Super Abundant Blessing

We live in a world that is often merciless and lethal towards our feelings, our aspirations, our needs and even to our survival itself. We go through sudden loss, indescribable sickness, unimaginable debts, unbearable criticism, agonising shame and pain. As a Christian we are not exempted from those realities. Our God the Father never said that He would keep us away from the entire worst scenario that the world would offer to us; but He promised us that He would be with us and see us through every storm, every fire, and every battle. God has his eyes always fixed on you. He is mindful of every minute details of your life. 

God can lift anyone from their fallen miserable state and elevate them to the place of abundance. This month the Lord has led me to write very specifically for the financial breakthrough in your personal, business and family life. Read with me 2Kings 4:1-7. 

Loss of the Bread winner: Here we see sudden terror come upon a family who revered the Lord. The husband or the head of the family is a man who feared and revered God. He must have led his family also to live with reverence to their Creator. Sudden terror strikes this family as the father or the head of the family dies. The sole bread winner of this family is gone and there is absolutely no one to help them. Remember those were the days when women were not educated and were kept only to take care of the household. A simple, ignorant housewife and the mother of two is left in the dark to mend things on her own and care for her young boys as well. What a pathetic situation! There was no one to care for her. Neither her kit & kin nor her husband’s company of men came to help her. Her
loss was the greatest and irreparable. Her problem was severe & ruthless. May be someone out there is in this same plight. May be you have lost the bread winner of your family or May be you have lost your job the source of your survival! May be the business that you were managing has taken a downward plunge! I want to encourage you that the God who was with this widow and her two sons is also with you. 

Shame and Pain: This man who died was from the company of prophets. He borrowed money in order to support his family and raise his sons. This was the biggest mistake that this man did. Friends at this point I want to remind you the advice that God’s Word gives us regarding borrowing. Deuteronomy 15:6 & 28:12 quotes “…you will lend to nations, but will borrow from none”. God’s blessing upon us is that we would only lend not borrow. Definitely the financial state of this family was not sound. All of a sudden the head of the family is no more and the family is fighting for survival. But for the creditors it was not so. They didn’t want to face any loss. They had no compassion, they had no kindness. They were very cold towards this helpless widow. They wanted to take her sons for the money that her husband owed to them. The vulnerable mother was in the brink of loosing her precious sons to slavery. What a pitiable situation! Shame and pain were overruling her. Are you like her, broken hearted and anguished? Are you moaning and grieving standing at the end of the dark tunnel? Are you drowning in your debts and have reached the rock bottom? Well my friend your Creator is the One who steps in when everything else fails. 

Seek the solution Giver: The loss of the bread winner of her family, the debtors’ threatening words and the financial disaster drove the poor helpless widow to raise her cry of despair. She didn’t sit in the corner of a room and mourn; she didn’t run after any wrong means of making money. Then what did she do? She knew that no one but only God can help her. So she turned to Elisha the prophet of God. Friends God delights when you seek His counsel first. Unfortunately many of us make that as the last resort. When Elisha hears the woman’s cry, his heart melts with the compassion of God. “How can I help you?” This is how God’s heart longs and looks in earnestness to help you. God uses his representative to give the solution to the problem of that widow. The beginning of the blessing began at the moment the widow turned to seek God for the solution. Friends whom you turn to when you are sinking will decide the doors of blessing to open or to remain shut. 

Submit your little to the Lord: Elisha goes on to ask the helpless woman, “Tell me, what do you have in your house?” Our God is a God of Miracles. He is a God who loves to perform the miracles for us with our active part. In John 6 we read about the little boy who willingly brought to Jesus the five loaves of barley bread and the two small fish that he had for himself. All that the boy had he willingly gave with joy. The boy’s willing gift became a blessing for several thousands of hungry people. Look at the situation here. The woman had nothing at all with her. All that she had was the little oil. She did not hesitate or hold back even that little oil that she had. Without any hesitation with all humility she reveals all that she ever had. Her response shows the fear and reverence that she had for God. She didn’t dare to hide or lie in God’s presence. Just as she was she came in complete truthfulness and willingly declared “your servant has nothing at all….except a little oil”. What about you my dear friend? Is there anything that you are withholding from God? Have you given your all to God? Are you truthful and sincere in your submission to your Creator? 

