Did Jesus serve people or His Father?

Did Jesus serve people or His Father?
If we ask this question to everyone many of ours answers will be “Jesus did serve His Father and not the people”.

But when we see the fact Jesus not only served His Father but also the people. But here we should be very watchful to understand the reality that Jesus never served the people primarily. All His service was done to the Father alone, even when He served people. And that is how we too must serve God.

Be cautious!
It is when we begin to serve people the temptations to compromise and to please people will eventually raise their ugly heads within us sometimes without our conscience and most of the times with our clear conscience.

Two types of ministries (Serving God & Serving People):
Even in the Old Testament, the Lord speaks of two types of ministers in His temple – symbolized by

1) The sons of Zadok
2) and the Levites in Ezekiel 44:9-19.

The sons of Zadok symbolize the wholehearted disciples (we) of Christ who are permitted “to minister to Him”.

The Levites symbolize the compromisers who are permitted only “to minister to the people”. There is a vast difference between these two types of ministries.

In His Kingdom:
Hence we must be very cautious while ministering for His Kingdom since we are all chosen to be the disciples of Jesus. And also like Jesus foremost we must minister (serve) to Him and by that we should serve people.

HARD TIMES!

Ever wondered why wouldn’t the roads be smooth enough, without those ugly looking humps to drive on a peek hour of the day??? Have you ever wondered how a pearl comes out of ocean bed???

Have you ever thought about the hope the sailors put in to sail across the winds and storms? Wherever you go or whatever you see, there is something that comes as an obstacle and makes you change your usual pace of day- to- day living.

So how do we really deal with tough times? Are those tough times necessary in our day to day life? The answer would be YES my dear friends. These tough times are part and parcel in our day to day life just to make us a better person.

We see many people including Jesus going through tough times. One such example which is even recorded in the history is that there were so many disciples and believers of God faced tough times just because they stood for Jesus Christ. They endured pain, agony and even death for their stand on truth and justice.

 

Authoritarians thought, eradicating such believers, apostles and disciples of God would easily erase the name of Jesus Christ from history. But rather those tough times resulted in Jesus living in the hearts of millions and millions of people including you and me. So these tough times will surely come across our life.

It depends on every individual on how to deal with it. If we are ready to take it as a challenge and stand on our conviction with God, we would surely find our names in the Book of Life. But if we try to get rid of it by running ahead of God’s will woe to us!

Remember there is hope for people who put their trust in God. For the word of God says in 1 Corinthians 10:13 "No temptation(tough times) has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it."

Hence let us stand firm while facing those challenges as we paddle up ourselves with the whole armor of God.

Keep Seeking!!!

Seek and you shall Find – Luke 11:9

The above verse is a very familiar verse not only for believers but also for every human being. As the verse says, if we seek diligently and whole heartedly, we shall find the same. But there is something we need to keep in mind.

Is that what we seek is acceptable in the sight of God?. Do we seek more of HIM? Do we seek more of HIS love and HIS Grace? It’s always a never ending search when you start seeking God. No one can say that he had known God fully and he had done with Seeking God and there is nothing more to Seek in God. The more we seek, the more we keep growing.

Seeking God is always not an easy task. It needs commitment. One person whom I could remember now is Moses. He was the person who was used by God to deliver Israel from the evil hands of Pharoah. Though Moses was a Hebrew by birth, it is very clear that he had not known anything about the God of Israel. From his childhood, he was brought up as an Egyptian. Indeed he was accustomed to be the next Pharoah. So we can be very sure that he would have not known anything about the God of Israel.

His real search for God would have possibly started when he had known about the mystery of his nationality. It was then, he started to seek God and it was then he started to face tough times. He was forced to leave the country of Egypt. In the same land, where he almost ruled, he was treated as a slave and a prisoner. He had all wealth, but he had to become a sojourner in the land of Midian. All because, he sought God. But he was firm in his search and he endured everything that cost for his search for the God of Israel. And now Moses is hailed as a deliverer of Israel. He had written the TORAH, the most important books in the Bible and also holds the greatest history of all times.

