Perfect Timing

When the first man sinned, God promised him a saviour who will come to the world and will take the punishment for their sins and save them to be a child of God (Genesis 3: 15). When Adam and Eve heard this promise they would have thought, might be end of that day the saviour will come and do everything which was promised and would have waited for his arrival. But Lord Jesus came to this world as human 4000 years after God promised his arrival.

Man thinks things to be done at a certain time, but God decides to do everything at His perfect time. “The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the LORD” – Proverbs 21: 31.

Throughout the Bible we see God’s perfect timings against man’s wish.

In Genesis 37, we see Joseph getting sold by his brothers and being punished by Potiphar, even when he was innocent. But God made a perfect timing for him after 13 years and made him the prime minister of Egypt (Genesis 41).

In Exodus 6, we see when God wanted to rescue Israelites from the torture of Pharaoh, he brought plagues in Egypt. He could have made Pharaoh to let the Israelites go to Canaan. But He made Pharaoh’s heart hard to show His power and glory to the world and in His time he rescued Israel miraculously through the Red sea.

When the wicked Haman was plotting and planning to destroy Israel, God made Esther the queen and in His time destroyed Haman (Esther 7)

Even in New Testament opening, we see the priest Zechariah who was praying for a child for long years. He and his wife were old. But God did not give them a child. Why? Because God was planning to bring Jesus into the world and he wanted John, the Baptist to be born just before Jesus birth. (Luke 1).

There are people who are disappointed and depressed that they are childless, or not married, or unemployed. Some are depressed because of physical, financial or emotional stress/problems. The people we see throughout Bible were also very sad and discouraged when problems came in their life. But one think they did. They prayed and kept hope that God can make a way in any situation. Same way God showed them their miracle at His perfect time.

You need to read the Bible, accept the verse as it is, pray and meditate upon it and claim your miracle accordingly. Always have Jesus Christ as your personal saviour, accepting your sins and confessing it before God and believing and accepting the fact that Christ paid the price for your sins and you’re free from sin once you accept Christ. So you are saved not to go back to your sins, but to live a holy life, to do good works.

May The Lord help you to accept salvation, live a holy life and claim all the blessed promises this end of the year with faith and hope, to get miracles and blessings from God in His and your Prefect Time of life.

Merry Christmas

Finish Stronger

Eternal Citizenship Register & CAB

The register of Citizens is a registry maintained by the government that contains names and relevant information for identifying whether a person is a citizen of that country.

In India, NRC (National Register of Citizens) was maintained for the identification of Indian citizens in Assam. But on 20^th November 2019, Home Minister declared that the register would be extended to the entire country, to which large protests are going on throughout the country.

For the NRC, which is going to happen in India, the illegal immigrants might have to go through tough time as they may not be considered as an Indian citizen and so they need to prove their citizenship status (how long their parents were in India). 

When you open the Holy Bible and read it from the beginning, you will understand, God calling the people of Israel as His own children. They were eligible to be part of eternity. “For you (Israel) are a people holy to the Lord your God. Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the Lord has chosen you to be his treasured possession” – (Deuteronomy 14:2).

According to the Old Testament, other than people of Israel, no one was part of the Heavenly Register. But then God through Jesus Christ chose everyone to be part of His kingdom. “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” (John 3: 16). This is like a Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB), the amendment done for the whole world to be saved, where anyone can be part of God’s kingdom, if he believes in Christ Jesus.

“For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray… But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our saviour appeared, he saved us… so that being justified by His grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3: 3-7).

Getting registered for eternity with God is very simple, not like getting a PR or Green card. You need to accept that you are a sinner and need to confess it before God. Accept Jesus Christ and in faith believe that your punishment for all the sins has being given to Him, and through Him you are safe. Through Jesus you are free from sin, and you are saved hereby not to sin again.  “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by whom we must be saved” (Acts 4: 12).

Once your life is over in this earth, according to the Heavenly eternal register your name will show up and you will be called to live a life with God forever.

May the Lord remind you and help you to register your name in Heaven, through the blood of Christ Jesus and let peace and joy fill your heart in Jesus name.

Light in Darkness

God created Adam and Eve and gave them a beautiful world to live and enjoy. But sin came in the midst of them and the world became sinful, wicked or dark through them. “This is the judgement, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light” – John 3: 19, 20.

From then on, people started living in dark, evil world. While some of them wanted to know God and live a faithful life, lived accordingly, while others enjoyed darkness. From Genesis 5 onwards, we see the life of Noah, how he was different from others around him.

In this world, today, you can see people, who enjoy darkness and sinfulness and live, lusting, insulting and gossiping against other people. Some characteristics of people who live in darkness are mentioned in Galatians 5: 19-21. “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissension, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God”

Today, we see worldly people hunting the ones who go after God. They tell gossips, and try to mock and laugh at their sufferings and persecutions. “With his mouth the godless man would destroy his neighbour, but by knowledge the righteous are delivered” – Proverbs 11:9.

