GOD TEACHES US HOW TO PRAY

I believe and I have experienced during my still short journey with God that He teaches us life’s most valuable lessons through experience. I gave my life to Jesus Christ on 2^nd February 2004 when I was 17 years old, so I am just 7 and a half year old in Christ. During this short journey He has taught me many wonderful lessons whenever I have learnt just like a child less than 10 year old. One of the most important lessons that God has taught me is ‘How to pray?’

One of the things that I have always struggled with is prayer even though I am aware of the need, importance and power of prayer. It has been easy to pray when everything is fine. But when there is a low tide, I have found that words left me speechless, emotions dried up my eyes and pain choked my heart. It’s not that I didn’t want to pray rather I couldn’t pray. I kept feeling alien to God. I didn’t want to complain, I didn’t have the courage to thank God for the mess, I was scared that I might anger God further, I was too afraid that I might hurt God by using hurtful words. I was like this with people too. If I was sad or hurt or angry with anyone, I would just stop talking. And it was not because I hated them rather it was because I just loved them too much that I was scared to hurt them with my words if I talked. Hardly did I know that I was hurting them more by my silence. My attitude was the same with God. And here it was worse because I love Him more than anything and anyone.

But my heart was uneasy. Every night I would lie in my bed and tears would roll down my cheeks and wet my pillow case. I couldn’t sleep for hours. When I woke up my eyes would be puffy and my heart still in pain. It felt as if I was living and yet, not alive. It was a stressful resistance. God’s love for me versus my love for God. Every night I could hear the Holy Spirit whispering to me, “Talk to God, He is waiting to listen to you”. And I would say quietly, “I can’t. I don’t know how to.”

Every moment I was awake, the Holy Spirit kept whispering to me, “God loves you. You haven’t talked to Him for ‘n’ days. He is sad and He is waiting.” I just ignored the still small Voice. Many a times, I would try to get over it by talking to friends and family or watching recorded soaps like FRIENDS. But that still small Voice never stopped.

Finally, one night it was difficult to sleep as usual. The still small Voice was louder than ever making a ruckus inside me. My heart was pounding madly against my chest. It was difficult to breathe. It was dark except for the streetlight. Tears started trickling down the corner of my eyes and my lips started quivering. I started weeping badly. I was completely broken. I said out aloud, “I know that You love me more than I love You and Your plans for me are much better than the plans I have for me. All I want is to love You, obey You and follow Your will. Please help me.” I don’t know how long I cried before I drifted off to sleep. All I know is that when I woke up the next morning, it was a more beautiful day and my heart felt light and happy. I knelt down beside my bed and poured out my heart telling God everything that had disturbed me during the past few days, I told God about all my doubts and fears. I could feel Him smiling. I know He was happy to listen to me talking and the still small Voice encouraged me not to keep anything from God.

God showed me through the Scriptures that godly men talked to Him. Moses who is considered the meekest man that ever lived openly told God about his doubts and fears and God allayed every storm that rose in Moses’ heart. God taught me that day that He is ever ready to listen to me and allay the storms of doubts, fears, pains and sufferings. The only thing He is not ready for is my silence and distance from Him.

God bless You.

SALVATION IS A FREE GIFT - II

The word of God says through James 2:26, “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” In the previous part we saw that salvation is a gift and this gift was given away when Jesus died on the cross and rose again from the dead conquering death and sin and Satan and opening the door of Heaven for all mankind. We also saw how to receive the gift already given by believing in Jesus Christ. “Believing” is a big concept and today we are going to see what believing means.

Let me give you an example. Suppose you need a pen. It is extremely important for you as you have your exams. You don’t have the money to buy one and you don’t know anyone who could get one for you. In short, it is humanly impossible for you to have a pen to write with. I sensed this need and urgency and gifted you a good and expensive pen. But what puzzles me is that you still failed in the exams! I try to find the reason and get to know that you did not write the exam. When I ask you why you did not write the exam, you tell me that you did not have a pen. Well, I myself had given the pen to you so you can’t say that you did not have a pen. I want to know the actual reason. There are two reasons: One, you did not think that the pen was good enough to write the exam. And second, you wanted to write the exam with the pen that you bought yourself.

It is the same with the gift of salvation. Jesus Christ died for us on the Cross carrying the burden of our sins when there was no other way of saving us. Romans 5:6 says, “At just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly”. The Bible says powerless and ungodly meaning it was beyond our capacity to save ourselves and Christ did not die for the godly but for sinners. We did not have to be good and well behaved, obeying the Law word by word for Christ to die for us but He died purely out of His incomparable and never fading love for us. God made a way when there was no way and that way is none other than Jesus Christ as He says in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” Read carefully, the Word of God says, “No one can come to the Father except through me.” This clearly shows that there is no other way except Jesus and if we do not choose this way, there is no way. Romans 3:24 says that we are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Mark here, Jesus Christ and no one else redeemed us from the clutches of sin, Satan and death.