Often times, when we start seeking God more and more in our life, we tend to face tough situation that would take everything away from us. But stand firm.” If God is with us, who can be against us”. Pray to God today that your search would be pleasing and acceptable in His sight. He would take us to a place where we can never imagine, for His plans are always great and incomparable that a human mind can think.

God Bless.

Keep trying!!!(apply practically)

There are so many of them in that same situation today who are facing hardships like anything and desperately waiting for a breakthrough. As the years roll by people tend to lose their confidence. They feel too low in their spirits because everyone else is getting their lot in some way. They have given the best shot but only failures till now. The good news is when Jesus intervenes in your life it is a matter of seconds to turn your tables around so better keep trying. But when does HE intervene? In HIS perfect time. Definitely yes. But do we also acknowledge that we have absolutely no one to help us or do we still go to places or people to whom we can look towards to get some little help for our problems?.

Do you still think it’s the pool which is going to set you free?

Jesus met this man’s need in a different way as if he was lying by the side of the pool waiting for thirty eight long years only to be ordered by someone to say get up. HE works in ways you cannot see. Let us learn to live a life of patience and absolute confidence and faith and trust in HIM alone at all times because when Jesus intervenes it’s never too late or too early it’s the perfect time and the beautiful thing is the need is met at once. It’s not the time we predict and it’s not the way we imagine. After thirty eight long years of suffering it just took seconds to remove the pain and agony what a great joy it should be! Do you believe this? A hope deferred makes the heart sick but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. (Pro 13:12).Are you fully saturated at this point, don’t worry your help is just on its way.

keep trying!!!(Biblical Example)

We read about a person who was diseased and lying in the pool of Bethesda for 38 long years. I just wonder how much patience and faith this person must have got to keep trying and wait for thirty eight long years for a healing. There came a day when Jesus saw this man lying there and HE also knew that the man’s condition had been this for a long time. Jesus asked him “Do you want to get well?” a real dangerous question at this time but this patient man answered, Sir, I, have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I’m trying to get in someone else goes down a head of me. Jesus said to him “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured. Praise God!

A Righteous person

A righteous person is one who does the will of God at ALL times. The righteous will bear good fruit that will lead to heaven but the wicked of this world will bear bad fruits that will take them to hell where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. We can learn this from the parable of the net in Mt 13:49-50.

Are you able to find perfect peace in the midst of most difficult situations? Are you able to forgive your enemies at all times? Are you able to love your neighbors as yourself? Are you able to treat people without any partiality irrespective of the backgrounds they come from? Are you able to control your eyes which lust the things of this world? Are you able to guard your lips? Are you able to remove every single pride of your heart and humble yourself before the throne of God? Are you able to climb up the steps of the unending staircase called holiness constantly.....

BE active and watchful to bear good fruit in every possible way because the tree that fails do so will be cut off and thrown to the fiery furnace. Time is short. How about your life beloved? Are you bearing good fruit? Pray that you will surrender your lives so that God can help you to be like a tree planted by the streams of water which bear fruit in season and whose leaves don’t wither.

BEAR GOOD FRUITS

When Paul writes to the people of Colossians in the letter of Colossians he writes“ We pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please HIM every way, bearing fruit in every good work…”.Bearing fruit constantly is very important in any believers life but we have to be careful to bear good fruits that will please the LORD.A tree is known by its fruit(Mt 12:33).We can clearly understand that there are two types of fruit a tree can produce ,the good and the bad fruit. But what kind of fruit a tree should bear? The word of God says “Fruit of righteousness is a tree of life”(Pro 11:30).

Why the fruit of righteousness?

Because the fruit of righteousness will bear fruit even in the time of total drought that is to say irrespective of whatever the circumstances or situations we face in our life, still we should bear fruit in all the season. It’s not only in your church, how about in your workplace? How about in your friends circle? How about when you are all alone? How about when you tend to work closely with the opposite sex?

