Holding faith

Though we are people of faith, we have constant struggle holding on to faith continuously in the same manner with respect to something we may be expecting in life. For instance, we may have faith for provision or healing or an increment or even a relationship, believing that God would meet our need in His time without fail. But we may find it difficult to hold on that faith in the same wavelength. One day we may find ourselves full of faith and the next day we may feel down due to the circumstances or any negative thought.

We may be blaming ourselves for this kind of wavering faith. But we need to understand why we struggle to hold on to faith unwaveringly. We need to bring to our mind what Jesus told his disciples about Satan trying to steal faith.

John 10:10 (NIV)

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;

The work of the devil is to steal our faith and make us feel miserable, hopeless and even doubt whether God's Word or promise is going to work for us. This he will do by bringing in negative thoughts, unfavorable circumstances or even negative words from people. But we should stand strong against all these attacks, holding on to God and His Word. That is how we fight the enemy.

So next time we find our faith shaking, let us go back to God's Word and reassure our faith from what Jesus said,

Luke 21:33 (NIV)

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away...

Amen!

Faith that triumphs

If you were to be asked what kind of faith you have, what would your answer be? Do you have faith which can bring a solution to every problem or issue you face in life?

If we were to say that we are the people of faith and that we believe in Christ, then we should have faith for every situation or issue we face in life.That is true Christian living or living by faith. For we believe in a God with whom there is no word called impossible. Therefore we cannot afford to live a life where we talk about a problem and leave it with a pause. We surely have an answer and that is from God. Rather we have a faith which will overcome the problem.

Sure we do have problems like anybody else in this world. But we just don't live compromising with problems, we overcome them by His grace; by faith in the Word and power of God.

And that is why our life here on our earth is a triumphant one...because of faith.

1 John 5:4 (NIV)

for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.

Floodgates of Heaven

When we ask God for something in prayer, we ask in a very limited manner because of our limited minds. Or sometimes we may think that asking less is where humility lies. But true humility comes when we have much and know the source of our blessings at the same time know how to bless others with it.

We never expect something beyond measure from our Lord. Why? Because as human beings we think limitedly, perhaps only for ourselves and our needs. But the God whom we serve has no limits. He is immeasurable.

And the Lord, the maker of the heaven and the earth challenges us, His children, to show who He is and what He is willing to do for us and through us...

Malachi 3:10 (NIV)

"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the Lord Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it."

This kind of challenge the Lord puts forth to us not only to bless us, but to make us a blessing to many others. Do we trust this challenge of God. If we do, then we shall surely be ready to receive the outpouring...

All needs met

Sometimes we worry a lot about our finances and think about ways to meet that need. Though we pray by faith, we keep working in our minds some way or the other. For our intellectual mind believes that a provision cannot come from a roof top, it has come through some human source or a even something like a lottery though we may not try such things. But God does not want us to bother ourselves about the means...He wants us to simply trust that He will provide without worrying about His means. His ways are something unimaginable though not magical.

So let us trust God based on His word, rather than wearying ourselves to find out about His means.

Philippians 4:19 (NIV)

And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

Can we imagine how much are His riches in Christ Jesus? We can't... but He is willing to meet if only we can trust...

God's Children

We all have an identity. We know who we are. And for most us our identity gives us a sense of pride and dignity. If I were to ask you, what is your identity which you are proud of, what would your answer be? That of your profession? That derived of your riches or fame? It could be anything...

But if you were to ask me, my pride and dignity comes from the fact that I am a child of God... Child of the Most High who created the heavens and the earth and everything in it. I pride that I know Christ, rather I am known by Him and that I am tagged by His name. Wow! This is my privilege and blessing.

Do you also have an identity such as mine? If you do, then for sure, you are a blessed person as I am and unique in your identity. And this identity is one, which is a greater honor than any honor or award than you can imagine of, in this world.

1 John 3:1 (NIV)

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called Children of God! And that is what we are!

If you feel that you do not have this identity yet, you sure can have it now. All that you need to do is this...

John 1:12 (NIV)

Yet to all who received him (Jesus), to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

Surely safe

What a security we find in the Lord. Even in times of uncertainty, a person who trusts in the Lord will dwell safely. For people in the world, there is always some kind of fear. Fear of losing, of failure, of disappointment, of uncertainty...

