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Buy the truth and do not sell it; get wisdom, discipline and understanding. Proverbs 23:23

Truth here means Jesus Christ.  We read in John 14:6, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Salvation is the ultimate gift God has made available for all those who believe in His Son Jesus Christ! It is God's master plan to reunite with man since his fall at Eden. Yet, many don't want anything to do with it. That's because they are deceived by the father of all lies to believe in lies instead of the Truth.

In Matthew 13:44 we read, "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field."

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary explains it further in very simple words:

Buy the truth, and sell it not; be willing to part with any thing for it. Do not part with it for pleasures, honours, riches, or any thing in this world.

Jesus Himself said these verses as Apostle John notes, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:32

So, those of us who have found the Truth, let us not sell it for anything or anybody; and those who have not, please buy it at all cost.  Whatever you loss in order to gain Him, you will receive it in many folds.

"Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. 33But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven." Matthew 10:32-33

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* 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.

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Who is he, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty--he is the King of glory. Psalm 24:10

On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. Revelation 19:16

Months ago we had discussed about getting ready for Our King's banquet, which sets the scene for today's discussion. As we stand before His throne today in our prayer & worship, how do we visualize our self? What is our expectation? Are we seeking His presence as the King's mere citizens forgetting that we are His own children?

A while back I happened to read C.H. Spurgeon's sermon The Throne of Grace and loved a passage from it which perfectly fits our discussion today.

Spurgeon says, "We do not come, as it were, in prayer, only to God's almonry where he dispenses his favours to the poor, nor do we come to the back-door of the house of mercy to receive the broken scraps, though that were more than we deserve; to eat the crumbs that fall from the Master's table is more than we could claim; but, when we pray, we are standing in the palace, on the glittering floor of the great King's own reception room, and thus we are placed upon a vantage ground.

In prayer we stand where angels bow with veiled faces; there, even there, the cherubim and seraphim adore, before that selfsame throne to which our prayers ascend. And shall we come there with stunted requests, and narrow and contracted faith? Nay, it becomes not a King to be giving away pence and groats, he distributes pieces of broad gold; he scatters not as poor men must, scraps of bread and broken meat, but he makes a feast of fat things, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined."

In Hebrews 4:16 we read, "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."

Shall we?

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Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Psalm 51:10

Thank you for joining for some Coffee with Jesus this Saturday morning! I love Saturday mornings. I usually wake up before the family does, make myself a cup of coffee, sit in my favorite kitchen chair to watch the birds in the backyard - all the while praising God for His love, mercy, the colorful birds, the bluest skies, the beautiful chair and the cozy pajamas... what not!

But this Saturday morning I invite you for a Cleaning Spree. No, there is no heavy duty lifting or washing or moving involved. Just right where you are, lift up your holy hands and start praising the Lord. Just keep on praising the Lord, keep on, keep on praising the Lord.

Visualize your heart getting cleansed by the Lord, by His blood, by His grace, by His love, all the while praising the Lord. Imagine the hands of Jesus reaching out to the innermost corner, all around, under, over, everywhere, touching, healing and cleaning your heart. Just keep praising, keep praising, lift up your voice and keep on praising the Lord. If you feel like crying out loud, do that, want to clap your hands, go ahead. Just continue to praise His Holy Name. Hallelujah!

Wow! That's a wonderful experience, is it not? You have now received a brand new "sparkling clean" heart and a beautiful renewed spirit overflowing with such love and joy that you can not even fathom.

Go in peace! Enjoy your day & God bless you!

Pin It Now! When a man or woman wrongs another in any way and so is unfaithful to the Lord, that person is guilty and must confess the sin he has committed. He must make full restitution for his wrong, add one fifth to it and give it all to the person he has wronged. Numbers 5:6,7

I once read this story of a reporter who wrote ill of a politician on his newspaper. Soon one day he happened to bump into the politician quite unexpectedly in an elevator or restroom, somewhere confined. The reporter felt very bad and was quick to apologize to the politician about his article, to which he simply replied, "I'd have rather had you criticize me in private and apologized in public."

