GROW IN PRAYER LIFE

Prayer is a form of communication with God. It is important to be in touch with the unseen God through prayer even from childhood. We can communicate with God through prayer anytime and anywhere. Prayer involves refraining our five senses from the external world. This cannot be obtained if you don't grow in prayer life, from time to time.

The Bible teaches us how to pray in Mt 6:5-14. It says, we should go to a separate room, close the door and pray to our unseen God with minimal words because He knows all our needs even before we ask. Jesus himself did this at Gethsemane. He went to a lonely place there, leaving His disciples a little behind, threw His face to the ground and just said 'take away this cup of suffering from me, if it is your will' (Mt 26:39).

When you look at the history of first century Christians, they had prayerful churches and they lead a prayerful life which helped them to achieve a lot of things. Prayer life should grow each day and should be a permanant experience. It should not be static or stragetic or systematic. Let not our prayers be constant instead, let it change according to our needs. Then we will definitely feel that God is hearing and answering our prayers by some means. We can either see or hear God's reply on the same day or sometime later in our life.

Though there are no hard and fast rules that we have to be like this or that while praying, it is important that we show some kind of respect and adoration to the one who created the heaven and earth, and who is the king of this universe. The reverence can be shown by bowing down, hands kept crossed, eyes closed and heads covered (esp women). Through prayers, we pour out our thoughts and emotions, we confess our sins, we place our petitions, and we thank Him for the blessings we have received.

Let's see the four important things a prayer can do in the discussion below.
1. Prayer changes life: Our God is a miracle working God. He can change our life in no time when we believe and go to Him with a humble heart. Is 64: 4 says, God does certain things that no one would have ever heard or seen, to those who put their hope in Him through prayers. This is well explained in Hannah's life (1Sam 1&2). She was a childless woman, she went to the temple one day and cried bitterly and prayed for a son of her own. She believed that God will do it for her and she never doubted her prayer. Soon she was blessed with a son and this changed her life. Her happiness knew no bounds.

2. Prayer brings us closer to God: When we tell everything to God in prayer, the distance between us both will decrease. We will feel that God knows our in and outs, and our ups and downs. This will make us a new person and we'll be free from all our worries because we have someone else to carry all our burdens. Can you imagine how privileged we are to have such a close friend like Him just by praying.

3. Prayer makes our work worth: All of us pray for the work we do. We pray that we might shine well in our place of work. This is absolutely acceptable in God's sight because He is the one who blesses our work life too. Nehemiah worked as a emperor's wine steward. But he had the burden of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, He prayed to God day and night about it. God heard his prayers and He took away all the oppositions that was on his way. He rebuilt the wall of Jerusalem in just 52 days and made his work worth.

When we take Daniel's life, we all know how his prayer life made him a ruler over Babylon (Dan6:1-3). He prayed three times a day without fail or come what may, which made him do his work better than anybody in the whole empire.

4. Prayer is a powerful tool: I am sure everyone will agree with me that prayer is a powerful weapon that can fight any situations in life. King Ezekiel used this weapon to extend his life for another fifteen years. King David used this tool to win all his enemies. Acts chapter 12 proves that an earnest prayer is the powerful tool which can do any wonder (Peter being set free from prison).

Prayer should be a part of our life and it helps us to grow spititually to receive spiritual blessings. God says wherever two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in their midst. Let's invite Him in our midst by gathering as a family everyday. Family prayer is something very important, it solves many problems. The last days are very crual and bad, we must be strong in our faith and be able to pray (1 Pet4:7 and 2 Tim 3:15).

We all give tithe in the form of money but tithe is not just that. We have to offer one tenth of everything we get from God, which includes our time. We need to spend atleast 2 hours and 24 minutes in a day for God. We can read Bible, pray, praise Him by singing or hearing songs, listening or watching spiritual programs and messages in radio or telivision, read spiritual books or even telling others about Him. Let's not steal God's time.

A half an hour prayer is advisable every day. Getting up early and praying in the morning gives a good start. Spend first 5 minutes in praise and worship, second 5 minutes to thank Him for all the blessings or just say Ps 103 and 121, third 5 minutes to confess our weakness, fourth 5 minutes for mission, fifth 5 minutes for others and country and the last 5 minutes for yourself.

Let's ask and recieve everything from God through prayers, for our God is a rich God and His arm is not short. Our God is bigger than our needs. Let all our prayers turn to praises.

THE PRAISE OF GOD

We define praise as an act of making positive comments about a person. We praise many people saying you look beautiful or you danced well, looking at their exterior beauty and talents which tends to change next moment. God is the only person who is worthy of all our praises because He is the same yesterday, today and forever. But this God praises one particular character in Bible. God praises/testifies John the Baptist to be greater than any man who ever lived(Mt11:11), where John the Baptist was a simple person who wore clothes made out of camel's hair and ate locusts and wild honey, and he performed no miracles. Yet God testified him to be greater than anybody because He looks at a man's heart. Life of John the Baptist reflected servanthood and his heart was full of joy for the Lord. How wonderful it is to be praised by God!

