leaving their foreign wives and children would be enough, but for us how will be able to separate the evil thoughts that have crept into our lives, from media, through television, radio and evil song lyrics and such. How and when will we discern and get rid of those voices which want to get married(meaning:-to unite ) to us? People are selling lies about our Lord Jesus and we stand and watch!!! How can this be? I cannot sit and watch when a man had taken a cleverly spun lie and multiplied it into a spectacle of lies, performed as if true!!! Its wrong. Let us not compromise with lies, that are trying to persuade our families, who are not yet in Christ, into the wrong direction.

Romans 12:2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Dear Loving Heavenly Father, I come to You in the name of Your Son Jesus, my Saviour and I ask for your pardon for the times of sin when I have joined with the foreign. The times when I have disobeyed you and believed in the lies and traditions of the foreign(not from you). I pray O Lord that You would grant me the courage to stand for what is right, no matter how painful it may be to bear it. Help me stand up for You and for Truth.

Amen.

As We Walk

Ezra 8


Decree in hand, Israelites gathered, Ezra heads out to Jerusalem to fulfill God's call upon his life. They carry with them royal treasures that would be needed for their offering at the temple. Ezra 8, lists all the family heads who returned with Ezra to Jerusalem. Ezra led the people so cautiously to the House of God, it encourages me to depend on God like he did. Why here's why

Lessons

• God is able to bring the right people into our lives- (Ezra 8:18-20)Az Ezra left with the Israelites he had no Levites with him, so he sent a few people to get some attendants for the temple. About 258 people joined him from Casiphia. Here's what he testifies " v18 Because the gracious hand of our God was on us, they brought us Sherebiah, a capable man, from the descendants of Mahli son of Levi, the son of Israel, and Sherebiah's sons and brothers, 18 men;". God is able to send the right people in our way, as we make this journey towards fulfilling His plan in our lives.


• God is willing to guide, if we're willing to ask Him-At no time did Ezra think he could go about the work in his hands, on his own. He sought direction for every single step. "21 There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions.
  22 I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him.
  23 So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer." I sometimes think, ok God knows, so I need not ask Him. Ezra knew God's hand was at work, he could have thought, God would take care, but he did not leave it at that. He went ahead and prayed with fasting. Later we read "31 On the twelfth day of the first month we set out from the Ahava Canal to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he protected us from enemies and bandits along the way". Sometimes we tend to get complacent with God and forget to invite God into any new happenings in our lives, assuming God will do something. Sometimes, in His graciousness God does intervene, but it develops our relationship when we pray when we seek Him and invite Him into our lives, like we would a best friend.

Conclusion:Everything went well, the treasury stuff arrived safely. They arrived in Jerusalem safely. The royal satraps and governors of Trans-Euphrates assisted them as per the decree received from the king. God is able to make all things beautifully in our lives. I like the concept of inviting God to be at every new birth in our family, every new job we take, every new home we build, every new step we take towards fulfilling His call in our lives. Above all, who else would know the end from the beginning better than God Himself. Lets seek God to work in all areas of our life,no matter how trivial or important it may seem.He is able and He loves to be with us. Emmanuel.

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

Don't Let Opposition Discourage You

Ezra 4 & 5
These 2 chapters are exciting chapters from the Book of Ezra, it talks about the beginning of the rebuilding of the temple and immediate opposition to cut it off, but God had His eyes set on the elders and prophets right there to encourage His people, prophet Haggai and Zechariah. These chapters remind me of the Christian walk, though at times we might feel lonely, discouraged and everything else the enemy is willing to throw at as, even as you read this, I want to encourage you in remembering that our Lord Jesus is faithful and just in forgiving our sins and above all " 13When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature,[b] God made you[c] alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. 15And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.[d] (Colossians 2:13-15). DON'T GIVE UP, continue building the temple of God, the Body of Christ.