"So true!" we exclaim; but don't we all do just the same? We offend our spouses, children, neighbors and walk around as if we have done no wrong, or do a name sake gesture one day to think we have made up for it, don't we?

Believe it or not, this is against the Scriptures! If we have wronged someone in any way, and by doing so we are unfaithful to the Lord, we are guilty. Period. No sugar coating it. No reasoning it out. No justifying it.

The remediation the Word of God suggests is to confess (first to God and next to the offended) our wrong doing and pay back more than what we owe - in fact as much as five folds more. So, if we lacked respect, we owe it five times more, if we lacked courtesy we owe it that much more, same for love, peace, joy, a smile, you name it.

I am sorry if this post itself offends you; it's not me but the Holy Spirit sharing... God bless you!

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* Give us today our daily bread. Matthew 6:11
* I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. John 6:51

As much as we need physical food for survival we need the spiritual bread for survival too. Even in the Lord's prayer we pray "Give us this day our daily bread". Of course it stands for the daily providence for our physical needs; at the same time it also denotes the dependency on the "Word of God" for the survival through the day.

Can we skip food altogether for a day, two days, a week, a month? I don't think so. However many of us (myself including) skimp on the Word of God for days without realizing the consequences of it. Just as how we will grow physically weak if we skip meals for days at once, we will grow weary spiritually when we skip or skimp "our daily bread" for days at once.

Here's just a reminder to get back to our regular feeding on the Word of God - which is the Holy Bible! Dare I ask? How many of you did read the Bible this morning?! No, reading Coffee with Jesus or similar devotionals DO NOT count as the Word of God in itself. Bible first, then your preferred devotionals, now that would be a great start!

If there is anyone here who does not have a Bible of their own but would like to have one, please contact me at nrigirl at hotmail.com with your mailing address and language preference. I will send you one FREE of charge! I don't want you to go hungry you see... :)

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'I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,' declares the LORD, 'because you are called an outcast, Zion for whom no one cares.' Jeremiah 30:17

Today's message is for the sick among us. Please be encouraged our Lord will restore your health and heal your wounds. As Prophet Isaiah foretold about Christ the Lord in his book, "He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed." Isaiah 53:5

Amen! By His wounds we are healed. Praying over my children when they get sick, I often envision touching the blood that runs from the cross and applying it over them. When I pray for our household I envision sprinkling the shed blood of Jesus Christ in our door steps, in each room, in our foreheads, over our territory etc.

What good is the Christian faith if we only talk about healing but do not actually believe it for our selves? What benefit it is if we proclaim the blood of Jesus Christ heals our diseases but do not really apply it over us? If we know of a new ointment that could heal the skin condition would we not go buy it and start using it religiously? Then what is preventing us from giving the same seriousness if not more to the healing powers of Christ our Lord?

We are indeed healed! Let us proclaim health over us and our families and diligently apply His protection over us and ours. He will restore us to health and heal our wounds! Amen!

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"Do not say, “I’ll do to him as he has done to me; I’ll pay that man back for what he did." Proverbs 24:29

Here is a perfect example of a human nature in contrast with godly nature. It may seem natural to feel the urge to take revenge; to defend ourselves, to point fingers, but then what difference we make from the people of this world?

Proverbs 20:22 goes hand in hand with this verse; it says: "Do not say, "I'll pay you back for this wrong!" Wait for the LORD, and he will deliver you."

"It is mine to avenge; I will repay", says the Lord (Deuteronomy 32:25)

So the next time someone is rude, hurtful, let's remember these verses and keep silent, at the same time asking God to argue our case. It may look like a failure as we can't reciprocate right away; but hang in there, God will repay.

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Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, "Who do people say I am?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Christ.” Mark 8:27-29

What will be our answer if we are posed with the same question? Who do you (we) say He is? Do we say John the Baptist, Elijah, one of the prophets or aptly that He is the Christ? Do we just say we are Christians or do we know for a fact that Christ is our Savior?

