We worry

We worry. We know it’s a waste of time. Yet a lot of us find ourselves in this dilemma—we know we should trust God, but we wonder just what He’s going to do.

The above lines hit me hard when I read the devotional passage from Our Daily Bread!

I've been going through some anxious times running around for my wedding preparations, balancing my commitments to places where I've volunteered, my job, the need to rent out a house to start my family and so many other unexpected tasks. I've started praying more than I usually do (which isn't much in the first place). But still I seem ill-equipped to face all the challenges. Frequently, I'm getting anxiety attacks and get down to dangerously low levels of faith.

And yes, I realized that worrying is a waste of time. But I just couldn't help myself.

Through the devotional passage, the truth has struck me that I need to run to His Word, cast all my cares upon Him, for He cares for me.

Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you - 1 Peter 5:7

I'm going to do that from now on to overcome my anxiety attacks.

Pillars of His Church

In the days of King Solomon, when the temple was getting built, there was a demand for lots and lots of Cedar wood. King Hiram of Tyre met the huge demand, by cutting Cedar trees in his kingdom, and floating them to Israel via the sea. These Cedar logs were then received off the sea, made to dry under the hot sun, cut into precise lengths, and used as pillars in the temple. The pillars were then covered with gold. (I Kings 5)

There are some interesting parallels between these Cedar logs and the life of a Christian in the body of Christ. This was shared by a Pastor in a new Church inauguration meeting.

When the word of God convicts a person and s/he receives the call of God and commits his/her life to Him, then it is like the cutting of the Cedar wood. From that point onwards s/he has no link to this world. The journey has started!

The transportation of the logs by sea is like the baptism of the person in water. From that point onwards, the true walk with God starts. Conflict between the flesh and the spirit happens everyday.

By persisting in seeking God, meditating and following His word, the flesh becomes weaker and weaker, and the spirit becomes stronger and stronger. This is the drying of the wood in the sun. This needs to happen continually, otherwise the person does not grow, but becomes spiritually weak, like wet wood that starts bending when bearing load.

Once the spirit is in control (wood is dry), the person is ready for greater use in the body of Christ (that is, His Church). Then the person needs to humble himself/herself and become a pillar in the Church. This is the cutting of wood into precise lengths stage. Everybody is equal in the house of God, there is no place for ego in His Church.

If after all these stages the person becomes a pillar in the Church, and if more such pillars are ready, then the Church can be built perfectly. And God honours such a Church, by filling it with His glory (covering of the pillars with gold)!

Which stage are we in today?

Spiritual Strength

Praise the Lord!

To get physical strength, we need to eat nutritious food. But what can we do to get spiritual strength?

1. Isaiah 40:31 " But those who wait on the Lord, shall renew their strength".

It's true, when we wait on the Lord, we will get spiritual strength. The other part of the verse is: "they shall mount up with wings like eagles". Think you all know the characteristics of the eagle. The eagle always wants to fly high. It always builds its nest in high places.

Yes, we also when we get the spiritual strength by waiting on the Lord, we can soar like an eagle. We do not have to restrict our abilities. It is God who shapes us. So give yourself to God, He will make you soar. Through His strength, you can do everything.

2. Isaiah 41:10 "Fear not, for I am with you".

When you read this chapter from verse one, you will come to know who is speaking to whom. God is speaking to Israel's people, His children. When we hear God's voice or when God speaks to us, we get the spiritual strength. It is like a father comforting his child when that child is forsaken by everyone else. When the father speaks to that child with comforting words, the child gets strengthened and says "yes dad, I can do it!"

Don't stop after hearing God's voice! You should also be ready to speak to Him. Long for His presence! Don't just seek God once a year or once a month, and then feel disappointed if God does not answer. Speak to Him consistently. Like Jacob who wrestled with the Angel of God until He blessed him, seek God continually.

3. Ephesians 3:16 "... to be strengthened with might through His spirit in the inner man."

Allow the Holy Spirit to strengthen your spirit. He is the great Comforter, who knows what you're going through, and what you will be going through in future. Be sensitive to His leading and get spiritually strengthened.