Exalt, worship, rejoice, boast and giving thanks are few other words used in Bible to describe the praise of God. In other words, when we praise God we exalt Him, worship Him, rejoice in Him, boast in Him and give Him thanks. Ps 150 clearly tells us where to praise God, why to praise God, how to praise God and who all will praise God. David sang a lot of songs in praise of God. He praised God at all times in both good and bad.

In praise of God, exalt Him: In Ps 34:1-3, David praises God for all the goodness He has done in his life. He calls everybody to exalt God's name. He proclaims that God's greatness is high above the sky (Ps108:5, 118:28). Yes, everybody on earth should exalt Him for all the amazing and wonderful things He does in our day today life. He has created each and everyone of us with some plan and we might not know that now, but when we know that we might be too late to praise Him. Exalt His name by praising Him even in times of trouble, soon you'll know your joy is double. Is 25:1 explains this clearly for us.

In praise of God, worship Him: Praise and worship goes hand in hand. When we praise God, we are obviously worshiping Him. Worship means to bow down. Ps99:5,9 says worship the Lord in His throne and in sacred hill respectively. Ps 138:2 tells how David worshiped the Lord and offered his sacrifice of praise.

In praise of God, rejoice in Him: God's children always have a smile in their face. It does'nt mean that they are not undergoing the problems we are undergoing, they are also human's like us but still they wear a beautiful smile. Mt 5:12 testifies how prophets happily praised God even when they know they'll be persecuted for they know their reward is in heaven. At hard times, trust His holy name and be glad in Him(Ps33:21). When we praise God, we must be joyful for God has said "Rejoice in me". Our God is a holy God and He is superior to everything in the universe, we have to be glad in His presence and praise Him(Ps68:4). Ps9:2, Ps5:11, Ps149:3 speaks how joyfully we have to sing praise to our creater, king and almighty.

In praise of God, boast in Him: Can you imagine how happy you'll feel when our president claims you to be his relative? You can boast more than that because God, the creator of heaven and earth claims you to be His own son and daughter. Boast in Him because He is your superhero and He will save you from all situations. It is important to boast in Him even in times of trouble as Paul did. In Rom 5:3,4 Paul says, boast the troubles in the Lord which gives endurance and hope. Boast in the Lord for He is greater than our troubles.

In praise of God, give thanks to Him: Remember all the things that God has done in your life and praise Him by giving thanks. Ps 30:4 says, all people who are faithful should praise God by giving thanks, remembering everything the holy one has done. Give thanks to Him in the morning and in the nights remembering His constant love for us(Ps 92:1,2). Never stop praising Him all your life by giving thanks because each minute you live is by His grace.

Start praising God for all the blessings He has showered upon you and soon you will know they are innumerable. You wont be able to count them, one tongue wont be enough to praise God and a day will not be enough to sing His praises. If you are not going to praise Him, He is going to make the stones sing praises for Him. Offer sacrifice of praises, God loves it and He lives amidst it (that's what the angels do in heaven all day). As the sweet aroma of your praise go up, your blessings will start to pour down.

GOD'S LOVE

God has some unique character's, one among them is His love for us. Though the words "God's love" sounds common, I am sure it is worth reflecting over and over. His love means different to different people in different situations. There can be nobody in earth who can ever say that they have never tasted God's love.

God's love cannot be compared to the earthly love which we give to our husband or children or parents or siblings, because they change and is not pure. Agape is an ancient greek word which means self-sacrificing love of God for humanity. In 1 cor 13:4-7 God defines love as being patient, kind, truthful, unselfish, trusting, believing, hopeful, and enduring. It is not jealous, boastful, arrogant, rude, selfish, or angry. True love never fails. The description perfectly fits God's love towards us, and it should be the way we should love each other and God.

Some of the characteristic features of God's love are as follows:

SACRIFICIAL LOVE: "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" John3:16. Can you appreciate the sacrificial love here? Jesus was God's unique and eternal son but He was given to us just because GOD loved the world (none but us). Jesus came into this world as a normal human being, with same fresh and blood like us but the only difference was 'His greatest act of love' by giving His own life upon the cross.

UNCONDITIONAL LOVE: We do sacrifice a few things for others in this world but our love is always conditional. We expect them to do something back for us in return or will sacrifice only to a particular extent. Also we do this to people whom we know or to people whom we are forced to. This love is called phileo which we show to our brethren. 1 Peter 1:22 says "Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love [phileo] of the brethren, fervently love [agape] one another from the heart". Bible itself speaks of the different love existing in us. God's unconditional love is upon everybody (believers or non-believers), not based on familiarity or compulsion.