But for people who trust in the Lord, there need not be any room for fear. Why? Simply because the Lord assures safety.

Proverbs 1:33 (NIV)

but whoever listens to me will live in safety,

and be at ease, without fear of harm.

Wow! What an assurance from the Lord. Let us thank God everyday when we start the day, that we and our family are kept safe by the hand of the Lord.

Assured prayer

When we pray and ask God for something, sometimes we start thinking whether what we asked will really come true. We set sail in the sea of doubt and sometimes forget that we were pretty serious about what we prayed. The Word of God exhorts us,

Mark 11:24 (NIV)

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

The first and the foremost essential to prayer is, we need to believe that we will surely receive what we prayed for. In better words, we should believe that we have already received it. The next essential is to thank God that He has answered our prayer. Thank Him that He answered our prayer because of His love for us and because of who He is...

When we know as parents to give our children when they ask us for things, then God our creator and our heavenly Father, surely does know to give us the best. So let us dare to believe that we will receive what we pray for...Amen.

Chosen

We all know that Jesus died for all the people in the world. And those who believe that He died on the cross for their sins are saved. Jesus loves all, one and the same, but He has given a free will to all to choose Him. He expects that His creation respond to His love by their own will. Those who taste Him and His love, choose to accept Him and live for Him as said in God's Word.

But the Word of God says that, God knows who would respond to His love and we who are in Him, are said to be chosen before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). Jesus is the first and the last, so He knows who will respond to Him and be saved...

2 Thessalonians 2:13 (NIV)

But we ought to always to thank God for you... because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through the belief in the truth.

This doesn't mean God chooses only a few, but He accepts everyone who would come to Him...Are we responding to God and His love? If we are, then we are already a people who are chosen before the foundation of the world... a highly privileged and blessed people.

Set right by grace

As children of God, we being trained in righteousness by the Spirit of the Lord, show no tolerance towards unrighteousness or the cunningness of the people. It is right to hate everything that is sinful or unrighteous... for even God doesn't tolerate such evil. But we need to be careful that we don't fall into the trap of self-righteousness. Sometimes we can miss that mark and start becoming very judgmental in attitude. If we continue in this attitude, we will start becoming like the Pharisees of Jesus time...

Luke 18:9 (NASB)

And He told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt.

We have no right to judge others, for it is only God who is the true Judge. So even if someone whom we know have sinned or does wrong, then let us pray that they should repent and be made right with God. May they be touched by the Lord and be saved rather than facing the wrath of God. And we ourselves hold this attitude... that though we were sinners, Christ died for us and through that realization we have been saved and have been made righteous by His grace...

The gardener's work

When we face trials of life, we see it as something unwanted happening to us and expect God to deliver us from it. Sometimes we face trials as a consequence of some form of sin or mistake, then it is allowed for us to learn something out of that, so that we become wiser and more matured. In some forms of trials we are able to see as an attack of the devil for which we pray and overcome. Yet there are other forms of trials which some see it as testing of faith or trials of the godly. But the most important thing in all these kinds of trials, is the attitude we need to possess or hold.

During the initial phase of the hardship, we all hold the most holy attitude as 'Thy will be done'. But later, as the days go by, we become impatient and frustrated and we ask God to deliver out of them quickly. Sooner, we find our attitude becoming more demanding. But this is not the purpose for which godly trials are allowed. When God allows trials, He is working something on us...

The Word of God says,

John 15:1-2 (NIV)

(v.1) I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. (v.2.) 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.

When the Father is working on us by pruning us, let us know that we should be patient until He finishes His work. Let us be thankful to Him that His divine will and purposes are working for our good...

I already have it...

It is one thing to look for something in our life with hope; but yet an other attitude to live as if we have received what we believed and prayed for. That is living by faith. As we know that, faith is sure of what he hope for and what we have not seen (Heb 11:1).

It is one thing to hope for an increment or a financial breakthrough; yet an other attitude to thank God everyday, that He has already granted it to us, to meet our need. It is one thing to hope for healing, yet another thing to have faith which believes that by His stripes we are healed.

Throughout the Bible we see men and women of God, who just did not hope for good to happen to them; but was sure of what they already received from God even before they saw it happening in the natural realm.