Wise Instructions: God’s specific instruction comes to the woman through the man of God. Read it carefully. Elisha said “Go around and ask all your neighbours for empty jars. Don’t ask just a few”. There are three important instructions in this sentence. They are not just for that widow; they are for each and every one of us. Whether it is your business, or your job there are certain things that you should do. First of all you need to go around. If it is a business you need to do all the ground work all by yourself. You cannot let some one else do that and rely on their words. You should never be in the dark about any area of your business. If it is your job that you are looking for, you need to cover all the companies or offices all by yourself. You should not rely on your uncles or aunts; friends or well wishers to get you the details or help you out in it. You need to go around and do your part. Second instruction is to ask all. In business field it is called as Marketing. You should be bold and vibrant in presenting, or demanding or asking whatever you have to. If it was your job, be bold in presenting to the board what God has put in you. Be bold and smart to ask the terms and perks that you want. Ask the learned & experienced people and gain understanding. Don’t sit idle or dumb folded. The Third instruction is ‘Don’t ask just a few’. This is the most important instruction of all. You should not stop with a few try. You should set a huge target and cover as many as possible. Many start well. They cover only a limited or a few. Either they are shy or lazy or fearful to stretch themselves. Friends who are looking for a job, please don’t stop with a few, go around and ask in many places. 

In the next sentence Elisha says “Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into the jars and as each is filled, put it to one side”. Just as the
first part of the instruction was for the way to work in the world outside, the next part of the instruction is exclusive for the way you should function at home. Elisha tells the widow to get into the house and shut the door behind her and her sons. Yes my friend your business deals or tactics or the clients whom you have contacted or the new contacts that God has given you regarding your job or business are not to be spoken or discussed about with any outsider. You and your family must shut those details from the world and pour it out in God’s presence through your prayers. Anoint every jar of opportunity with the Spirit of God. Pour out your tearful prayers over every project & every interview. In your private chamber what you pray as a family will definitely grab God’s immediate attention. 

Super Abundance Turn Around: The widow didn’t waste any time. She meticulously followed God’s instruction that came from the mouth of Prophet Elisha. She and her sons collected as many jars as they could, went inside and shut the door behind them. Here in the privacy of her home and family she takes the little oil that she had and starts to pour it into the jar. This is the point where her obedience to God’s word and her absolute submission unlocks Super Abundant Blessing of God. God releases a continuous pour of oil. The oil kept pouring & pouring without any break. Undoubtedly this is the work of God; but it could not have happened without the widow’s obedience and complete, truthful submission. The oil stopped only when her son said “There is not a jar left”. God’s blessing will never stop. It is only the words from our mouth that shuts it. Be careful about the words that come out of your mouth. When God is blessing you don’t go around saying ‘I don’t have’ or ‘I have no money to pay this’ or ‘I have no dress to wear for this important event’. Your words will block the flow.
When the oil stopped, the woman went to the prophet to ask what she had to do next. See she didn’t go to the neighbour or she didn’t ask her sons or she didn’t decide on her own. She sought the help of the same man of God. Elisha advises her to go and sell the oil, to pay her debts and then live with her sons on whatever was left. What an amazing way the deliverance came upon this family who had no hope. In fact the widow turned out to be a business woman in oil sale making huge or heavy profits. Her finances soar high and her debts became history. 

My dear brothers and sisters whatever may be the crisis, it doesn’t matter, God wants you to stay blessed. You need to do your part faithfully & obediently. God has kept enough provisions for you to succeed. He has kept the needed contacts in companies & offices to provide you the right job or contract or business deal. To some of you out there God is opening opportunity in another nation. New doors of financial blessings are opening and you are going to move into an increase. Don’t settle down with a few or with the little. Some of you are going to see the Super
Abundant blessing sweeping your families. New house, new business deals, new jobs are yours from God. Receive it and stay blessed. 