Lessons

1. Know who you allow to build the temple of God with you-"1 When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the LORD, the God of Israel, 2 they came to Zerubbabel and to the heads of the families and said, "Let us help you build because, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to him since the time of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here." Spiritual discernment is a key to building your faith and relationship with the Lord. The Word of God says "Matthew 7:21"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." The Israelites were building the temple in accordance with God's will in Ezra 1. What did these enemies have to do with the building??? The way to find out who's really helping is to check those people's lives, do they do God's work because they're being obedient or because they expect something in return, some gain...that check includes me too.
2. When you tell the enemy to take their hands off from the project God has given you, they go out to find ways to discourage you- "v4 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. In the Word of God, Lord Jesus compared His body to the temple and Lord Jesus also compares all believers to be the body of Christ, so God's temple=body of Christ and when we take on the project of rebuilding God's temple, in getting back God's children into the kingdom of God, be sure we'll find lots of opposition, spiritual, physical, emotional, mental and all other ways the enemy could possibly try to discourage us, because what you're doing is defeating their hold in your life.
3. The enemy begins the blame game-Ezra 4:6-24 records the ridiculous weave of conspiracy the enemies planned against the Israelites to somehow stop them from building God's temple. The placed accusations against Judah and Jerusalem. Why does this not surprise me? Its because we have an enemy, who knows if you're not getting discouraged, you can surely be falsely accused thats the enemy's works day and night to falsely accuse (Revelation 12:10). The Word of God says, we are righteous because of our Lord Jesus, but the enemy continues to say "Look God, that woman is a sinner, look God she has done this, he has done that" and Jesus our Saviour continues to intercede for us and says "They asked for my pardon, they are pure through my righteousness". Don't fall for the blame game.
4. Don't give up building, for God is watching over you and encourages you-" 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. " I know when accusations build up, and the enemy is determined to put you down, it can be difficult to stand, but don't give in. God spoke through the prophets Haggai ("Haggai 1:13 "Then spake Haggai the LORD's messenger in the LORD's message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the LORD. 14And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of the LORD of hosts, their God" ) and Zechariah to encourage the people and they continued to build.

Conclusion: If you have embarked on a journey with the Lord Jesus, to rebuild God's temple, His body, then be sure of facing difficulties and discouragements, even accusations, but we have hope in this, that our God constantly watches over us as we continue in His work.

"Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin" (Hebrews 4:13-15)

Return to Love

After 400 years of pursuing and various kings leading them, to all disobedience, Israel now for the first time gathered together as a group of people belonging to God, with one motive in mind-the rebuilding of the temple of God, they proclaim

"11 With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the LORD :

"He is good; his love to Israel endures forever."

And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD,

because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid."

I read here in Ezra 3:7-13 for the first time, the Israelites turning to God as one people and accepting God's love after how God pursued the Israelites with His love, to the point of moving the heart of the Persian king Cyrus. This day, finally, they acknowledged God's love for them.

Lesson

Our lives are like those of the Israelites, trying our best to run away from God, doing our own thing, even if it be wrong, even if it be dissatisfactory, even if it be disastrous, we want to have control of things we know not about. We think we know whats right for us, but we know not.

I thought I had my life in control, as in, I am a "strong believer" and everything. I thought, I know the Bible, I have talents and I know God's heart, what He wants and He will do exactly that. With that attitude, I was going great I thought, yeah I led church worship and everything, but I was becoming empty, losing my first love. Until one day, I fell face down, into a pit I had determined never ever to fall in. Self-righteousness- I thought myself better than others, but now I am glad I took this fall. I had almost formed a mentality, God moves at my words!!! Dangerous philosophy, God doesn't move at our words, He honours His word which He has already written, we are to conform to His Word. Remember my post on David, He did not ask God for making him a king and giving him riches and all the bling bling...God Himself in His good plan, decided to do that for David, because David loved God and obeyed Him.

At this time, when no one was there to care or to help me, one man stood, though not knowing much about the Word of God and everything. Christians came and said kind words to me and went on...but this man, he just stood by there silently beside me, would just sit with me and would say nothing...he accepted me just as I am...with my arrogance(the worst of which he had experienced himself, from me)..with my "holier than thou" attitude and everything, one big bundle of wasteful pride and everything else that comes with it. Then I realised my weakness and returned to God," God this time really have it Your way". Later I was to get married to that man who cared for me, when no one else did and it was and still is real joy.

I know now, how wonderful the day might have been when Israel for the first time in 400yrs turned around to the Living God, Who had been following them with His love in His heart, every single day they were out there, doing their own thing. More so, Jesus our Saviour continues to wait by our doors, knocking at our hearts, hoping someday we will return to His love and what a glorious day that will be. Surely better is one day at God's door, than thousands elsewhere. Israelites came to know, that those 400 yrs they lived elsewhere, with people they thought they could get some appreciation from, cared nothing. Until God intervened and finally Israelites saw, God's love for them.

That day in Jerusalem, there was a great shout of victory as the Israelites made an effort to rebuild the broken temple of their God, a beginning of a new relationship, laying of a new foundation. Ezra 3:12 says "12 But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. 13 No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away."