Like the Psalmist who says,

Psalms 27:13 (NIV)

I am still confident of this:

I will see the goodness of the LORD

In the land of the living.

This is faith. We sure need this...

His gift and grace

Each one of us are so uniquely created in the Lord. And each of us do the work of God, according to the grace and the gift that has been given to us. Nobody is greater or much better than somebody else. If somebody's ministry is to encourage, teach, pray, comfort, give, administer, overseer, sing, lead, etc, it is the gift and grace that has been given to them and that is what God wants them to do.

We should not disregard others when compared to us. True humility is to look at others with honor. At the same time we should not consider ourselves inferior to others, assuming our work to be less significant. For the Word of God says,

Ephesians 4:7 (NLT)

However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ.

Let us bring glory to God, by making the right use of His gift, which He has given us and become a blessing to His kingdom. Amen.

God's Purpose

Many of us read the Bible (but some of us don't see it as a bare necessasity) . Sometimes we take the Word of God seriously, sometimes we don't. But every Word that is written in the Bible is for our well being. It takes a right attitude to take the Word of God and apply it in our lives. When we take the Word of God seriously and apply it, believing that the Lord spoke to us personally, then we are accepting God's purpose in our lives. We allow God to work His purposes for us, in us and through us.

When Jesus lived on earth, every Word that He spoke to the people meant life. Many who accepted it, allowed God's purpose to be accomplished in their lives. But the Pharisees though heard the words of Jesus rejected them...

Luke 7:30 (NIV)
But the Pharisees and the experts in the law rejected God's purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized...

Are we someone who is accepting God's purpose or rejecting them? Let us honestly face with this question. When we neglect the word of God by personally applying them in our life, then we are surely rejecting God's purpose for us.

What an attitude!

Sometimes when we look at our problems we become so troubled and ask the question 'why?' to the Lord. We often say 'Why me God?' But we often forget that when God allows something in our life, there is a reason behind it. Though we may not understand it or find it too hard to accept it, asking the question 'why?' can never console our hearts rather deepen the pain that is already present.

During such times I would like to share with you all a real story that I read. Once a guest teacher visited a class of hearing impaired kids. Approaching the black board, he wrote a question, "Do you know why the Lord created you deaf while he created me to hear everything well?" The class it seems was stunned at the question. One little girl got up with tears in her eyes went to the black board and wrote a bible verse from Matthew 11:26

Mat 11:26 (NLT)

Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way!

What a faith and what courage to face life's toughest challenge. Do we get a lesson to apply in our life from this little girl? I sure do...

Preachers or Practioners

It is so easy when it comes to telling others what they should do. But we need to always question ourselves whether we do the same. Preaching is easy whereas practicing the same is quite challenging.

The Word of God says,
Matthew 5:19 (NIV)
Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Whenever we say something to someone first we need to question ourself, if we are following exactly what we are advicing others to do. If our answer is yes, then we are more of doers than just orators. Otherwise, we better not become great advisors. But rather take heed to follow God sincerely.

Let us be honest and thoughtful to ourselves, when we bring this question to our minds. For the Lord loves honesty rather than hypocrisy or self-righteousness.

Doing as He says...

Sometimes we try to avoid people especially those who spitefully use us (by getting their things done through us) or hurt us unnecessarily. But the Word of God says,

Rom 15:7 (NIV)
Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

It is easy to accept people even with their differences. But when people try to use us then it is difficult. With such people we become extra cautious. And the best thing we would do, rather than being indifferent to them, is by avoiding them.

But again the Lord doesn't want to be so. Being His child He wants to be gentle as a dove and wise as a serpent. We got to show the love of God yet be careful not to fall as prey to others tactics. How is this possible? How can we strike this balance? When we obey God and do as per His Word, God will make us people who are strong enough to stop or correct those when they do wrong; but with grace and gentleness. Even people who want us to do wrong or are planning to create trouble will come to be in peace with us.

This is the promise God accomplishes for each one of His child...
Proverbs 16:7 (NIV)
When a man's ways are pleasing to the LORD,
he makes even his enemies live at peace with him.

I am willing...

However hard it may appear, we need to forgive the hurts that people would have caused us. We we need to do so, because the Word of God asks us to.