NON-PARTIAL LOVE: God created all kinds and colors of people. Some are tall, some are short, some are dark and some are light. He created us in such a way not for being partial but to love the difference. We are all special to God and He is not partial to anybody. He loves you as you are! He wants us to reciprocate the same kind of love to others. In Mt 22:39, He commands "Love your neighbour as you love yourself" and again in Mt 5:44 He commands "Love your enemies". These are given to us as commands and not as option like 'if you wish you love your neighour or enemy'.

UNCHANGING LOVE: People change from time to time, getting along with the world around them. And their love to their fellow beings also changes depending upon the situations and circumstances. It all depends on how other people behave toward us. But remember God loved us as sinners(Rom5:8). Jesus christ is the same yesterday, today and forever(Heb13:8) and His love never change to moods.

FORGIVING LOVE: God forgives because of His loving nature. He wants us also to forgive and love others for what so ever they could have done to us. This is best described from the parable of the prodigal son Luke15:11-32. For many of us it may sound unfair but we cannot judge God. If God was fair both the sons will go to hell. God judges the heart and forgives all sin because of His outrageous love.

ENDURING LOVE: God's love is enduring from generation to generation. Deut 7:9 says Lord keeps His covanent of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands. He even spares the life of Isrealites whey they disobeyed Him for the covanent of love He made with the ancestors. 1 Chr16:34 says, "Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever".

UNFAILING LOVE: God's love never fails because it is true and pure. David puts his trust in the Lord because of His unfailing love. Ps 13:5, 21:7, 31:16,52:8 describes the unfailing love of God. When we obey His commands like David, God will surely shower His unfailing love on us as He did to David.

INCOMPARABLE LOVE: We all know our parents or our spouse love us so much. Bible says, will someone give you a snake when you ask him a fish, or will your parent's give a stone for you to eat? When our earthly parents can love us so much, you can imagine howmuch our heavenly father will love us and care for us. Ps 27:10 tells, even if your father and mother forsake you, God will recieve you. His love cannot be compared with anyone else's love.

SELFLESS LOVE: Christ came to this world to lead a selfless life. He din't have a home or saved any riches when He was on earth, He went around healing sick people and forgiving sinners. He even washed His disciples feet. His selfless love is well depicted on the cross. He knew He is going to give His life for us even before He was born but still He chose to come because of this selfless love.

God's love can be expressed in many other terms like wonderful love, faithful love, divine love, thoughtful love...and it completely different from carnal love. Carnal love comes by shooting arrows on a person and telling him/her to fall in love, it does'nt come from the heart and hence it is the opposite of God's love. God's love has no borders and it is beyond reasoning. But luckily God's love can be taught, Titus 2:3,4 says "older women are to teach the younger women to love their husbands, to love their children."

God is love, whoever loves one another knows God and whoever does not love does not know God (1 John4:7,8). Love one another and know God personally. You own Him the way He owns you for for the Bible says "He has carved you in the palm of His hand". If He has a wallet He will definitely have your photo there because He loves you very dearly.

THE RECIPE OF A HAPPY MARRIED LIFE

Life on earth will be happy if our family life is blessed. A family is created when God unites a man and a woman in marriage. It was God who thought "It is not good for a man to live alone; I will make him a suitable companion to help him Gen 2:18." And it was not Adam who approached God about the situation and asked for a companion. Adam didn't know what he was missing! It was God who initiated the whole thing because that was His perfect plan. God instituted marriage, so He certainly knows how to make it work properly.

This topic is for all couple's and for those who are soon to be married. I hope you read this and be benefitted. It is absolutely necessary for us to build a home called " family " with " God " as the corner stone. It's rightly said in Ps 127:1 that 'If the Lord does not build the house, the work of the builders is useless'.

As all of you know foxes are known for their cunningness, there are foxes listed in Bible which ruin a happy family life. When we identify them at the right time and escape from the cunning tricks of these foxes we will surely lead a happy family life. For the Bible says, in song 2:15 that 'Catch the foxes, the little foxes, before they ruin our vineyard that is in bloom'.

There are ten little foxes that I would like to discuss here, which we have to hunt and chuck them out to lead a happy family life.

1. BEING PROUD: Proudness is part of some people's life, it is born with them. Proudness can be related to their richness, beauty or education. But when it comes to family life it's better for both the husband and the wife to come out of the proud feeling. If anyone (husband or wife) feels, I am greater than her or my family is greater than his, now is the time to throw away the cunning fox (proudness) out of your life to lead a happy life. 1Pet 5:5b says 'God resists the proud, but shows favour to the humble'.