Trust more Fear Less –Part 2

God’s Love:

The word says “Where God’s love is, there is no fear, because God’s perfect love drives out fear.”-1John 4:18

Many of us have a fear saying God is angry at us. Somewhere, sometime, somebody would have said that God has a whip behind His back and will punish us when we go too far from Him. This is so wrong.

Our Savior’s Father is very fond of us and He only wants to share His love with us. He is a God who is filled with compassion, He feels hurt when we His children get hurt. We serve a God who says that He is waiting for us, ready to embrace us, even when we screw up things so bad under pressure. No matter we succeed or fail.

He doesn’t force Himself to enter into anyone’s heart. He comes into our hearts like a gentle lamb and not as a roaring lion. And when He enters our lives His promises are not only a source of joy but they are also the foundation of true courage. He guarantees that our sins are filtered through, hidden in and thrown away only by the pure sacrifice of blood He shed on the Cross.

Trust More and Fear Less

I wanted to share, since I was inspired by the book written by Max Lucado.The book is a 40 day devotional and was given to us during the lent days.The Gospel lists about 125 Christ – issued imperatives.Among these 21 urge us to “not be afraid” or “don’t fear” or “have courage” or “take heart” or “be of good cheer”.The second most urged command will be , to love God and our neighbor and this appears like about 8 occasions.Having quantity as an indicator,Jesus really takes our fears seriously.The one statement used more often is “don’t be afraid”.

Bible words says “When I am afraid,I put my trust in you”.-Psalm 56:3

Just as how Jesus endured the terror of the crucifixion by going first to the Father with His fears.We all should practise to do the same. Do not avoid life’s gardens of Gethsemane,enter them,just do not enter them alone.While there,be honest.Pounding the ground is permitted.Tears are allowed…Be specific.He knows what we need.

Also the word says”If God is for us,who can be against us?”.-Romans 8:31

All can answer the question Who is against you? Disease,Inflation,corruption,exhaustion,calamities confront ,fears imprison and many others….Were Paul’s question,” Who can be against us?” we can list our foes easily than we could fight them.But that is not the question.The question is, If GOD IS FOR US, Who can be against us?

No matter what you do and no matter how far you fall, God is always for us.People may have forgotten you and people may be ashamed of you;but within reach of our prayers is the maker of the oceans.God!

We might have heard a numerous amount of messages about “not to fear”.But still fear seems to be bothering our lives.I was personally touched by this book which reminded me that the antidote of fear is no other thing but to trust Him more.I hope that these words would have touched your heart.Let’s keep our gaze on Christ.

Where is your heart tuned on???

I would like to ask the above question to every believer who does radical things for God.

Often times we tend to think that being faithful to God will give us all the blessings in this world and we tend to forget the eternal blessing, God hath kept for us. We tend to forget the SPECIAL CROWN which God would give us in the Heaven. Because of that we do blink or sometimes get deviated at the cross roads of our life.



Let’s look at the life of Moses as an example. Moses was appointed and anointed by God to guide the children of Israel to the promise land. When you meditate on those passages where God explains about the promise land, I challenge that you would really be tempted to live in that place!!!

Hence half way through the Journey, Moses succumbs to the anger of the Lord which resulted in the Lord saying to Moses in Deuteronomy 3:26, 27 that He would not enter in to the promise land.

That would have hurt me very badly if I was in that place. To walk through wilderness for such a long years and being faithful to God all these days and then finally forbidden by the Lord to enter the promise land that flows with Milk and Honey.

But Moses was different. He was still faithful to God in keeping His commandments and guiding the children of Israel.

This is because he loved God with all his heart and He was not carried away by the promise land that flows with milk and honey. Rather he knew the greatest blessing of ETERNITY that God has for His chosen one.

So let us join with Apostle Paul in saying,

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day -- and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." - 2 Timothy 4:7,8



God Bless.

Calling and Election

Calling is ironically God’s Call on someone for the sole purpose of the establishment and the expansion of God’s kingdom .The Bible says in Mark 12:15 “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation”, So it is the mandate of every believer to spread the Gospel. Hence, every one has a Calling from God.