Do we sing just for namesake or do we mean it? Do we just rush through a chapter from the Bible or do we sit down to meditate and understand what it has to say?

Do we go to the church because it is Sunday and that's what we have been taught to do, or do we go to worship the Lord and share in the fellowship of believers? Do we praise and pray from the bottom of our hearts or is it just superficial?

Are weekdays any different from Sundays that we save the smiley face for Sundays and switch back to the frowns for weekdays? Do we live for His glory or live no different from a non-believer?

Who do you say He is?

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Today's reading: Proverbs 26 Click here to read online (NIV)

Verse of the day: "As charcoal to embers and as wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.." Proverbs 26:21

Just yesterday we learnt how not to be a quarrelsome woman; today interestingly we are going to discuss how not to be a quarrelsome man.

As in the verse above, a quarrelsome man is like fuel to the fire, always finding faults and starting a strife. I would imagine it would be extremely difficult to live with someone who is a ticking time bomb! People would normally try to find excuses such as an abused childhood, or something similar to justify their action. But bottom line is lack of godliness is what is going on.

Here are some scriptures that talk about anger:

* James 1:19 "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry" 
* Eccelesistes 7:9 "Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools."
* "Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger..." Ephesians 4:31
* "He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth." Isaiah 53:7

You know yourself better than anybody. If you believe you are always angry raise your hands as we pray over you today. If you know of someone else be it your father, husband, mother, brother or anyone who struggles with anger, let us bring them also in our prayers:

Dear Father in Heaven! Thank you for the beautiful day and for this wonderful opportunity to gather at your presence Lord. For the last two days you have been convicting us that anger is sin Lord. Please help us get rid of anger from our hearts in any shape, size or form Lord. Please help us get rid off even the very trace of anger from our hearts Lord. We can not do it all by ourselves Lord. We need your help Lord. You have already set an example where you were like a lamb that was silent Lord. We too humble our hearts Lord. Please erase all our past sins Lord.

Please help us live a quarrel free life Lord.  Fill us with your love and peace Lord. Guide us Lord. We love you so much Lord. Please bless each and every one of us gathered here in your name Lord. There is no other reason than your Holy name which connects us together Lord. We remember our loved ones who struggle with anger in their life Lord. Please Lord open their eyes so that they can see, open their ears so that they can hear, open their hearts so that they can heal Lord. We continue to praise your Holy name Lord. In Jesus's most precious name we pray, Amen!

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Today's reading: Proverbs 25 Click here to read online (NIV)

Verse of the day: "Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife." Proverbs 25:24

This may be one of the verses that is hardly discussed in Bible studies or sermons or elsewhere for fear of retaliation from the ladies. But we are going to discuss it today anyway as it has great truth in it for us to learn from.

How many of us are guilty of being a quarrelsome woman from time to time? How does it affect our husband & children when we behave thus? I am sure they too can relate to King Solomon here as he shares exactly how it feels like living with a quarrelsome woman.

Now the question is, how to avoid being a quarrelsome woman? Here is a list of tips that worked for me; I am sure we can definitely trace these back to the scriptures:

* By accepting the differences and learning to love unconditionally
* By learning to be still and know that He is Lord who holds everything under control.
* By understanding that no one is perfect, just like we are not perfect.
* By learning to retreat to prayer and petition anytime anguish tries to engulf us.
* By being contended with what/whom we have.
* By not dwelling in the past - neither his nor ours

Let's try these tips cautiously for a week, two weeks, a month, 6 months and before we know it, we will stop being a quarrelsome woman and will start making our home a happier place for our husband and children. Also, be assured you will be a whole happy you too!

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* "Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. Isaiah 1:18
* "Present your case," says the LORD. "Set forth your arguments," says Jacob's King. Isaiah 41:21
* Review the past for me, let us argue the matter together; state the case for your innocence. Isaiah 43:26

It appears that our Lord is in for a long haul this morning. He is calling us to go reason with Him - to present our case before Him - to argue the matter together - in other words to have a heart to heart conversation with Him!