Wired, Breakthrough Band, CCF, World Vision, ...

Chennai Corporate Fellowship (CCF) organized a concert called Wired, featuring Pas. Chadwick Samuel and the Breakthrough Band. The concert brought many of the corporate fellowship groups together for an evening of praise and worship. As usual the singing, the music and the worship experience was top-notch! And the choreo done by the dancing girls of the "Amazing" group added some extra flavour.

The highlights of the concert were the dance numbers given by kids from the Deaf and Dumb school, Santhome. They did an excellent and colourful job! A major portion of the concert proceeds was donated to this school.

A presentation about the work of World Vision was given in between. The urgent need is to get sponsors for more than 400 differently-abled children by the end of this year. If you have a burden for the needy children of India, get in touch with World Vision and sponsor a child.

So pray ...

Jesus taught His disciples how to pray and not how to preach. The result of prayerless life and prayerful life of the disciples is an eye-opener for all of us.

Mathew 26:40-41
"Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. 'Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?' he asked Peter. "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."

Prayerless disciples ...

The disciples didn't pray with the Saviour in Gethsemane. Following were the consequences:

1. Flesh takes over the spirit Mathew 26:51 "...One of Jesus' companions reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear."

Though the disciples ministered along with Jesus Christ, when they lacked prayer, circumstances influenced their character. Jesus had taught his disciples to love their neighbours as themselves, and to even love their enemies. But the disciples disobeyed His teaching when they didn't pray. Infact Jesus had even told them so many times that He would soon be handed over into the hands of sinful men to be crucified. But they failed to grasp that as they were not watchful in prayer. Their flesh overtook their spirit.

2. Going away from God

Mathew 26:56 "...Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.".

Prayer keeps us close to God. When we lack in prayer we will also flee from the Lord.

3. Witnessing for Christ becomes hard

Mathew 26:69-70 "Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. 'You also were with Jesus of Galilee,' she said. But he denied it before them all."

Witnessing for Christ before men becomes hard when we lack in prayer.

Prayerful disciples ...

The same disciples realized what they were lacking and started praying.

Acts 1:14 "They all joined together constantly in prayer ..."

When they prayed together in the upper room, the Holy Spirit filled them and they started witnessing boldly for Christ! In the name of Jesus, Peter was able to bring healing to the lame man sitting at the gates of the temple. They started performing many miracles and signs to bring glory to God.

What a great difference between a prayerless life and a prayerful life! So pray ...

Can't wait to see daddy!

Just the other day, a thought was shared in our prayer fellowship, which is a simple but profound one. It goes like this ...

We ought to come before God, not like a beggar, but like a child. Everyone who receives Jesus has rightfully become a child of God (read John 1:12-13).

The beggar keeps begging for this and that. Just like that, when we go before God the Father, we shouldn't keep on asking for this and that.

The child, on the other hand, is longing to see dad come back home in the evening. S/he is waiting at the door, stretching to see if s/he can catch the first glimpse of dad returning home. That's the kind of eagerness we need to develop - longing to see God the Father's face. Spending time with Him. Getting to know Him more and more.

Photo courtesy: Afroswede

Escaping the Lure of Sin

Are you really serious about gaining victory over temptation? If you are, are you willing to take a few steps back?

Do you have habits that are continually taking you down the wrong path? While some temptations occur unexpectedly, others are more predictable. Those that happen routinely provide a unique opportunity for you to plan how you will handle the situation––ahead of time.

This is a simple and effective principle to break-free from Dr. Charles Stanley. Read the whole article.

Introduce Jesus: the only hope!

When the parents are slaves to alcohol and drugs, the children suffer. In a clinic in Ukraine, lie many young children suffering from tuberculosis. They are either orphaned or abandoned by an abusive family.

But there is also Oksana Chernota, a volunteer who tells the children about Jesus. Every week she goes to the clinic to sing with them, play games, and teach them the Bible.

"My heart is just for them, to teach them the Bible because that is their only hope. There is no other hope but God," she said.

"You have to play; you have to talk to them; you have to know their need; what their pain is; what their sorrows are; what they like to do. Then they open their hearts, then they attach to you, and then you can show them what Jesus can do for them," she said.