This reminds me of another shout of victory of rejoicing, with tears of joy, that reveberates through the heavens everytime, that child, that child whom God had been pursuing with His heart full of love, turns around and faces God and accepts and returns to His love.

Luke 15:10"In the same way, I tell you,

there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God

over one sinner who repents."

Conclusion

Return to His love, you broken heart

You will not find love so blessed

For only God can satisfy

No matter how much you're messed

Return to Love, the One true Love

whom others tend to fake

His love can change from inside out

It will never be a mistake

He holds His arms open wide

hoping for your retreat

He waits for you through day and night

When will His love, He meet

Make today the day, of sweet return

throw away those fake nothings

He waits, He longs to see your love for Him

and turn you into a blessing.

-by Godzheart

Don't be afraid to shine in these dark times

Ezra 3
I found a verse which touched me, in the reading of Ezra 3. The Israelites, now back in their own towns through God's move in Cyrus' heart and they are in the process of reconnecting with their God. The same God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,Who had called them His own.This verse moved my heart and searched my soul. Well isn't that, what the Word of God does for us. Hebrews 4:12"For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart"

Ezra v3 reads "3 Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the LORD, both the morning and evening sacrifices. 4 Then in accordance with what is written, they celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles with the required number of burnt offerings prescribed for each day."- I wonder why the Israelites were afraid of the people around them. They were back where they were meant to be, Jerusalem and their own places. Of course, they themselves, in their disobedience had mingled with the outsiders and now the outsiders are watching them. Were they afraid, they're seen, worshipping God, finally. Or were they feeling foolish, doing something they had not done for quite some time now-worshipping the One True Living God?

My pondering upon the Israelite's life at this current juncture ushered me into my life and I thought-

• Everyone wants to be like everyone else-Aren't we afraid to show our faith sometimes, because that might jeopardise our popularity with the people around? Aren't we afraid people might be seeing us pray blessings on our food, when in a restaurant? Are we afraid of being identified with the people walking on the narrow-road? Aren't we afraid of being called "narrow-minded" people just because, the others are in a bar and we don't want to go. Aren't we called or looked on as someone foolish, just because we didn't take the short cut to clearing an exam and landed up a job a year or 2 later than the others.
• The flip side of not being like everyone else, but being your unique self, the way God made you-I realised sometimes, knowingly or unknowingly I have done that, I have been afraid to show my faith, but then I cannot deny the times, when I have displayed my faith, like Peter-walked on water and have seen my God work that for a miracle in someone's life. Yeah it did seem foolish at the time, but when it was over, when I had conquered the fear of being called a "weirdo" and went ahead and prayed, or done that act of faith anyway, I saw God step in and take over. I sometimes imagine God saying "Ok, back off , you heard what my child just said. She's not going with you." Then He takes over the battle.
• God wants to identify with us-God likes us the way we are, thats why we are the way we are, and He loves us just that way and wants to identify with us, whatever we are, knowing what we are capable of becoming under His guidance. Then why are we reluctant to walk on our calling in little tasks that we do, daily? Our God wants to identify with us, why are we afraid of letting everyone know, what a wonderful Person our God is?

Conclusion: Jesus said"John 15:15 "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you."

Isn't that our calling, to be unafraid and be bold to shine out for our Father in Heaven. Imagine if the Christians, after Jesus' crucifixion had gone scared and not preached, thinking people might think they're lunatics!!! They didn't, infact they were willing to lay down their lives, their prides, in order to boldly proclaim, "Jesus is the Only risen Lord". They died preaching. What am I doing?

Therefore I encourage you and myself "1 Peter 2:9 "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."

God's plan continues...would you be a part of it?

Background:I am moving on to Ezra. Israel has seen its share of kings and leaders, those that led them to the Lord and those that led them away too. The 2 Israelites kingdoms Jerusalem and Samaria, lost their inheritance, to the Babylonians until Cyprus the king of Persia came into ruling in Persia and the Persian empire was strong "1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing:
2 "This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:" 'The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. 3 Anyone of his people among you—may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the LORD, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem. 4 And the people of any place where survivors may now be living are to provide him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.' "

When there was no king available to head the Israelites, God moved the heart of a Persian king to do what the Israelites were required to do. He gathered them to build the the temple of God in Jerusalem. God would love His children to participate in His plan for us, for the new Jerusalem. We have a choice to either get in on the plan, because ultimately God's plan continues. When we participate in God's plan, we get a chance to see our Father in action and see how beautifully He orchestrates everything together and works them all out for good.