Please pray with me “Dear loving Heavenly Father, I thank you for this message. Humbly I come to you and surrender all that I have. I believe that you are going to bless me with a Super Abundant Blessing of a new job or a new business or a new contract. I confess that all the debts are fleeing from me, my business and my family. New and great financial increase is flowing out into my life, my business, my job and in my family. I will diligently bring my tithes to your storehouse. In Jesus matchless name I ask AMEN 

Be bold and strong in the Lord. I encourage you with God’s Word 

HE WILL NOT LET YOUR FOOT SLIP HE WHO WATCHES OVER YOU WILL NOT SLUMBER – Psalm 121: 3 

God Bless you
Rev. Brite Sundar

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Curses Are Real

If God be for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31

We all have started on our journey into this year 2010 with hope, prayers & God’s promise. It is like embarking on a long journey in your car, with the hope of reaching the destination safe and sound. Will you be able to make it to the destination, just because you are an efficient driver? or just because your vehicle has a v6 engine? Or just because the petrol tank is full? I don’t think so!! A faulty break wire or a worn out tyre that actually looks new can turn your jolly, happy ride into a nightmare. You might have to put up with delay, loss of energy, money and sometimes even life. It is the same with your journey into this New Year. The unseen hitches that could drag you, devastate you and paralyse you are called Curses. Yes Curses are real. These curses will never allow you to move forward and possess the Splendour Blessing that God has for you. They are the forces in the unseen realm & they have power to bring evil to come to pass.

God loves us unconditionally. He sent His Son Jesus to become a curse in our place. Galatians 3:13 says,

“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, by becoming a curse for us”. Then why is it that even after being a believer for many years, we fail to posses God’s promises the way we should posses? The reason is we fail to identify the curses that are in our lives. Only when you identify the root cause of the problem you can uproot it. Only when the evil is uprooted the goodness can fill it. In this regard God has led me to teach you what is in His heart through His Word. With the help of the Holy Spirit please study the message prayerfully, scrutinize your life very meticulously, confront it emphatically and thrive triumphantly.

THE CURSE OF GOD: Will a loving God curse His creation? Well to answer that let’s ask this question “Did God curse?” Yes He did. In Genesis 3:14-19 God cursed the serpent, the woman (Eve) and the man (Adam). He cursed the ground too. (‘Cursed is the ground because of you-Genesis 3:16’). In Genesis 12:3 God tells Abraham,
“I will bless those who bless you and those who curse you I will curse”. So God did curse. The Bible says God is love. How can a God who is all love, curse ? or in other words What could be the colossal reason that arouse the wrath of God so as to be cursed??

1. Curse of God in your ‘Disobedience.
The Lord God had commanded Adam & Eve that they were free to eat from any tree in the garden but not from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when they ate it they would surely die. The first curse that came upon man & woman was due to their disobedience to God’s Word (Genesis 3:14-19). They were well aware of the command yet they exercised their free will to disobey God’s command & ended up cursed. Obedience to God’s word brings righteousness into our life, but disobedience to God’s word brings curse into our life. Prophet Samuel says, “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To OBEY is better than sacrifice & to HEED is better than the fat of rams”. Just think for a while “Have you at any time disobeyed your Creator? Or have you at any time rejected God’s Word?

Please note the word “God’s Word”. Unknowingly you might have placed a man’s word or a denomination’s word above God’s Word and thereby rejected God’s Word. Moses warns the people of Israel with the word of God in Deuteronomy 28:45 “….curses will come upon you. These will pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the Lord your God and observe the commands and decrees he gave you”. Jeremiah7:23 says, “Obey me and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you that it may go well with you”. There is no compromise my friend when it comes to obeying God’s Word. Today as there is an explosion of knowledge God has become the ‘Big G’ and His instructions have become a bunch of some scrap. Little do people realize that they have invited curse upon themselves and their generations through their disobedience to His Word. Only when you read the Bible you will be aware of God’s commands and you will be able to live it daily. If you don’t read His Word then you will only follow what someone tells you. It will be like a blind leading the blind. So read the Bible without fail, meditate it & obey it faithfully. Don’t waste time start today.

