Take Position

Background:The book of Nehemiah was probably written by Nehemiah, however some claim it was written by Ezra. The book is regarding the return of the captive Israelites, to their own land, Jerusalem. It records the rebuilding of the broken wall of Jerusalem in chapters 1-7 and then the rebuilding of the spiritual life of the Israelites from chapters 8-13.

For me the book of Nehemiah, brings encouragement and hope as I read God's ways of bringing back His people to His dwelling place on earth. Many a times we move away from God due to various lusts, wants, sins and disobediences,like the Israelites did, yet this book brings hope to me that there is way even for the lost to return, when they sincerely want a change from their past.

Nehemiah was a cupbearer to the king Artaxerxes. From Ezra 6:14 we know Artaxerxes was one of the kings under whom the rebuilding of the temple was done. The name Nehemiah means "comforted by YHWH". Isn't that a beautiful meaning. I love meaningful names. My name means "Mercy".

Lessons from Nehemiah 1

• Intercession: "I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem. 3 They said to me, "Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. ". Nehemiah's heart was moved for the people of Israel, the remnant. He himself was working at a very high position, the king's cupbearer, most trusted of the king. He not only presented food to the king, he was responsible for the safety of the king, so he would have to taste the food before it was given to the king. The king would trust a cupbearer's advice on what was safe for him to eat. Why did such a highly positioned man, worry about someone else? Yet he did, his heart was moved by the disgrace and suffering of the remnant Israelites and he firstly, interceded for them.
• Action:"v11...Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man." I was cupbearer to the king. " Nehemiah not only interceded for the remnant Israelites, but also had a plan for them and for this he asked God's favour as he approached the king with the plan.
• God guides Nehemiah, as we will see in Nehemiah 2 onwards.

Conclusion:Without passion to change someone's situation we cannot make a difference in anyone's life. If we truly want a change, God shows us in this book, that a sensitive heart, to the needs of others is an important ingredient for an intercessor. Above all, Nehemiah went beyond that, he knew he was in a position to help and he prayed that God would give him favour as he would place his plan before the king of Persia.

God has positioned us in strategic manners, like he did Nehemiah & Esther to change the lives of the remnant Israelites under other rulers, Jesus our Lord to change the lives of people through critical preaching and breaking the strongholds of religious mentality, and Paul as the topmost Jewish figure to turn his world upside down with his preaching through conviction. In the same manner, I learnt that each one of us has a task we must fulfil, its our calling. What moves our heart is what we need to intercede and work and pray for, that God would direct our steps as He shows us His plan for what we need to do from our position.

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.

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.

Impactful Living

As I read through the Book I Ezra, I found Ezra hadn't been a part of the rebuilding of the temple. He was reserved for another purpose-to teach the law of God to the Israelites(Ezra 7:10). The king of Persia, was Artaxerxes then, about 60 yrs since the completion of the temple. One thing that impressed me about Ezra is-how the King of Persia had observed him. In the letter that Artaxerxes writes to commission Ezra to carry out God's law for Israel and Judah, the king had noticed some special characters of this man exiled in Babylon, Ezra.

• Ezra's faith -Ezra 7:12-"Artaxerxes, king of kings, To Ezra the priest, a teacher of the Law of the God of heaven: Greetings. ". This is a brilliant testimony to Ezra's God, a non-Jewish, non-Y-H worshipping king, acknowledging Ezra's God as the God of Heaven!!!
• Ezra's Trust-Ezra 7:13-22 Artaxerxes even decrees to give from the treasury everything Ezra needed to carry out the plan of the God of heaven whom he serves. Isn't that amazing, an Iranian king providing funds to the Israelites to fulfil God's desires.
• God's plan through Ezra-"Ezra 7:23 "Whatever the God of heaven has prescribed, let it be done with diligence for the temple of the God of heaven. Why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and of his sons?" This verse amazes me to see that, the diligence in Ezra's heart to follow God, had shown the king how important it was to follow God's plan.
• Ezra's wisdom from God-"Ezra 7:25 And you, Ezra, in accordance with the wisdom of your God, which you possess, appoint magistrates and judges to administer justice to all the people of Trans-Euphrates—all who know the laws of your God. And you are to teach any who do not know them. " Imagine the king allowing Ezra, almost an administrative duty, of appointing offices as the need be for him. I don't think any king in his right mind would ever have given such an authority to anyone, yet this big role was handed to Ezra, for surely, I believe, the king had seen something special in the manner Ezra was conducting his ways for the Living God.

Lessons: It is possible for every believer to have this kind of a testimony before people who don't know God. The King was so impressed by the faith that shone through Ezra's living that he decreed that those who do not know must be taught the Law of God, Ezra's God. The key to such an impactful life is humble obedience to the Word of God

• The hand of the Lord was with Ezra in everything he did.(Ezra 7:6, Ezra 7:9, Ezra 7:28,Ezra 8:18, Ezra 8:22,23, Ezra 8:31)
• Ezra never forgot to acknowledge the fact that he was able to do everything ONLY because the hand of the Lord was with him.

How could we see such results in our life?

By devoting ourselves in knowing our God, through His Word-Ezra 7:9-10" He had begun his journey from Babylon on the first day of the first month, and he arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month, for the gracious hand of his God was on him. 10 For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the LORD, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel" While studying about Ezra I found, Ezra was actually a priestly scribe of the Law of Moses. Scribe is a person who serves as a professional copyist, esp. one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of printing. And usually their whole life was devoted to this task, of writing, copyring proofing etc. However Ezra was going beyond his work. He devoted himself to

1. Study the Law of God
2. Observe or Obey the Law of God
3. Teach the Law of God

Conclusion: We can have blessed and impactful lives, if we do what Ezra did. I am glad the Bible mentions the above things in that order. If we want the lives of people around us changed, we need to devote ourselves, 1st to study God's Word, this is the ONLY place we can find information on how to live a blessed life. 2nd to obey it ourselves and then 3rd to teach it to others. I believe the results will automatically will be visible to others, even if they don't know our God, they WILL KNOW through God's hand which begins to work in our lives, like God's hand worked on behalf of Ezra as he devoted himself to this cause.