When nobody thought it would ever work, no king stood up like David did, Israel(both kingdoms Judah and Jerusalem) lost its inheritance to the kings of Babylon and were living as servants to them and not knowing what would happen, even through the ages when people thought Israel as a separate country was a myth from the Bible, God's plan continued to work even through God moving the heart of a Persian king and Israel as a nation was born again on the May 14 1948.

There is nothing impossible for my God. He is able , no matter how disheartening situations may get. No matter how far one may be lost, my God is able to save in His most amazing manner, and no one is ever unreachable from His love. More than that, God has a plan and it cannot be thwarted. His big plan continues on. Our individual plans are the ones that either can get aligned to God's plan or lose out on the big picture, only to find that what we have been fretting for was absolutely worthless. God wants His amazing plan unfolded in my life and yours.

Conclusion: Remember the time when Jesus entered Jerusalem with much fanfare and rejoicing and the Pharisees wanted the disciples to shut up. "I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."Luke 19:39-41. God is not hampered by human failure and negligence, His bigger plan continues, with the open invitation to see His glorious design unfold as the New Jerusalem will be unveiled. Its not our pride but our humility that God would like us, His only created beings to participate as co-heirs of this New Rule. Yet if we think it's because of "me" God's plan moves, Jesus's words reminds us "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham."Luke 3:7-9 God is omnipotent and able, He cares for us and wants us to be part of that magnificent plan He has for the whole mankind, so that we know Him and know the truth about the real plan that is working constantly and when we allow that plan of God in our life, we'll get to see God's power of His kingdom at work in our life too. Whether we realise it or not, Jesus told us, that the Kingdom of God is already here and whether we want to be a part of it, or just stand looking at it as if it wont work and looks foolish, it is our choice. God's plan continues...would you like to be a part of it?

Believe that you may See

Lessons from 2 Kings 18-19. Be blessed in reading through this.

I have been reading through Hezekiah's life and seeing how God was working in it. During his reign in Judah, he had seen the Israelites, being captured by the king of Assyria and being deported from Samaria to Assyria. He also watched as the new settlers, the Babyblonians came to Samaria and the changes were uncomfortable.
He was more tensed during this time, as he had received a threat from the Assyrian king, to either comply with him and become his vassal or lose his kingdom, like the other kings . Hezekiah wasn't willing to give up yet. He had trusted the Lord wholeheartedly like David (the only one compared in likeness of his faith to David).
There by the city aqueduct the Assyrian commander in chief, had come and was giving a speech to the Israelites (the remnant in Judah). People watched as he spoke in their own language, they understood it all, as he described what a loser Hezekiah is to stand up against the king of Assyria. How other kings like him had been dethroned by the Assyrian king and how foolish it was for these remnant Israelites to depend upon their God. He even dared compare their God to the gods who didn't help the other kingdoms which had fallen before the Assyrians.

Facts are facts and we cannot deny them, so the Israelites had nothing to say to him. They did good in that they didn't speak or try to argue. Up until that time, whatever the Assyrian commander said had been right, and Hezekiah knew, the ONLY way to prove it all wrong would be to win a battle against them and prove to them Y-H is the ONLY true God. In my life too, sometimes reality stares into my face and screams "I am the truth, this is what you've got and you can't do anything but to give in. Where is your God?" The only way out, I know, is the unseen, powerful power of the resurrection of God working within me(Ephesians 1:19-21), which requires my believing before seeing, rather than the way the world would like to have it. I guess thats what Hezekiah might have felt.

At the wall that day, in Judah (Jerusalem) v36 ..the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king(Hezekiah ) had commanded, "Do not answer him." That makes sense to me, I know I have tried a debate with the enemy, through words, through my experiences of faith earlier, but it only left me without words and more with doubts. Faith must be renewed and every situation requires its own level of faith, yesterday's faith cannot win today's battles. Maybe thats what God was teaching the Israelites from Egypt and gave them Manna to be collected each day and not on a weekly basis. Hezekiah, had to renew his faith, right then if he wanted to prove those enemy's facts wrong.

Hezekiah could have given in, but he didn't want to, he had experiences of triumph with God(2 Kings 18:5-8) and knew God could come through for him, no matter what came up in life. It is true, he was very afraid, watching his guards by the city wall, his messengers updated him on the speech they had heard. He was very disturbed, devastated and tore his robes and went into the temple. He didn't go in the fancy, he didn't remain in the cloud, he was being human, man with grief in that situation. In those days they didn't have the Bible to read the Word of God and find out God's will, so he called his administrator and secretary and sent them to talk to a man of God Isaiah, so they would know God's plan for them, now.