If something is nagging in your mind and you are not sure what to make of it, this could be the time you get His guidance on! Or the things you have no control on and which are beyond your reach, just surrender those to Him. I am sure He can handle it well. Of course tell Him about the certain things that were quite disappointing lately, the health report, the pressure at work, the weight gain, tell Him all in all. He will listen; you will feel lighter.

Sure, tell Him why you did certain things certain way and why something someone said you do not approve of, what you are really sorry about, etc. Tell Him about everything that has been bothering you lately and the little things that made you smile. Remember the new red shoes you recently found on sale; well, don't forget to thank Him for that...

Remember, this is a two way conversation; He may also have something to say to you... Something you said or did that He doesn't approve of, or something you said and did that He is so proud of. He will assure you He loves you and has all your worries in control and will remind you the areas in which he expects you to improve. Overall it will be a great conversation to reflect on! So, let's get started now...

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The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature. Romans: 13:12-14

Don't we always think about how to gratify ourselves? I mean don't we always look to satisfy the desires of our heart? Looks like that is bad. Certain sins are so subtle that we may not even consider it a sin. We may term it as 'habit' or 'that's just me' or whatever, but not sin. This is where learning and meditating the Word of God can help us improve.

I would like to share an extract from Barnes notes on the Bible on this:

The gratification of the flesh was the main object among the Romans. Living in luxury and licentiousness, they made it their great object of study to multiply and prolong the means of licentious indulgence. In respect to this, Christians were to be a separate people, and to show that they were influenced by a higher and purer desire than this grovelling propensity to minister to sensual gratification. It is right, it is a Christian duty, to labor to make provision for all the real needs of life. But the real wants are few; and with a heart disposed to be pure and temperate, the necessary wants of life are easily satisfied; and the mind may be devoted to higher and purer purposes.

Many apostles have written about why we should not gratify the desires of our sinful nature; here's to quote a few:

* Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. I Peter 2:11
* For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world. I John 2:16
* So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. Galatians 5:16

Thank you all for staying with me through the discussion of Romans: 13:12-14. Hope you found it useful as much as I did. Please keep Coffee with Jesus in your prayers. God bless.

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The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature. Romans: 13:12-14

So, what does it mean to clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ?

Interestingly, it does not say clothe ourselves like Jesus - which would mean to wear clothes similar to His. But to clothe ourselves with Jesus which implies we should wear Him!

How can we wear a person? Clarke's commentary on the Bible states, "To be clothed with a person is a Greek phrase, signifying to assume the interests of another - to enter into his views, to imitate him, and be wholly on his side."

Scripture tells us when we are baptized we wear Christ (Galatians 3:27). When we wear Christ we start to live for Him, imitating Him, becoming more like Him everyday.

Apostle Paul expands on this matter more in Colossians 3:1-17:

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

As you see, it takes conscious efforts to clothe Him on a daily basis. But let's give it a try; shall we?

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The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature. Romans: 13:12-14

Dissension is defined as disagreement that leads to discord or quarrel. For some it is a regular habit to argue over anything and everything. You talk for something they will argue against it and you talk against something they will argue for it; such is their trend. If we argue for argument sake let's not do it; there is much to be achieved for the Lord instead of the time taken to argue over Biblical truth. Just by arguing we are not going to gain any insight.

Jealousy does not need any explanation; it is the aching pang we feel at heart, towards someone else's well being or our lack of it. In fact it is anger directed against God Himself for doing something good for someone else and not for us!

Quite honestly don't you see we are blessed much more than what we deserve? Then why do we feel jealous? It is unnecessary. When we develop godliness with contentment it is great gain the Scripture tells us in 1 Timothy 6:6. If we are not careful to nip off envy at the very bud, soon it will completely overwhelm us taking possession of our body, mind and even the soul. It is a parasite to be shunned at all cost.