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)

God is ready to fight your battle

Background:Hezekiah has been recently threatened by the Assyrian king, to either give in to him and surrender or fight and die. Hezekiah has decided to fight, rather than to give in. Isaiah, God's prophet sent a reply to Hezekiah's request "6 Isaiah said to them, "Tell your master, 'This is what the LORD says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. 7 Listen! I am going to put such a spirit in him that when he hears a certain report, he will return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.' "
Soon after this word had come from God, through Isaiah, the Assyrian commander had to withdraw from Jerusalem(Judah) because the Assyrian king had gone away for another battle to Lachish. Instead of going on to fight his enemy, Assyrian king Sennacherib sends a letter to Hezekiah threatening him and discouraging him from believing God for his victory.(2 Kings 19:10-13)
Hezekiah didn't budge from him faith but goes with that letter straight to God and says a beautiful prayer "14 Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD : "O LORD, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 Give ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God.
17 "It is true, O LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. 18 They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by men's hands. 19 Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God."

Lessons I learnt

1. In despair turn to God-Hezekiah turned to God when the Assyrian commander came to threaten him with words. More often than not, the enemy works in our lives with negative words and negative suggestions, or luring temptations. The way to turn away from them is to turn to God.


2. God always has an answer for any situation, in His Word-The moment Hezekiah sent his men to ask Isaiah for the Lord's Word, they got their answer. God has our answers ready, if only we turn and go to His Word. There is one special request I have made to God and He sure did answer my situation through His Word. It made me glad.


3. Enemy will not let go easily-In our walk with God, sometimes when we've heard the Word of God and found an answer for our situation, things don't seem like they're changing the way God said it would, oreading about the way the Assyrian king did not immediately go away, but in fact sent him a letter, discouraging him to believe in God, trying to cause doubt in Hezekiah, thats the 1st attack our enemy the satan tries to put in our heart, when we have and we know God has directly given in our heart His Word.


4. Take it to the Lord in prayer-Thats what Hezekiah did with the threat letter he received from Assyrian king Sennacherib. He took it to God and prayed a simple prayer, surrendering all to God. Thats what we must do when the enemy sends waves of doubt and fear, and tries to say, God's Word won't work. This is the time we have to wait in order to see God's word at work in our lives. It's the only time the enemy can make his last attempt to defeat us. Hezekiah trusted God's Word over the enemy's word and he saw glorious victory in a battle he didnt even have to fight. "35 That night the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there. "

Conclusion: The essence of it all, I realise, is to stand. Ephesians 6:10-15 "10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.". God didn't want us to fight alone, He just requires of us, to wear His armor, His protection from the enemy, and "stand". God didn't say to wear all that armor and fight, but to "stand". So while we're standing who's fighting? God is.

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.

Fight the Good Fight

Background:After a long list of kings who did evil in the eyes of the Lord. God directs Elisha to send his servant to anoint Jehu, king of Israel. He would be the one to purge Israel of all the remnants of Jezebel's followers, baal worshippers and to avenge the blood of all Lord's servants (2Kings 9). While reading of the accounts of kings from 2Kings 9 onwards until 2Kings 13, I find that, there were people who longed to be kings and queens of Israel and Judah and were willing to do anything for it. However when they went into power, they didn't care about following the Living God, they did what they desired, they sinned against God, they worshipped idols, turning their face from God. One of the kings mentioned in 2Kings 11 is Joash. Joash organised the task of repairing the temple of the LORD, but when the Aramean king came to attack Jerusalem he gave away all the gold from the temple, that had been dedicated to the Lord, to the enemy???

There are quite a few lessons I have learnt from reading about these kings, and find some bit of myself in their behaviour.

1. Is it easy to follow God in hardships, or during prosperity ?-I've noticed in my life, that my spiritual life has grown more during troubled times, than during times when I was well-fed. The learnings I got through the valley, were the ones, that changed my life. It brought meaning to my relationship with the Lord. Those times are the times, when I no longer learnt by listening or observing, but by experiencing God's amazing Love. His power to forgive, His power to provide, His power to heal, His power to help me live righteously before God. In order for us to be in our best behaviour during prosperity, we would need to be trained in difficult times, else we would never appreciate what we got, if we had it all easy.
2. Never give away, what has been dedicated to God, Fight- We are more than conquerors, we are a royal nation, a holy priesthood. For Joash, when the Aramean king came to attack Jerusalem, instead of fighting against him, he paid him with dedicated items from the temple of God!!! How often, we do that. Of course our battle is no longer against flesh and blood, but you know our battle is more subtle and spiritual and moral. The Bible says, we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, we are not ours but were bought with a price and Jesus our Lord dedicated us ,so to speak, to the Father in heaven. When satan throws in a scene, or a picture, or some people in an attempt to attack our spirit, how many times have we given away our eyes, our ears, our mouth,the instruments of God from the temple of the Holy Spirit, to the enemy!!!
3. God still has room for forgiveness-In 2 Kings13 I read about a king, who wasn't actually living the kind of godly life, but "4 Then Jehoahaz sought the LORD's favor, and the LORD listened to him, for he saw how severely the king of Aram was oppressing Israel. 5 The LORD provided a deliverer for Israel, and they escaped from the power of Aram. So the Israelites lived in their own homes as they had before." God never leaves us alone to face the difficulties or the attacks that satan makes on our lives. He is well aware of the oppressions we face and is more than willing to forgive and provide deliverance.

