* Love one another. As I have loved you. John 13:34
* Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other Ephesians 4:32
* Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Colossians 3:13
* Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Romans 12:10
* Encourage one another and build each other up. I Thessalonians 5:11
* Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Ephesians 5:21

The Scripture calls for it repeatedly (as we see in the above verses) to be right in our relationships with one another. Doing so however is really tough. Relationships are complicated; no denying that.

May be when we were children it was possible for us to love all unconditionally. But over the years as we get older, day by day there is a subtle change in us; keeping us away from spouse/family members/in-laws/friends/neighbors/church members/strangers who are not in tune with us.

We make every effort to stay clear of further bonding. We drift aloof and indifferent from their company, which of course we can justify from every possible angle. But the question is: Are we okay in our relationship with God then?

We would like to answer a beaming "YES!" But won't we be fooling ourselves if we did?! In the coming days over the coffee table let us wait to hear from the Lord to lead us in the paths of righteousness.

Let us look forward to rebuilding our relationships with one another, in Christ. Stay tuned. God bless you all!

For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. Psalm 30:5

We see two characteristics of God's very nature here - former as a Judge who cannot tolerate sin and the latter as the Father who cannot and will not tolerate the punishment upon us; rather would bear it upon Himself!

This description of God's slowness to anger, and readiness to save, is given by King David - someone who is deeply acquainted with God.

The Lord spoke through Prophet Isaiah:

"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

Be encouraged He is angry no more! Praise the Lord! Joy comes in the morning! Amen!

Have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son?

It says,

“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”

Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?

If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all.

Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live!

They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.

~Hebrews 12: 4-13

Blessed weekend all!

If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. John 15:6-7

I know it gets repetitive after a few days, but the discussion goes on...

Yesterday we saw the importance of remaining in Him. Today's Scripture comes as a warning for those who do not remain in Him. Clearly it is a serious affair. But when we look around we can see many who do not heed to the warning. We can not do much about it, however we can all take a look within ourselves and see what we lack in terms of remaining in Him and correct ourselves.

How strong we are in the Scriptures? How much of it do we understand? When was the last time we sat down with the Bible with an expectation of hearing from the Lord? Do we only hear Scriptures spoken from a pulpit or have we experienced the Scripture in works within us? Does the Word of God convict our inmost beings, bringing things to light, leading us to repent, and further more to shun from sin?

If so, clearly you are in the right direction. Praise the Lord!

If not, it is time to allow His words to work in us, thus enabling us to remain in Him. Praise the Lord!

God bless you all. Happy Thursday!

Hang in there; the series is almost over and so is the week.

Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. John 15:4

If we were to come across a watch on a beach our first assumption is someone owned it at sometime. If we go on indulging in further thoughts, we would assume someone bought it, someone sold it and ultimately someone made it at some time.

In the case of a watch the watchmaker made it and then let it away independent of the maker. However in the case of us humans, our Maker, God the Father, not only made us but made us dependent on Him. Apart from Him we can do nothing. Every breath we breath is because of His grace. Many live as though they are 'watches let loose by their maker'.

The root cause of all sin is the constant desire by us humans to become independent of God. We want to live our life our way.

This can't be. We are mere branches. We need to be connected to the vine to be able to bear fruits. "Remain in me", says the Lord, "just as I remain in you".

Do you notice the fairness of His command here? He is not asking us to do something He Himself does not do. Both parties remain in each other so that together they can bring forth fruits - much fruits. Praise the Lord! The fact of the matter is He always remains, we often waver.

This morning let us refocus our attention to remaining in the Lord. For the rest of the day let our prayer be, "Help me to remain in you Lord, just as you remain in us, so that I can bear much fruit".

God bless you. Enjoy the Wednesday!

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

John 15:1-8

Indeed our Lord Jesus Christ is the True Vine! Here's a beautiful allegory or a symbolic representation that Jesus Himself shared to explain the need for our dependency on God.

Jesus is the vine; we are the branches; Father God is the gardener and not to forget the Holy Spirit - the sap inside the branches that helps it being connected to the branch. Praise the Lord!

We will be meditating on the same passage for the next couple of days. Be sure to join the conversation.

For today just remember - Jesus is the true vine.

May God bless you and have a wonderful Tuesday!

"You, Israel, my servant,
I took you from the ends of the earth,

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

For today's coffee I would like to share an illustration from John Bunyan's book The Pilgrim's Progress.

Christian - the lead character in the book, is on a journey - from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City. Christian is weighed down by a great burden, the knowledge of his sin, which he believed came from his reading "the book in his hand", (the Bible). This burden, which would cause him to sink into Tophet (hell), is so unbearable that Christian must seek deliverance.