In the midst of all these troubles, in the month of December, you should always remember and get encouraged by the loving God who prophesied about a light in Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel”. God sent that light, Jesus Christ, whose birth is celebrated on this month everywhere.

God loved everyone in this world and for their redemption, made Jesus to be an ultimate sacrifice for their sins, so that they can be free from the darkness and have light upon their life.

There are people who do not know about this light and there are some who knows about Jesus, but have never tried to experience Him. When you experience this light your way of life will be changed into a new direction towards the cross. If you are a worldly person who goes behind lust, sadism, gossip etc, once you experience the light, you will leave every evil in your life, encourage others and live a Holy life, pleasing God.

To have this light, it’s free. Call upon the name of Jesus, ask forgiveness and accept him as your saviour who made you free through his death and resurrection. “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord” – Acts 3: 19.

May this month be a month of this divine light in your life and may you shine and guide others towards this light and enjoy the ultimate salvation and holy life in Jesus name, Amen

Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart

In the Holy Bible, when you read the book of Exodus, God’s chosen children Israel lived in Egypt along with the Egyptians in peace and joy. But then came a new king in Egypt who made Israel slaves and tortured them, even killed their male child by throwing them into Nile (Exodus 1).

God heard the cry of Israel and He appointed Moses to be their leader to rescue them. Moses went to Pharaoh and pleaded him to let Israelites go to their promised land and worship God. But not only Pharaoh listened to him but also gave the Israelites more work and tortured them more. Then God brought plagues against the nation of Egypt, but the children of Israel were not affected. Pharaoh understood the power of God, but was not willing to obey Him. Every time a plague came, he called Moses and told he will let them go, but once the plague stopped, he will change his mind.

Finally God decided to show his mighty hand against the people of Egypt. So God hardened the heart of Pharaoh. Pharaoh tortured Israelites the most until God send an Angel to kill all the first born male Egyptians, including the house of the king. Pharaoh had a time when he got a chance to let Israel go. But instead of seeing the power of God, he hardened his heart. Finally the time came God hardened Pharaoh’s heart to put him under great destruction, because he rose against God’s children.

Today, we see how the nations are gathered against the country of Israel and have taken decision to wipe Israel from the world map. But still God is fighting for his chosen ones and made a small nation, a powerful one. Still knowing God is with Israel; the nations are hardening their heart and are trying to attack Israel daily. We see the number of rockets which are fired from Gaza to Israel. This is the same thing what happened to Pharaoh, “The Lord hardened their heart”, so to destroy them completely.

God is still guarding his people, the Old Israel, to show the New Israel, the ones who accepted Jesus Christ as their saviour, how He will keep them safe from their enemies. When you follow Christ and live for Him, persecution and opposition will come against you in different ways. You will see God helping you to come out of the troubled situation. But sometimes, persecution comes and your life will get harder. The same God who hardened the heart of Pharaoh is hardening the heart of the ones against you, to clear them up from your path towards your heavenly crown.

“Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put come of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown” Revelation 2: 10.

 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” John 3:16.

Persecution and testing come against the children of God, who confess their sins and accept Christ as their saviour, who died as the punishment for your sins. “

As you confess your sins, accept Christ as your saviour and live a righteous life, May the Lord be with you, whatever opposition may be against you, God is going to destroy them in Jesus name. 

Welcome November

St. Mary, the Virgin

Who was the first disciple of Jesus other than Andrew? Is it Peter or is it John? In the book of Luke, which most people refer in gospels, it’s written as Peter. But in the book of John, it is mentioned as John himself along with Andrew. A true disciple of Jesus Christ is the one who accepts Jesus as his/her Lord and Master. In the New Testament, the first person to accept Christ as the savior of the world was a virgin teenage girl who was betrothed to a man called Joseph (Luke 1: 27). Her name was Mary, and she accepted the birth of Saviour in her womb (Luke 1: 38). So you can consider Virgin Mary as the first true disciple of Jesus Christ.

Mary, a Jew, was from the little town of Nazareth. In her teenage she got betrothed to Joseph. She lived according to the word of God and His commandments and God choose her to be the mother of the saviour. We can understand how she was close to the scriptures when she sang praise to The Lord in Luke 1: 46-55. It can be compared to Isaiah 61: 10-11 or Psalms 34. It shows how her life was attached with the scriptures. No wonder why the Angel of God appeared to her in the midst of all women and called her blessed.