Conclusion: No matter what satan throws at you, to attack your spirit, run to God, cry out to Him for He is able. The biggest lie that he tries to blind you with is that "you can't do anything about this ". I don't believe that, I am more than a conqueror in my Lord Jesus Christ. I am a royal nation, a holy priesthood, a people separated for my God and I am not going to give from the temple of the Living God, what belongs to God, even His people. God has given me the armour for spiritual battle, not to stand around doing nothing and compromising, but to fight the good fight. The fight of faith.(1 Timothy 6:12) And as I know how God rescued Lot, " 7and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men 8(for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— 9if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment.(2 Peter 2:6-8 )

Learning to Fly Like the Eagle

From reading about the Shunnamite woman , the Word of God showed me a lot of things as lessons for my life. You can read about her in 2 Kings 4.
This woman opened her house for Elisha so he could come and stay every time he was in town. Later Elisha finds that she doesnt have any children and blesses her." 16Elisha said, At this season when the time comes round, you shall embrace a son. " Now after some time the woman did have a son and now am reading at the place where her son died due to some problem in his head(v19-20). This woman goes all the way to meet Elisha and then Elisha comes into the scene and the boy is restored to life.

Here are the lessons I learnt, even as the woman learnt as she went through the situation of her dead child.

1. Anytime, God's ready-We may not be ready for the situations in our life, but God always is. Because He Knows the end from the beginning. (Isaiah 46:10). This woman had so got caught up with the way God was working in ELisha's life (since she'd been watching him from the time he had started staying with her and family) she knew she could go to Elisha any time. So when her husband doubted whether ELisha would help her "out-of-tern" so to speak, 23And he said, Why go to him today? It is neither the New Moon nor the Sabbath. And she said, It will be all right". She said it is all right.
2. Out of the comfort zone-This woman had a room made for Elisha and she knew that Elisha stays with them every time he came to Shunem(v8-10), but this woman (once well-to-do and content) has now become desperate. She could have waited for Elisha's visit, but she didn't. Now this woman, who would have spent her entire life in the comfort of her home asks her husband "22And she called to her husband and said, Send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, that I may go quickly to the man of God and come back again." She was leaving her home on a journey to meet Elisha, because she was met with a situation she could not deal with, but she needed a solution. I wonder if she would have dared to go that far out and go see Elisha . If her son wouldn't have died she would have never left her home. There is a stage in every believer's life, like this woman, when God will shove them out of their comfort zone so we will start running after God and go where He is. Not just on Sundays but every day, or any day when God calls.
3. The Lord alone will help and lead-This woman's life was stirred up by the death of her child (the child was a gift from God) and now this makes sense to me, when God says his children will fly with wings like the eagles. Deuteronomy 32:10-12 says "11 like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them on its pinions. 12 The LORD alone led him; no foreign god was with him." When God stirs up our nest, He also hovers over us and spreads His wings and catches us in His wings. For this Shunnamite woman, Elisha was the only one who could help, because he was the one who blessed her with the child. So also, when our life is stirred (only because we should learn to fly, move onto the next step of our spiritual life) God is right there, hovering waiting and watching and if we should fall, He will catch us in His arms and ONLY HE CAN HELP and LEAD
4. Faith ALWAYS counts-"25So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel. When the man of God saw her afar off, he said to Gehazi his servant, Behold, yonder is that Shunammite. 26Run to meet her and say, Is it well with you? Well with your husband? Well with the child? And she answered, It is well." Whats wrong with this woman, her son just died and she says It is well!!!. Thats how faith works, "1Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see" Hebrews 11:1 She went in faith to Elisha, with hope that Elisha will surely know how to fix it.
5. Are you talking to the right man!!-When Gehazi (Elisha's servant) met the woman, she had nothing to say to him but she pours out her heart before Elisha "27When she came to the mountain to the man of God, she clung to his feet. Gehazi came to thrust her away, but the man of God said, Let her alone, for her soul is bitter and vexed within her, and the Lord has hid it from me and has not told me.
   28Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? Did I not say, Do not deceive me?" She knew the person who could help her, she did not linger around Gehazi but went straight to Elisha. When we're in a situation we don't understand, after all God had blessed that barren woman with the child, she went to the giver of all life. She knew Elisha was the man of God. So also when we're faced with situations we never though should have happened, we must run to the One who already knew. To God. The One who gave us life, ONLY can fix it. Else we'll be wasting our time and money with counsellors, evaluators, dictators, and all kinds of others who think they've got the right to tamper with life itself. Dont, lets run to the One who gave us life.
6. God Himself will intervene- (v29-v35) Initially Elisha sends Gehazi with his staff to go heal the boy but nothing happens. Elisha then himself goes and the boy is brought back to life. God knows what will work for our situation and what will not, and in the case when nothing else works, no doctors are able to find the solution, no marriage bureau is able to find the right man or woman, God Himself will intervene and find the right answer for you. God will not stop at anything in order to bless, the one who has obeyed Him, had faith in Him and followed and run after Him.
7. Stay with the Anointed One, not chase after anointings- Here is something wonderful I noticed, when ELisha sent Gehazi out to put his staff on the woman's boy, "30The mother of the child said, As the Lord lives and as my soul lives, I will not leave you." The Shunammite woman refused to leave Elisha. She was supposed to get excited and run after Gehazi and be there when her son would come to life, but she doesn't go with Gehazi who carried Elisha's staff, but stayed with Elisha. Many times, we get distracted by the wonderous things God does through a man and we start running after the man instead of God. We start looking forward for directions from the man, instead of God. We start trusting upon the man for our life, more than our God, without even knowing we would have run far away from the Anointed One, chasing after the anointing. God doesn't want us to run after the anointing, but to stay with the Anointed One, our Lord Jesus.