The word from God, through Isaiah, came almost immediately(2 Kings 19:5,6). It is amazing the way God work. Ever ready for the children who would call Him in their times of trouble.I have seen in my trying situations, God truly is an ever present help. When my circumstances are desperate, and when I open the Word of God in desperation, in total dependence, as if -if I don't get a Word from God, I don't know what I'm going to do- I have found Him. In my desperations I have found my God waiting with a Word for me, just for me and so apt and so powerful that all doubts and fears must leave and again I believe, that for me believing is seeing and I believe hard in order that I may see.

Conclusion: God waits for His children, looking out for them, every turn of their life. Waiting to see when they will turn to Him and seek His presence, His friendship, His love. Will they try to go on life through their own feeble strength. He knows the enemy is powerful, He has made him and He knows whats needed to overtake Him. The only thing between His hand and ours is whether we are willing to extend our hands towards God. He doesn't need to be defended from the enemy, and He knows, we need help because, the enemy is out to destroy us and He wouldn't be able to intervene in our lives, until we reach out to Him, the clause of free will. No matter what you're going through, no matter what the enemy is shouting by your wall, no matter what his facts say, that is not the TRUTH. For God is the ONLY WAY, the ONLY TRUTH and the ONLY LIFE. Believe that you may See Him at work in your life.

Studying Enemy Strategy-II

How does the enemy attack?
When you stand and resist the enemy-

1. he will try to attack, your basis of confidence even your faith-"19 The field commander said to them, "Tell Hezekiah: " 'This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: On what are you basing this confidence of yours? 20 You say you have strategy and military strength—but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending, that you rebel against me?" For those who have no clue what they're depending on or who have not enough knowledge of their Saviour, may lack in confidence, but for us the children of God , we have a wonderful God who has opened all knowledge of the Kingdom of God to us. He has called us friend. "John 15:15 "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you." God has opened His heart and His plan in His wonderful book the Bible, and nothing about Him is hidden, so that we may know Him and become confident in Him. God has opened heaven's knowledge to us, through His Son Lord Jesus Christ, that all may be made plain to us and it is not difficult that we dont understand, but that we might know and understand the height and breadth and depth of our Saviour Lord Jesus' love for us. Now more so, that we may have confidence in our God's Love for us, no matter what the enemy may say.
2. he will attack your actions of faith-"v22 And if you say to me, "We are depending on the LORD our God"-isn't he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, "You must worship before this altar in Jerusalem"? " Hezekiah had earlier broken down the bronze snake which Moses had made, because people had idolized that snake and were burning incense to it!!! Those who did not understand Hezekiah's motive behind that, would not be able to fight this argument placed by the enemy. If we are doing things we don't know why we're doing, that could become a point of attack for the enemy. For e.g if we're fasting every Friday, and come to the point where we're just doing it without any plan or any knowledge (like automatic) then that fast becomes a 'thing' that you do on a Friday and you're supposed to do every Friday...is that fast a time, you deliberately spend with the Lord to know Him better? what would happen to you if you were to shift it to a Monday, would it still mean the same to you? We cannot idolise the "fast" but our main reason for fasting should be for knowing our God, fasting as submission to our Lord, not because everybody does it, not because fasting is good for health, not because it is convenient...but because it gives me an opportunity to come closer to God. Fast anyday every day, as the Lord leads you, to fast and pray for some loved one, or for yourself to overcome habits..making sure you can counter an attack for your actions of faith.
3. he brings in a good-looking bargain- v23 " 'Come now, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them! 24 How can you repulse one officer of the least of my master's officials, even though you are depending on Egypt for chariots and horsemen [f] ? Hey this sounds like a good idea, I get horses, all I have to do is give some men. That sounds like a really good deal, but how much do we know about the dealer? In my Christian walk too, I have come across times, when I have fallen for this bargain For e.g. if I spend my time watching TV rather than reading the Word of God I will have more knowledge and insight in the ways to operate in this world???? Well great as it may sound, most of the right and basic winning principles to live successfully are already mentioned in this many hundreds of years old book ,the Bible and it holds true, beyond the barriers of the socio-economic condition of the world at any given time. When Jesus was given this bargain of getting riches and stuff, in exchange for bowing to satan, Jesus countered it with the Word of God. Thats our way to counter this bargain-attack too.
4. he talks in your language-"26 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, and Shebna and Joah said to the field commander, "Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Don't speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall." ........28 Then the commander stood and called out in Hebrew" Something unique and special to a man is his language. In India we've got many different languages, and I happened to learn a new one, and I've seen people's face light up and almost an immediate bonding form, when I spoke in a South Indian language and they know I am from North India. It touches their heart. So also, satan knows what is closest to you(he has agents that keep track of what you're upto), what can really move you and will speak to you in that language. If you are an emotional person, he will work in your life through emotions(probably people trying to manipulate your stand through emotions). If you're a person who is intellectual(he will get you into fantastic debates at the end of which you would be so confused, you wouldn't know right from wrong). So bring everything to God, for He judges the motives of every mind and every heart and He is able to direct your steps.