2. FINDING FAULT: As human beings, it has become very easy for us to find fault in others rather than to analyse and rectify the fault that's in us. God tells us to look into the plank of dust that's in our eyes before we point that on others. There is nobody under the sky who is faultless, you and your partner are no exception. Once you are married, you will have to accept your partner as they are with all their weaknesses. They are grown ups and you cannot try to correct them. Instead, understand you too have your own weaknesses and try to appreciate the good things in them.

3. ANGER: It is normal for us to get angry but what you do once you are angry and how you get out of this anger is more important. Husbands, are you throwing things or using harsh words at your wife or avoiding a talk or even beating them? Wifes, are you shouting and fighting with your husband or punishing them by depriving him from his pleasureable activity? If you are doing this you are making things worser. Ps 4:4 says, 'In your anger, do not sin'. Instead be quiet, think over the situation from your partner's point of view. Even if, your partner is wrong, you be the first to apologise and start a pleasant conversation. Prov 25:28 says, if you cannot control your anger, you are helpless like a city without walls, open to attack. Beware of this cunning fox and let it not attack your happy family.

4. UNFORGIVING: There is always small fights and misunderstandings in a family life. But once the fight is over, forgive eachother and forget the incident completely. Don't feel shy or be ashamed to ask for forgiveness. Col 3:13 says, 'Be tolerant and forgive one another, whenever any of you have a complaint against someone else. Forgive just as the Lord forgives you.' You should forgive whole heartedly because that is the kind of forgiveness God is expecting from us Mt18:35. And when you say you have forgiven with all your heart, remember you are not going to talk about that incident anymore and not going to point out the days happening at any point of life in future. Mt 6:15 says, 'when we don't forgive others, our father in heaven will not forgive the wrongs that we have done'. If we want forgiveness for our sins we have to forgive others sins.

5. UNYIELDING: As arguements become a part of day to day life, it is good for one person to yield to another. Otherwise this little fox will start to play his own tricks. If you are not going to yield, you are going to break. Imagine a man riding on a bullock cart and he wants to turn left, what he does is he will lash the ox to his right with his whip which has a needle. In pain, the ox on his right will turn to take a left turn. That's how it goes. Will the rider be able to reach the destiny if the oxen turn in their own direction? Definitely no. Likewise, one should yield to the other and it will surely cause pain to the one who is taking the turn but you will be able to reach the destiny.

6. DOUBT: Let doubt never enter your mind at any cost. If this cunning fox enter's your family, it is not going to be easy to chase him away. Better don't let him in. Marriage is a trusting relationship. Trust your partner completely. If you dont trust your partner, you are going to doubt anything and everything. Once you are married, its good to maintain a distance with friends of opposite sex. Do not do anything for your parents or friends or colleagues without the knowledge of your spouse. There should not be any secrets between you both. If you want to help your family or friends with money, you discuss with your spouse and do it with his/her consent.

7. INTRUDERS: When you have problems in your family, do not let your parents or friends or another third person intrude you. Only you know the depth of the situation and you are old enough to take a decision. In Ps 45:10, the Bible says ' Bride, forget your people and relatives'. You can ask opinions from elders or share the problem with the person you rely but let them not decide for you. And let not their opinions impose your decision because its your family and you are going to live.

8. AUTHORITY: God has given equal authority for a husband and a wife. This authority is given to take care of each other well and fulfil the marital duties, not to boss over eachother. This is well explained in 1cor 7:3,4. Always let the male partner be incharge of the family, let the female partner walk beside him and take responsibility when it's absolutely necessary. Use this God given authority in a constructive way.

9. COMPARING: This is one common mistake that many of us make. Many conflicts in family arises when we compare our partner with somebody else, say it for keeping the house clean or the way of dressing or the matter of saving money. Each individual is different and they have their own positive and negative ends. Never think you are not a good suit for your spouse, like; I am not beautiful but my husband is handsome or viseversa. When you say that you are openly confessing against God and His creation because God created everybody in His own image and He is the one who has united you. 2cor 10:12 says "They measure themselves by themselves, and compare themselves among themselves which is not wise, for they judge by their own standards!." I am sure all of you believe God's standards are different and always high compared to ours.

10. LACK OF TIME TOGETHER: Spending time together will prevent and put an end to a lot of problems. When you face a problem, don't pack your things to your parents house or try to live seperately, that is not going to solve the problem. Physical presence or togetherness is very important at this time. The scripture clearly tells 'a man should leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and they become one Gen 2:24.' Take time and talk about the problem. Go to a quiet place or may be a restaurant/beach together and ventilate your feelings. Make outing as a family a must every week, this not only gives you privacy but also refreshes your mind.

A few other but important tips include:

1. Praying everyday together and being regular to Church.

2. Respecting eachother's family.

3. Appreciating eachother.

Love one another with God's kind of love. Everything will go well until you find something wrong with your spouse, but at that time let your love not fade away. Thats why I described it as God's love. God's love is unchanging, it is the same yesterday, today and forever. He know's we are sinners, yet He loved us and died for our sins (Rom5:8). Aren't you glad that God treated us that way? We didn't do anything to merit God's love. He just chose to give it. We can choose to receive that kind of love and then give it to others in the same way.