2. Curse of God in your Alternatives
Our God is the Creator of all creations. Ecclesiastes 3: 11 says “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts if men: yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end”. Yes humans who couldn’t fathom God, who couldn’t fathom God’s power, might & glory, sought an alternative to appease themselves. They used some matter (clay, wood, iron, silver, gold..), created something (idol) out of their own hands and called that something (idol) as their god. That something (idol) was not God, but an alternative to God. Look my friends the instruction to all humans on earth is very loud & clear in Deuteronomy 4:15,16 “…watch yourselves very carefully, so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below and when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars – all the heavenly array – do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshipping the things the Lord your God has appointed all the nations under heaven”. You are forbidden to even make an idol like that of a man or a woman. If that is so how is it that you are praying to an idol? The Bible says, “Cursed is the man who carves an image or casts an idol – a thing detestable to the Lord, the work of the craftsman’s hand and sets it up in secret” (Deuteronomy 27:15). Idolatry is detestable to God. There is no alternative to God. What is the alternative that you have in place of God in your life? Is it an idol or a religious leader or a magician or an astrologer or astrological predictions or your job or your wealth or your child or your spouse or the sun or your religious rules????? What is it???? Stop here and scan your heart & mind. Look deep inside you & answer these questions. What is the first thing you do when a crisis hits you? On whom do you pin your hopes to solve the problem? If your answer is not God then you already have an alternative to God in your life. Anything that has taken God’s place must be routed from you, from your family & must be destroyed. Having an alternative in God’s place depicts your arrogant heart that has turned away from God. Our God is a jealous God. He says in Jeremiah 17:5,6 “ Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord”. It is so saddening to see even some servants of God run after the contributors to run their ministry!! My dear brothers & sisters, right away cast out that alternative from your inner being. Embrace God with all your heart, stand firm on your commitment to God overcoming every temptation through the Word of God. If you give God, His rightful place in your life He will back you up with the power to destroy all the alternatives.

3. Curse of God in ‘ Robbing God’
We read in Zechariah 5:2-4 “He asked me, ‘What do you see?’ I answered, ‘I see a flying scroll, thirty feet long and fifteen feet wide.’ And he said to me, ‘this is the curse that is going out over the whole land, for it says on the other, everyone who swears falsely will be banished. The Lord Almighty declares, I will send it out and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of him who swears falsely by my name. It will enter the house of the thief and the house of him who swear falsely by my name. It will remain in his house and destroy it, both its timbers and its stones’.” Friends read it carefully the flying scroll is the curse which enters the house and consumes everything. Whose house does the curse enter? It enters the house of the thief and liar (one who swears falsely in His name). Whom does the Bible call as a thief? Malachi 3:8 says “Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me.” “But you ask, how do we rob you?” “In tithes and offerings, You are under a curse – the whole nation of you – because you are robbing me…” If you lay your hand on God’s money that is the tithe & offering, then you are a thief according to the scripture and you automatically come under the curse. The scripture clearly states that the curse of God will enter such a person’s house and settle in it. The tithe that you had stolen from God will be stolen by the devil, the roaring lion that is waiting to devour you the minute he gets a foot hold in your life. You either give it to God willingly or the devourer takes it from you causing chaos and destruction in your life and in your family Leviticus 27: 30 says “A tithe of everything from the land …belongs to the Lord and is holy to the Lord”. One tenth of all your income belongs to God. Even Jesus enhanced tithing (Mathew5:19). God commands us to take our tithes and offerings to the storehouse of God’s Blessing. My dear brothers and sisters don’t forget tithes belong to God and we have no authority over it, but offerings are our act of giving from the remaining nine portions that we have in hand. God never looks at the amount that you offer, but He looks at the heart from where that offering comes. He loves a cheerful giver. Don’t you know that we can move the heart of God through our heartfelt offering!!