Conclusion: God has been so merciful to me in sharing such wonderful lessons from the life of the Shunammite woman. I am sorry for this being such a long post. I pray that you, my readers, will also be blessed, as I have been blessed learning this lesson. Remember, if you are a child of God and your nest has been stirred up, its only so you can learn to fly. And when you're in the process of learning to fly, remember God is by your side, with open arms so He can catch you if you fall. He's there hovering like the eagle hovers over its kids when they're learning to fly. Soon when we've learnt to trust our God with EVERYTHING about life, we'll be flying too and will become a blessing to people around, miracles from the Anointed One will change our situations. God will not stop at anything less than the best for His children, if only we have faith in Him and obedience to follow His lead.

God Bless

Recognize

Solomon did a some things right and a some things wrong. The things he did wrong, would cost Israelites a lot. His heart turned away from God, because of his wives from foreign nations. Also he treated the Israelites very harshly. Here's what the Israelites had to say to Solomon's son Rehoboam. " So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him: 4 "Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you." Well needless to say Rehoboam turned out more worse than his father Solomon. Also in his time the Israelites split up. 16 When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king:"What share do we have in David, what part in Jesse's son? To your tents, O Israel! Look after your own house, O David!" So the Israelites went home. 17 But as for the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah, Rehoboam still ruled over them." So now Israel has 2 kings Rehoboam (Solomon's son) and Jeroboam (another guy who was good at his work but had rebelled against Solomon). I read from Rehoboam's life, of an account which really upset me, but taught me a big lesson. Under Rehoboam (David's grandson) the people did evil in God's eyes and started following other gods in the high places. More than that, "25 In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. 26 He carried off the treasures of the temple of the LORD and the treasures of the royal palace. He took everything, including all the gold shields Solomon had made. " and you know what Rehoboam did??? "27 So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and assigned these to the commanders of the guard on duty at the entrance to the royal palace. 28 Whenever the king went to the LORD's temple, the guards bore the shields, and afterward they returned them to the guardroom. " Can you imagine that, replacing the gold items from the temple with bronze and guarding it with your life??? I can't. I was immediately reminded of the time when the Amalekites had attacked David's camp in Ziklag in 1 Samuel 30 and how David asked God and chased them down and the Bible records "18 David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives. 19 Nothing was missing: young or old, boy or girl, plunder or anything else they had taken. David brought everything back."(1 Samuel 30:18-19)

Here's what I learnt

1. A lesson of stewardship -David knew what it meant to be a good steward, he had been a shepherd after all. With the sheep his father had given him he knew he had to take care of them and protect them. With God, he knew that which God had given to him belonged to God(Psalm 24:1). Above all he learnt obedience by prayer, every step of his way, to check whether God had intended that to happen in his life. He had this wonderful "habit" of verifying from God all the situations of his life and every action he needed to take at those times. The moment he knew what he had to do, he acted on it and recovered all. I wonder if Rehoboam ever paid attention when his granfather would have told him stories of the exploits he went on. Rehoboam was quick to replace everything with a cheaper substitute rather than checking and finding out what God would have him do. When pressures from the world try to overwhelm us or our family members, instead of running to take strength from God like David did, we are quick to replace that with other distractions and pay close attention to the distractions. There is a constant attack on the people of God, the evil one tries to steal our wives, our husbands, our children away from us, from our God, hence the Word of God says "Matthew 11:12 "And from the days of John the Baptist until the present time, the kingdom of heaven has endured violent assault, and violent men seize it by force [as a precious prize--a share in the heavenly kingdom is sought with most ardent zeal and intense exertion]."
2. Life of passion- Whatever David did, I could feel the passion he had in his life to live it to the best for the glory of the Living God. I sometimes think of him like a hyperactive young boy wanting to do a lot of things with his dad, trying to keep a close fellowship and following God. He wasn't trying to rule a kingdom, he was just trying to live as close to God as possible. Here on, the kings who followed Solomon were trying to maintain a kingdom. They were just there to rule, to have some group of people they wanted to boss over. With David not so. He was passionate about whatever work he did, a wonderful shepherd, even when he struck Goliath he did with the passion he had for the honour of His Living God. Now this guy Rehoboam is quite the opposite. He even goes on to replace the gold of the temple with bronze!!! God's honour and His glory should not and must not be replaced by anything or anyone. In our lives too there are situations when God's honour is at stake because of us, will we replace the glory by something cheaper or fight to get back the glory of God. Even today there are families who are praying for their loved ones to turn to Jesus, lets keep fighting for this is one place where we know we have won and it is God's glory to get back that which already belongs to God (Psalm 24:1).
3. Live like a conqueror-Rehoboam was David's grandson, he surely had the blood of a mighty warrior running through his veins. If he wanted, I am sure he could have defeated that king and taken back all the gold he had taken from the temple of God. However it didn't make much even if David's blood was flowing in his veins because it majorly depended on Rehoboam whether he wanted to use that knowledge and power or not. Even so for us, when we believed in Jesus as our Lord and Saviour the Word of God says in John 1:12-13 "12Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13children born not of natural descent,[c] nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. " Our being the children of God was of a pure conception, not becuase of a human desire, but of God, a Holy God. There is no contamination in it, no faults in that connection of blood. So if we are children of God, the blood of our God, pure and powerful flows in our veins and its up to us what we do with that kind of a legacy, sit like losers or get up and be a conqueror like our Lord Jesus. Conquering sin, conquering souls for the Kingdom of God, conquering sickness and diseases. Its in us people of God, the blood of our Lord Jesus of an Almighty God is flowing in our very spiritual body. Oh let us not be like Rehoboam and compromise the glory of God when God has already given us all the equipment we need to have "Romans 8:37 "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."