Wish you all a very happy married life!!!

HOPE IS FAITH IN FUTURE TENSE

Looking forward with confidence and expectation is what we say as HOPE. We always put our hope on a hard surface like a tree stump or a rock. But the hope that God gives us is more than a tree stump or a rock, on which we can climb over and jump confidently with joy, holiness, endurence and boldness.

1 Thes4:13-5:11 describes the Lord's coming and the main purpose of this passage is hope and encouragement. We need to wear the hope of salvation as the helmet and encourage others by words of hope. Hope is something that we desire, it has both the subject and the object. And both the subject and object of what we desire is hope.

David says," I put my hope in God, my Savior and my Lord, I will praise Him. Why are you downcast my soul and why disrupted within me?". Many of our soul is in this situation, we are all burdened with the cares of our own. But are we casting our burdens on God and hoping for the best? Our desire shall be anything, looking to come out of financial crises, marital problems, seperation, future studies, unemployment, childlessness, addiction, success of our children, loss of beloved ones or health problems. Put your hope on God for He is stronger than a rock.

If you put your hope in God, you should
1.Never be sad again. 1 Thes 4:13 says why are you sad as if you have no hope in God.
2.Praise God. Ps42:5 and Ps71:14 says David put his hope in God and kept praising Him.
3.Encourage one another with words of hope. 1 Thes5:9-11 says we have to keep encouraging others to have hope in God.
4.Be strong and courageous. Ps31:24 says so.
5.Trust only in Him. Ps33:17 says horse is a vain hope of victory despite its great strength.
6.Wait patiently. Ps 33:20 and Ps130:5 says God protects and helps those who wait in hope.


Our days are like shadows without hope(1Chr29:15). God gives us hope to live as He has promised(Ps119:49). And those who hope in Him will renew their strength and flap their wings like eagle, where they run and never grow weary, they walk and never faint(Is40:31). Jesus christ died on the cross and He rose again to give a HOPE for tomorrow. Hope is faith in future tense.

RICH IN MERCY

Mercy generally means an authoritative person showing compassion to somebody who is under him. Our God is a great king, we are His subjects and from Him we receive mercy a million times. We can never do anything in return for His countless mercies.

Isaiah 55 speaks about God's offer of Mercy. He calls the poor, who are hungry and thirsty to come and have corn, wine and milk for no money. He relates this to the "LIFE", the life filled with blessings, honor and glory. He is a merciful God, He gives everything free, He even gave His life freely for us.

God's mercies are always rich(Eph2:4). He wants us to receive the best things in life which we have never thought of. Our thoughts are more humanly but not His. His thoughts and ways are much different and always higher than ours, high as the heaven from the earth(Is55:8-9). His mercies come down like the snow and the rain, very gently, not letting the crops to be destroyed but to grow. The mercies He showers from heaven are blessings and promises that are compared to snow and rain here. It will reach us slowly and gently not to destroy us but to grow us perfectly. God's mercies are perfectly timed.

Let's always wait for His mercies patiently. The mercies which started to rain is not going to go back to heaven unless the 'task' is done. His task is to make us happy, He is capable of changing our sorrows to happiness. His mercies will never fail us.

TO RECIEVE HIS MERCY:

1.We should never feel tired waiting for His mercies.

2.Keep begging God continuously(Job41:3)

3.Cry out for mercy(Ps6:9, Ps28:2,6)

4.Ask forgiveness from sin(Ps41:4, Ps79:8, Prov28:13)

5.Seek mercy as a promise(Ps51:1)

6.Plead like a poor man for mercy, humble yourself(Prov18:23, Dan2:18)

7.Desire mercy(Hos6:6, Mt12:7)

8.Show mercy to others(Zec7:9)

9.Fear God(Lk1:50)

10.Believe Him(1Tim1:16)

11.Approach with confidence(Heb4:16)

Let's try doing all the above mentioned things to receive His mercy because God has mercy on whom He wishes to have mercy(Rom9:18). Remember, we are not going to be saved because we are righteous, but because of His mercy(Tit3:5). Mercy triumphs judgement.

GOD'S WRATH

"....for the great day of their wrath is come; and who is able to stand? Rev 6:17 "

Many of us don't like talking about God's wrath and many churches do not stress on this topic. We always think of God as a meek and forgiving God. But it is highly necessary for us to understand that God does get angry and He is capable of punishing us in His wrath, when we don't follow His instructions. GOD IN BIBLE IS NOT THE SAME GOD WHOM WE HAVE IMAGINED.


I would like to discuss God's wrath under four sub-topics here.