Let us pray therefore to remove the "arguing spirit" and the "spirit of envy" from our hearts today. Let us praise God with a grateful heart for His many blessings in our lives this morning!

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The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature. Romans: 13:12-14

We all know what 'day' is and that the opposite of day is night. To quote the Scriptures for further clarification, in Genesis 1:5 we read, God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night."

Apostle Paul instructs us in 1 Thessalonians 5:5-8, "You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet."

As you can see, the suggested wear for the day is faith, love and the hope of our salvation. Do we have these on? Check. Have we put aside the deeds of darkness?  Check. Then we are truly sons and daughters of the Light which is Day!

God bless you!

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The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature. Romans: 13:12-14

What does it mean to put on the armor of light?

In 1 John 1:5 we read, "God is light; in him there is no darkness at all." John continues, "... if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin." 1 John 1:7

So, to put on the armor of light actually means to walk in the light as He is in the light so that we can have fellowship with one another, forgetting our differences, denominations, divisions and the like.

How many of us can truly say we have fellowship with one another? The too many divisions in the Church make it clear there is not the kind of fellowship among us as expected by our Lord Jesus Christ, which only means we are not walking in the light as He is in the light. How sad is that?

From now on let us owe to have fellowship with one another; let us commit our self to accept believers of different divisions of the Church, instead of condemning them. How wonderful it will be if the Brethren, the Baptist, the Lutheran, the Methodist, the Pentecost, the Protestants, the Catholics, the Orthodox and the numerous other type of believers can come together to worship the Lord?! Let us make friends with people who are not in our faith; let them see how we reflect our Lord in our ways.

And not to forget, stay away from the deeds of darkness we discussed yesterday as there is no trace of darkness in God. If we are to walk in light as He is in light there should be no trace of darkness in us too! Yes, it is possible! With God's help we can do it! Amen!

Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD. Isaiah 2:5

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The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature. Romans: 13:12-14

For the next few days we are going to discuss the same text above, concentrating in each line item. Today's focus is on putting away the deeds of darkness. What really are these deeds of darkness mentioned here?

Apostle Paul explains it in such detail in Ephesians: 5:1-22 which reads,

Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them.

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Oh yeah, now we know what it means to put away deeds of darkness, don't we?

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The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. Romans 13:11-12

For some, their faith has gone cold as it seems forever for the return of the King. Some even disregard His grace completely. We don't have to look far to find evident of the fearlessness among the multitude, for God.

At times like this it may be difficult to stay focused in our walk. It's like we are running this race and just few yards from the finish line we give up. Today's message comes as a wake up call for us. It is time to be alert because our salvation is much closer than when we first started this journey. Amen!

So, How do we stay awake? Good question! The answer is right there in verses Romans 13:13-14, listed below:

* Let us put aside the deeds of darkness
* Put on the armor of light.
* Let us behave decently, as in the daytime,
* not in orgies and drunkenness,
* not in sexual immorality and debauchery,
* not in dissension and jealousy.
* Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ,
* Do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

We can discuss these one at a time in the coming days. Please stay tuned...

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Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6

Yesterday we looked at the generous open invitation from our Lord to take our burdens to Him and get the rest He offers in return. Today let's focus on the "how to"

The answer can be found in the verse above. Here are the main points to remember:

1. Do not be anxious about anything - stop worrying first as worry doesn't help a bit.
2. In everything - not just a little here and there; in everything
3. By prayer and petition - no need to explain this I believe
4. With thanksgiving - of course remembering the past deliverance
5. Present your requests - submit your requests
6. To God - no one else but God.

What happens next is amazing: The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7

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Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28

Nowhere else we see such a direct call to go and lay down our burdens. I don't think no one else ever opened up such an invitation. Even we our self would not call out in a similar fashion for fear of adding to our burdens.

How many of us can say we truly share in other people's burdens? I don't think I do. I may listen, I may offer to pray, but that's about it. I might not even feel the same way the weary feels of his/her burden. Similarly how many of you will be willing to share in my burden? You may listen, you may advice me, you may pray for me and that's all you might be able to do.