Conclusion: Lets not make the mistake that Rehoboam made, lets not let other things steal the glory that belongs to our Living God. More than that lets not replace God's glory with ours. Above all remember we are more than conquerors, the blood of our Living God flows through us, since we are born into the Kingdom of God and have the status of being the children of God according to John 1:12 so lets be conquerors like our Lord Jesus and take back what the devil is trying to take from us, be it our families who dont know the Lord yet, or the possessions that which God has given us to be stewards of (house, car, office work). Lets be passionate about the tasks assigned to us. Its not merely enough that we are kings and princes of our Living Lord, we've a relationship to keep with our Living Lord with passion like David did, to successfully live like kings and priests of our Living God. It wouldnt be that David came and spoke vain words about Goliath if he didn't have th passion to defend the honour of the Living God. Daily, the evil one tries to bring up problems which mock us, and if we truly know how great and mighty our God is and how dare this filthy devil tries to mock at us, we will give the Word of God right back at his face. Thats what wins, thats what makes us true heirs, we have the royal and Holy blood of our Living Father in our lives, lets quit being wimps.

If we don't who will...fight the spiritual battle

2 Samuel 10:12 "12 Be strong and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The LORD will do what is good in his sight."
This is what David said, when confronted by the Ammonites for battle. The Ammonites had demeaned David's men when they had gone to Nahum, their king, to mourn the death of his father. Nahum's counsellors told him, that David has sent men to spy the land and hence dishonoured David's men.
Its amazing to be able to say, let God do what pleases Him.
I learned a few lessons from this chapter(2 Samuel 10) from the Bible

1. Total trust in the Lord-David leaned wholly on the Lord, no matter what the outcome was going to be. Can we trust God so completely, without a shadow of a doubt, when the outcome can go either ways, for you or against you, when no one else is there to guide you, when the answer is not in sight.
2. Relationship with God is good and strong-David's statement, teaches me that David has a constant relationship with God, which actually has emboldened him so much, that he knows that when God does something that He thinks is good, it WILL be good for him. Do we have that kind of relationship with God, that no matter what hits, we'll know it in our heart that our God will never leave us nor forsake us. Also that God has plans to prosper us and not to harm us.
3. A right attitude to fight-David had the right attitude, he wasn't fighting because he was angry with that king, but because now they have come to attack the Israelites and he wanted to protect the people, God has given him to be king of. He wanted to fight in order to defend God's people.God has given us people to be around too, maybe our family members, our neighbours, our colleagues, our friends who don't know the Lord, because our enemy and God's enemy has blinded their eyes, that they cannot see the salvation and wonderful gift that Jesus has to offer them. Do we have that attitude to face any situation, to defend God's people. All the people on the earth are God's people, did you know? Psalm 24:1 says " 1 The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it" We fight not for ourselves, or our own benefit, but for the people of God, on behalf of God, but our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities in heavenly places, which are trying to rise up against our Living Lord Jesus.

Conclusion: David won the battle. Yeah, and not by a small margin too. The enemies stood to fight, "18 But they fled before Israel, and David killed seven hundred of their charioteers and forty thousand of their foot soldiers. [b] He also struck down Shobach the commander of their army, and he died there" I cannot imagine that much damage in a battle where no bombs and nuclear weapons are involved.God's people are very precious to Him, thats why God sent His One and Only Son Lord Jesus to die on the cross, and not just anybody He could have picked. God's people are too important to Him, thats why He longs to meet them, longs to commune with them. God's people are very special to Him, thats why He says 'You are mine". How can we being God's children, walk away from our other brothers and sisters who have been blinded and dont know our Heavenly Father's love. Lets be strong and fight bravely for our people...and God will do what He knows best.

Life's not easy...but there's a reason to that

In the battle between Philistines and Israelites, from 1 Samuel 30, the Israelites were utterly defeated. Saul and his sons were killed. Lots of Israelites were killed in that battle. David was in Ziklag, on account that the Philistine king did not want him to come with them to battle the Israelites.(Remember, David was now staying in a Philistine territory to avoid Saul chasing him). When news of Saul and his sons' death reached David, he was grieved.

We might think, ok now that Saul is dead, life for David should become better. No more being chased, no more temporary homes, no more hiding. Well definitely no more of that is there for David, but then now Saul's house is at war against David's house. While David is anointed king over Hebron in Judah,IshBosheth son of Saul was made king over Mahanaim by one of Saul's followers, Abner.Along with this there was a battle at Gibeon between the 2 houses and "17 The battle that day was very fierce, and Abner and the men of Israel were defeated by David's men. " (2 Samuel 2:17)

"1 The war between the house of Saul and the house of David lasted a long time. David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker. " (2 Samuel 3:1)

In all the accounts I read of the fights between David's and Saul's house, I found that David did not take revenge. Someone else always went and killed somebody from Saul's house and David would punish them.For e.g in Saul's case "14 David asked him(the Amalekite guy who killed Saul), "Why were you not afraid to lift your hand to destroy the LORD's anointed?" 15 Then David called one of his men and said, "Go, strike him down!" So he struck him down, and he died. 16 For David had said to him, "Your blood be on your own head. Your own mouth testified against you when you said, 'I killed the LORD's anointed.' " Later on we'll see that when Joab murders Saul's man Abner, David was grieved over that too.(2 Samuel 3) and also over IshBosheth another son of Saul who was killed by the people whom he had hired to be leader of his raiding bands.(2 Samuel 4)
The outcome of David's good dealing of the Saul's family, in spite of what they had done to him was that " 36 All the people took note and were pleased; indeed, everything the king did pleased them."( 2 Samuel 3:36) Finally at the age of 30yrs, David is crowned king of Israel(2 Samuel 5:4). Now thats about 10-15 years of running around, hiding in caves, acting like a mad man, having no food, no proper place to stay.