1.God's wrath is ETERNAL: God makes a note of all our sins in His book and He seperates us from His children and punishes us at the day of His judgement. Dan12:2 says, at the day of His judgement everyone will come alive, some will have eternal life and some will suffer from His ETERNAL wrath.

Mark9:43-48 prooves that He will remember our sins ETERNALLY for He says cut off your hands or legs or eyes that sins and throw it in fire, its better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one hand or one leg or one eye than to be thrown into hell.

He is a jealous God: says He will punish the children for the sins of their fathers to the 3rd and 4th generation(Exo20:4-6). David knows about this God, so he ask's for God's forgiveness on His Nation(Ps85:5). God wants us to accept Him and obey His commands. If we are not going to heed His words, remember His wrath is going to be eternal as said in 2Thess1:7-9.


2.God's wrath is TERRIBLE: God's wrath is terrible like a blazing fire. According to Mt13:41-42, He will send His angels to gather all those who have sinned and did evil things, to throw them into the fiery furnace. Also says, He will come on a day when we dont expect Him and will punish us TERRIBLY for the sins we have done and throw us where there is crying and gnashing of teeth(Mt24:50-51 and Mt25:30).

Job4:9 tells God's anger destroys everything like a storm. Rev18:18-20 best describes the last days on earth for those who are not God's people.


3.God's wrath is TOTALLY DESERVED: Reading this article will make you think, do i deserve God's wrath? Did i do anything that big to deserve such a big punishment? Yes, anybody not obeying any of His commands is worthy of God's wrath. All His commandments are equally important, stealing or lying is no way inferior to killing or adultry. Lying for our convenience and disrespecting parents does count.

If you remember the story of King David, Bathsheba and prophet Nathan(2 Sam 11 & 12), Nathan makes David realize the sin he has committed and God punished David's child. Sometimes we do certain things which makes us happy but that does not please God. God will remember even such sins and punish us at the right time.

Many at times, we dont realize our own stink, we will know only if somebody tells. Though our stink(sin) is small, remember God is infinitely holy and clean. Think about that... God will not let you enter heaven when you say 'i stink very little'. Repent from sin and never do it again, humble yourself completely and ask God for His undeserved blessing(grace).

4.God's wrath is ESCAPABLE: Isn't that a good news??? God never wants us to suffer His anger. He always chose us to lead a sin free happy life. 1Thess5:9-10 says that, 'God did not want us to suffer His anger but receive salvation through Christ who died for us'. According to Ps30:5, His anger lasts only for a moment but His favor lasts a lifetime. Let's find favor in His eyes and escape wrath.

This topic would have been a little heavy for our hearts but it's all true. We are accountable for everything we do on His judgement day. The day is near, be ready to escape God's wrath.

BATTLE AGAINST SIN

We have to battle sin in order to receive life that is controlled by spirit. When we are controlled by our body, it results in death. But when we are controlled by the spirit, it results in life (Rom 8:6).

A person controlled by body becomes an enemy of God, he does not obey God's law and does not belong to Christ. But when you are a person controlled by the spirit, you are raised from death (given life) as Christ was raised from death by the spirit that is in us (Rom 8:7-11). We also become God's children (Rom 8:14,16).

Paul says that he sees a different law at work in his body - a law that fights against the law which his mind approves of, which makes him a prisoner to the law of sin. Also adds, Thanks be to God who is rescuing him from it through Lord Jesus Christ (Rom 7:23-25). So when we are tempted to do any sin, we need not harm ourselves by plucking out our eyes or cutting our hands, instead ask God to rescue from our human nature. Put to death the sinful action and you'll live though your body dies (Rom 8:13). God will rescue us by giving peace and crush satan under his feet (Rom 16:20).

Everyone who sins is a slave of sin (John 8:34). A slave of sin does not belong to God's family but a son belongs to there for ever (John 8:35)

Engaging in daily battle
We have to fight the daily battle against sin. We are tempted to sin by several means. But we being God's children ought to fight against sin by

• Memorising Bible verses and telling them again and again in our mind, not giving any room for sin to come in.




• We can have Bible verses pasted at our place of work (eg. kitchen, office table..) which can remind us to keep satan away from his work.




• Reading Bible, not just for the sake of reading but meditating on it and getting filled with God's presence.




• Listening to God's message / music and involving ourselves by singing and giving praises to Him.




• Telling God's love and good news to others wherever we can, however we can & to whomever we can.




• Asking God for forgiveness (praying) for the sins we have done.




• Taking steps to get rid of our sins / temptations and not turning back to them. Say to the sin/satan that God is in me and I'm with God.

According to Hebrews 4:16, lets approach God's presence confidently where we receive mercy and find grace which will help us to fight the daily battle against sin.