We are told to take God’s money to the storehouse so that there may be food in His house. What do you mean by storehouse? Deuteronomy 28:7 says “The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty…..”. Storehouse mentioned here is the place from where God releases blessings. Here is the most important area of focus. Check your life and find out which storehouse of God, has brought you the miracle, joy & blessing into your life & into your family!! God releases specific blessings into your life through very specific ministry or very specific servants of God or very specific prophets of God. The fruit of that blessing should be tithed to that specific storehouse from where God released that blessing into your life. Sadly many of the believers receive their blessing through a particular ministry, but take their tithes from that blessing to some other place that has not prayed or fasted or even showed concern towards them. It doesn’t work that way. I challenge you my friends, to take your tithes to the same place through which God’s blessing was released and see the flood gates of heaven open for you. Do you know why? When the apostles preached the gospel, miracles & soul winning took place. People sold their belongings and brought it to the apostles, for they were the vessels through which God had blessed them with a new life in Christ. The Bible says in Acts 5:14 “Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number”. Yes the kingdom of God advanced and the church of God was established. 2Chronicles 31: 11, 12 says that when King Hezekiah gave orders for the store rooms to be set up in the temple of God the people faithfully brought in their contributions, tithes and the dedicated gifts to the temple. These storerooms were set up in the temple of God for (i) God’s ministers (ii) God’s ministry and (iii) God’s people in need. Even today the principle is the same. The three said areas have to be catered to faithfully, loyally & steadfastly. The word of God is the food for all souls. Souls have to be reached, saved and nourished. Evangelism is the bowl with which food can be fed to souls. So prayerfully take your tithes to the right place where souls are nourished.

Stop for a while and check yourself. Did I receive any breakthrough blessing in my life? Have I honoured that ministry? Or have I been faithful in discharging my tithes and offering to the storehouse that has blessed me?? If you see that you have not been faithful, then make a commitment right now, & never go back on it. Friends last year our ministry went through a complete revamp and God gave a new beginning. We did a ground work study of the ministries and with the help of the Holy Spirit we chose the ministries and blessed them from our tithes and offerings. The truth is God saw our whole hearted, faithful contribution with the little or the much that we had & the result is amazing. God’s word will never fail us. In fact God challenges us to test & see if it works. Well I did, why don’t you also try? Remember God will look into every strand of your heart & its intentions behind your giving.

4. Curse of God through your tongue.
In Zechariah 5:2-4 we read that the curses enter the house of those who swear falsely or in other words it enters the house of liars. The tongue is a small organ yet it causes great havoc in ones life. It is through the tongue we are able to communicate or convey what is in our heart & mind. Depending on what is spoken the Bible calls the tongue as a boastful tongue (Psalm 12:3) or a flattery tongue (Proverbs 28:23) or a sly tongue ( Proverbs 25:23) or a lying tongue (Proverbs 26:28) or a deceitful tongue (Proverbs 15:4) or a perverse tongue (Proverbs10:31) or a malicious tongue (Proverbs 17:4)or a smooth tongue (Proverbs6:24) or a strange & incomprehensible tongue (Isaiah 33:19) or a mute tongue (Isaiah 35:6) or an instructed tongue (Isaiah 50:4) or a gentle tongue ( Proverbs 25:15).

A sly or a deceitful or a lying or a boastful or a flattery tongue reflects a heart that is wicked. Proverbs 3:33 says “The Lord’s curse is on the house of the wicked”. The first creation that was to be cursed was the serpent. Genesis 3:1 says “The serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals”. The word crafty means cunning, scheming, sly or devious. The serpent spoke very cordially with Eve, but deep inside he had set a trap for Adam and Eve. That is a wicked heart and such a tongue is a deadly arrow. It earned the curse from the Creator.

Proverbs 18:21 says “The tongue has the power of life and death and those who love it will eat its fruit”. This verse categorically underlines the power that is in the words you speak. What you say is what you become. If you speak words of life & goodness over you, over your children, over your finance or over your job, you will see that happen; but if you speak negative words or spew curses upon yourself or your children or upon your finances or health, mind it!! you stand cursed and you will see the fruit of those curses. The Bible tells us not to sin when we are angry. All that Satan does is just kindle your anger & his job of cursing you is done by your own tongue. How many times have you cursed yourself??? Think about it. Go back to whatever your tongue has pronounced, confess it to the Lord & repent. Only His mercy can revoke it.