Studying Enemy Strategy-I

This post has blessed me and opened my eyes to see clearly and I know it will bless you too. While reading through Israel's journey through spiritual darkness, with kings that didn't follow the Lord wholeheartedly, worshipping all other gods and forgetting God's covenant, I've come to the point where Israel (one division of the entire Israelite tribe) was taken captive after a 3 day siege by the Assyrian king. The Israelites lost their promised land and were deported to Assyria and the Assyrian king brought in other people babylonians and others to resettle Samaria. In the meanwhile, Judah was under the rule of king Hezekiah. For the first time after a long time, the Bible now describes Hezekiah as a man who did like his ancestor David "3 He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done.". He saw what had happened to the Israelites for being a traitor to the Assyrian king, but that didn't stop him from rebelling against him. I now focussed on the way the Assyrian king behaved with Hezekiah. Hezekiah was a god-fearing man, he trusted God and God gave him victory in all he undertook.

Let me show you the lessons I learnt
What is the enemy like?

1. The enemy wants to take it all-Assyrian king was not satisfied by having the entire Samaria as his newly captured state, but he wanted more. He wanted to take over Judah as well. So it is with our enemy the devil, if you think he will let other people be, just because a few have already traded themselves with him. No. We the children of God, who want to live for the Lord are his nightmare. He knows he cannot defeat us, but he will not stop trying. So we've got to keep our guards up, the Sword of the Word of God sharpened at all times.
2. You are deceived if you think you can make a fair trade with the enemy-After capturing Israel out of Hoshea's hands, the Assyrian king turned to Hezekiah, to take over Judah too. Sennacherib the Assyrian king attacked Judah and captured it, but Hezekiah begged him to leave and that he would give him all he wants (2 Kings 18:13-16). Hezekiah gave Sennacherib everything even to the point of, stripping the gold with which he had decorated the temple of God. It might have given him temporary relief from the attack, but that wasn't going to be for long. Sometimes when we knowingly let go of our stand on some "harmless" things, like backbiting, lying, tolerating evil, we're making trades with the enemy. It might give you temporary relief, but soon we might get trapped. I fall many times, but the key is to get up, ask for pardon and move on never to return to that trade again.
3. Give the enemy a little space and he'll want to stake a claim-When Hezekiah paid Sennacherib with gold from the temple and everything he could find within his jurisdiction, that didn't stop the Assyrian king from sending his commander in chief to make another trade with Hezekiah, to the point of making him his vassal as well (like king Hoshea of Israel was). He wanted to claim the entire land little by little. He wasn't going to stop at the point where he got all that gold. He wanted the people in the land as well and more. So the Bible says to counter this attack "Resist the devil and he will flee from you". Resistance needs something within you which will counter what's trying to happen to you. Without Jesus we would have no resistance, but now for us we have this assurance ,"1 John 4:4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.. So stand and resist.

there are more lessons than I could probably try to fit into this one post...therefore to be cont'd

Live Life Like You Mean It

Background:There are times when we don't want to, but keep slipping back into feelings, circumstances, habits, we've been trying to get rid off. Then there are times, when you're meant to stand apart, stand out, be different from the rest, but we get mingled, our thoughts get mingled with whats not even ours. God wants us to stand out, like he wanted the Israelites to stand apart from the rest of the nations around it, but they wanted to be just like them.Thats the lesson that came to me while reading 1 Kings 17

Lessons I learnt

1. When disobedience piles up, it destroys the foundation-v16And they forsook all the commandments of the Lord their God and made for themselves molten images, even two calves, and made an Asherah and worshiped all the [starry] hosts of the heavens and served Baal.So Israel was carried away from their own land to Assyria to this day."On Christ the solid Rock I stand" is one of the faith inspiring songs, but when our lives have disobedience creeping in, it slowly, digs away from under us, the Rock, our foundation moves away and with it, all the blessings we had received. This, I think, happens slowly and can be avoided if we remove the disobediences with repentance and obedience. Well the Israelites didn't do that, they didn't want to go back to their foundation, they wanted to go a different way and they did, they were overtaken by the Assyrian king and sent into exile into Assyrian country. They forfeited their land of blessing, their land of promise.