As humans we are limited in our capacity to ease out other's weight. May be we will add to it like Job's friends did when he was suffering. Of course they thought they were helping him out but did they; hardly.

That's one reason why this invitation stands out in the crowd in a special way. Let us take heed and go to Him with all our burdens and take the rest He offers in return! Rest comes naturally from knowing that He can handle our cares. Tomorrow we will learn about "How to take our burdens to Him?"

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Jesus Himself prayed the following prayer. Let us repeat it every day of our lives, even many times during the day if possible and meditate on the meaning of our prayer. The most difficult line here is "forgive us as we forgave" which means if we haven't forgiven, we are not forgiven. How strong these words are. Let us reexamine our self and be ready and willing to forgive others so that our sins will be forgiven for us too.

 " 'Our Father in heaven,
   hallowed be your name,
 your kingdom come,
   your will be done
      on earth as it is in heaven.
 Give us today our daily bread.
 Forgive us our debts,
      as we also have forgiven our debtors.
 And lead us not into temptation,
   but deliver us from the evil one.' For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. Matthew 6:9-15

Let us pray, "Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for teaching us to pray. I understand it is important for me to forgive others so that I will be forgiven. But I find it difficult to forgive others at times, Lord, please help me in this area, please help me forgive others. Fill me with your love and joy. Thank you for forgiving my sins Lord. In Jesus' name, Amen!"

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"Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say Rejoice!" Philippians 4:4

As you see, this verse comes across as a command. We should be filled with the love and joy of the Lord at all times. We should reflect upon the real love and joy of Christ who lives within us. No matter what the circumstances be, let us be reminded of this verse to keep us true to our calling.

Why is it so important to rejoice? Because many things start to go wrong when we lose the joy of life. Our physical, mental and spiritual health too will take a toll. We won't feel like singing, worshipping, reading the Bible, talking to Jesus, eating - so the overall system collapses when the divine joy within us is lost. That's exactly what satan is after. Let us consciously make an effort to be filled over and over with the divine love and peace which brings true JOY.

Let us pray: "Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for this beautiful day (though rainy...) Thank you for reminding us to rejoice always. Please help us Lord to rejoice - in all circumstances. Please help us to truly understand that all things happen for good for those who love you Lord - even when things don't seem to go as we wish Lord. Please help us overcome satan in this area Lord. Thank you again for your love and grace which is sufficient at all times Lord. In Jesus's mighty name we pray, Amen"

Pin It Now! Happy SUNDAY folks! All set for the service I suppose. Great!

I won't take long, let's get going. Recently came across this cool video and thought it would be fun to watch it while having Coffee with Jesus today...



Let's remember, "...it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved..." Acts:15:11

Care to share the grace with others? Please invite your friends and family to have some Coffee with Jesus today! Please click here to email this post

"Coffee" will be served through the weekend too so don't miss it for anything! Have a great, Godly weekend! God bless.

Pin It Now! We will conclude our series on "Fruits of the Spirit" by reminding us the importance of bearing fruits. Taking an inventory of ourselves we may notice, we have some fruits well developed in us, some fruits may be in budding stage & some fruits are nowhere to be seen.

Jesus once told this parable:

"A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’
“‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’" Luke 13:6-9

Just as in the parable above, Jesus is pleading our case to the Father everyday: "Leave her/him alone for one more year; I’ll dig around him/her and fertilize him/her. If he/she bears fruit next year, fine!" I hope we will live up to His expectation.

* Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves.  Matthew 21:19
* Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit. Isaiah 5:2

Let us all analyze our hearts to see if our life resembles the fruitless fig tree or the bad grapes vine as in the verses above. If it does, it is time to work on the F R U I T S!

Pin It Now! Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. 1 Peter 4:7

The last but not the least, in the Fruits of the Spirits is Self Control. What really is self control? It is the control of one's emotions, desires, or actions by one's own will or in other words, the ability to exercise restraint or control over one's feelings, emotions, reactions, etc.