Friends the Bible says that the powers of this dark world and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms are against us to destroy and devour us. How do those dark powers and spiritual forces of evil gain access into your lives?? It is because you have deliberately given them the authority to steal & plunder all your blessings through your disobedience, your alternatives , your robbing in tithes and through your tongue. Don’t feel low or dejected or scared. Jesus bore all our curses in his body and become cursed in our place. He hung on the cross at Calvary cursed paying the penalty for all our sins and curses. Jesus being the Son of God made himself obedient unto death, and therefore God the Father exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, up in heaven on earth, and under the earth. The name of JESUS & the blood of JESUS is available to each and every one of us. That’s God’s solution for your problem, but what is your part in it? Isaiah 52:2 says “Shake of your dust,….. Free yourself from the chains on your neck O captive”. Yes it is your job to shake of the shackles and come free. Holy Spirit will enable you to cling to His word and live as a branch in the vine Jesus Christ through your obedience every day to His word. “If God is for us who can be against us” so in faith pray this prayer

Lord deliver me from the curse of my disobedience, deliver me from the curse of all my alternatives, deliver me from the curse of my robbing, deliver me from all the curse of my tongue. Now I claim my deliverance from these curses in my life in Jesus Mighty name. Lord Jesus cleanse me & cover me with your precious blood. I thank you for this message & your covenant blood covering over me today.
Amen

My dear friend, you are unique, the plans that God has for you are unique. God’s promises for you will come to pass, but remember they are conditional. Don’t forget to walk daily in obedience to His word.

God Bless you
Rev. Brite Sundar

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Glorious Ministry For Every Believer

By Zac Poonen

Melchizedek appears in only three verses in the entire Bible and yet our Lord is called a High Priest after his name (Genesis 14:18-20)! What did Melchizedek do that was so wonderful?  Abraham was returning from a battle where he had just defeated 14 kings and their armies and rescued his nephew Lot and his family, whom those kings had captured. So Abraham stood there that day, physically exhausted and facing the twin dangers of pride and covetousness.  But God
cared for Abraham and spoke to another servant of His, to help him. Melchizedek met  the needs of  Abraham  without knowing anything about those needs, because He did what God told him to do.

First of all, he took some food for Abraham. Melchizedek was a sensible man! He wasn’t one of those super-spiritual types who feel that spiritual people must be ascetics! He didn’t tell Abraham to fast and pray but gave him a good meal! That’s a good example for us to follow – to take a meal for some tired, exhausted brother or sister.  After giving him the food, Melchizedek helped Abraham spiritually too – not by preaching to him, but by praising God for Abraham’s
victory – in two brief sentences. He said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” (Gen.14:19,20). Melchizedek probably spent two hours feeding Abraham and his servants and then spent 15 seconds praising God. But in Melchizedek’s brief expression of praise, Abraham realised two things. First of all, Abraham realised that he belonged to a God Who owned the heavens and the earth. That delivered him from coveting the goods of the king of Sodom that he had just recovered. Even though Sodom’s riches must have been considerable, since Sodom was a very wealthy place, Abraham now saw that all that booty was like worthless garbage compared to the heaven and earth that his God owned. Melchizedek helped Abraham to see clearly Whom he belonged to. Secondly, Abraham saw clearly that it was not he and his 318 servants who had defeated those kings, but God! That was another revelation – and that saved Abraham from pride. Again Melchizedek succeeded in turning Abraham’s attention away from his victory to God! The best preacher is the one who can turn our attention away from ourselves and our accomplishments to the Lord Himself.

And now we come to the best part of this story. Melchizedek disappeared after blessing Abraham. We never read of him again in the Bible. His name appears only as a type of Christ. Melchizedek must have been praying in his tent that morning, when God spoke to him and told him what to do. He didn’t know Abraham, but he knew God. And that was enough. God told him what to do and made him a blessing to many. What a ministry we priests of Melchizedek’s order are called
to!  We are to bless people, physically and spiritually – and then disappear before we are even thanked!

