Pin It Now! "What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the LORD" Jonah 2:9

In chapter 2 of the Book of Jonah, we read Jonah's prayer to God from within the belly of a fish. From there he says: "What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the LORD". Let's stop there for today's lesson.

Most of us have gone through similar situation though not exactly the same. In our anguish we have cried out to the Lord and have made vows to Him: Lord, if you give me this job, I will be regular with my tithe. If only you save me now, I will follow you the rest of my life... etc. But have we fulfilled these vows when the situations improved and we were delivered out of our distress? Not always would be the honest answer.

It comes easy to make a vow, but fulfilling it requires commitment and conscious efforts. With overwhelming demands of life we might even forget our vows. This can't be!

The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 5:4, When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it.

In Deuteronomy we read: If you make a vow to the LORD your God, do not be slow to pay it, for the LORD your God will certainly demand it of you and you will be guilty of sin. (23:21)

Take away for today is: Let us fulfill our vows to our Lord!

Pin It Now! If you are not feeling up to going to church today, here's a reminder for you:

“If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath

and from doing as you please on my holy day,

if you call the Sabbath a delight

and the Lord’s holy day honorable,

and if you honor it by not going your own way

and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,

then you will find your joy in the Lord,

and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land

and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”

The mouth of the Lord has spoken. Isaiah 58:13-14

It doesn't matter which day of the week we choose to gather to worship the Lord;  whichever day it is, let us do it willingly. Then we will find our joy in the Lord.

Pin It Now! * Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. Psalm 43:5
* A man's spirit sustains him in sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear? Proverbs 18:14

What these verses tell us is that mighty kings too felt downcast and crushed at times like the rest of us. Knowingly or unknowingly we get pulled into a broken spirit from time to time; which is hard to avoid.

When things don't work out, when the bills are mounting but resources have dried up, when a loved one's health gets affected, it is only natural to get low.

But what we do about it is what makes us different. Let's see how King David handled it:

* He puts his hope in God.
* He keeps praising the Lord.
* He acknowledges the Lord as his Savior.
* He sings praises for His Holy name

Let us learn from his example. Let us put our hope in our Lord. He will fill us all over again with His joy of salvation in no time. Absolutely no doubt about it!

Pin It Now! * All the trees of the field will know that I the LORD bring down the tall tree and make the low tree grow tall. I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish. "'I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it.'" Ezekiel 17:24
* The lowly will be exalted and the exalted will be brought low. Ezekiel 21:26
* He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honor. I Samuel 2:8
* But it is God who judges: He brings one down, he exalts another. Psalm 75:7

If you carefully read the verses above, you will understand they all talk about one message: It is God who lifts one up or brings one down.

None of us want to be brought down or made low. The trick is to avoid the trap. What is the trap that brings one low? Pride & arrogance. The Scripture clearly says, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." James 4:6. In Psalm 138:6 we read, "Though the LORD is on high, he looks upon the lowly, but the proud he knows from afar."

If we need His grace we need to get rid of pride and develop humility. Let's make it our daily prayer and conscious practice. Our Lord has spoken it; He will do it!

Pin It Now! * His heart is secure, he will have no fear; in the end he will look in triumph on his foes. Psalm 112:8
* Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. Hebrews 13:9

Different translations have different words for "secure" such as: confident, steady, upheld, established, resting safely, strengthend, maintained etc. So we get the point!

The question is how to keep our heart secure or established or steady?: I believe the answer is given in the second verse above: Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings.

When will we be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings? : Only when we do not know the fundamentals of our christian faith.

How to learn the fundamentals of our faith?: Of course, by learning the word of God.

How to learn the Word of God?: By reading, meditating, studying, listening and why not - by googling too! :)

Any teaching or doctrine or "vision" or "calling" that can not be traced back to B-I-B-L-E which is the Book for you and me; has to be dismissed as 'strange teachings'.

Then our heart will be secure, we will have no fear; in the end we will look in triumph on our foes! Amen?

Pin It Now! * The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? Psalm 118:6
* In God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? Psalm 56:11
* In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me? Psalm 56:4

I absolutely adore the total confidence in which King David sings about his trust in the Lord. No, these are not just words he wrote to fill up his page; he speaks from the abundance of his heart. The scripture says in Luke 6:45: ...of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. Very true of King David otherwise we will not find the consistency in his words across the different psalms.