Ephesians 4:32 (NIV)
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ, God forgave you.

But we may say, "It is so difficult to forgive, for that person has hurt me 'n' number of times". True, it is a very difficult task to forgive someone, who hurt us time and again. Rev. Selwyn Hughes says, we will able to forgive someone, only when we realize how much we have been forgiven. If we have tasted the forgiveness from the Lord, then it is not a difficult task to forgive someone.

So, if we are holding some kind of anger, resentment, bitterness or venegence in our heart, let us forgive the one who hurt us, by asking the Lord to give us the grace to forgive.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, I will not be able to forgive on my own, but with your help it is possible. Give me the Spirit of forgiveness just as yours, for you forgave me many times when I failed you. In your precious name I ask Lord. Amen.

God of Justice

Each one of us can bring to our minds, the hurts that people could have inflicted upon us and our lives. Either through their words, actions, behavior or by their cunning attitude or spitefullness, they would have caused wounds which sometimes takes long to heal. We would have forgiven them for the wrong they did to us time and again.But they would have continued to do wrong without realising the grace and the goodness we would have shown them. We would have withdrawn from such folks believing that it is no use being kind and forgiving.
Even when these wounds of ours would have healed, the scars caused by these wounds at times trigger in us anger, resentments and even revenge calling for justice.

During such surge of emotions we need to remember that our Lord has seen it all and He is a God of justice. The Word of God says,
Rom 12:19 (NIV)
Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay", says the Lord.

The Lord will bring justice to us, by convicting them of their wrong and making them realize of their folly. There is no greater pain than the pain brought by guilt. And if they fail to respond to God's conviction, then the wrath of God is something unescapable.

Being crucified

However good we may seem to be, sometimes we find unpleasant and sinful nature in us such as anger, slang words, hatred, selfishness, vengeance, bitterness, greed etc cropping within us. This is because we have not died to our sinful nature completely. We need to crucify them on the Cross everyday so that they don't take control over us.

Apostle Paul faced a similar context in his life. He says,
Romans 7: 24-25 (NLT)
24. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 25. Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.

He realised that only that Lord can help him get rid of his sinful nature.

Galatians 5:24 (NIV)
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.

Yes, this is how we can live right before God, by crucifying our sinful nature on the Cross. We do this in prayer by repenting and surrendring to God. We need to ask God for His cleansing power to restore us to His nature.

And thus we should be able to say like Apostle Paul ...
Galatians 2:20 (NIV)
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me...

Believing enough

It is not difficult for us to believe, the miraculous healing or provision or any other miraculous intervention, the Lord bought in the lives of the people during His time on earth. We rejoice when we read that Jesus healed the blind man, the leper, deaf, mute and various other diseases. We are amazed to see His feeding the five thousand, or provision of manna and water in the desert. But when it comes to our need and provisions in our life, do we believe that He is able to do the same, what He did for them.

Yes, Jesus is able to do now what He did to the people of His times or even before. For He is the same today, tomorrow and forever more. But we need to have that faith and confess that He is able to do so. For it is our faith that can move the hand of God.

Heb 11:6 (NIV)
And without faith it is impossible to please God...

Matthew 9:28-29 (NIV)
When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?"
"Yes, Lord" they replied.
Then he touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith it will be done to you"

Jesus waiting to see us demonstrate our faith. And it will be done according to our faith in every matter of life. Amen.

What He is able

In our day to day lives, we face many kind of pressures or stress because of work or people or issues that may crop up in our life. Sometimes these worries or stress can weary us down. And when we go to God in prayer, we pour out our heart complaining about the things that worry us so much. Sometimes we forget that God is in control, that He cares for us more than we believe Him to. When we fail to have a right perpective about God, our problem or stress looks bigger than our God. We go on complaining, worrying and speaking negative, rather than thanking Him that He is more concerned about us and will not allow anything to happen which we fear or worry.

Surely we will not expect anything negative or bad to happen to us. When we ourselves do not wish for a negative outcome, will the Lord allow such a thing? Unless we understand the true nature of our Savior, we will never be able to see by faith what He is has planned for us. And when we can't see by faith the solution for our stress or problem, the burden of that stress or problem will keep lingering in our hearts and minds.

