Self-confidence?

I have often heard people stressing about having self-confidence to become sucessful in life. Positive thoughts are definitely a good attitude. That is quiet a requirement for any accomplishment. But self-confidence is something I really don't rely on. As for me, my confidence is Christ and what I will be able to do by His grace. Christ-confidence is the real power than self-confidence. For we all know that our 'self' is limited. But think about having a confidence in life, relying on Christ, who is the Creator...

Isn't this great to take the Lord of creation to be the centre of our life and being? Yes, it is and the confidence in Christ will not disappoint us, for He is a God who will never change. And when we trust Him we will never be put to shame.

Rom 10:11 (NIV)
As the scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in Him will never be put to shame"

And my confidence is this...

Psalms 60:12 and Psalms 108:13 (NIV)
Through God we shall do valiantly...

What am I boasting about?

We would have come across many people in our lives who boast about their intelligence, success, riches and accomplishments, as if they had acquired them purely on their own. All these boastings are in vain. Though people can achieve all of these in this world, they will not be able to save their own souls...We can save our soul only by accepting the grace from God which He freely gives through Jesus Christ. People may not realize the value of being saved today, but at end times surely they will know.

But we as God's children have a different kind of boasting. We boast that we have been saved by His (Jesus') grace and that we know Him. That is why the Lord says in Jer 9:23, 24 (NIV)
(v.23) This is what the Lord says,
"Let not the wise man boast of His wisdom
or the strong man boast of His strength
or the rich man boast of His riches,
(v.24) but let Him who boasts boast about this:
that He understands and knows me,
that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness,
justice and righteousness on earth,
for in these I delight",
declares the Lord.

Riches, intelligence, success and popularity cannot take us to heaven, but accepting the Son of God (Jesus) and living by Him and for Him can.

Are we able to boast today saying that our life and future is secure in the hands of the living God? Are we able to boast that we know Him (Jesus) who died and rose again for us ...And who is coming again?

If our answer is no, then our life is at risk...Let us think about this once again.

If you want your soul to be saved for eternity and a life here on earth filled with God's peace and blessings say this prayer in your heart.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, I am a sinner. But you died for me on the cross paying the penalty for my sins. Please come into my life and wash away my sins. I give my heart and life into your hands. Take my hand precious Lord and guide me all my life. Thank you for loving me. I love you too. In Jesus name. Amen.

We are olive trees

What a privilege it will be when we become a blessing to someone. The world does not know anything about being a blessing. The world only knows about being successful, prosperous, famous etc. The world has no clue about becoming a blessing. But children of God who live in Christ are destined to be a blessing to many. Blessing doesn't mean mere financial gain. It is in various ways...through our words of comfort, consolation; through sharing love and true friendship, that people consider us a blessing. The very presence of a child of God in some one's life will be regarded as a blessing.

We should not lose heart if somebody is not aware of our value or relationship, as a child of God we are precious in Jesus sight and thus we are a blessing in His house.

Psalms 52:8 (NASB)
But as for me, I am like a green olive tree in the house of God;
I trust in the lovingkindness of God forever and ever.

One day we will be able to say like the Psalmist who boldly proclaims that he is like an olive tree in God's house. And this is possible because of the lovingkindness of God upon us. Truly, the Lord will exalt our horn by making us a blessing. May we take this Word to our heart believing that His lovingkindness will make us like a green olive tree. Amen.

Need already met

When we are keenly looking towards God for some provision or help or some favor to be bestowed on us, our strength can be zapped when we find nothing happening. But we so quickly forget that God is working something for us, unseen to our naked eyes. At such times we need to recall whom we trus and what kind of God we worship. If we understand the very nature of Him whom we trust, then we can remain strong and unshaken during times of difficulty.

Look what the Word of God says in Deuteronomy 31:8 (NIV)

The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.

The Lord is not only with us now, but has gone before us, to prepare for resources or provisions or paths or people to meet our need. He has already worked on the ways and means to make things happen in favor of us. If we can live with hope today, it is because of what He has already accomplished to meet our future needs.

All praise and glory to Him, for He never leaves us nor forsakes us. Amen.

Doing the right thing...

The Spirit of God through God's Word teaches us things we need to learn and adopt in our lives. Many a time though we know what is the right thing to do, we seldom do it. For we react to our life's situations and circumstances based on our perception, understanding and emotions. Our emotions at times overwhelm us and we react based on our emotions. It is better that we pause during those times before we make major decisions or react to our situations. We need to pray about it so that our Lord will help us to make the right decisions by giving us the insight into the truth.