He is not just sitting idle either. If we look at these verses closely we can see what more he did for his part:

1. The Lord is with him - Or in other words, he is with the Lord
2. In God he trusts - not on his own strength
3. He will not be afraid - of any man
4. In God, whose word he praises. - he reads the word of God and praises based on the word of God.
5. He trusts in the Lord - all over again
6. He will not fear of man - he is determined not to fear men.
7. He understands mortal man is no match for his Immortal Lord. - Amen!

If we follow in his foot steps, we too need not fear any man. We can boldly say:

* The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
* In God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
* In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?

Pin It Now! * A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid a man who talks too much. Proverbs 20:19
* A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy man keeps a secret. Proverbs 11:13

What is gossip?  (noun)

A person who habitually reveals personal or sensational facts about others.
A person who chatters or repeats idle talk and rumors, esp. about the private affairs of others.

The Bible instructs us to stay away from gossip. How do we stay away from gossip? The simple straight forward answer would be to put an end to a gossip then and there. I mostly tell people, "Let's not talk about it". It comes out awkward I am sure, but I would rather end it there than listening to the other person go on and on and on.

In my honest opinion listening to a gossip is equally bad as spreading the gossip. Also, remember a person who gossips about someone to you would definitely go around gossipping about you to others.

As believers we should not get trapped by the habit of gossipping. If someone shares a prayer request with you, don't feel the urge to go and share it with someone else. Keep it confident and pray over it. No act can justify a gossip.

Some people say, "I would like a good gossip or two". There is nothing "good" about any gossip. It is a waste of time and will surely come back to bite us. At any cost, let's avoid gossip!

Pin It Now! * Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD. Psalm 27:14
* Wait for the LORD and keep his way. He will exalt you to inherit the land. Psalm 37:24
* I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. Psalm 130:5

Very familiar verses I am sure; but not quite a familiar habit. We are not wired for 'waiting'. We get impatient and decide to run our show our way - whether God shows up or not... that's really sad.

Waiting on the Lord is way too important than we can imagine as our quick fixes could permanently damage our peace of mind. Sometimes answers to our prayers seem not quick enough but that doesn't mean we should hurry making decisions for ourselves. If God promised you something He will bring it to pass even if it takes time.

Here's a beautiful verse I want to bring to your attention: For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.Habakkuk 2:3

Knowing these verses gives us hope to wait on the Lord. Let us continue to wait!

Pin It Now! The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men. Isaiah 29: 13

As we get ready to worship the Lord today, let us take a closer look at our kind of worship. Is our worship made up of only rules taught by men? OR Is our worship streaming from sincere desire of our heart?

Do we only go to Him with our mouth and honor Him with our lips, OR do we truly love Him heart of heart?

If knowingly or unknowingly we have been trapped in to "rules taught by men" as opposed to true form of worship, let us seek to free our selves today. Let us be careful not to blindly follow any form of "worship" or teachings that are not in sync with the Word of God.

Let us worship our Lord with sincere hearts. Enjoy the "Son"day! God bless you all!

Pin It Now! Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life. Proverbs 4:23

Our heart is the precious of all organs - vital for our survival. No wonder the scripture says we need to guard it with all diligence. While looking up this verse I came across a sermon by Rev. Adrian Dieleman. Thought of sharing the highlights with you for today's coffee.
What does the Bible say what heart is:
* Heart is a physical organ and food & drink strengthens it
* The heart is the focus of intellectual life. The heart is connected with thinking
* Acts of the will are considered to arise in the heart
* Heart is closely connected to the feelings and affections of a person: joy, fear, discouragement, sorrow, hate, love.
* The heart is spoken of as the conscience.
* The heart represents a person's true nature or character.
* The heart is the place where God does His work in the individual.
* The heart is the dwelling place of God.

Who can attack our heart?:
* Sin & Satan - God lives in our heart. But so does sin and Satan. The two cannot coexist. This means our heart is a battleground between God and Satan. Both lay claim to our heart. Both want to be master of our heart. Both want the allegiance of our heart.
* World - The world hates Jesus along with His followers.
* The acts of our sinful nature
The devil is our opponent who attacks us from the outside. The world is the hostile environment in which we live. And our own "flesh" is the enemy within us.