The Bible says in 2 Peter 1:10” be all the more eager to make your Calling and Election sure”. Apart from Calling there is an Election that one must be identified with .The Calling and Election are different, an Election can be the some sort of a sub division for a Calling. Knowing one’s Calling and Election is very important in identifying how we could be used in the work of the Kingdom by God. The Bible says in Ephesians 4:11,12 ”It was He who gave

1. some to be apostles,
2. some to be Prophets,
3. some to be Evangelists,
4. some to be Pastors
5. and some to be teachers,

to prepare God’s people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up”. For example Apostle can be the Calling and missionary can be the Election.

The True meaning of CHRISTMAS

Long back at the Creation God created Man - Adam and a suitable partner for him from Adam's rib bone- Eve. They were in the Garden of Eden; there were specifically two trees found in the garden, the tree of Life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil .Adam and eve were forbidden from eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But due to the temptation they ate the fruit and God was not happy as they had sinned by disobeying His command and they were sent out of the garden to toil to make their own living.

The purpose of the creation of Man was to commune with God, Which they lost. Therefore God planned redemption of Mankind through His son Jesus.

Christmas was the day on which Jesus Christ was born of a Virgin by name Mary who was engaged to A Jewish Carpenter by name Joseph, who wanted to leave Mary silently without embarrassing her.But, he was told by an Angel not to leave her but to accept her as his wife.

At The time of His Birth there was no room for them in the inn and so was born in a Manger. The shepherds were the first to know this from an Angel who appeared to them, they had also gone to visit The Son of God lying in the manger in the city of Bethlehem where He was born.

There was a bright star that led a few wise men to the place where the Manger was. They also presented Him with gifts of Gold, Incense and Myrrh.

The Main Purpose for Jesus Christ to be born in the world was to restore the lost communion of the Whole Man Kind with God .But it is each Man's choice to accept this Gift for communion.

Christmas is all about giving as God gave His Son to Mankind…..

O Unbelieving Generation Believe!

Then JESUS said “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”(John-11:40)

Most of us are not able to see the glory of God in our lives simply because we don’t believe. We steadfast in our prayers when situations are not favorable and we are pressed hard on every direction. But it lasts only for a moment till our prayer reaches amen. Definitely God’s glory cannot be revealed in such lives. ”If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer”(Matthew-21:22).

It’s not a matter of how good we sing like ‘God will make a way were there seems to be no way..’, but for God to do so, we need to believe. If we believe in our heart and confess with our mouth and persevere then we can be rest assured that God can open any locked doors, HE can provide water from the rock, HE can move the mountains, HE can provide streams of water in the middle of the desert, HE can heal, HE can change water to wine, HE can bless the little you have, to produce abundance because HE is able and nothing is impossible for the creator of this whole universe. We should not forget the fact that most of the Israelites even after tasted God’s redemptive power and HIS mighty works in every day in and day out ,were unable to enter the Promised Land because of their unbelief (Heb 3:19).

Are you a believer in CHRIST JESUS? , then throw away your unbelief and just believe in HIS words.

If we are one among this unbelieving generation let us plead and ask God to help us to overcome our unbelief and escape the condemnation. Let us believe and prepare ourselves for the great and glorious moment, the day we are going to meet our LORD and to be taken up with HIM forever and it’s not too far………

What little do you have?

Many of the youngsters in today’s Christendom just shrug off their responsibilities when it comes to work for the cause of the Gospel by saying that they cannot speak properly by quoting scriptures or pray properly or they cannot play an instrument to glorify God because they are not that very talented and the excuses given are numerous.

Beloved, it is the faithful ones who are ready to give what little they have for God to glorify HIM in every possible way. HE is looking at this act of complete submission and it is HIS duty to add, multiply and produce the abundance with the little you have submitted to HIM for HIM.

If God can use a stammering person like Moses to lead HIS people, if God can use a shepherd boy like David to rule HIS people as a King, if God can use a person full of doubts like Gideon from the weakest clan to save Israelites from the hand of Midianites, if God can use Ruth, a widow to fulfill HIS purpose in whose line Jesus was born ,if God can use a person like Amos who was a shepherd and grower of sycamore figs to be a prophet ,If God can use a person like Peter an illiterate to be HIS mighty apostle; Can HE not use you?