The Word of God says,

James 4:17 (NIV)
Anyone. then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.

Instead of taking decisions by surge of emotions, if we only wait for the Lord to lead and guide us, we will not fall into wrong choices or reactions. Let us learn to bring every issue or problem to the Lord, so that He guide us, teach us to do the right thing always.

Realizing His Presence

What is more important for us as believers in Christ, is to walk with a conscious knowledge of the truth that our Lord lives with us. When we carry on our days without this conscious knowledge than we can easily fall prey to worries, fears, temptations and frustrations.

It is very important for us to start our day based on this scripture
Jn 1:14 (NIV)
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us...

Jesus, the personified Word of God lives with us everyday. Only when we live with the confirmation of the above truth, will we be able to realize His presence in our day to day living.

True Repentance...

Many a time when we say sorry to someone, we don't really mean it. It is said out of obligation or even with contempt. But when we are truly sorry for what we have said or done, we will mean it from the heart with deep regret and with a sense of not repeating it. This is exactly what repentance is. We say sorry to God for what is said or done or been. When we truly repent the Lord is gracious to forgive them.

1 John 1:9 (NIV)
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Real confession comes only when we truly repent. Confession is followed by renouncing. And when we do that, God's Word says that our Lord forgives us and also purifies us from all unrighteousness. Let us not take this grace of our Lord for granted, but live in reverential fear of our Holy Lord.

Am I a Pharisee?

When we walk with the Lord we often need to check whether we are in tune with the Lord when it comes to our attitude, behavior, motives, our interaction and communication with the people. Sometimes we can be so carried away by our spiritual highs that we tend to become self- righteous without our knowledge. We tend to talk and behave as if we are absolutely right all the time. This is an attitude of a self -righteous Pharisee and not of Christ.

We all know the parable of the Pharisee in Luke 18:10-13 (NIV)
(v.10) Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. (v.11) The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men- robbers, evildoers, adulterers - or even like this tax collector. (v.12) I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get'. (v.13) But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner'.

Today which of the two attitude do we have? Let us examine ourselves. If we are sure that we are having the attitude of the tax-collector in the parable, then we will not compare us with others like the Pharisee did. The tax-collector spoke about his sin alone to the Lord, the Pharisee spoke about himself in comparison to others. If we are truly having the attitude of the tax-collector we will only look deep into our self rather than speak about the wrong of others.

Let us re-examine ourselves and quickly make right our attitude. Amen.

Children of the Light

When we live with Christ, we will always desire to live a life pleasing to the Lord. We will always want to be found right by Him. For that is the evidence of He living within us. For He is light and when the Light lives within us, there will be no room for darkness or sin or wrong attitudes, actions and motives. We cannot afford for these things to make a dwelling in our hearts.

That is why the Word of God exhorts us to live as children of the Light, as the Lord lives in our heart...

Ephesians 5:8,9 (NIV)
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as the children of the light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth)

Let us make every effort to live like the children of the light depending on the grace of the Lord.

Good conscience

If at all we need to be made in God's likeness, the first and the foremost trait which need to be found in us is transparency. Only then the Spirit of God will be able to bring about transformations in our life. Otherwise we will keep overriding every conviction the Lord brings through intellectual and self-righteous reasoning.

Transparency in other words, as described in God's Word is good conscience. When we have a good conscience or a transparent heart, then we will be ever ready to learn from mistakes, take corrections and convictions that come to us with humility and will be people whom the Lord can mould effectively.

So let us always have a good conscience so that we can readily yield to the Lord's work in us...

Hebrews 13:18 (NASB)
...for we are sure that we have a good conscience, desiring to conduct ourselves honorably in all things.

A good conscience will always aim for good conduct and pleasing life to the Lord. Amen.

Christ like attitude

We will not understand the fullness of our sinful nature or wrong attitudes and perception, unless the whole of our self righteousness attitude is abolished. Most of the time inwardly we have the feeling that we are right and we know what to do. We believe so much in ourselves that we look down on others. What others say may appear wrong and unpleasant all the time.

But we will know our true self only when we come into the light of the real nature of our Lord. When we understand how much it took for the Most Holy God to leave behind all His glory and to take the servant hood nature of man, will we understand our true self. Then we will be able to understand how fallen we are; how badly we have been, how badly we have behaved or spoke or have held perceptions and judgemental attitudes. We will see that we have not been reflecting Him in this matter.