How do we guard our heart?:
* To "guard our heart" our heart needs to belong to God.
* We need to listen to the Word of God if we want to guard our heart
* Be part of a church in the fellowship of believers
* Steer clear of sin.
Our heart is precious. Our heart is under attack. So, let's guard our heart!

Pin It Now! * Return home and tell how much God has done for you Luke 8: 38
* Then the angel of the LORD told her, "Go back to your mistress and submit to her." Genesis 16: 9
* I will set out and go back to my father Luke 15:18

Not sure why but I am reminded of these verses for the last few days, hence I decided to share it. May be it comes as an answer to someone's prayer/quest. May be you are at the crossroads unable to decide which way to turn.

We can all relate to times in our lives when we believe the best way to serve the Lord is to leave everything behind and follow Him; but He specifically instructs us to go home and share our testimony with people in our neighborhood.

Sometimes it is hard to go back home; especially if we went somewhere to make it big and now have to return empty handed. As in Hagar's case, if going back means encountering the crowd we were running away from, it doesn't sound like much fun.

Or may be just as the prodigal son we were running away from our Father and now we have come to our senses to return to Him.

Whatever be your situation, the instruction comes loud and clear! Return home and tell of His wonders!!

Pin It Now! * Your right hand, O LORD, was majestic in power. Your right hand, O LORD, shattered the enemy Exodus 15:6
* The LORD's right hand is lifted high; the LORD's right hand has done mighty things! Psalm 118:16

I was wondering why the Scriptures specifically talks about God's right hand and came up with some thoughts I wanted to share with you.

The right hand is significantly "honorable" than the left, you might agree. We salute with the right hand, we place the right hand on our chest while taking an oath , we write/eat with the right hand, we shake hands with the right hand, in most customs we give/take things to/from elders with our right hand, we say good bye with our right hand, we bless someone with our right hand, etc.

For God to hold our right hand and still lead us, I imagine God is facing towards us holding our right hand pulling us out of a pit. In the above scriptures we see how Moses and King David sing about the mighty right hand of God. It was only possible because they took no credit for themselves in any of their victory but gave all the credit to God's right hand which was holding them and leading them.

The very same right hand is holding and leading us today! Isn't that remarkable? Amen! Our God's right hand is majestic in power today; it will shatter our enemy! Our Lord's right hand is lifted high; it will do mighty things!

Pin It Now! For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. Isaiah 41:13

Don't know about you but I can blindly believe this verse without asking for any proof. I love the concept of our God holding our right hand. Clearly it shows how protective He is of us.

Let us repeat the verse, slightly altered: For you are the Lord, my God, who takes hold of my right hand and says to me not to fear and that you will help me. Amen!

As if to reiterate the statement, in the very next verse He says: Do not be afraid, O worm Jacob, O little Israel, for I myself will help you,” declares the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. Isaiah 41:14

To sum it all up: Do not fear about anything. Just as He has promised He will help you! He Himself will help you!! Remember He is holding your right hand...

Pin It Now!

Pin It Now! Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Deuteronomy 6:5

One good thing about Valentines day is that the whole world talks about love. Let us too discuss love today.

Let's take a tally of our love for our Lord. How is it going? If the answer is 'strong and steady' well and good. But if we are not too sure, it is time to refocus our attention on our Lord. God's love is always constant, you can't do anything better to increase it nor anything worse to decrease it. It remains the same. It is our love that wavers from time to time.

We are head over heels in love with Him one week, and down in the valley the next. Our focus shifts from God to job to men to things to self and before we know it, we are consumed by everything else other than God. As in any relationship, when we do not spend time together getting to know each other we will only grow apart.

If we love our Lord with all our heart, soul and strength, it is practically improssible to not spend time with Him. On the flip side, if we don't spend enough time with our Lord, it is practically impossible to love Him with all our heart, soul, and strength. So, how is yours going & how are you showing?!

Pin It Now! Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3:13

Aha... Here comes the sensitive topic: Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Not just some grievances, not just the minor grievances, but all grievances - big and small. Even among "grown" Christians this is still an issue - they do not easily forgive grievances with each other.

I used to argue why should we forgive someone who wouldn't even apologize. Then someone in a Bible study explained that we forgive for our good, not for others, which made sense to me. I started working on it, praying over it, and in no time I was able to forgive all my grievances. I felt light and free of stress, my mind was not preoccupied with arguments and up tight against them, when I forgave I was able to even forget whatever they said or did to me. It also prompted them to reconcile with me. How cool is that.