Lessons I learnt

Did David really have to face so many trials?-Well , yes, I think it was a training ground for him to be humble. It was the period of his life, where he had no one else to support him except God. He had no one else to trust in, except God. He had a group of people who were debtors, broke, distressed, depressed, so surely they couldn't guide him into strength or victory, they themselves needed help. David went through situations in his life, where his existence solely depended on God's directions and how well he obeyed God.If life had been easy for him, he wouldn't have had to consult God for his moves, he was a good warrior and could have done well, but he had to learn to completely depend on God, because he was being made ready to lead God's nation, towards God.He went through all that so that, the testing of his faith developed perseverance. Perseverance finish its work so that he may be mature and complete, not lacking anything, when he becomes king.(James 1:2-4) God never wants his leaders, his representatives to be slack in their behaviour, in their character, in their life, so God would mould them in a manner, that they lack nothing and are WHOLLY ready for His work.Even during our times we see, the people of God who have really steered society towards God were people from humble beginnings.
How does our trials help?- We see that David's character has been well moulded to reflect a godly man. In all the actions he did the people in his kingdom were pleased. Now thats whats a real blessing. God did not want a king who would be super and suppressing His people. In God's kingdom there is joy, there is peace, there is righteousness. So also with us, we can know godly leaders even in our times."Proverbs 29:2 (Whole Chapter) When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan". Our trials are to mold us into people who can impact and steer whole societies into reconciliation with God.

I've always noticed that the people in the army of no matter what country they're from, are the best looking people, most healthy people, most strong people, most disciplined people I've ever met. Even their children are so.They're not all that because of expensive exercise equipments, lavish food or anything or by sitting at home and enjoying, they're the people who've done the most gruesome of tasks, have lived through bare minimums, have slept the least, have run the most, have carried the most loads, have gone without food or sleep for days sometimes. Thats who we want our countries to be in the hands of. Wouldn't we? So also does God want His Kingdom to be in the hands of those who have been through tough times and become tougher through it all. With solid foundations firmly built on the Living God, that nothing, NO THING can shake them off of God's Word and God's plan.

To be an Overcomer, you will need something to overcome!!

So you want to be an overcomer, but want nothing to overcome??? That doesn't happen.
I am reading from David's life, Saul is impressed by David's victory over Goliath and "5 Whatever Saul sent him to do, David did it so successfully [a] that Saul gave him a high rank in the army. This pleased all the people, and Saul's officers as well. "(1 Samuel 18:5). Later on Saul becomes jealous of David and tries to kill him. Saul is still king of the Israelites. I was wondering, is it too difficult for a king to kill someone in his own country? I think if the president of some country wanted someone from their country dead, it wouldn't be that difficult for him to find and kill that person. However in David's life its amazing to note, that right under one roof, there were the king and his men to kill David and right there we see Jonathan and Michal who love David sooo much. Why was David so dangerous to Saul? David has realised what He can do when he works in obedience, to an Almighty Living God. When Saul tries to tell David before his fight with Goliath "You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth." (1 Samuel 17:33) Remember what he said "The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." (1 Samuel 17:35). This verse tells me the amount of confidence David had in the Living God and how close he is with God, to so boldly declare of a relation with God in whatever he does, knowing that he is being guided by a Living God. Moreover in the later chapters we read, that Saul got so jealous of David's victories, that he tried to kill him several times, but David escaped all the times.

Lessons I learnt

1. Know Who the Lord is to you- David was so confident about his being in the army of the Living God, thought technically David was not in the army of Israel, he was still a boy, but he knew to Whom he belonged, or rather to which side he belonged...remember the song, I am on the winning side and Jesus is the Winner Man" Can we identify ourselves being in the army of the Living God?
2. Hold onto the confidence you have in the Lord-Hebrews 10:35:"35Do not, therefore, fling away your fearless confidence, for it carries a great and glorious compensation of reward." Saul told David that he was a mere boy, and had no experience in warfare, yet he held onto the confidence he had in the Lord that the Lord would deliver him. Irrespective of what size and weight he is, he knows a God who can deliver him. Can we identify ourselves as people who have a Mighty God for our deliverer from ALL troubles?
3. No one can defeat God's plan for our lives other than us-When we live in total obedience to God's will and plan for our lives, no one can prevent us from becoming all that God has planned for us to be. God had desired David to be king, Saul tried to kill David so many times, hurling his spear at him, or sending men to his house to kill him, he never succeeded. When God has planned for David to be king and David has decided to follow God's plan, nothing can come in between them. So for us, as long as we are following God exactly on the way that He shows us, nothing can harm us. Thats why the command that God gave Joshua Joshua 1:7-9:7 "Only you be strong and very courageous, that you may do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you. Turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.
   8This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good [a]success." Can we identify ourselves as followers of a Living God, come what may?
4. Trouble, trouble everywhere but not one that can harm David- David was having a peaceful life shepherding the flock, until the time he got anointed to be king. Well God's Holy Spirit came on him to work wonders through him, to make him victorious in all he did and to tranform him to be the kind of king that God wanted him to be. Then there was this king Saul, who wanted to kill him, David spent half of his anointed life, running and trying to hide from the king who was wanting to kill him. He could not harm the king because David respected God's anointing on any man, he respected God soo much. Well, it cannot be hidden, whenever God anoints His people and the people desire solely to follow God's commands, we'll have even more oppression than we've ever had before. I don't think I'd like to call it a price to pay for being anointed, but its an opportunity to see how God will work in a totally yielded life and bring us victoriously into the place where he promised to take us and to being the person God wants to make us. Can we identify ourselves working with a Living God, who will throw obstacles away from our path as we move to a higher place? Its like take off time, the initial run on the ground is jittery and uncomfortable, until we're airborne and no ground can touch us, no more jittery feeling, just calm sailing, well a few air pockets here and there thats all, but the plane has overcome the major force of friction from the ground.Every other friction now is just tiny compared to what has already passed.