I have seen many people addicted to vices like smoking, alcohol, etc. All these are very harmful. They damage lungs, kidney, liver and what not and may even cause cancer. It is not that people are ignorant of the harmful effects of these addictions. It is mentioned clearly in the packs and there are a number of infomercials that convey the message. Yet people are addicted to these and stick to these. They know the facts, then why do they still do it? There can be two reasons just like the pen example: One, they don’t believe it. And second they are stubborn to give up their bad habits. But any of these two reasons can’t stop them from suffering the consequences.

It is the same with believing in Jesus Christ. Earlier, we saw that we receive the gift of salvation already given out once and for all by believing in Jesus Christ. When you have heard the Word of God and you are aware of the truth, you have three options: You believe it; you don’t believe it or you be stubborn. Being stubborn and sticking to your own sinful ways will lead you to hell as sure as not believing it.

Most of the times, stubbornness is the reason why people can’t get the salvation experience. The Israelites were stubborn and kept going back to evil practices. That is why Hebrews 3:7 says, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”

Let us look to the Word of God. We will meditate on 1 John 2:3-6 and Romans 6:8-14. We say we know Jesus Christ but do we really know Jesus and believe in him. The answer is clear when we read 1 John 2:3-6, “We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.”

John says that knowing Jesus is not a onetime process. It is not like a two hour sitting when you talk to the other person to know him. John doesn’t use these words but his intent is the same. Knowing Jesus is a process, a lengthy one, that’s why John says, “We know that we have come to know him...” John doesn’t say, “We know that we know him”, he says, “...we have come to know him...” clearly showing that it is a long driven process. We know Jesus Christ little by little each day as we meditate on the Word of God, as we talk and interact with God’s people and as we believe in Him and are led each day by the Holy Spirit who teaches us (1 John 2:27).

First of all, a person who accepts Jesus Christ is spiritually like a new born child craving spiritual milk to grow up in his salvation (1 Peter 2:2). It is not that the child gets nourished by itself but it is by the Holy Spirit that sanctifies us each day and prepares us for the day of Christ. This is what Paul tells Philippians in Philippians 1:6, “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” You are not alone in this project of Salvation. God is with you as Paul says in Philippians 2:12-13, “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed – not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence – continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” Furthermore, Hebrews 11:40 says, “God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.”

Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.” And 1 John 5:3-4 says, “This is love for God: to obey his commands and his commands are not burdensome for everyone born of God overcomes the world.”

Through all these verses I wanted to show you one thing. Everything comes down to one thing from our part and that one thing is “Obedience”. God can work in the lives of those who love him. He has great plans for people who love him. And people who love him obey him. Without obedience there is no love and no partnership. And God cannot work in you in you do not agree with him. How difficult it is when we have to work in groups with people who do not agree with each other! It is much more difficult for God to work in us if we keep rejecting him because he loves us so much.

The day we stop obeying God’s commands, it’s like we stop loving him and once we stop loving him; we stop working with him. And God can’t work alone because only together with us would they be made perfect. Loving God is like loving our Father. If you love your father, you won’t try to do things that might hurt him. Even if you do, you would try to hide it so that your father doesn’t know about it. With God it is impossible to hide things. He knows our every secret and he even knows our every thought. Therefore, the only way not to hurt our Heavenly Father is to keep away from sin and live in obedience to his commands. Many a times, it will be difficult but remember that God remains faithful and He eagerly waits for us to come back as it is written in 2 Timothy 2:11-13, “Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will disown us; if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.”

The only thing He asks of us is “Obedience”. Obedience is a very important quality.  Isaiah 1:18-19 says, “...Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land.” Being disobedient means rebelling against God.

Now let us look to Romans 6:8-14

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

As we live in obedience to Christ Jesus, the Holy Spirit keeps working in us and makes us like Jesus, holy and perfect. When we walked in sin, sin had mastery over us. Being under sin is being under law and impossible to be saved. But once we accept Christ and are obedient to him, we are no longer under sin but under grace and we are no longer slaves but free. Once we are under grace, we are no longer slaves to sin and we can boldly say “NO” to sin as Paul says in the letter to Titus 2:11-12, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.” Since, we can say ‘no’ to all the sinful things, it clearly shows that we are no longer under the slavery of sin. You are dead to sin and alive to god in Christ Jesus and sin no longer reigns in your mortal body.