Not forgiving someone only clutters our mind and spoils our joy and affects our peace of mind. When we forgive, we have the love, joy and peace in abundance in our heart and we do not give room to the grievances in our mind. Shall we try?

Pin It Now! Yet give attention to your servant's prayer and his plea for mercy, O LORD my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day. 1 Kings 8:28

Great to have you all join me for Coffee with Jesus today. Let us come together in prayer this morning for the fellow readers, believers and our personal prayer needs. We have a couple of prayer requests here:

* Reena requests prayers for Babu to recover from depression
* Anonymous requests prayers for his/her brother to recover from drug addiction
* Let's pray for the ministries of Rev. Elizabeth, the rector of Saint Nicholas' Parish, Belfast.
* Let's pray for each reader who stops by at this blog, that they hear from the Lord.
* Let's pray for all the unspoken needs we have in our midst.

Dear Father in Heaven! Thank you for helping us through yet one more week Lord. Thank you that your grace has been sufficient for us Lord. Thank you for providing all our needs Lord. Thank you also for this time together as brothers and sisters joined here in your name Lord. We bring all our prayer requests to you Lord. We pray for Babu Lord, that you give him a new hope and a new future Lord. Let him understand your love Lord. Let him be filled with your peace Lord, Let him receive the joy of salvation Lord. We also keep Anonymous' brother at your feet Lord. Be gracious to him Lord. Please touch him Lord. Please heal him of his addiction Lord, please free him from this bondage Lord. Let satan have no dominion over him Lord. At this very moment please touch him Lord. Let him receive your grace Lord.

Dear Lord, we also pray for Rev. Elizabeth's ministry Lord. Bless her efforts as she ministers to your people Lord. Bless her with the much needed wisdom and grace Lord, to lead your congregation Lord. Provide for all her needs Lord. Be with her Lord, guide her Lord. Let many souls be brought to Christ through her Lord. We also pray for each reader who stops by at this blog Lord. That shows how much they hunger and thirst for your words Lord. You alone speak to them Lord, you alone can touch them Lord. Please bless each one of them Lord. Lord, we also bring all our unspoken needs Lord, the cry of our hearts Lord, we believe you are mighty to save us Lord. Please continue to protect us all under your wings Lord. Love you much Lord. Bless this day for each one of us Lord. In our Saviour Jesus' name we pray, Amen!

Pin It Now! * And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. Matthew 24:31
* In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.1 Corinthians 15:52
* For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Matthew 24:27
* For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 1 Thessalonians 4: 16-17

The most important event we as Christians ought to look forward to on a daily basis is the The Last Trumpet Call!!

What is meant by the last trumpet call? The last trumpet call is the imminent return of our King and Savior Jesus Christ at the least conceivable time to gather His Church in mid air. The dead in Christ will rise and the faithful living will be transformed to be caught up with Him. This is also widely refered to by the term 'pre tribulation rapture'.

When will the last trumpet call be? No one knows the exact date/time/hour of the last trumpet call - which makes it all the more difficult to be ready for it.

What does it take to be ready? Knowing Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour and having our name written in the Book of Life is all it takes to be rapture ready. When Apostle Paul was in prison, a jailer asked him, "What must I do to be saved?" Paul's answer was: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts: 16: 30-31) If we believe in the Lord, we will be ready.

Are you ready?

Pin It Now! Anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:27

Whether we like it or not, we all have a cross to bear. I have a cross, you have a cross, every one of us have a cross. Believers and non believers alike have their own cross; young and old, rich and poor, every one has a cross. Sure it could vary in dimensions but for each of us our cross seem heavy at times.

I would like to imagine that this cross was laid on us when Adam and Eve were sent out of Eden to toil hard and make a living. Since then I don't think anyone had it easy; one way or another everyone had to/has to/will have to carry their cross.

The question is, are we ready to follow the Lord inspite of our cross? What would that mean? Are we ready to serve the Lord through thick and also through thin? Do we sing praises only when everything goes well or even otherwise? Does our love for the Lord remain constant no matter what happens around us? Do we continue to trust our Source even when our resources run out?

