* 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?

Happy Saturday everyone! Let us rejoice in His presence all day long!

* You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you. 2 Chronicles 20:17

* The LORD your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes Deuteronomy 1:30

* The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still Exodus 14:14

* You yourselves have seen everything the LORD your God has done to all these nations for your sake; it was the LORD your God who fought for you. Joshua 23:3

There are plenty of Scripture verses stressing the same point repeatedly that our Lord will fight our fights; so it has to be true!

Whatever be our circumstances, whatever be our battle, we can trust that our Lord will fight it for us. Let us by heart these verses and repeat it in our prayers, claiming victory over our battles.

Now, stop fighting it all by yourself and go enjoy the weekend!

Happy Friday!

No weapon forged against you will prevail. Isaiah 54:17

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. This clearly shows that 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?

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?

"Arise, shine; for your light has come, And the glory of the LORD has risen upon you." Isaiah 60:1

"...it is light that makes everything visible ...and Christ will shine on you."" Ephesians 5:14

"the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;" Numbers 6:25

"You are the light of the world. ...let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." Mathew 5:14-16

I guess these verses are pretty straight forward and self explanatory. For today's coffee let's focus on the word "light". Thinking of light in general terms, what are some of the things that come to our minds? Of course the sun, the moon, the stars, light houses, street lights, lamps, flashlights, fire, decorations, what else?!

Now let's try to imagine ourselves as one of these sources of light. Can we be a sun to the world? How about a moon - reflecting the light from the Son? Could we be the stars brightening the night? A light house directing a boat or ship of life? Street lights illuminating someone's path? A lamp chasing away a child's fear? Flashlights used in a search, how about a bonfire to someone cold and tiered, or pretty decorations in the busy downtown? Do we shine for His glory?

Can we play light for today and practice it for the days to come?! When we attempt it the Lord makes His face shine upon us! It's a promise!

If you recall anyone who was such a source of  light in your lives please share so it may benefit fellow readers.

“To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the  seven spirits of God and the seven stars. 

I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. 

Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. 

But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you. Revelation 3:1-3

Sure a wake up call for some of us; what are we going to do about it?

* I  am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. Revelation 3:11
* Only hold on to what you have until I come. Revelation 2:25

The message for today is: Hold on to what you have!

Hold on to what we have? What do we have? Let's see what the Scripture tells us:

* Hold on to the good. 1 Thessalonians 5:21
* Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23
*Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called.  1 Timothy 6:12
* She (wisdom) is a tree of life to those who embrace her; those who lay hold of her will be blessed. Proverbs 3:18
* Let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. Hebrews 4:14
* Stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you. 2 Thessalonians 2:15
* Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life. Proverbs 4:13

As born again believers we must therefore hold on to the good, our hope, eternal life, wisdom, our faith, what the Scripture teaches us and the instructions given in the Bible till He comes. That's all is expected of us.

Hold on tight! Don't loosen the grip!

Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. Hebrews 12:14(NIV)

Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. (KJV)

Barne's Notes on the Bible has the following explanation:

Follow peace with all men - Do not give indulgence to those passions which lead to litigations, strifes, wars. This is the temper of the gospel. We are to make war with sin, but not with people; with bad passions and corrupt desires, but not with our fellow-worms.

And holiness - Instead of yielding to contending passions and to a spirit of war; instead of seeking revenge on your persecutors and foes, make it rather your aim to be holy. Let that be the object of your pursuit; the great purpose of your life. Men might in such cases counsel them to seek revenge; the spirit of religion would counsel them to strive to be holy.

What is the difference between us and non-believers if we take offense in every single remark or wrong doing,  arguing our case? Can't we just dust off the comment and move forward forgiving them in Jesus' name? It doesn't seem alright; they truly deserve to hear what we got to say - right? Wrong!

Let us make every effort to live in peace as today's Scripture teaches us. Let us make a difference from the rest of the crowd out there!

For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm. Psalm 33:9

I just love this verse so much that I use it in almost all my prayers, be it for me or someone else. The power of His word is so powerful.

If you recall the incident when a centurion comes to Jesus requesting healing for his servant, he said: "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed." Matthew 8:8

In Genesis 1:3 we read, And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. The rest of the creation was also created simply by His spoken words.

Elsewhere in the Scriptures we read: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1

Little Samuel was taught by Eli to respond by saying "Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening."