By accepting Christ Jesus, you gain freedom from the penalty of sin and by being obedient to Christ Jesus; you gain freedom from the power of sin. This is learning to exercise your freedom in Christ Jesus by overcoming evil with good (Romans 12:21).

May our Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ give us understanding and insight into His Holy Word. Amen.

SALVATION IS A FREE GIFT - I

A question that bombed me out some years ago keeps looming large in my head whenever I take any evangelistic session. The big question is: What should one do to go to hell? And I am going to ask the same question here again, “What should one do to go to hell?”

Well, if the question has not bombed you yet, the answer surely will. The simple yet very true answer is “NOTHING”.

Doing nothing gives you hell as sure as doing wrong things because the Bible says in Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” so much so that “There is no one righteous, not even one;... there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:10-12)

Our God is a Holy God and He looks into our innermost parts and knows our every sin. The Word of God says through 1 Samuel 16:7, “...The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” We can deceive man but it is impossible to deceive the all-knowing Father as Bible says in Galatians 6:7, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked.”

He is so pure that our acts which we consider good are like filthy rags as the Bible says in Isaiah 64:6, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags...” Filthy rags that try to hide our wrongs and short-comings but they can’t.

Many a times we slander each other and then give offerings. We do all these good deeds so that we can please God and console ourselves that we are good people but let’s see what God says about such offerings in Isaiah 1:13, “Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me.” We disobey God and try to follow the rules and regulations that the church and society imposes to have the false security that we are saved.

But God in His awesomeness, greatness and goodness can see through all these covers of filthy rags and He knows all our secrets. Yet, inspite of our shortcomings, He wants to take us to Heaven with Him so that we can be with Him forever.

God saw through time that no amount of human effort could unite man with God because God’s standards of purity and goodness are unattainable especially because we are slaves to sin and are physically, mentally and spiritually weak to overcome evil. God saw that the law could not stop people from sinning, the multitudes of miracles that God showed His people could not melt their hearts and make them faithful, prophets and warnings could not make the people see the true Almighty God and neither did hardships prove fruitful.

Take a while and think of the good and the bad things you have done. Do you think that at this pace, we are ever going to be in Heaven? We may look at others and say that we are better than them. When Adam and Eve sinned, they were the only people in the entire Universe. Yet sin separated them from God. As we saw earlier that our God is a Holy God, He indeed is very Holy and sin cannot be around Him. Being better than others is not good enough. If you are a sinner, you will be remain separated from God till you remain a sinner.

So, how do you feel now? Rejected? Sad? Sorry?

I did not invite you here to give you the bad news. I called you here and for that matter I believe God Himself called you here to share with you the good news. And the good news is that SALVATION IS A FREE GIFT. See Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Let us open our Bible and meditate on Ephesians 2:1-10.

The Word of God says that you were dead in your transgressions and sins, you followed the ways of this world, you were disobedient, and you were gratifying the cravings of your sinful nature. It is time to think. Are we still there living godless lives? Where are our priorities? If you think that you have never been there in this condition of spiritual death, see what the Word of God says, “All of us also lived among them at one time...” meaning there is no one who has always lived a clean life and therefore as the Word of God says, “we were by nature objects of wrath”. We did not have to do anything to become sinners because we were “by nature” sinners and objects of wrath. We did not have a choice. But out of His rich mercy and grace God made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions. And it is not by our effort but by His grace.

Many a times, when we were kids we used to get gifts for coming first in the class or for winning some competition or things like that. In this case, we did not deserve anything because we were still sinners; we were still dead in our transgressions. God knows that man cannot attain salvation by his own effort and therefore God gave us Salvation as a gift as Bible says in Ephesians 2:8, “... it is the gift of God”. We should know now that a gift is always free and it is never asked for. God gave this gift to us not because we were well-behaved but while we were still dead as Romans 5:8 says, “While we were still sinners Christ died for us.” Thus, God has given us this gift of Salvation, of freedom from sins, of eternal life, free and this gift has been extended to all.

Many a times, we think that good deeds may take us to Heaven but we are as wrong about it as we can be for the Bible says in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” Good deeds are not something we do to get brownie points or bonus points. We do good deeds because it is the only right thing to do. God detests when we brag about our good deeds because we were created to do good deeds as it says in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” In fact, if we do not do good deeds, we sin as it says in James 4:17, “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” This is why; Paul says that we have been saved not by works so that no one can boast because he is well aware of human nature that people boast about every single good deed that they do as if it were an added feather on their caps, forgetting or ignorant that good deeds are basic to life.