Do you want people to think you are a great man of God or do you want them to know that you have a great God. Therein lies the difference between a religious ministry and a spiritual one. Therein lies the difference between the priesthood of Aaron and the priesthood of Melchizedek. Aaron constantly appeared before people and got honour from them. Melchizedek served people and disappeared!

This is how Jesus Himself ministered during His earthly days. He went around meeting the spiritual and physical needs of people who were beaten in life’s battles. And He never wanted anyone to advertise His healings. He never wanted  to be known as a Healer. He never wanted to be a king.  He came to serve others and to lay down His life for them.  He didn’t want to be famous. He didn’t even want to prove to Herod, or Pilate, or Annas, or Caiaphas, that He
was the Son of God, by appearing to any of them after His resurrection. He never appeared to a single one of the Pharisees or Sadducees after His resurrection, because He didn’t want to justify Himself before men. He knew that the opinions of men were fit only for the garbage bin!  Alas, where shall we find such preachers and leaders in Christendom today?

Just think what would happen if we began to live like Melchizedek, listening to God and seeking to know from Him what we should do, each day.  It would be the most useful way any of us could live on this earth. The psalmist says, “Goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life” (Psa.23:6).That is the way to live. Wherever we go, we must leave behind us some act or word of forgiveness and goodness.  When Peter described the life and ministry of Jesus to Cornelius, he summed it up in one sentence in Acts 10:38 : “Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit and He went about doing good and delivering those who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him”. This is the result of being genuinely anointed with the Holy Spirit :  God will be with us and we will go around blessing people and setting them free.

You couldn’t come in contact with Jesus in His earthly days, without some good emanating from Him to you that would bless you – both spiritually and physically. The woman who had a haemorrhage for 12 years discovered that, when she touched the hem of His garment.  Aren’t we too called to live such a
life where those who come in touch with us are blessed – physically and spiritually?  We are all called to be priests according to the order of Melchizedek.
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For more information write to: wftw@cfcindia.com
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Obey God First You will be Safe

By Rev. Brite Sundar

In today’s world everyone is talking about safety and security. People dread a terror attack or a military attack or an attack of deadly pestilence. Whatever it may be one thing that rules the thought and mind of people is FEAR. Fear is the cause of every thought & action of an individual. That is why Bibles refutes it saying ‘Fear Not’ over and over again. God’s Word is the lamp that lights our path and this Word of God directs us to fear God our Creator out of reverence. God’s Word gently speaks to us saying:

Fear God and keep His Commandments, for this is whole duty of man.- Ecclesiastes 12: 13

If you make the Most High your dwelling, even the LORD, who is my refuge, then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. Psalm 91:9

What an amazing assurance! This month God Almighty wants you to know the awesome protection that He has placed in you, around you and over you. He also wants you to know the reasons that cause a breach in that wall of protection.

Satan stands before God saying “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? – Job 1:10”. Look at that there is a hedge put around you, your household and everything that you have by God the Creator of Heaven and Earth. It is a protection that you and I can’t see with our mortal eyes. In 2Kings chapter 6 we read that the king of Aram was enraged because the king of Israel with whom he was at war was on guard at every place that king of Aram was attacking. He doubted that his commanding officers had taken sides with his enemy. When he questions them he finds out that Elisha the prophet of God in Israel was telling the king of Israel the very words that he was speaking to his officers in his bedroom. Fuelled with anger he sends his army to capture Elisha.