It was only through the little boy’s 5 small loaves and 2 small fish that Jesus was able to multiply and feed the 5000 plus people. Try and check, you are well fit to do some work for our LORD, but you might never know how many are going to be blessed when you are ready to do what you can by using the little you have, for our Master.

God is well aware of your ability; He will give you the needed grace and strength to reach greater heights. The talents that God gives differ from person to person, but if you think, you have the least then don’t dig a pit and put it inside (or don’t bury it),Irrespective of how many they are, just do your best and use them for HIM.HE honors those who honor HIM.

                                     Don’t delay!!

What is Praise and why we should Praise?

The word, PRAISE itself has its unique significance. If you could ask me, "Is there a difference between praise and worship?". My answer would probably be YES. I say this because the Bible says so. Praise is a weapon that has been given to each and every believer. Worship is something that he deserves. It’s our heart cry.

When the Israelites were crossing the path of wilderness, God asked them to use this weapon called PRAISE to bring down such huge walls. When Paul and Silas were behind bars, they used a weapon called PRAISE to come out of bondage.

Oh then, why do we really have to praise God?

The Bible says that God inhabits in the praises of His people (Psalms 22:3). In other words, God “dwells” in the atmosphere of His praise. So as His people, we are supposed to praise God each and every second.

Is there a specific reason for us to praise God?

Yes it is. No one in this whole big world can say that there’s no reason for me to praise God. That must be their biggest ignorance. The very breath that we breathe is by the grace of God. The creation and the splendid works of His marvelous hands are greater reasons for each and everyone in this world to praise God. We as God’s children should never hesitate to praise God.

 It is the easiest and powerful weapon, God has given to His children. In times of trouble, Praise God. In times of Joy, Praise God. In times of worries, Praise God. And my list would go on. For in everything God has a purpose. The more we praise, the more our faith will increase. So let’s praise His Holy name forever.

"O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.

Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.

For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.

In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.

The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.

O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker."

                                                                                                                                          - Psalms 95:1-6

Second Coming

It is not carrying a book or having a book that will help one in passing an exam but the diligent preparation that takes one through an exam successfully .This is exactly what is expected in our walk with the Lord.

One can be the best Church going person or even a good gospel worker, but this does not guarantee any one, the acceptance of Christ on His second coming to be with Him eternally. The Bible says in Matthew 7:21 “Not every one who says to me ,’Lord ,Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father who is in Heaven.” So, one has to make sure that one’s life is lived in purity ,Holiness .The world is corrupted ,one should not live as though anything and everything is alright .

God who weighs the motives of a man is so Just ,no one who does not lead a disciplined life according to the word of God can make it to be with Jesus eternally .The bible portrays in Matthew 22 :1-13 how only those who are prepared to can make it to Heaven .Preparation to meet Jesus is a choice that one has to make.

Fruit of the Holy Spirit

Jesus said in Matthew 7:20 'By their fruit you will recognize them'. It is easy to say with our own mouths, “I am this” and “I am that”. But the actual kind of person we are is recognized by our fruit. That is what Jesus was trying to teach those who were following Him.

The fruit of the Holy Spirit as said in Galatians 5:22-23 talks about just one fruit (Note: That is not ‘fruits’ of the Holy Spirit). The single fruit has nine beautiful qualities in it as below.


• Love

• Joy

• Peace

• Patience

• Kindness

• Goodness

• Faithfulness

• Gentleness

• Self-control

The fruit of the Spirit does not come just like that. It is through the help of the Holy Spirit and our desire and obedience to listen to Him, that we develop it in us. It is no use having all the gifts, speaking in tongues, exhibiting miracles, prophesying, etc, unless the fruit of the Holy Spirit is exhibited in us. On Judgment day, we will be judged by our fruits.

Lets check out if all of the qualities of the Fruit of the Holy Spirit is seen in us; if not lets ask Him to give us the strength to exhibit His characteristics in us, so that people who see us are able to see Christ in us and bring glory and praise to His name!