Let us always bring to our heart who He is and what is able to do for us.

Isa 41:10 (NIV)
So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

We can take God at His Word, for He is sure to keep it. Amen.

The Master's Work

It is so difficult for many of us to remain doing nothing. For we want to keep engaged ourselves in activities so that we feel good physically and mentally. But some times the Lord brings us into situations where we have nothing to do. We may try our best efforts to look for some kind of work or activity, but we may not succeed in doing any of them. The Lord brings such circumstances into His children's life for a reason. This is a phase where the Lord wants us to be prepared by learning a lot more from His Word and our experience, to do His work in the future. We may not be aware what kind of work the Lord will engage us in the future, but this phase which He allows is the time of preparation for His great work which He has got for us ahead.

The Word of God says,
Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NIV)
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:

There is a time for rest and learn and a time to work for God. This we need to understand. The lord will not engage us in any work without making us undergo sufficient training. Take heart, if you are going through this phase, you have a great work ahead. And the Master is preparing you for His task. Amen.

Grace for righteous living

Rev. Selwyn Hughes says, that the grace of God is available to all God's children, to live a life pleasing God every moment of their lives. Whether we take that grace or ignore it, is our responsibility. For instance, when we are angry or upset, we can choose to handle the whole issue, by asking God of His grace to handle it in a Christ-like manner or we can handle it based on our emotions and thought process.

When we handle any problem or issue through the grace of God, the Lord will help us by bringing to our mind, the correct way of reasoning. Our emotions will be calmed and decisions made right with an appropriate attitude.

Let us always learn to depend on God for His grace, even for the tiniest matter or issue we may face in our day to day living...

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

Grace to stand & follow

If we try to live a righteous and holy by our strength, then we are sure to fail. This is because just having noble and righteous motives are not enough to live thus. We need to have the grace of God to live righteously with holiness. People who have tried to follow the Bible on their own strength, are the ones who have failed miserably. And have given up Christ-centered living believing it as hard. But people who have understood the full worth of God's grace, are the ones who have realized, that a righteous and holy life in the Lord can be lived only by receiving the sufficient grace from the Lord.

Rev. Selwyn Hughes says when God gives us a holy command He also provides us with the sufficient grace to follow it. It is up to us whether we depend on God to give us the grace to follow them or try to do with our own self-achieving attitude.

Apostle Peter testifies about this grace in 1 Pet 5:12 (NIV)
...I have written you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it.

So let us depend on God's grace to be all that we have to be, to do all that is required of us and to live spotlessly and blamelessly for the One who called us by His grace.

Convinced of His love

If you have wondered in your heart why you should follow the Bible? Why should you stick to Biblical principles in your life? Then perhaps you are one among those who believe that following God and His ways as written in His Word (the Bible) are hard.

People who want to live by God's Word by following God's commandments and applying bibilical principles in their lives, are the ones who fully realize the value of the blood shed by Jesus on the Cross for them. They are ones who are born-again by God's Spirit, who have set their heart to please God in every step and walk of life. Those folks are God's children who have experienced God's love, His forgiveness, His grace and blessings so much in their lives that they try live their best for Christ(through the grace of God).

That is why there are able to say like Apsostle Paul that the love of Christ compels them to live a life pleasing God.

2 Corinthians 5:14 (NIV)
For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.

Are you someone who want to live for Christ by following God and His ways as written in His Word? If your heart is set to do thus, it is because of the love of Christ which compels you to do so...

Praise God for He helped us taste Him and His love for us because of which we are determined to do all that He wants us to. Amen.

Am I following?

When a person enrolls in a game, one will have to abide by the rules. Anyone who does not follow rules, is not fit for the game; so it is, when we accept Jesus in our lives. We cannot afford to just receive His blessings and not abide by His rules. His rules which we find it in His word (the Bible)are essential for us to live a life in Him. For the Word of God is given for us to be taught, corrected and trained in righteousness.

2 Tim 3:16 (NIV)
All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.

Let us not take the grace of God for granted which has been given to us freely. But be committed to Christ to live for Him. We need to read God's Word everyday to know Him personally and His ways. Only then will we be able to follow Him in every step of our life. Then we shall continue to live in Him and not be disqualified...

Colossians 2:6 (NIV)
So then, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him