So let us forsake all our self-righteouness for they are filthy rags before Him.
Isaiah 64:6 (NIV)
All of us have become like one who is unclean,
And all our righteous acts are like filthy rags...

Philippians 2:5,7 (NIV)
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus,
...but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.

Do we reflect Him anywhere like this? If no, let us quickly repent and ask God's grace to be made in His likeness. Amen.

Godliness not an option

It is not easy to live a spotless and a blameless life, but at the same time it is not impossible. If it had been impossible God wouldn't have asked us to live so. It is possible when we depend God's Spirit (who is our life coach), to enable us or help us to live thus. For sin or wrong doing is always crouching at the heart's door to take control (or possession) of us. We need to be very sensitive to God's Spirit so that we discern it and not heed to temptations or sins or wrong attitudes.

To live spotless and without blame, the Word of God says that we need to be trained in Godliness.
1 Tim 4:8 (NIV)
For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.

We have so much of sinful nature embedded in us. Though we know consciously that we are not to do many things such as using bad language, being rude, outbursts of anger, being selfish, hypocrisy and like, we many times do the same. But when we are sensitive to God's Spirit, the Spirit of God will convict us and change us. And the change may take place in us progressively or slowly depending on how we yield to the Lord. This is what is called being trained in godliness and this has all value enclosed in it, holding the promise for our life, both now and for future.

Transformations

How are we to live as God's children? Do we keep doing wrong, then repent and then repeat the same mistake? Of course by no means. When we repent we renounce sinful ways and wrong ideals too. We make every conscious effort to be found spotless and blameless before God. But when we fail unintentionally we are honest and sincere enough to change and correct our self. This is the sign of true child of God.

We cannot afford to live heedlessly in this world, for we are accountable to the One who has called us and saved us. We are here for Him and we are to live up to His standards (as in His Word)

2 Pet 2:13 (NIV)
...make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with Him.

Yes, this is the way to live. Anything apart is a compromise...

Godly Sorrow?

When we feel bad for what we have done or what we have been, then such a sorrow is good. For the Word of God says that godly sorrow leads to repentance.

2 Corinthians 7:10 (NIV)
Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret...

We learn from our mistakes - our wrong perspective and attitudes, our inappropriate behavior or reponse and wrong decisions. When we feel bad for such things, it is good; for these things help us to change towards God's nature and holiness. Holiness is not an unattainable aspect. It is very essential for every child of God and Christ-like nature has holiness embedded in it. So being like Christ is possible only when we are willing to learn from our mistakes and change as the Spirit of God works in us.

So let us be open to God as He works in us and not justify wrong as right by our human intelligence or reasoning. But be careful to be sensitive to our true conscious.

His Disciplines

Sometimes when we face some unnecessary heartaches or problems, we tend to see them as if it was the work of the devil. But, if only we could see honestly the route cause of the problems, we will be able to see that we are the root cause. Either it is our behavior or attitude or response which would have been inappropriate that could have resulted in the problem or heartache.

So what do we learn from these unpleasant situations or heartaches? Let us be humble enough to repent and correct ourselves so that we be made right or brought into the right perspective by the Lord. Instead of asking the Lord why He allowed this unpleasant circumstances into our life, let us understand that God has allowed this for a good purpose so that we be disciplined according to His holiness.

Hebrews 12:10 (New International Version)
Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.

Amidst Storm

I read a wonderful saying from a mail, my friend had sent. It says " Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass...it's about learning how to dance in the rain". What powerful words...

Many times when we face storms in our life, we shrink. We expect that the storm would quickly pass. It is natural to feel that way. But many times we fail to see that we have with us the One who is able to calm the storm. All that we need to do is to trust Him. Trust Him explicitly. When we can trust Him explicitly then we can surely learn how to dance in the rain. Amen.

When I see the storm coming in my life,
Behold my Savior is right in my boat,
And I shall not fear when He is near.

Psalms 16:8 (NIV)
I have set the Lord always before me,
Because He is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.

Like Jabez

When we know and realize that we have the lovingkindness of God surrounding us, we need not fear or doubt to make profound prayers to our Lord. We can be assured that they will be answered, for the Lord Himself promises us to do so.

Psalm 91:15 (New International Version)
He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.

One of the most profound prayer made in the Bible is the prayer of Jabez. There is no much details given about Jabez except for two verses.