Fruit of the Holy Spirit(A deep Study)

Love:
 This is not the love that the world talks about. True love can be defined only in Christ as it is a selfless love, not demanding anything, but looking for the good of the other person.


Joy:
 You might have heard of this quote: ‘Happiness comes from happenings, but Joy comes from Jesus’. How true, entertainments, fun, pleasure only give temporary happiness; but real joy that is always present, in spite of the circumstance we are in can come only from Christ.

Peace:
 Peace is what the world is desperately in search of. Jesus said in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.” The peace that Christ promises is the one that is present deep within you when one is in phase with Christ. Those following Him, become peace makers in the world by giving the hope of Christ to the people around.

Patience:
Patience is a virtue that is really missing today in this fast paced world. We want everything to be instant from our morning noodles to the cash we need that very moment. God wants us as believers to be patient in the Lord, to wait for Him to give the best. The result of patience is indeed a blessing, when we wait for God to give the right thing at His Sovereign time.

Kindness:
Christ never wanted us to do or follow something that He never does or did. While on earth, His kindness is so evident in every dealing of His with the various people He met. When we look at people through Christ’s eyes, kindness is no difficult task; it comes automatically and needs no effort.

Goodness:
It is because of the goodness of God, that we are living. If not for His goodness, we would have consumed long back due to our sin. We as His children need to reflect the goodness that we received from Christ. There are so many opportunities that come our way to show God’s goodness to those we meet daily. Are we ambassadors of Christ’s goodness in the world.

Faithfulness:
Since creation, time and again God’s faithfulness is seen in all of His dealings with man. He fulfils each of His promises in His children’s life. God’s faithfulness does not depend on man’s faithfulness to Him; He is faithful even when we are not faithful to Him. Are we able to exhibit the same kind of faithfulness?

Gentleness:
Gentleness is an inner virtue that is exhibited outside in all of our dealings. The Holy Spirit is a gentle Spirit. He does not force Himself on us but waits for us to give Him the control of our lives and when we do that, His gentleness is reflected by us in our speech, actions and reactions as well.

Self-control:
Overcoming temptations is never an easy task, no matter however saintly a person is. However when God is in control, He gives us the strength to overcome any of those temptations. I Corinthians 10:13 says “when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” When we allow the Holy Spirit to sanctify us and make us pure, He gives us the self control over every Sin that Satan might tempt us into.

How to Worship?

What is Worship?
Worship is something that should come out of our heart. Often times, we do tend to think it’s just a bunch of songs we sing with a great vocals and background music. But worship is never meant to be like that. Worship is all about having a divine communion with our one and only creator.
How to Worship?
There is no specific time to worship God. Every single act of ours is worshipping God. The way we walk, talk and our day to day activities should glorify God and that is all about Worship.

The word of God says in 1 Chronicles 16:29, “Worship the Lord in the beauty of His Holiness”. Hence holiness is a key to worship. We should keep ourselves holy each and every second. That’s indeed  Worshipping God.

David worshipped God with songs and psalms. Songs are a great medium in worshipping God. The more we love God, the more we tend to sing a new song for him. David says, “Fill my mouth with songs of praises”. Hence glorifying God with our songs and instruments is all about worshipping God.

Worship God with tithes and offering. The more we give the more we receive. The bible says in 1 Corinthians 10:26, “For the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof.” So our worship should reflect our attitude on money and all the possessions. As we worship God with our tithes and offering, we do proclaim that God made everything and He gave us everything we have and He still owns it.

 Worship God in Spirit and Truth. Holy Spirit is our comforter and our friend who helps us to worship God in truth. So we should seek for His Holy Spirit to anoint us to worship God with Truth. Worshipping God in Spirit and truth would give us liberty, break shackles and set the captives free.

There is no limit for worship. No words can ever proclaim the greatness of His work in our day to day life. No poems can describe our creator. Hence worshipping God is all about surrendering ourselves at his feet. Its all about allowing God to be the centre of our life and our everything.