Carrying the cross and following the Lord means just that we do not turn away from God when our cross gets heavy; but we cling closer to God and take joy in His promises... The secret is when we take one step towards Him He comes running to receive us and to carry our cross rest of the way... He assures, His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

Pin It Now! Your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. Isaiah 59:2

Surely God is for us & if God has not been with us we would have been destroyed. Today's discussion is: Are you with the Lord?  "Not always" would be the honest answer. When we do not watch out carefully our iniquities would separate us from God and our sins would hide His face from us.

However, the unconditional love of God can be understood from the following verse: “For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back. In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord your Redeemer. Isaiah 54:7-8

In Psalm 103 we read: The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.

Sadly many of us including believers take His grace for granted and live as we wish. Let's ask ourselves "Do I?" Even if we have the slightest doubt, let us make a sincere effort to turn away from sinful ways and get back to the Lord.

For the rest of the day I want you to keep this question lingering in your minds: Am I with the Lord? Pay careful attention to how you handle things as the day progress and you would know the answer.

Pin It Now! Yesterday we saw if God is for us, nobody can be against us. Well and good! Today, let us look at the other side: If the Lord had not been on our side... It is pretty scary even to imagine as it would mean just the opposite - that everybody will be against us.

Interestingly, King David had thought of it in those lines in Psalm 124:

If the Lord had not been on our side—

let Israel say—

if the Lord had not been on our side

when men attacked us,

when their anger flared against us,

they would have swallowed us alive;

the flood would have engulfed us,

the torrent would have swept over us,

the raging waters

would have swept us away.

Praise be to the Lord,

who has not let us be torn by their teeth.

We have escaped like a bird

out of the fowler’s snare;

the snare has been broken,

and we have escaped.

Our help is in the name of the Lord,

the Maker of heaven and earth.

Pin It Now! If God is for us, who can be against us? Roman 8:31

If God is for you, who can be against you? Repeat this after me: If God is for me, who can be against me?

Amen! When God is for us nobody can be against us. This also ties with yesterday's message: No weapon forged against you will prevail.

How can we be sure that God is for us? In verse 28 we read: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

So if we are called according to His purpose, we can be assured that in all things God works for the good of us who love Him or in other words God is for us.

When He is for us, who can be against us? The plain and simple answer is: Nobody; indeed nobody!

Pin It Now! No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from me," declares the LORD. Isaiah 54:17

I love promises; especially those that end with 'decalres the Lord' as it is like a 'certified promise' if you will.

Thus the promise above is a certified promise for the servants of the Lord. If we are the servants of the Lord then no weapon forged against us will prevail. Not only that, we will refute every tongue that accuses us.

How? By sending back a stronger weapon? Or by fighting back with stronger words? No, not at all!

If we are true servants of the Lord, we will continue to serve the Lord and He will fight our battles and argue our cases for us.

This is our heritage; let's inherit it!

Pin It Now! The Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” Genesis 4:9

Yesterday we learnt about God's question to Adam: Where are you? Adam accepts his mistake though in a round about finger pointing way.

But now Cain has killed his brother Abel and when God asks a question in a similar fashion: Where is your brother Abel? we see that Cain has absolutely no remorse. No finger pointing is involved this time around. He is adamant and has a "so what?" attitude. He lies to God saying, "I don't know" and then quickly questions back the Lord as if to cover up his lie, "Am I my brother's keeper?". How sad is that?

It was not an accident that Cain killed Abel. It was premeditated; planned out well in advance; it was a calculated strike. We see that the sin has now advanced from Adam's case, to much more than mere disobedience. Jealousy, hatred, pride, anger, disregard for God are some of the other sins that were bundled into his action. Still no remorse. Shows clearly Cain is farther away from the Lord than his father Adam was when he committed sin. Now we understand why sin is fatal.

Coming back to the question, where is your/my brother? Do we know where our brothers and sisters are? Do we know of their well being in Christ? Are they in the Lord? If not, what are we doing about it? Are we helping them grow in faith or worst have we "killed" any by our words or deeds?

To answer Cain's question: Yes, we as believers definitely are our brother's keepers! Where is your brother?

Pin It Now! LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?" Genesis 3:9

Let us go back to the Garden of Eden for a minute. It was such a paradise and Adam and Eve had everything they needed, they didn't have to work hard, food was readily available as the earth was yielding its fruits in abundance, the animals were tame & friendly, birds obeyed to their call, they were in their honey moon with the least of care and best of all God was their friend. He stopped by to enjoy a conversation with them every day...