The doctor says many of these children have stopped smoking because of Chernota's influence.

Jesus said, "do not stop the little children from coming to Me". An abusive family, a drug-addicted parent, no roof to call as their shelter, no assurance of their next meal - all of these can stop them from reaching God's love. That's when we need to be God's hands, God's feet and share the love of God in a practical way.

Remember, God didn't stop with words of love toward us, but sent His only Son to suffer and die for us. He is a God of action. We need to be His children of action.

The Orphaned, the Widowed, the Young, the Old

Jesus said:
... the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

Gracious Home is a home for the aged and destitute people. Little Flock is a home for the orphaned children. They show God's love in a practical way. [Find some photos of these two places on flickr]

What have we done for the Orphaned, the Widowed, the Young, the Old? What have we done for Jesus?

Read a full account of God's judgement that each one of us needs to face in the not so distant future. Be prepared!

If you love Me ...

I was going through some confusion, restlessness and discouragement. Started prayerfully voicing my thoughts to God. Like dew which vanishes when the sun shines, all my confusion, restlessness and discouragement started melting away!

I found out one more reason why we need to link up with God frequently. If we don't link up frequently we gradually lose His peace, start believing in the lies of the Devil and ultimately self-destruct. So if you're going through any of these symptoms in your life, then spend some time alone with God. Express what you feel to Him. Be honest with your feelings. I'm sure He'll talk to you!

In the course of my prayerful talk with my Best Friend, I was reminded of the short summary that He (Jesus) made of the entire Law and all the words that God had spoken through all the prophets. He pointed to only 2 laws: (1) love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and all your mind, and (2) love your neighbour as yourself.

He pointed me back to the basics. He started poking around my heart to find out whether I was keeping these 2 laws. I was surprised to find out that I was breaking these laws every day ...

If I loved God with all my heart ... I wouldn't be slack concerning my prayer life. I wouldn't spend so little time in reading and meditating on His word. I wouldn't be slack concerning my job (my job is my God-given responsibility). I wouldn't have such a careless attitude towards sin and the sinful things that I come across every day of my life. I would pray with a burden. I would weep and intercede for others. I would be very careful to spend my time to bring praise to His name.

If I loved my neighbour as myself ... I wouldn't have shouted at that person. I wouldn't hold a grudge against that guy because he wronged me. I wouldn't have been so reluctant to forgive that person, though I go countless times to God to get forgiveness for my own transgressions. I wouldn't expect God to overlook all my shortcomings, but punish my enemy for every single wrong he has ever done in his life. I would rather look at my friends and those whom I wouldn't call as my friends, and see a precious soul who needs the love of God.

God is looking for obedience. He doesn't expect us to change overnight, for He knows what we can and cannot do. But He does expect an obedient attitude. To obey is better than sacrifice.

It is so easy to sing "Lord I love You, You are my everything, Lord I worship You", but not so easy to keep these basics. God is not impressed about our singing, but He takes note of our obedience.

God is challenging you with the same question that he asked me: do you love Me?

Audio/video sermons

Audio and video sermons from New Life Assembly of God Church, Chennai are available on the web-site: http://nlag.in. English service audio messages, and Tamil service video messages are uploaded every week. Listen-in and be blessed!

You may also submit prayer requests, read a daily word, etc. from the web-site.

If you're in Chennai and you speak English/Tamil/Hindi, you're most welcome to join my home Church! Service timings are updated in the web-site.

In the coming weeks, expect to see a summary of some sermons from NLAG here!

No Other Name?

Acts 4:12:

"Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."

A Christian is supposed to believe that Christ is the road to life, to heaven and to eternity. But in doing so, either knowingly or unknowingly, directly or indirectly, he seems to condemn the world’s majority population to eternal hell. Is this right? Is this justified? What’s the rationale for this belief?

Let’s go back to Jesus. Did He believe in eternal hell-fire for unbelievers? Did He claim that He was the ONLY way? When doing so did he ever realize that there are millions around the world who’d never know Him? Did He ever care that his claims if true would literally throw millions of people in the danger of hell-fire? Did Jesus have a heart to claim that?