2. How to prevent losing one's foundation, how to overcome the sin of disobedience?-Its not much of a mystery, getting rid of sin from our lives, its all out there in the Word of God clearly stated, so that all may know and be saved and thereby be blessed. "v13Yet the Lord warned Israel and Judah through all the prophets and all the seers, saying, Turn from your evil ways and keep My commandments and My statutes, according to all the Law which I commanded your fathers and which I sent to you by My servants the prophets." The Israelites came to such a state because they let sin remain, even if some of them(the kings) had good intentions partially of following God it didn't bring any good fruit, because sin wasn't totally gone. God, in his warning signals had given them a way out of all this mess. (1) To turn away from the evil ways (2) To follow God's statutes and laws. Thats the sure shot way for overcoming any sin in our life. In my experience, its not enough to just turn away from sin, but to move towards the Word of God and follow God's Word. Thats the way to victory over any sin and sinful habit.


3. What we follow is what we'll become: "v15They despised and rejected His statutes and His covenant which He made with their fathers and His warnings to them, and they followed vanity (false gods--falsehood, emptiness, and futility) and [they themselves and their prayers] became false (empty and futile).". What they were following is what they became, they became useless, like the gods they followed. I don't think there has ever been a Christian missionary, who had followed Christ wholeheartedly and had not seen the fruit their life could bring. Truly without Christ in our lives, every part of it, we cannot bear anything fruitful.


4. What example have we set for others to follow?- I love the way LLL mentioned in her blog , "The only Jesus some people will see is the Jesus in you". When the Assyrian king relocated some people from babylon and other places to dwell in Samaria, the newcomers didnt know how to worship the Living God and were being destroyed. The king then sent one of the captive priests of Israel back to Samaria to teach them how to serve the Lord. Now these new people did learn to follow the Living God, but you know what happened next??? "v29But every nationality still made gods of their own and put them in the shrines of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nationality in the city in which they dwelt.-v32So they feared the Lord, yet appointed from among themselves, whether high or low, priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places.
   33They feared the Lord, yet served their own gods, as did the nations from among whom they had been carried away." What have we here? They were doing what the Israelites had done, they didn't see any difference between their gods and the Living God. The Israelites never demonstrated their worship of the Living God being special in any way!!! Are we like that, do we try to be as common as the others. Well we were never meant to be. We were meant to be "salt" (no substitute) and "light"(no substitute). How could we have thought we were meant to blend in and disappear, have u ever seen salt like that, which blends in and u don't even know its there, I haven't. Have u seen light that was switched on and it disappeared in the darkness? For without the salt, the food wouldn't have any taste at all. So lets set the right example, if u say your God is a Living God, then LIVE LIKE U MEAN IT.

Conclusion: The reason we are a special people, a holy nation, a royal priesthood, is because of our Living God, lets not be the common, the usual, the normal, the same, but be different, be holy, be righteous, be truthful, be faithful, be the light and salt of the earth, just as our God wants us to be. If we say Jesus is our Lord and God then let's live like we mean it. We are all that Jesus meant us to be and we will do all that Jesus wants us to do.

God's wonderful ways, even through dark times

Background:The Israelites now exiled from Samaria, by the Assyrian king, have been resettled in Assyria. The king brought other people, the babylonians, the 24 The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sepharvaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites. They took over Samaria and lived in its towns.(2 Kings 17:24) . When these new settlers came in, for the first time, 25 When they first lived there, they did not worship the LORD; so he sent lions among them and they killed some of the people. 26 It was reported to the king of Assyria: "The people you deported and resettled in the towns of Samaria do not know what the god of that country requires. He has sent lions among them, which are killing them off, because the people do not know what he requires." (2 Kings 17:25-26) The king of Assyria then sent one of the priests taken captive from Israel, to go to Samaria and train the people on how to worship the LORD. Had God rejected His people the Israelites?