Conclusion:Following a Living God is not easy or difficult, but it is exciting. It is a wonderful feeling of confidence to know that we're being backed up by God, because its no longer our own measly plan. And because it is God's plan for our lives and we are obedient to what God has for us, there is nothing that can thwart or change or damage God's plan for our lives. I once again quote Job in saying "2I know that You can do all things, and that no thought or purpose of Yours can be restrained or thwarted." (Job 42:2). I used to be afraid of God's plans earlier, its like losing control, not knowing what will happen next, even though God says "11For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome."(Jeremiah 29:11 Amp) Until one day, I knew there was nothing better I could do with my life, I would just be an ordinary person, working in a big company, serving only the clients, being good at my job, getting raises and then one day vanish from this planet having done nothing of 'real' benefit to anyone. You know when God touches a life, and that life stays in touch with God, that person's life-impact goes on beyond his/her grave. Their lives impact lives, beyond their earthly timeline.

So who's the winner???

1 Samuel 17
This is perhaps one of the most talked about chapter in the Bible, its about David and Goliath. Well we all know the story so lets go on to the lessons I learnt.

1. False fear-The giant Goliath, came out just to scare them, if he really wanted to fight he could have attacked the Israelites.He instead was controlling the Israel's victory by just scaring them by his size. "16 For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand. "This gives me a clear picture of what satan tries to do. Now since Goliath was a Philistine, I think they had a long history of Israeli-Philistine war before them, that had evidence of how God gave Israelites victory over them. So his job was probably not to fight but just stand there scaring people. If the Israelites would have not considered him and fought with the Philistines, I think they would have won. In our lives too, our defeated foe, keeps bringing up things or makes situations "seem" as though he is the tough guy, but actually we are the ones with a history of our victory along with Jesus, who made such a spectacle of the enemy when He rose up from the dead."And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. Colossians 2:15 (Whole Chapter) "So who is on the Winning Side?
2. Talking about the situation- What were the soldiers from Israel doing, if they weren't fighting. They were talking amongst themselves."25 Now the Israelites had been saying, "Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his father's family from taxes in Israel." (1 Samuel 17:25). Don't we all do that sometimes, when facing a situation that "seems" huge we talk about it, describe it in detail to each other, and probably hope for how wonderful it would be if somehow we won over it, but we dare not go and fight with the "sword of the Word of God" . Why?
3. David is not afraid of Goliath!!!- David here shows us a wonderful example of how a believer can live in victory rather than in fear. Goliath wasn't attacking them, he was simply scaring them so they wouldn't attack the Philistines, if in any case, the Israelites ran away from their place in fear, the Philistines would have captured that much land. Hey doesn't satan also do the same with us believers, but did you know, he cannot touch us "18We 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]."(1 John 5:18). So what are we afraid of, like the Israelites? If we're on the right track and obedient to God, we have nothing to fear.
4. David's First Response-".... Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?" (1 Samuel 17:26) It sounds to me like, how dare that fellow come against the people of a Living God.What an example!!! So should the response of the people of the Living God be, if someone in your family is unsaved and you've been praying hard...lets say ". satan, how dare you touch my family, I belong to a Living God, and the Word of God says in Ps 24:1 the earth and everything in it belongs to my God, so take your hands off of my property and my family."
5. Not only in words but in actions too-Now David wasn't just talking fancy about how Goliath was defying the army of the Living God. He meant every word, because he was willing to put his words into action. He meant every thing he said. "What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him. 32 David said to Saul, "Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him." David was willing to fight, he took his stand.
6. What's our background for the battle-What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him. Ok, now take a look at this conversation "33 Saul replied, "You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth."
   34 But David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." (1 Samuel 17:33-37). Now I am surprised, at the comparison David makes with what he has done before, a battle is totally different from hunting, don't you think so? Here, for David, its the same...you know why? because his baseline or anchoring point that joins all this together is "The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine..". So what's our anchoring point when it comes to our battles, when our seemingly giant problems holler at us? Are you getting it??? David didn't go to fight thinking of the type of victories he won, but Who enabled him to win them all.

Conclusion: David has taught us some very important things about our spiritual battle, its up to us to pick up the lessons his life experience teaches us. Problems in life may seem to stand up and shout at us, but I hope now you know who's bigger, the problem or our Living God. How dare the loser satan try to defy the army of God. So stand up and be bold and strong and win the battles in life with the power that back you up.