Jesus rebuked satan by saying, "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."

In  Mark 4:39 we read: He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

Romans 8:34 says, "Christ Jesus, ... is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us."

If we sit down to look for more Scriptures that emphasis the power of His Spoken Words, I am sure we can find many many more. Don't you want Him to speak for you today? I do.

Let's hold on to these verses and pray to our Lord thus: "You spoke, and it came to be; You commanded, and it stood firm. Please speak to me Lord. Please speak for me Lord! Your servant is listening." Amen!

"You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows." Psalm:23: 5

I would often think I had no enemies only to realize that not everyone I know of think of my well being all the time. There would be jealousy, hatred & grudges against us from very familiar people. They may not be genuinely happy when things go well for us and may secretly rejoice when things go bad for us, thus becoming an "enemy".  Also, not to forget our real enemy - the roaring lion prowling around looking to devour someone.

I am sure all of you have faced such enemies one time or other in your life. But when you sit back and think about how God led you through those circumstances you can boldly say like King David said: "My God prepared a table for me in front of my enemies. He anointed my head with oil; my cup was full". Yes, I can say that & I am sure you can too. Let's pray:

Dear Father in Heaven, thank you Lord for this beautiful day. Thank you for this wonderful time with you Lord.

Thank you for always preparing a table for us in front of our enemies in the past circumstances Lord. Thank you for always lifting up our heads and anointing us with oil Lord. Thank you that you gave us in abundance that our cups ran over Lord.

We continue to trust that your glory will be revealed in the coming days too Lord. Thank you for your protection and for your anointing Lord. We praise you again for all your mercies Lord. Bless this day Lord. Bless each and every one of us who gather here to spend few minutes with you Lord.

We Love you Jesus! In Jesus' mighty name we pray, Amen!

* Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall. Psalm 55:22
* Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. I Peter 5:7
* I am the one who answers your prayers and cares for you. Hosea 14:8
* And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you Matthew: 6:30
* You saw how the LORD your God cared for you all along the way as you traveled through the wilderness, just as a father cares for his child. Deuteronomy 1:31

Today's message is specially for those who constantly worry about this or that. The verses here make it crystal clear that our Lord will sustain us through our tough times as long as we cast our cares on Him. What does it mean to cast our cares on the Lord?

It simply means bringing our burdens to His feet, praying it over from the depth of our hearts, crying it over (if we feel like) at His feet (not to anyone else), and then no longer be burdened by it but rejoice in His love. You might ask how is it even possible not to be burdened by it?

The answer is if you truly believe God will answer your prayers and handle it for you, you will know better to refrain from worrying further. Or in other words if you continue to worry it only means you have not trusted Him to lead you through.

I am casting all my worries right away; hope you will join me too!

Happy Monday all!

Let your words be few Ecclesiastes 5:2

The prudent hold their tongues. Proverbs 10:19

Fools multiply words. No one knows what is coming - who can tell someone else what will happen after them? Ecclesiastes 10:14 

A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards. Proverbs 29:11

All of us have opinions of things good and bad. We have a point to make, good & bad. We often share our thoughts without the filtering process, which is the Word of God that gives us the divine wisdom. 

We might think we are being straight forward, but the Bible tells us we are fools if we don't control our tongue. I am guilty of it myself.   

Today's message challenges us to speak less, hold our tongue, nod, listen, cook, clean, do something but don't talk. Enough of entertaining our guests and neighbors and friends and collegues with our constant blabbering. We have shared our opinions time and time again. Now is the time to hold. Pause. Heal. Be.

Let our words be few. Today. Tomorrow. This week. Next week. For a month. For 6  weeks. Until it becomes our very nature. Then we will be prudent.

With God's help we can. Amen! 

Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the LORD our God to go and worship the gods of those nations; make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison. Deuteronomy 29:18

See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. Hebrews 12:15

The first scripture here is an excerpt from Moses's address to the Israelites at the end of their journey; the second is from Paul's letters to Hebrews.

The idea is the same: Do not develop bitterness yourself; neither do let others induce it in you! Both will lead to falling short of the grace of God. Let us see how we can work on these.

How do we get rid of our bitterness? Ephesians 4:31-32 has the answer. It says, "Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."

How do we safeguard against people who produce bitterness? For one, by praying the Lord's prayer "Lead us not into temptation  but deliver us from evil" (Luke 11:4).