Why is it important for us believers to practice self control? Mainly because it is one way we can set apart ourselves from the world. We can not consider it fun what the world calls as fun. We have to exercise the fear of the Lord along with our merriment.

King Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes 11:9, "Be happy, young man, while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment."

King David instructs in Psalm 2:11, "Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling."

These wise kings don't say it for no reason. They have practiced it in their lives. Let us also make it our priority to develop self control along with the other fruits we discussed over the weeks. God bless you all!

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The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. 1 Peter 4:7

I am so glad we started on this journey - to learn more about each Fruit of the Spirit. Last but not the least is the fruit of Self Control.

I would like to bring it up for a open discussion today.

What is Self Control? How do we develop it? Would you like to share your thoughts on it? Please do.

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Let your gentleness be evident to all. Philippians 4:5

How is it possible to make our gentleness evident to all? The answer is available in the same passage. Let us look at the context in which this verse is mentioned:

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

So, what we see from here is that anxiety causes panic - not gentleness. Removing anxiety will increase gentleness. If we present our requests to God with prayer and petition with thanksgiving then the peace of God will guard our hearts and minds thus completely eradicating anxiety.

What are some of the benefits of having gentleness?
* Blessed are the meek (those who are gentle), for they will inherit the earth. Matthew 5:5
* For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation. Psalm 149:4

Now that we know a thing or two about gentleness, do you now want this fruit? I believe I do?

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"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' Matthew 25:23

We are all very familiar with the parable of talents told by our Lord Jesus. There is this master who gives away five talents, 2 talents and 1 talents respectively to three of this servants before leaving on a journey. When he comes back the man who got five talents produces ten, the one who got two talents produces four - to these the master says, "Well done, good and faithful servant!" But the one who got one talent just returns that one and the master is not very pleased. He calls him a 'wicked & lazy servant!'.

If our honest desire is to be called 'good and faithful' at the end of our race, our focus should be on investing the talents we are given for the use that master would delight in.

Paul says in Acts 20:24 according to Weymouth New Testament translation, "But even the sacrifice of my life I count as nothing, if only I may perfect my earthly course, and be faithful to the duty which the Lord Jesus has entrusted to me of proclaiming, as of supreme importance, the Good News of God's grace." Let us live to strive for such a testimony too!

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A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. Matthew 12:35

Thank you for staying with me through the Fruit of the Spirit series so far. Today's fruit for discussion is 'Goodness'.

We all know the difference between good and evil; the problem is sometimes the difference is so subtle that it is easy to miss out on  doing the good.

Let's consider few examples; we know nursing home ministry is good, soup kitchen is good, but how many of us are really part of it? Inviting friends over is good, evangelizing about Christ is good, setting a good example is good but the difference between doing these and not doing these is so subtle that we don't always get involved...

Reminder: A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things. Let us continue to be good if not better.

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"The LORD bless him!" Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. "He has not stopped showing his Kindness to the living and the dead." Ruth 2:20

Happy New Year everyone! It is so good to start the new year in His presence, is it not? Our discussion on the Fruits of the Spirit continues...

So, what really is 'kindness'? I went around asking few people the same question today and got different answers such as 'humane', 'being good', 'goodness', 'act of being kind' etc. Which brought me to one conclusion that everyone knows what kindness means. It is not something new to us which only makes it easier to develop more of it.

Here's the definition from online dictionaries:

Definition: Kindness is the act or the state of being kind and marked by charitable behaviour, marked by mild disposition, pleasantness, tenderness and concern for others.
Synonyms: benevolence, boon, courtesy, grace, indulgence, favor, mercy, service
Antonyms: coldheartedness, hard-heartedness, inhumanity, inhumane, mercilessness, pitilessness

In our reference verse we see Naomi certifying Boaz as being kind. She says of him, "He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead."

Will people certify the same about you and me? How do we plan on developing kindness? Is there a special act of kindness we can do today? Yes, today! Let's go for it!