He meets Evangelist as he is walking out in the fields, who directs him to the "Wicket Gate" for deliverance. He is diverted by Mr. Worldly Wiseman into seeking deliverance from his burden through the Law, supposedly with the help of a Mr. Legality and his son Civility in the village of Morality, rather than through Christ, allegorically by way of the Wicket Gate.

Once again the Evangelist meets the wayward Christian as he stops before Mount Sinai on the way to Legality's home. It hangs over the road and threatens to crush any who would pass it. Evangelist shows Christian that he had sinned by turning out of his way, but he assures him that he will be welcomed at the Wicket Gate if he should turn around and go there, which Christian does.

At the Wicket Gate begins the "straight and narrow" King's Highway, and Christian is directed onto it by the gatekeeper Good Will. To Christian's query about relief from his burden, Good Will directs him forward to "the place of deliverance."

Christian finally reaches the "place of deliverance" (allegorically, the cross of Calvary and the open sepulcher of Christ), where the "straps" that bound Christian's burden to him break, and it rolls away into the open sepulchre.

After Christian is relieved of his burden, he is greeted by three shining ones, who give him the greeting of peace, new garments, and a scroll as a passport into the Celestial City — these are allegorical figures indicative of Christian Baptism and the journey continues all the way to the Celestial City. (Excerpts from Wikipedia)

The point of focus for our discussion is, when we lose our burden of sin and guilt at the cross, we pick up a lighter load and continue on the journey. This lighter load indicates the teachings of the Scriptures, the areas in which we need to improve, loving, forgiving, etc to become more like Jesus every day. Compared to our original bundle of sin, this yoke is very light and not a difficult task at hand. Might seem so at times but by His grace we can do it! Amen!

Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. Psalms 68:19

"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6

"I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture." John 10:9

What does it really mean that Jesus is the way, truth & life?

In Genesis 3rd chapter where we read of the fall of man, it ends with this Scripture: 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

The Lord Jesus's sacrifice on the cross has once again opened this way to the tree of life! Amen!

Entering through this way (salvation) we now have access to the tree of life, which in turn gives us eternal life and we will once again rejoice in the presence of our Father God! Amen!

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Matthew 7:13-14

Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?”

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. Psalm 51:15
I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. Exodus 4:15

May my lips overflow with praise, for you teach me your decrees. Psalm 119:71

Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel.... Ephesians 6:19

Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Proverbs 31:8

Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy. Proberbs 31:9

Let us pray:

 Dear Father! Thank you Lord for this new day. Thank you for giving us a good night's rest Lord. Thank you for your grace for today Lord.

Please open our mouths today Lord. Rebuke every bondage of our mouth Lord. Rebuke the spirit of anger, pride, depression and vengeance Lord. Wash us Lord. Cleanse us Lord. Fill our mouths with your praise Lord.Fill our mouths with joyful singing Lord. Fill our mouths with words of confidence, encouragement and compliments Lord.

Please open our mouths so that we can speak up for the destitute among us Lord. Open our mouth so that we can defend the poor Lord. Open our mouths to build relationships Lord. Open our mouths to share our testimonies Lord. Open our mouths so that we can proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ Lord.

Fill us once again Lord, with your joy,peace, love and compassion Lord. Refill us Lord. Use us for your glory Jesus.

In Jesus Christ's most precious name we pray, amen.

If you love me, keep my commands. John 14:15

In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome. I John 5:3

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Matthew 11:30

The 4th key to finding His grace and availing His peace is to obey His commands. Scriptures are full of His commands. Anywhere you turn, for whatever circumstances you are presently in, the Scripture has the answers. When we obey the commands of God He will shower His countless blessings on us, which very much includes the promised grace and peace that we are after.

In Leviticus 3rd chapter verses 3-13, God has promised us the benefits of following His commands, which I wish to share with you. Take your time to read  it and re read it, till the contents sink in. 

‘If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit. Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want and live in safety in your land.

Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. John 12:26

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. John 10:27-28

Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Matthew 10:38


Grace & Peace series continues... The 3rd key to finding grace and availing the peace God offers is to follow His lead.

What does it mean to 'follow' someone? Dictionary.com defines it as:

In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly. Psalm 5:3

They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:31

The 2nd key to finding grace & peace is to take the time.

Taking the time or waiting on the Lord does not come naturally to us.  We would rather take matters in our own hands than "sit around", we reason. From Abraham to Moses to Peter to even us, all have history of impatience and we have seen the consequences of that.

Waiting on the Lord means getting the confirmation on God's will, to surrender the matter at hand at His feet and wait for His leading. Taking the time to read and meditate the Word of God will enable us to hear when the Lord speaks. Our hearts will be in synch with the will of God. Naturally this will result in us finding the grace and peace that has been given to us.

Shall we set aside some time each day to wait on the Lord? Morning or evening or at noon, that is up to you. But take the time!