Even though she was blessed, she understood her son is going to suffer when Simeon took the child and blessed him (Luke 2: 35). When Jesus was in his peak of earthly ministry, he fulfilled the wish of Father God and considered everyone as his mothers and brothers (Mathew 12: 48). But when he was on the cross, he cared for Mary and called his beloved disciple John to take care of her (John 19: 25-29).

Even though Mary had other sons through Joseph (Mark 6:3; Mathew 13: 55-56; Galatians 1: 19), she was taken care and protected by the disciple of Jesus, John. Tradition tells John took Mary to Ephesus in Turkey. She might have spent her last days there. After the council of Ephesus, in 431, she became popular to everyone as with her portrait with Jesus.

Though Mary was a woman like everybody, because of her faith and belief in God, she was chosen to fulfil Old Testament prophecy of giving birth to the saviour. In this day, 15^th of August, as the world remember St. Mary, think about yourself, an ordinary person like any others, following Christ and have faith in Him. Definitely God will choose you as he called Mary and through you the world around you will get saved by Jesus who is inside you.

To have Jesus inside you, repent your sins, believe Christ came to the world to take away all your sins and believe in faith that through Christ’s blood you are saved and is sin free. Walk with Jesus and be blessed like St Mary.

Faith in Christ

“So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith … There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” – (Galatians 3: 26-29).

A great example of faith is the life of Abraham. When he was living as a childless man, God came to Abram through a vision and promised blessings. He told Abram to look up at the sky and count the stars – if indeed he can count them, so shall be his children. Even though Abram was very old, he believed the Lord. “Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness” – (Genesis 15: 1-6).

Since Abraham was faithful to God, his offspring were chosen by God as his own children, His chosen ones. When God blesses a nation, no one can come against that nation. Even now the chosen one Israel, the nation is powerful because The God of Abraham is with them (Psalms 33: 12-15).

Now, the followers of Christ are being chosen as New Israel, when the Lord is pleased with you, there is no need to be worried about your future, your wealth and food. The scripture tells us that you should be always careful and be watchful and be ready to receive Jesus if He comes now. Your main aim in life should be Jesus and then he will watch over you (Luke 12).

As Abraham’s faith in the Old Testament, the believers of Christ should believe Christ in faith that he is your rock. “Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Hebrews 11: 1). By faith Abraham received inheritance and Promised Land (Hebrews 11: 8-16). Abraham’s powerful faith is seen when God asked him to sacrifice his only son Isaac. Abraham knew God will make a way and believed that in faith and went with his child for the sacrifice (Hebrews 11: 17). Abraham believed in God so much that he knew God can raise the dead and if his son dies, God is able to bring him back from death (Hebrews 11: 19).

As new Israel we have a promised land and we need to believe in faith and receive it like Abraham. Who is New Israel? They are the people who believe in Christ Jesus and believe in faith that he died for your sins, and you are free from sin in His name that you won’t repeat that sins. “Faith by itself, if not accompanied by action, is dead” (James 2: 17).

May the Lord enable you to understand more about faith in him and guide you to walk with Christ Jesus and receive the Promised Land in faith.

Transfiguration

When the chosen leader of Israel, Moses went up to Mount Sinai to get the Ten Commandments in two tablets, he was in the powerful presence of Almighty God. So when he came back from the mountain, because of God’s holiness Moses’s face was radiant since he spoke with The Lord. Everyone who saw Moses got afraid because his face was so bright and shining. So he put a veil over his face and covered it. Whenever he went to talk to God, he removed the veil and when he was with the people he covered his face with the veil (Exodus 34: 29 – 35).

The Lord, The creator is Holy and is great. Because of his holiness and glory, he spoke with Moses and Aaron through a pillar of cloud. As God is Holy and a bright light, His light shines through out where his presence is (Psalms 99).

In the New Testament we see Jesus calling three of his disciples John, Peter and James to go to the mountain and pray. Before some days, Jesus himself told them about his death. Now as Jesus was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Moses whom God buried and Elijah whom God took alive appeared in the same way and talked with Jesus about the future events. When Peter woke up he understood the men with Jesus and he became worldly and told them that he will make shelters for everyone and suddenly a cloud came and covered them (Luke 9: 29-35). Then they heard a voice from Heaven “This is my son, whom I have chosen; listen to him” (Luke 9: 35).

Your body in this world is just a covering or a tent for your spirit to be dwelled in (2 Peter 1: 13). There is going to be a day when you need to leave this body. When you believe in Jesus Christ, after your Spirit departs from your body, you are also going to be transfigured into the splendour of holiness. The Transfiguration of Jesus proves that he is the son of God. It also shows us that when Christ comes for the second time, the believers of Christ who are dead are going to enter into His kingdom with glorified bodies.

To be a part of it, you need to repent your sins and accept Christ as your saviour. Pray to God for forgiving your sins and ask Christ Jesus to cleanse you with the precious blood he shed for you on the cross (Hebrews 9: 22) and be a part of transfiguration. May The Lord be with you.