Lessons:

1. God is faithful to His promise, no matter how long ago He made it, it still holds true-You know, God had promised that land to Abraham, about 300-400 yrs ago. Even though the people, His people, Israelites, were exiled-God remained there. It was the land He had promised to the faithful man Abraham, whom He had addressed as friend. God defended His promise. Abraham's descendants had mingled with other people and had lost their first love, the faith of Abraham Isaac and Jacob, but God remained faithful.
2. God's plan is higher than our plan, and His thoughts higher than our thoughts-I've been thinking recently, even more so, looking at the stubbornness of the Israelites to return to God, that in all this, what we are enjoying now, the presence of our Loving Lord Jesus, His power of the cross, was initially a plan for the Jews, but the Lord opened up the banquet for all (wedding banquet in Matthew). Wow, His plan for the entire mankind. Oh the beauty of the gospel waiting to come full round, as summed up by Paul in Romans 11."11Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. 12But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring!" For the first time, an Israelite priet went on a mission to train new people, the ways of the Living God.

Conclusion: If it weren't for this stubbornness, God's mercy wouldn't have been known to the gentiles. In all,God's plan always works together for the good of those who love Him. God didn't leave His people, even though they left Him. God did not forget His promise, even though they forgot Him. For now, even though Israel was exiled, we know they will be reunited with God, in our current future. I am in awe of it all. It is because of God's amazing grace, that we are able to experience the Love, the Power, the Life with the One and Only Living God, the God of Israel.

Pauls says "25Lest you be self-opinionated (wise in your own conceits), I do not want you to miss this hidden truth and mystery, brethren: a hardening (insensibility) has [temporarily] befallen a part of Israel [to last] until the [c]full number of the ingathering of the Gentiles has come in,
26And so all Israel will be saved. As it is written, The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will banish ungodliness from Jacob.(F)"(AMP)

All this so that we, the gentiles could know the mercy and Love of our Living God, it is beautiful and I am without words to express my gratitude to God.

Don't Stop Running the Good Race

Background: 2 Kings 14:1-21, talks about a story from the life of a king named Ahaziah. He did what was right and followed God, though not wholeheartedly. He did some nice things during his reign, but made one grave mistake. I take details of his life from 2 Chronicles 25( since it has a detailed account of his works).

Lessons from the mistakes of king Amaziah

1. A good start of reign- "3 After the kingdom was firmly in his control, he executed the officials who had murdered his father the king. 4 Yet he did not put their sons to death, but acted in accordance with what is written in the Law," He tried to keep the law of God.
2. Followed or listened to God's prophet-"7 But a man of God came to him and said, "O king, these troops from Israel must not march with you, for the Lord is not with Israel--not with any of the people of Ephraim. 8 Even if you go and fight courageously in battle, God will overthrow you before the enemy, for God has the power to help or to overthrow." When Amaziah was planning for the battle at Edom, he has hired some Israelites to be in his army, but a word came through a prophet of God saying he shouldn't take them with him else he'd lose.
3. Diluted motivation for obeying God-No doubt he listened to the man of God, but now his motive had been diluted by greed. He weighed the question about how he could get the money back, which he had paid to get those Israelite soldier, "9 Amaziah asked the man of God, "But what about the hundred talents I paid for these Israelite troops?" The man of God replied, "The Lord can give you much more than that." and Amaziah sent the Israelite troops back, not because, now he was being obedient, he was being obedient, because he was waiting to get something in response. His motivation so easily swayed right away from obedience to reward zone membership!!!
4. Pride and foolishness- I think the easy win, got to his head and "14 When Amaziah returned from slaughtering the Edomites, he brought back the gods of the people of Seir. He set them up as his own gods, bowed down to them and burned sacrifices to them." Can you see that? He forgot who had given him victory and immediately turned to gods who weren't even gods.Moreover, in his arrogance and defiance, he threatened the man of God who had guided him through good counsel from God.

Conclusion: He started well, he kept the law laid long ago, but he fell right at the very first commandment, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" . He allowed pride to take the best of him. Sometimes we stop at one big move of God and want to make camp there, making that moment a shrine, rather than knowing the God who did it. This man was so blinded by the achievement he had found through God he forgot God was behind it all the while, in spite of having heard from God's prophet. I asked myself, do I love God the way I do, for something I need from Him, or because He is God and He loved me first and I am simply reciprocating His love for me?? How about you? Let's not give up the motivation of Jesus our Lord's love for me.

Galatians 5:7 "You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth?"