Suddenly everything turns upside down. They have had the forbidden fruit and are running around  to hide from God. They are running away from Him as far as possible. They are overcome by guilt, shame, agony so much that they didn't have the strength to face their creator anymore.

That's when they hear His voice, "Where are you?" Definitely God knew where they were. Why then  He asked?

Wesley's Notes says:

This enquiry after Adam may be looked upon as a gracious pursuit in order to his recovery. If God had not called to him to reduce him, his condition would have been as  desperate as that of fallen angels.

Aren't you glad He asked? Our Lord extends the same question to all of us today: "Where are you?" It is important to analyze our selves every now and then to make sure we are on the right track - walking towards Him and not away from Him.

Are we in His bosom enjoying His nearness or are we far away from Him filled with guilt, shame, sorrow and agony? Have we acknowledged and answered to His call? Where are you?

Pin It Now! * After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. Genesis 3:24

* Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. Revelation 22:14

I do not think it is a mere coincidence that the access to the Tree of Life which was denied to mankind in the first book of the Bible is allowed in the last book of the Bible. It was only made possible by the blood of Jesus Christ that washes all our sins.

In Revelation 7:13, a question is raised: “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?” and in the next verse the answer is spoken: "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb".

We are still living in the period of grace. Washing our robes in the blood of the Lamb now is far more easier than during the period of tribulation which will be after the rapture. Let us make sure we have washed our robes... Then we will have access to the Tree of Life. Those who have washed it already, please make sure to keep it clean.

If you are in doubt if your robe is washed, please repeat this prayer after me with a sincere heart:

Our Father in Heaven! Thank you for your mercies Lord. I just realized that I haven't had the experience of getting my robe washed in the blood of your Son Jesus Christ Lord. Please open my eyes to see and my heart to understand that Jesus is the only way to salvation Lord. Please enable me to receive this free gift of salvation without any doubts Lord. I realize I am a sinner Lord. I surrender my sins at your feet Lord. Wash me Lord. Purify my heart Lord. Wash my robe which is soiled in my sins to become white as snow Lord. Wash it in your blood Lord. Thank you for your shed blood Lord. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins Lord. Thank you for making me clean Lord. I know in the coming days you will help me learn more about you Lord. In Jesus' most precious name I pray, Amen!

Blessed are you with a washed robe!

Pin It Now! If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. James 1:5

So, we understand we need more wisdom but don't have a clue where to "buy it" from? Wisdom is one thing that can not be found on any sale. It can not even be acquired from any books. What we acquire from books is knowledge - not wisdom. It can not be inherited. It does not necessarily increase with age. It can not be rubbed on or injected in. So, how can we get more?

The one and only way to gain more wisdom is to ask. Ask? Ask who? Ask God! Then it will be given. What do you mean it will be given, will it be given to anyone who asks? Yes, of course!

There is no prerequisites to receive wisdom. It is not only the righteous and upright who will receive it. It is us - the common folks - who are full of faults - but those who asked - they will receive it!

Next question arises - how much will we receive? The answer is, it will be given generously.

We didn't think it was that easy; did we? Asking for wisdom is the most humbling of experience as it takes to acknowledge we lack wisdom in the first place. God sees the honesty and gives it to us generously without finding faults in us.

Naturally when we receive the wisdom we will learn to shun from evil and do good, we will then have the discerning spirit King Solomon received, which in turn brings all the other blessings we wouldn't dare ask for.

Let's make it our daily prayer to ask for more wisdom and when we receive it let us put it to use unlike King Solomon who later went astray from God. God bless you all!

Pin It Now! Give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong 1 Kings 3:9

A very interesting conversation goes on between God and King Solomon in the book of I Kings 3rd chapter. Agreed, it was a dream but we all know the dream very much came true.

God tells King Solomon to ask for anything he wants and very clearly, of course very cleverly, King Solomon asks for a discerning heart to govern and to distinguish between right and wrong. What was God's response to that? God gave him what he had asked for plus everything else he didn't dare asking for. Isn't that amazing!

If God is to appear in our dreams tonight, what will be our plea? What do we consider as the most important thing we need?

Are we seeking for a discerning heart to distinguish between right and wrong? Wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord. If we have the fear of the Lord in our heart, we already have a 'seed of wisdom' in us. We only need to ask for more to cultivate that 'seed'.

Is asking for wisdom part of our daily prayer? We will discuss the "how to" tomorrow.