1 Chronicles 4:9-10 (New International Version)
9 Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, "I gave birth to him in pain." 10 Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain." And God granted his request.

Jabez came forth giving pain and was thus named. How much of pain he would have seen in his life to make this a profound prayer. And the beauty of his whole life is that, God answered his prayer.

Let us make a profound prayer to our God this year knowing that He will answer it just the way He answered Jabez. Amen.

Triumphing Grace

When we face trials of many kinds, we need to be very sure that the lovingkindness of our Lord has not departed from us though we may see dark clouds in the sky. The lovingkindness of our Lord shall surely be there for those who hold a reverential fear for Him.

Psalm 103:11 (New American Standard Bible)
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him.

We are assured that the Lord will lead us in triumph. The Lord is on the throne and He is in complete control of our life and situations. He is silently working, though we cannot see it with our natural eyes. But we see it with our eyes of faith by believing in His Word that assures,

2 Corinthians 2:14 (New International Version)
But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.

All glory and thanks to Him for we always triumph through Christ.

Lovingkindness Guaranteed

When we live in a relationship with Christ, we need not doubt if the Lord will give us His grace, blessings and lovingkindness as He does to His other children. We see in the scriptures that there is no partiality with God. What He has done to others so He is able to do for us...

The Word of God says,
Psalm 32:10 (New American Standard Bible)
Many are the sorrows of the wicked, But he who trusts in the LORD, lovingkindness shall surround him.

When the wicked suffers there is no one to help and comfort. But when the children of God goes through trials, the Lord's lovingkindness surround them. They are provided all grace and help. And when the lovingkindness of God surrounds the life of the child of God, breakthroughs take place which will enable us to see His intervention and His hand at work. And hence we will be able to say like the Psalmist,

Psalm 31:21 (Amplified Bible)
Blessed be the Lord! For He has shown me His marvelous loving favor when I was beset as in a besieged city.

The grace essential

Sometimes while seeking the grace, provisions and blessings upon our lives, we may unknowlingly get carried away with these things rather than growing in our intimacy with the Lord. We may leave the blesser and get hooked with the blessings...

Oh, for the grace to know Him more and love Him better. For the grace, for Him to become the centre of our life and being. For the grace to gaze on the giver than the blessings...

Psalm 27:4 (New International Version)
One thing I ask of the LORD,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD,
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
and to seek him in his temple.

Prayer
O Lord, I need you more than anything in my life and that is the essence of real grace. Amen.

Seeking His lovingkindness

The blessings and the well being of our life is because of the lovingkindness of our God towards us. But the question lies in the fact, how much do we believe that God is able to impart His lovingkindness towards us? How much of His tender mercies i.e grace do we seek everyday?

Psalm 42:8 (New American Standard Bible)
The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime;
And His song will be with me in the night,
A prayer to the God of my life.

Faith is believing in the very loving nature of God. It comes from believing what He has done for us on the Cross and what He is willing to do in each one of our lives. If only we can go to the extent of knowing, that we can be nothing and do nothing apart from His grace, will we seek His grace and lovingkindness every day of our life...

No unwavering...

Unshakable faith is to have a faith without wavering. When we have faith regarding something in our life then it is from God and not by ourselves. We cannot have a steady faith in something that is not God's will. But once we have been given the faith, we should not be tossed back and forth because of unbelief, doubts or absence of positive outcomes.

Abraham was a man of faith. It is said of him as someone who never doubted on his faith that God gave him.

Romans 4:20 (New International Version)

Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God.

Whether God gives us a promise or just pure faith that cannot be reasoned by human intelligence, we better hold on to that faith like Abraham without wavering. For a faith that wavers is no faith at all.

Unshakable faith

We many times say we have faith. But not really everybody understands what it is to live by faith. If we have to live by faith, we need to know the nature of our Lord and what the Word of God says for every situation or sector of our life. Faith is not just holding a positive attitude for something good to happen to us. It is tremendous unshakable belief which comes from knowing Christ and His Word. Only then we can live a life of faith, otherwise we will be living a life, not of faith but of doctrine. The bible teaches us a doctrine but to live that tremendously we need faith.

1 Corinthians 2:5 (Amplified Bible)
So that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men (human philosophy), but in the power of God.

When we truly understand the God whom we trust and worship, then our faith will be built in such a way that we will handle every area of life in line with what the Word of God says. Then we need not struggle to hold faith but faith will hold us.