With what shall I come before the Lord
and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:6-8

We at times forget what is ultimately required of us by the Lord. Is it how much we give? No! Is it our being regular to church? No! How about we fast and pray for three days? That will be good idea but not something required of us by the Lord. Well, then what is really expected of us?

Today's passage has the answer: To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God! How do we do that? To find out let's discuss each of these in detail in the coming days:

Act justly
Love mercy &
Walk humbly with the Lord!

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.  Matthew 5:8

Seeing Jesus face to face is the living hope of every follower of Christ. But the Bible tells us even those who are not looking for Him, will see Him on that day, when He returns in the clouds. We read of this in Revelation 1: 7:

"Look, he is coming with the clouds," and "every eye will see him, even those who pierced him"; and all peoples on earth "will mourn because of him." So shall it be! Amen.

The question then becomes, will we be ready to receive Him?

What does it take to be ready for the return of the King of kings, Lord of lords,our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? The Bible has the answer for us:

"Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved--you and your household." Acts 16:31

Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. Mark 16:16

If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9

If you are ready, praise the Lord and keep the oil burning. Those who are not sure, get to know Him now.

You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9

For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. Deuteronomy 7:6

He has declared that he will set you in praise, fame and honor high above all the nations he has made and that you will be a people holy to the LORD your God, as he promised. Deuteronomy 26:19

Amen! What a special anointing we can sense this morning! To be known as the Lord's chosen people, His royal priesthood, God's treasured possession, is truly special.

These are not mere words, but He means it. If not for that, He wouldn't have ransomed His only Son on the cross to redeem us.

From time to time we experience a certain dullness in our Spirit. We begin to doubt His words. We reason. We look up the context of the Scripture Promises like these and say it was spoken some time in history for certain group of people. We do not believe it is meant for us.

Today's message is to awaken our Spirits. To strengthen us once again that we are indeed the chosen people of God Almighty. He has redeemed us. He has bought us with a price. We are His. His treasured possessions. Amen!

Let us keep that in mind the rest of the day. Let us declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Amen!

Happy Friday. Have a blessed weekend.

Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name be the glory. Psalm 115:1

There appears to be a hurriedness about King David's words here; as if he had the slightest inclination to take some pride but immediately decided against it.

Or it could be that someone went on and on praising the king and he gives all that glory to God Himself. Either way we can understand that his focus was on giving glory to God.

Is that our focus too? When someone praises us for something, do we take it with a "thank you" or do we say, "it's all because of the Lord" thus giving glory to God's name?

When the slightest pride shows up on our accomplishment do we feed on it or rush to eliminate the pride and give glory to God alone?

How often do we say, "Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name be the glory..."?

I lift up my eyes to the hills—

* Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Psalms 100:2
* Rejoice before the LORD your God, you, your sons and daughters... Deuteronomy 12:12

It is a beautiful new day, a brand new week - is it not?! As we get ready to go worship the Lord in the congregation of fellow believers, let us remember these verses and the emphasis today is on gladness.

In Isaiah 35:10 we read, "...the ransomed of the LORD will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away."

Aren't we the "ransomed of the Lord"? Are we glad this morning? In spite of everything going on in our lives, we are still breathing - which alone is enough to be singing joyful songs at His presence.

For the rest of the day let us cast away our cares and go before him with joyful singing... shall we?

Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. Joel 2:13 

In the book of Joel we read of many end time prophesies and here in Chapter 2 a detailed description of an army of locusts. If you have some time today I encourage you to read the full chapter to get a glimpse of the impending danger by an invasion of locusts. It is dreadful to realize that such destruction could be caused by swarms of locusts. It is absolutely horrifying even to read.

The chapter does not end with just the warning; but goes on to explain how we can escape the ordeal. This clearly shows the love of the Lord to protect us from these calamities. In verses 12-13 we read:

“Even now,” declares the Lord,

“return to me with all your heart,

with fasting and weeping and mourning.” 

Rend your heart

and not your garments.
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love,
and he relents from sending calamity. Joel 2:12-13

You may ask, what does rending our hearts or repenting have to do with escaping the army of locusts. The answer is in verse 32: And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Joel 2:32 Amen!

If we are intune with the Lord, we will be caught up in the sky when Christ returns to gather His Church before such calamities strike the earth. Praise the Lord!

We have been warned. Let us heed to it. It is time to return to the Lord with all our heart! Yes, today!