I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. Psalm 130:5

My soul waits in silence for God only; From Him is my salvation. Psalm 62:1

Surely I have composed and quieted my soul; Like a weaned child rests against his mother, My soul is like a weaned child within me. Psalm 131:2

Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him. Psalm 62:5

Be still, and know that I am God.Psalm 46:10

Yesterday we started a new series Grace & Peace.Today we will see what is the #1 key to finding the grace and availing the peace God has intended for us, which is to Quiet your soul.

God did not design us human beings to run 24 X 7. We were made to rest systematically. Only to insist that God Himself rested on the 7th day of creation and set aside the Sabbath for us to rest. If it were not so important,it wouldn't have found it's place among the ten commandments.

So, when was the last time you rested completely - quieting your soul? Were all the distractions we were after, worth it? The non-stop text messages, the social networking way into wee hours, were it really truly worth anything? From my own experience I can tell all these distractions are far from quieting us. No wonder we feel edgy and cranky most of the time.

When we quiet our soul like how God had planned for us, we are renewed and refreshed - all body, mind and soul. Only when we quiet our soul, we can hear God speak, thus know the will of God in our lives, which leads to the complete peace - His peace - that has been made available for us.

My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. 2 Corinthians 12:9

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. John 14:27

Today's Scriptures clearly explain there are two things God has already given to us. Grace & Peace. He has given. Means it is served. But have we availed it? Have we received what He has given?

If you ever feel pressured or in turmoil - without peace, clearly you haven't availed it. If you are calm and composed in all situation surely you have received it. So, what is your story? Which one do you relate to better?

Grace is composed of His love, His mercies, His kindness, His justice. (Your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life.Genesis 19:19)

In Peace we find the rest He promised. (Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.Matthew 11:28; My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest. Exodus 33:14)

Even the lamenting Prophet Jeremiah writes: The LORD'S loving kindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I have hope in Him."… Lamentations 3:23-24

Let me challenge you this morning to avail His grace. To find His rest.

Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 2 Peter:1:2

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. Proverbs 31:30

Humility is the fear of the LORD; its wages are riches and honor and life. Proverbs 22:4

Happy Friday all! As we wrap up this week, here's a beauty tip for us who are a little beauty conscious.

Today's Scriptures explain that a humble spirit is what it takes to become more beautiful!

Interestingly this is way opposite to what the world calls as beauty. The world cheers for loud, proud, fearless personality. But God expects a calm, composed, humble personality. Surely there is a clash! Whose call we heed?

Apostle Paul writes in Romans 12:2, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will."

He reiterates again in Colossians 3:12, "As God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience."

In Philippians 2:3 he instructs, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves."

I know it is tough - to let go of things, to slow down, to take a back seat while others rush in. But remember by doing so we will turn out to be more beautiful in the eyes of our Maker. Isn't that what we strive for?

Enjoy the weekend! Coffee with Jesus will brew over the weekend too. So please join us if at all you can. Sure, bring your friends over too!

"I'll restore your health and heal your wounds," declares the LORD Jeremiah: 30:17

Some of us have been hurt; financially, physically or even spiritually we have been wounded - which has impacted our health, joy and peace of mind.

In Jeremiah 3:22 we read, He will cure us of backsliding - which means that backsliding is also a wound.

The word of God today assures us that He will restore our health and heal our wounds. Amen!

Yet another scripture goes like this: I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security. (Jeremiah 33:6)

Jeremiah prays, "Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise." (Jeremiah 17:14).

Let us also ask for healing this morning. Healing from stress, healing from backsliding, healing from financial insecurities, healing from ailments, healing from fear, and anything and everything you would wanted to healed of.

Our living, loving Father God affirms that He will restore our health and heal our wounds. Amen!

* 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.

"Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you." Joshua 3:5

What a beautiful message we have this morning. Let us come together and consecrate ourselves. Let us get cleansed once again by the blood of Jesus Christ. Let us prepare ourselves for the 'amazing things' God has promised us for tomorrow.

Let us remove any dross or impurities from our hearts. Let us call out to the Lord to cleanse us as white as snow!

"Listen to me, Levites! Consecrate yourselves now and consecrate the temple of the LORD, the God of your fathers. Remove all defilement from the sanctuary. 2 Chronicles 29:5

We are the temple of the Lord; let there be no detestable thing among us. Let us remove all defilement from our hearts.

Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.Hebrews 10:22

For the rest of the day let our hearts have one prayer and one prayer only which is: "Cleanse me Lord!"

The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. Deuteronomy 28:13

Have you noticed that every promise in the Bible comes with a condition? It is only fair, I believe.

In the scripture quoted we read, if we keep the commands of the Lord and carefully follow them, He will make us the head, not the tail; we will always be at the top, never at the bottom. Our focus today is the underlined text.