Christobel Rajesh

MY MONEY? I DON'T THINK SO

You might have heard lot of sermons on money in Church. Why do we talk more about money? Because

• Jesus talked more about money


• God rewards those who earnestly seek Him and faithfully follow Him


• God owns everything


• Heart is where your money is

In the parable of the shrewd manager (Luke 16:1-13), there was a rich man who had a servant to manage his property shows he had lots of money and he believed his servant. But the servant was wasting his master's money. Here God is compared to a rich man and we are His servants and he has entrusted His money to us.

How are we utilizing His money?
* Helping the poor and needy with food shelter and clothing
or
* Helping to build churches or sponsoring a missionary
or
* Sponsoring a child in his/her studies or meeting his/her health needs
or
* Buying things to beautify ourselves
or
* Spending money in casinos / races / drinks / drugs

God always wants us to use His money in the way He likes because it is His money. We get from Him and we can't pay Him back in anyway.

There are many ways God encourages to handle His money. He says

1. Sell all your riches and give it to the poor (Mark 10:17-29)


2. Appreciates the poor widow who put the last coins she had (Mark 12:41-44)


3. Visits Zaccheaus house who gave half his belongings to the poor and paid 4 times to whom he had cheated (Luke 19:1-9)


4. Give it in such a way that not even your closest friend standing next to you will not know (Mat 6:1-4)


5. Appreciates the Samaritan who poured the oil and wine and also paid the inn keeper 2 silver coins to take care of an unknown man (Luke 10:2-37)


6. He encourages to pay due taxes (Luke 20:19-26)

There are lots of parables that speak about money and how God wants us to utilize it.

Here in the parable of shrewd manager He says

• Be faithful in small matters and God will make you charge over large ones


• Should be faithful in what belongs to others than what belongs to us


• Nobody can serve two masters (money & God). He should hate one and love another


• We are all accountable for the money we receive from God on the judgement day.

Money gives joy. So spend the money the way He teaches you to spend and receive eternal joy.

Always remember - IT IS HIS MONEY HE HAS ENTRUSTED YOU WITH.

Christobel Rajesh

GRACE DECAYS

This topic may sound a little wierd. But go ahead reading, it has deeper meanings.

In Christianity, the word GRACE refers to sovereign favor of God for mankind. It is a free supernatural gift from God which man cannot earn or deserve or merit or cannot claim as a right. Grace is forgiveness of sin and not a licence to sin. John 8:11 tells that Jesus forgave a sinner by grace but He commands the person to leave the life of sin. Jesus himself did not use the word "GRACE" many times in Bible. But he is a gracious God and His preachings (parables) were based on grace, which teaches us to forgive any sin regardless of the unworthiness of its recepient. Examples of grace include prodigal son, good samaritan and lost sheep.

Paul's letter to Romans describes a lot about God's grace and glory. Humankind is born in a state of sin, the sinful nature is inherited from the fall of Adam and Eve in Eden. So this confirms that we enjoy God's grace. But does that mean we can go on sinning so that the grace may increase. By no means!!! We died to sin; how can we live it any longer.

Sin leads to death and grace leads to eternal life or righteousness (Rom 5:2). We need to accept that we are sinners, if we try to prove ourselves that we are right in obeying God's laws, then we fall from God's grace (Gal 5:4) [Grace decays].

Sin is guilty of breaking God's law and Christ appeared to take away our sins because he has never sinned. So whoever accepts Christ will not sin and whoever continues to sin has not accepted Christ (I John 3: 4-6). We receive grace through Jesus Christ. When we don't receive Him we lose grace [Grace Decays].

We receive grace through Jesus Christ when we obey Him and His laws. God gave us the laws, He wants us to obey them and He also tests us (Exo 15:25). There is a simple Biblical incident which illustrates the decay of grace when we disobey God's commands. The Israelites complain about hunger to Moses and Aaron and God graciously rains heavenly food - Manna and Quails to them and God commands them to collect the food only for that day. But there were people who disobeyed God's command and collected more than what they needed for a day. They all found the food full of worms and smelt rotten and were decayed the next morning (Exo 16:1-20) [Grace decays]

My dear friends, God's love never ceases, His grace is new every morning.

Christobel Rajesh

OPEN UP THE SENSES TO FEEL GOD

Senses are physiological methods of perception, in simple words they are faculty by which outside stimuli are perceived. There are five classical senses (viz. sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch) that are taught to us since childhood. But neuro-science has proved that there are at least seven senses in humans. It is classified by the sensory type cells which respond to specific kind of physical energy. Let’s not go into the physiology of senses but reflect how characters in Bible sense God’s love, and how are we going to open up our senses to feel God.

SIGHT
Do you know: Apart from two senses of sight (viz. color and brightness) there is a third sense that has popped up – Dimension.

Sense of sight is very important. You might have read how Jesus healed the two blind men on His way to Jerusalem (Mat 20:34), blind beggar Bartimaeus receiving his sight (Mark 10:52), incident at Bethsaida (Mark 8:25) and the most wonderful of all - healing the man who was born blind (John 9:7). Did you notice all of them testified Jesus and followed Him.