So, we saw that Salvation has been given as a gift. Now the question that arises is: Have you received it? Every act of giving requires two people – the giver and the receiver. Here, the giver that is God, has already given the gift once and for all as it says in Hebrews 10:14, “because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” But, has the receiver, that is you, received it?

How do we receive the gift already given? Let us look to John 3:1-16.

This part of the gospel of John tells us of a famous incident where Nicodemus comes to Jesus and Jesus tells him how one can enter the kingdom of God. Even today, this gospel passage tells us the same: how to enter the kingdom of God; how to have eternal life; how to accept the gift of Salvation.

And the answer is there in John 3:15-16, “...that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians we saw that all good things are with Jesus Christ. Accepting Jesus Christ is the only way to receive the good things with him. Salvation is with Jesus Christ, it is by His blood, it is in Jesus Christ. You receive it when you open the door of your heart and let Jesus Christ come in and be the master of you; when you let your body be God’s temple which you were created to be (1 Corinthians 6:19).
Let us Pray:
Heavenly Father, I believe in Jesus Christ and the living sacrifice He became for my sins. I offer my life to You. Let me be Yours and Yours alone. Make me new. Forgive my sins and cleanse me. Keep me under Your holiness and use me for Your glory. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.

HE IS SHAPING ME AS IT SEEMS BEST TO HIM - II

The Israelites kept disobeying God and kept prostituting themselves to idols of foreign gods. They kept sinning and walking in evil ways. So do we. We keep going in our own sinful ways and prostitute ourselves to the evil desires of our hearts: hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambitions and the like (Galatians 5:19-21).

But God never changes. Just the way He sent Jeremiah to carry His message of loving kindness and forgiveness, He speaks to us even today and everyday through the same scripture as given above. The message is not about we being at His mercy, when indeed we are but it is about His love and kindness that surpasses everything.

The potter was making a pot but it was marred in his hands. What did the potter do next? A bit of pottery might help here. While a pot is being formed at the wheel, the joints and axles must be tightened and they must function properly otherwise the wheel wobbles and the pot is deformed. As far as the clay is concerned, it should be kneaded properly before putting it on the wheel. The potter never intentionally damages the pot because he will either have to throw away the clay or go through the tedious process of kneading it again before making a new pot out of it. In the illustration from the Bible, the potter doesn’t throw the clay away but goes through the process of making it again.

Even today, His unfailing love is still the same. We judge our success and our prosperity according to world standards. In this mad race, we forget that God’s standards are not world standards. If it were the same, Christ wouldn’t have had to die and there would be nothing called Christianity. Christianity is not a religion but a lifestyle and a relationship. It is the relationship between man and his heavenly father and that’s why we cry, “Abba, Father.” (Romans 8:15)

Through this scripture portion from the book of Jeremiah, God calls us to give up our old sinful ways and trust Him. God loves us so much that good is not good enough. The Word of God says, “But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.” Jeremiah 18:4. Once we get back to Him, He doesn’t just remodel us to be of some use but He makes us as it seems best to Him. Even when God created the Universe and everything contained in it, the Word of God says, “And God saw that it was good.” (Genesis 1:10,12,18,21,25). After God created man and woman, God saw all that He had made, and it was very good. (Genesis 1:31) But according to the promise through Jeremiah 18:4, He is going to make you the best if you return to Him. O’ what a great news! Yes, God loves you and has wonderful plans for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future, if only you let Him work in you. God bless you!!!

HE IS SHAPING ME AS IT SEEMS BEST TO HIM - I

The word of God came to me when I was very depressed and going through a very difficult phase of my life. The message was the same as it came to Jeremiah in the book of Jeremiah, chapter 18 and verses 1 through 10. I would like to first read the verse out to you so that you gain more insight as you go through this piece of writing.

Jeremiah 18: 1-10: This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

Then the word of the LORD came to me: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?” declares the LORD. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned, repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.

As I ponder into the great and unimaginable goodness of GOD, I always delight and feel blessed to have made that one most important decision in my life, to accept Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour.

Earlier the Word of God from Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you”, declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future,” didn’t hold so much meaning and comfort as it does now when I understand much better the illustration and message from Jeremiah 18:1-10.

God works miraculously in the lives of people and especially in the lives of those who trust Him. Isn’t it a miracle that we are alive when thousands around us are dying each day due to wars, accidents, diseases, etc? When I look at the things around me I can’t help but marvel at the wonderful ways in which God works. God’s love is so wonderful and still so wonderful because He loves us even though many a times we fail to love and obey Him. The Word of God says in Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us”.