Spending eternity in hell - is that so easy?

There can be only two reasoning here: Either Jesus did not claim that He was the ONLY way (or) He did claim but he has given everything in our disposal to prevent people from spending their eternity in Hell.

If Jesus had a heart and claimed that He was the only way, I can easily visualize Him as follows:

1) He would have warned about hell so many times
2) He would have stressed on final Judgment so many times
3) He would have shown the urgency in proclaiming the Gospel – either He Himself would have proclaimed or encouraged others to do.
4) He wouldn’t have considered His life or His disciples’ lives more important than winning souls
5) He would have done everything possible to win as many as possible.

For all of the above, The Gospel of Matthew says a big yes!

Jesus talks about Judgment and hell-fire in almost every chapter of Matthew. How good will it be if we – who identify ourselves as Christians – lived every moment of our lives with thoughts on eternity! How good will it be if we ask God to make us a blessing to the fallen world! How good will it be if everyone did everything with the sole purpose of populating heaven!

Jesus is coming soon! Whether our lives are short or long, the only thing that will stand is how much we have lived up to our calling.

Let’s get on straight with the Bible. Let’s not be content anymore with our traditional styles of preaching or doing ministry or worship. Rather let us look unto Bible to learn what it conveys and what it asks us to prioritize. Let us try to imitate how Jesus ministered, how Paul and the other apostles ministered.

Keeping the Bible as our sole authority let us read and meditate on the following verses (Matthew 10) and allow God to share His burden.

As you go, proclaim this message: 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.

What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Whoever publicly acknowledges Me I will also acknowledge before My Father in heaven. But whoever publicly disowns Me I will disown before My Father in heaven.

Anyone who loves their father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves a son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.

PUSH, Red Hills - follow-up visit

Some of us went to PUSH, Red Hills, to make a follow-up visit. Had a good time with the kids. They were happy to see the photos taken at the Scripture Union (Mahabalipuram) outing on December 16th, 2006. 

Practicing before Preaching

The verses that made a change in my life in the first week of 2007 are:

Romans 2:17-24

17. Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and brag about your relationship to God;
18. if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law;
19. if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark,
20. an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth
21. you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal?
22. You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?
23. You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?
24. As it is written: "God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you."

The Bible devotion from Romans chapter 2 convicted me of my behaviour in following areas of my life:
1. Work or Job
2. Character
3. Humbleness
4. Offering

1. Work:

I use to testify to my friends and others that the job/work given to me is purely by the grace of the Lord. I'm given so much privileges and freedom in my work that I was misusing them. But when I read the above verses from Scriptures, they convicted me of truthfulness in my work. Also, when I went to my native place, I noticed a weaver who was weaving chairs in hot sun for half a day to earn a sum of Rs. 100. I was reminded by our Lord that, "I preach God gave me this Job but I seldom remember to remain faithful and dedicated in my work which our Lord has given me".

2. Anger:

I've advised so many people not to get angry in any situation. Even I've heard a lot of sermons to love others, even our enemies. But when I was in my native place, I kept on complaining my dad about the shirts he bought for me and hurt him by my words. Also, one day, while praying in the night, I got a call from my brother. Since he called me in an unusual time, I attended the call while praying. Triggered by his words I got angry and scolded him at that moment and ended the call. When I continued praying, I was convicted that I forgot to show love towards my brother. The word of God in Romans 2 again reminded me to practice what I preach to others.

3. Humbleness:

It is easy for oneself to be taken away by pride. I've thought that my work is the key part in the module in which I'm working rather thanking God for providing His knowledge to complete the works.

4. Offering:

While reading The Acts of Apostles, I came across a passage which indicated that people sold their lands and jewels to fund the Apostles. I was awestruck by their commitment in offering. It is easy, to say let's give unto our God our offerings and to give a certain amount as offerings. Though we can't give in that measure, let's decide to give dedicatedly for God's ministries in 2007.

Through Romans 2, God wanted me to change in 2007. Hope this small message will be useful for those who read it. Let's practice before preaching.