The Joy of Knowing-God is in control

Reading through, 1 Samuel 1-16 chapters I find the Israelites, kept making mistakes and God kept finding ways to get them back into His perfect plan. I sometimes wonder, would we (the people now) have got any chance to hear this wonderful gospel if God would have given up on the Israelites when they continued to revolt against Him. When they grumbled in the desert during Moses' time or now when they chose a king for themselves. Well God knew, all this would happen Isaiah 46:10 declares" I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come...I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please."

Over the years of my walk with Jesus Christ, I have been obedient and I have been disobedient sometimes too. I have learnt something from all this, that God does not give up on His children, until His children totally give up on God. We are made to give up by the enemy's voice which keeps nagging us, saying "God doesn't love you any more, you sinned, don't you remember?" Well initially I used to get bogged down by that thought. Then I learnt -NEVER TO FIGHT A THOUGHT WITH A THOUGHT, BUT WITH THE WORD OF GOD" So I did just that. Took the Word of God and found out what I should do and it always has answered all my questions and led me out.

A verse that impresses me is Job 42:2 "I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. "This is Job's testimony after all that happened to him.

Well every time I see disobedience in the Bible, I saw that God makes a way around it or through it and takes His children out. Every body made a mistake from Noah onwards, but God finally had the perfect plan brought into our world through Jesus Christ who was without sin/blemish. The perfect person to take away our sins and disobedience. Now the people also paid for their mistakes, because the consequences will always be there.

In 1 Samuel 1-16 I found that the Israelites, under the leadership of Samuel, sin against God and want a king (like all other nations). God knew this wouldn't work. From the Israelites' point of view, all other nations had king and so it should work for them too. However they failed to realise, they had God Himself as king, else which nation would be able to stand without a king and stay together as a nation? Now God went with their demand, but since He knew it wouldn't work, God had a man prepared after His own heart "David". The plan was good per the people's eyes, but God had a perfect plan.

Lessons I learnt
God has a perfect plan for all His children, all who declare Lord Jesus to be their Saviour. It is really as simple as saying, no to our own selfish ways and saying "Yes Lord, let your will be done. I want you Lord and your plan be done in my life" Something amazing happens. As beings of reasoning, we like to be in control of our lives and know whats happening. I used to be like that, I wanted to know exactly what I would do next. After a certain change took place in my life, I have turned my life over to God like I've never done before. I can see God's plan now making things beautiful for me....no no troubles are not gone away.....they're very much present...but its that amazing knowledge, that God is in control . Its that joy that assures me God's plan for my life cannot be thwarted and you know what His plans are?... Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. " Now how can I not want a plan like that??? Would you?

Obedience Better Than Sacrifice

Everything in Saul's life as king started well, until the time, he started disobeying God.

The beginning of being a king-Saul

1. Samuel anoints Saul-1 Samuel 10:1
2. Saul was filled with the Spirit of God and became a different man and even prophesied-1 Samuel 10:6-10
3. Anointed people went with Saul, as he started his term to be king, after being publicly elected as king by Samuel. ( 1 Samuel 10:26)
4. Saul rescued the city of Jabesh, the Spirit of the Lord led Saul to win-(1 Samuel 11:6)

The beginning of disobedience(1 Samuel 13)

The Philistines were gathered together to fight against the Israelites.Samuel had asked Saul to wait for seven days, until Samuel comes and leads them in the sacrifice to the Lord. The enemy was large(about 6000-numerous,1 Samuel 13:5). The soldiers in the Israelites camp started trembling at the sight. They were so scared they started scattering. Saul thought sacrifice would help them win the battle. He did not wait for Samuel to come, and performed the sacrifice himself.The reason Saul gives is "1 Samuel 13:12 I thought, 'Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the LORD's favor.' So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering."

Analysing the fall

1. Saul gave more importance to a ritual, than to obedience to God- He thought, the sacrifice would help him out of the situation and give him favor with God, here's where we hear the most precious words from Samuel "To obey is better than sacrifice".Sometimes, in our christian life too, we start thinking of the rituals, whatever they be, are more important than obeying God. Of course the rituals or functions are set so that we may have orderliness and not for creating favor with God. Just by doing 5 extra sacrifices a day, I will not get any closer to God. God had asked Saul, to wait for 7 days, Saul could not even fulfil that simple command. He thought sacrifice is what pleases God.
2. Later on in 1 Samuel 15- we see that, when God had asked Saul to completely destroy the Amalekites, with nothing to be spared, Saul spares the best ones, so that he could sacrifice to the Lord.

Lesson I learnt

Saul got severely caught up with rituals and sacrifice which led to his disobedience. He was soooo much into sacrificing and the performance of those rituals, that he didn't have any more space to listen to what God was saying. I think I was a kind of Saul one time, I was so involved with ritualistic christianity, that to me without that, life with the Lord wouldn't work. No wonder I wasn't hearing much from the Lord. Until one day, the Lord showed me that He delights in my obedience, more than my sacrifice. So what does it mean? Should I no longer follow the rituals? Well I don't think so. Its only us, that start giving importance to things, that weren't meant to be given God's place in our lives. God gave us the sun and the moon and the stars so we could get light during the day and a night lamp for the night. That doesn't mean we start worshipping them and make them, to be higher than their creator.

I am learning, now, to be careful in obedience. For right now, I know God is waiting on me to see if I will be more obedient than anything else. I've got to wait, though I long for my breakthrough, and see how God works out everything for me, for my petition is made to the Lord and I know He will not rest until that is taken care of. So for you too, I pray for the reader who's waiting like me for their breakthrough, be it 7 days or 70, will we be able to wait till the time is due for us, or are we going to rush up things on our own, like Saul did?