It is not just the ten commandments we are talking here, it would be all the commands and commandments of God that we read throughout the scriptures. Feel free to check out this link where someone has painstakingly compiled a list of commandments he/she calls a Complete List.

As you see it is a very long list. I am sure you would agree it is not a one time effort to keep His commandments; it is a lifelong process ... but trust me while you are at it, during the process itself, the promise will be fulfilled. He will make us the head and not the tail; we will be at the top and not at the bottom!

Praise the Lord! Enjoy the Friday.

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. Psalm 20:7

King David was a great king with thousands of chariots and horses. In I Chronicles 18:4 we read: "David captured a thousand of his chariots, seven thousand charioteers and twenty thousand foot soldiers. He hamstrung all but a hundred of the chariot horses."

We read in 2 Chronicles 9:25 about the great wealth his son King Solomon had: "Now Solomon had 4,000 stalls for horses and chariots and 12,000 horsemen, and he stationed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem." I am sure a great deal of this wealth was passed on to him from his father along with the kingdom.

In spite of all that King David was very clear on where to set his heart. He was not counting on the number of his chariots nor his horses but his trust was in the Lord.

He took no pride in his possession nor his abilities but in the name of the Lord alone he trusted. He had complete assurance that it is the Lord who gives him victory not his armies of chariots and horsemen.

He had also taught the same to his son Solomon who writes in Proverbs 21:31, "The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the LORD".

How about us? Where do we put our trust? What do we teach our children?

Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far has the LORD helped us."

Throughout the Scriptures we read of several people designating stones as monuments for remembering the deliverance or encountering of God in that place.

If you recall Jacob had set up a stone pillar at the place where God had talked with him and called it Bethel (Genesis 35:14,15) and Joshua had set up the twelve stones that had been in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. (Joshua 4:9). King David confessed several times that the Lord was his rock of salvation (Psalm 18:2).

Here Prophet Samuel sets up a monument to remember the return of the Ark of the Lord and names it Ebenezer which means "Thus far the Lord has helped us".

Now the question is, do you have such a monument that reminds you constantly of God's deliverance from certain situation? If you think about it there are easy reminders in our lives such as birthdays, anniversaries, years of experience, number of children, we can go on and on and on.

If these are not enough reminders and/or if we would somehow forget what the Lord has done thus far, we might as well put up some monument as reminders. If we remember already, let us praise the Lord for helping us thus far!

Blessed Wednesday everyone!

The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. “Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.”

They discussed this with one another and said, “It is because we have no bread.”

Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?”

“Twelve,” they replied.

“And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?”

They answered, “Seven.”

He said to them, “Do you still not understand?”

Jesus's miracle of feeding the crowd of five thousand adults with five loaves of bread precedes today's Scripture. The fact that this conversation above is also mentioned in the same chapter explains how soon the disciples had forgotten the miracle and started to worry about "how to feed the crowd".

Aren't we like them too? We forget how God delivered us through certain incidents in the past and keep worrying about the future far and near. Why is it hard for us to trust that the Lord will see us through all the way? Why do we still depend on our abilities and merits and resources?

Why are we talking about having no bread? Do we still not see or understand? Are our hearts hardened? Do we have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t we remember?

Why o why?

I know too many questions to handle in one day... but let's take some time to analyze our mind. Let us learn to look up to our Source(Jesus) which never dries out; instead of forever worrying about our low resources...

It is high time we fully trust beyond what is seen, don't you think?

Have a blessed day!

Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. Psalm 32:1,2

We tend to relate blessings to the matters of this world forgetting that this life we live right now is only temporary - a make-shift phase in God's eternal plan. If someone has huge wealth, great fame and good fortune we call them blessed. But are they?

The Scripture here tells us if our transgressions are forgiven and our sins covered and there is no deceit in our spirit, then we are blessed!

Do you have the assurance your transgressions are forgiven? Yes! Do you believe your sins are covered? Amen! How about the third checking point - a spirit with no deceit? Well...

Barnes Notes on the Bible gives us a beautiful explanation as to how to develop a spirit with no deceit:

And in whose spirit there is no guile - Who are sincere and true. That is, who are not hypocrites; who are conscious of no desire to cover up or to conceal their offences; who make a frank and full confession to God, imploring pardon. The "guile" here refers to the matter under consideration. The idea is not who are "innocent," or "without guilt," but who are sincere, frank, and honest in making "confession" of their sins; who keep nothing back when they go before God. We cannot go before him and plead our innocence, but we may go before him with the feeling of conscious sincerity and honesty in making confession of our guilt.

Let us go before the Lord baring everything from the inner most parts of our heart - not trying to hide anything. Let us ask for sincere forgiveness and receive the assurance our sins are covered; that is what makes us blessed!

I lift up my eyes to the hills—

Happy May 2016 everyone!