Overflowing grace

When the Lord gives us the breakthough, it will be beyond our imaginations and expectations. For the Lord proves His love for us which surpasses our imaginations. We do not receive our blessings because of our goodness or righteousness. But purely because of His grace. As Rev. Selwyn Hughes says, "God's resources infinitely exceed our requirements".

It is true that our Lord is more than enough for us and that is why He is called the El Shaddai which translates, 'The Lord Almighty'. In other words the Lord who is 'The enough'.

2 Corinthians 9:8 (New International Version)
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need...

God will meet all our needs. He is able...only we need to trust and wait for His grace to work in our lives...

Approching with confidence

While waiting for answers, it is natural to go weary when nothing turns our way. But we should not fall into a gloom, for gloom can take us down the road to depression. So it is better that we hold on to God and His Word, for through that our faith is built. The way we handle our feelings, direct our attitudes and speech shows our faith.

Whatever be our circumstances, God is in control and there is a wonderful exhortation in God's Word...

Hebrews 4:16 (New International Version)
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.

We can approach God with confidence believing that grace will be given to meet our timely need. So God has promised to meet our need and He knows the time. We get worried because we don't know the time but His time will not be beyond...It will not surpass the crucial time for our need to be met. It will be just in time and we can applaud that it was in perfect timing...

As grace operates

When we expect God to give us a breakthrough, then we are to wait and not hurry up to work out things by our own strength and intelligence. It is not wrong to take efforts or try... but we at the same time need to wait and see to receive the best from the Lord. We should not take short cuts to reach our goals or compromise with small things. We are to do our part and leave God to do His part.

Deuteronomy 3:24 (New International Version)

"O Sovereign LORD, you have begun to show to your servant your greatness and your strong hand...

The grace of God will operate in our lives as we wait for Him and we will receive the best from His hand. We will be able to see the strong hand and the greatness of our Lord when we wait in faith.

From His hands...

During the times of expectation for some kind of breakthrough in our life, we may think or expect that it may come through some person or source. And when that doesn't happen we easily get disappointed and discouraged in life. That is why we always need to set our focus and eyes on the Lord. We will not know from which source our provision or breakthrough is going to come. But our Lord knows it all, for He has perfectly planned every detail of our life.

We should be able to say like the Psalmist,

Psalm 54:4 (New International Version)
Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me.

Our help is from the Lord. Our provision and breakthrough is from Him.

Psalm 145:15-16 (New International Version)
The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time.
You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.

When the Lord does this for every creation of His, how much more to those who love Him and look to Him. Whatever be our need He will surely meet.

Let us say with faith and affirmation,
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want (Ps 23:1)

I can through Him...

We take seamless efforts to do our best at work, home, in handling problems and dealing with issues or people. But fail many times because things do not turn as expected all the time. Either there are problems with people or the system or in the way things are handled by the people. For this we need the grace of God so that the efforts taken doesn't go the drain.

Apostle Paul said,
Philippians 4:13 (New International Version)
I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

This strength which Paul claims to have is the power of Christ which is sufficient enough for him to carry on his work and face life's challenges. There is no insufficiency in him which Christ cannot meet.

Similarly we can do all things through Christ enabled power in us that comes by grace. Hence we can find our sufficiency in Him alone. Amen.

Striving forward

Many things we would have planned and desired to execute last year, but due to some reasons it wouldn't have turned out as expected. At the same time we could also recollect some aspects in us which might have been undesirable such as unwise spending, or being sluggish or slowing down in faith or even ill tempered...These things we would now like to change, so that we could become better and also be productive in our life.

The first step to carry out this is to forget the unaccomplished and press ahead with a new hope and determination. Apostle Paul teaches us this secret which we find in the book of Philippians.

Philippians 3:13 (New International Version)

Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead...

We as human beings have our shortcomings and weaknesses, but we should not allow them to stop us or take control over us. If we can only learn to strive ahead by seeking the strength and the grace from the Lord, then we can surely be over comers rather than quitters.

Our Personal Promise

As we enter New Year with all joy and anticipation, our Lord will give us a promise for the year which is very unique to each one of us. And it is this promise that will carry us through as we hold on to God and His Word.

Genesis 28:15 (New International Version)
I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go... I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.

This is a promise that the Lord God gave Abraham and this promise is for each one of us too. For the Word of God says that all the blessings and promises given to Abraham also belongs to those who have faith in Christ.

Romans 4:16 (New King James Version)
Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.

So let us seek God diligently for our personal promise for this year and claim it so that it will be fulfilled in due time.