Being blessed with sight, have we testified God or are we guilty about them (John 9:41)? Like Balaam – whose spiritual eyes were opened to see God’s warning (Numb 22:31). Let’s open our spiritual eyes and overcome our spiritual blindness.


HEARING
Do you know: Sense of hearing disciplines our life because we learn a lot of things by hearing. It improves our communication (both verbal and non verbal) and language.

Jesus says he who has ears listen to me (Mat 13:9). He wants us to hear His words and have faith. Faith is believing the unseen. Romans 10:17 says: Faith comes from hearing and hearing the word of God. For His words will not fail to do what He has planned for it (Isaiah 55:11)

There is an incident in II Chr 34:14-33, where Shaphan reads the book of the law of the Lord to king Josiah. When the king heard the book being read, he tore his clothes, wept, repented, humbled himself before God and prayed. Not only that, he made all the people in his country hear the word of God and made them serve the Lord.

Every Sunday God’s words are being read to us and God’s message is passed on. Are we hearing that with our spiritual ears and responding the way we are supposed to? If not let’s start doing it now and also make others hear His words.

TASTE
Do you know: Taste is a chemical sense which can sense sweet, salt, sour, bitter and now umami (an amino acid glutamate) which is found in meat and in artificial flavorings.

O taste and see that the Lord is good (Ps 34:8). All of us know this verse but have we ever thought whether we have ever tasted God? Take a moment to think about this. We all would have tasted God in one way or the other. Its through His love and mercy that we taste Him. We all are created with some kind of problem in this world for which God helps us to endure it through His love and mercy. King David sings these words of praise after he had endured the bad times in his life. Remember we all have a battle to fight with and God will fight that battle for us and give us victory.

Taste, food and hunger are inter-related to each other. It changes certain situation of life. It changed the life of Jacob (Gen 27), Israelites (Manna & quail – Ex 16:1), Jonathan (I Sam 14:43), Daniel (Dan 1:8-14) and many more.

Lets us keep our taste buds open to feel God. Let our soul thirst for Him (Ps 63:1) and lets go drink from His cup and be satisfied (John 7:37)

SMELL
Do you know: Smell is also a chemical sense. Nose has more than 100s of olfactory receptors which helps us to identify a variety of smell. Dogs have much keener sense of smell than humans.

Paul rightly describes the importance of each organ in our body (I Cor 12:17). Each part has its own role to play. God liked the odour that came from the sacrifice made by Noah, so He promised that He will never curse the earth because of man whose heart is evil from childhood (Gen 8:21). Isaac uses sense of smell to identify his son and bless him (Gen 27:27).

Smell is always related to appetite. So let’s have a good appetite towards God’s love. Let’s smell God’s love from the people and nature around us and also let others smell the same from us. Let’s not be like a dead fly in a perfume bottle which makes the whole bottle stink (Ecc 10:1), instead spread the sweet aroma of sacrifice (praise and thanksgiving) which God likes and will bless us.

TOUCH
Do you know: The study of touch in humans is called haptics. Touch seems to produce many hormones and convey different non-verbal messages.

Before I touch this topic let me tell you God is going to give you a perfect touch. He says: For whoever touches you touches the apple of my eyes (Zech 2:18). In old testament, there are a lot of “Do not touch warnings”.
Ø He told Eve not to touch the apple (Gen 3:3)
Ø He gave a list of forbidden items that’s regarded unclean (Numbers & Leviticus)
Ø Uzzah died because he touched the covenant box which only consecrated people can touch. (II Sam 6:7)



In New Testament Jesus touched and healed a lot of them. He touched
Ø Peter’s mother-in-law and the fever left her (Mat 10:15)
Ø A man with a dreadful skin disease and he became clean (Mark 1:41)
Ø A man who was deaf and mute started to hear & speak without any trouble (Mark 7:33,35)
Ø The little children who were brought to Him so that Jesus could touch him (Luke 18:15)


Among all of them the faith of the woman who was bleeding for 12 years is something admirable. She had a faith that if she touches the corner of His cloak, she will be healed. She touched it and she was healed (Mat 9:20-22). Let’s analyze if we have atleast 1/100th of her faith or are we like Thomas who wanted to put his fingers in His scars to believe Him (John 20:25). Never mind those like Thomas, God wants us to come and touch him (Luke 24:39).

To conclude our God is a God who has eyes that see, ears that hear, mouth that speaks, He can smell and feel things unlike other gods made of human hands which have eyes that do not see, ears that do not hear and mouth that do not speak (Ps 115:6 & Deut 4:28) and we are made in His image. Let’s thank God for the perfect senses He has blessed us with and let’s open up our senses to feel God.

Christobel Rajesh