See Things Above

In the Holy Bible, Old Testament, God is telling about how he loved Israel as His child. He tells it was He who taught them to walk taking them by the arms, but they are not realizing any of that, even the healing provided by Him. God is telling how he cannot leave them even if they don’t listen to him. These is written in the book of Hosea whom God told to marry a prostitute, search for her every night and bring her back to him and love her, to make us know - this is the way God loves us. God tells he will not destroy them and He is waiting for them to call upon His name when enemy comes against them, so that he can destroy the enemies and save His children (Hosea 11).

Yes, when the children of God is hungry and thirsty and when they call upon Him in their trouble, he will deliver them and settle them and so let us give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love (Psalms 107: 5-8).

People’s knowledge and hard work can help them make a tower of Babel, but the real meaning and wealth comes from the creator. Bad and evil days will definitely come to a child of God. But he will have the faith and hope in God that the Lord will deliver him from the evil days and from the wicked deceivers surrounding him (Psalms 49: 5).

Jesus Christ told a parable about a rich fool (Luke 12: 13-21). This rich man had plenty of corps and he was planning to build bigger place to store his corps. He was planning to take life easy, eat drink and be merry. He was not bothered about God who provides, but was proud about his hard work and knowledge. In Luke 12: 20, “But God said to him, you fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?” Jesus Christ is telling about the one who is not eager towards God through this parable.

When you are in Christ, you will never think about the worldly riches and be proud of it. It does not mean that you live a life of poverty, but you will not live a life to enjoy the worldly riches, even God provide it to you, but your hearts will be set above to the sacrifice Christ has done for you and will be always thinking about the glory of heaves where Christ is seated (Colossians 3: 1-4).

God wants everyone to put to death the earthly nature where people go behind lust, sexual immorality, evil desires, greed, anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy language and lie. God wants you to leave that old self and put a new self which is to be same as that of the image of your creator (Colossians 3: 5-11).

A worldly person cannot change his life to a new self with his power or through some meditation. It is only through repenting your sins and accepting Christ Jesus that you will be able to change yourself.

“If you declare with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raise him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10: 9)

When you receive Christ Jesus, Spirit of God will help you to walk in truth and see the glory of God in your life. “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth” (John 16: 13).

May The Lord be with you and guide you to see things above, put to death all evil within you and help you to walk in truth and be an example to others in Jesus name

St. James

James, the disciple of Jesus was the brother of John, another disciple of Jesus. They were both called the sons of thunder. He is called the James – the greater to distinguish him from other Apostle James (brother of Jesus). Their mother’s name is Salome. This mother asked Jesus to keep both her sons in his both sides and Jesus replied whether they are willing to take the cup Jesus is going to take (Mathew 20).

As Jesus commanded His disciples to go to Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria (Acts 1: 8), St. James preached in Jerusalem, Samaria and all Judea. He even went to Spain to preach the gospel. He is the patron saint of that country.

Once when he was preaching the gospel to Jews, they caught him and King Herod sentenced him to death. He was smiling all the way when they took to behead him. It is said that the person who helped them to catch James, seeing this joy in James face, openly asked for forgiveness and accepted Christ as his savior. He too was sentenced to die.

He was the first apostle who shed his blood for Christ and got mentioned in the Bible. His body was taken to Galatia, Spain and honoured till date.

His feast is celebrated on July 25^th.

Even today, the most persecuted people in the world are the people who are following Christ Jesus. The followers of Christ are not forcefully converting anyone, but still they are persecuted. It all started with Jesus and it will continue until Jesus comes back with His power and glory.

May The Lord be with you and help you to understand the love and compassion of Christ Jesus, repent your sins, accept Him as your saviour, and live a Holy life pleasing to him.

Take Care

Some people drive cars that haven’t been washed in six months. They argue that it is an old model and they are planning to get a better one. Take care of what God has given you. Whether you have much or a little, whether it’s old or new, take pride in what God has given you.

Favour and being excellent go In hand in hand. Looking your best and taking care of your possessions are also part of your lifestyle. You should take care of what you have as best you can. Take care of your family, especially children.

You may be in a situation today in which everybody around you is being lazy. Everybody’s being sloppy. Everybody’s taking the easy way out. Don’t let that discourage you. You should be the one to have an excellent spirit. You should be the one to stand out in the crowd.

This applies also to your personal appearance – the way you dress and the way you present yourself. Present yourself in a way that you’re proud of. You are the temple of the most high God (1 Corinthians 3: 16-17).

When you are born again, or when you accept Christ as your saviour, the Spirit of God guides you to be excellent in all the things you do (Colossians 3: 23)

Do represent yourself as a precious child of God.