The strong force sent by the king of Aram surrounds the city in which Elisha was living. The servant of Elisha who sees the army is filled with fear and trembles saying “O Lord what shall we do?-2Kings 6:15. It is here Elisha prays saying “O Lord open his eyes so he may see”. The Lord opens the servant’s eyes and he sees the hills full of horses and chariots and fire all around Elisha. Friends please pause here for a minute, your mortal eyes can’t see the awesome army that’s on guard around you, your eyes of flesh can’t see the chariots of fire that’s engulfing you, but they are on duty under the command of your Father God Adonai. King David who believed it and trusted it declared ‘You are a shield around me -Psalm 3:3”. God is a shield around you as well. Psalm 121:5-8 assures us that the Lord himself watches over you, your going and coming day and night so that nothing neither the sun or the moon would harm you. It is so true that the God who fashioned you is on call watch over you 24 x 7 all days of your life on this earth. Would you do that to your son or daughter? Would you do that to your father or mother? Would you do that to your husband or wife? You would do unto some point only. But the Bible says that the Lord watches over you both now and for evermore.

The protection of our good God is not just around us or over us, it is in us as well. Every human being who believes that God raised Jesus from the dead and confesses with his or her mouth that Jesus is Lord becomes a child of God (Romans 10:9). John 1: 12 says, “Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God”.

Are you a child of God?? This message has come to you with a purpose not by accident. My dear friend you may be a person from a different faith or you may be a modern day guy seeking a cool stuff to worship or you may be a gentle, kind, lovable person clean and good before God and man yet if you don’t believe that Jesus died for your sins (all your secret and worst sins inclusive) and rose up on the third day and is very much alive pleading your case before God the Father then my friend you need to take some serious decision right now. Jesus is the Way the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father God except through Him. Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling you just as you are. He knows your pain & agony, your secret & deliberate sins, your failures & disappointments, yet He loves you just as you are. Won’t you repent and run into His open & outstretched arms and give your all to Him right now. Don’t push it off; there may not be a tomorrow for you.

When we become the child of God the Spirit of God comes and dwells in us. He guides us into all truth and convicts us of sin. Yes the Spirit of God dwells in you from the day you become the child of God He is the power in us that protects us. 1John4:4 says, “…the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world’. He is the Overseer of your soul (1Peter2:25). The protection that God has placed is inclusive of your soul as well. 2 Thessalonians 3: 3 says

“The Lord is faithful and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one”. The evil one refers to Satan and His ways.

God is not a man to lie. He is a keeper of His word. Mathew 24:35, Mark 13:31, Luke 21:33 emphatically says, “Heaven and earth shall pass away but my words shall never pass away”. Please think about this, my friend, three men who lived and walked with Jesus have penned the same words. That’s not something that you can just shrug and walk off. It is absolute truth. You just can’t doubt it. God’s protection is there just as the Bible quotes and it shall never fail.

The walls of protection that God has placed can breach or the hedge of protection can get lowered depending on the choices that you make in your daily life.

In Mathew 22:37, 38 Jesus the Son of God says “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment”. The word commandment by itself explains that it is decree or demand, yet the other two words first and greatest emphasize the highest importance of that decree. Now ask yourself ‘Do I diligently obey this commandment every day in every way?” I can hear everyone say ‘I do”. Let me ask you ‘Do you know what it means to love the Lord? 1 John3:5 says “This is love for God to obey his commands and his commands are not burdensome”. Yes obeying God’s word is the true way of expressing our love for God. This is not an option it is mandatory. When you love God with all your heart obeying His word will come naturally. It will be your burning desire to please God through your obedience. This enables you to make the right choice in God’s sight. When you disobey God’s commands the wall of protection develops cracks and weakens. You might be a person raised in all Christian traditions; you might be a devout church goer or disciplined at meditating the Word of God yet if you disobey God’s instructions you my friend have a broken wall of protection.

The Bible calls disobedience as rebellion.

Pride is the most important cause for rebellion (disobedience). Many affluent countries like the USA, UK etc., have rebelled against God. They call themselves as a Christian nation or one nation under one God but disobey God’s commands. Pride of their intellectual ability, wealth, and military power has caused them to rebel against God Almighty through disobedience. They disobey God in the name of freedom. Their choice of freedom have destroyed young girls of their virginity, destroyed young men due to alcohol and drug abuse, destroyed homes of love, peace & joy (due to divorce, single sex marriages), destroyed the nation of its wealth, health & security. In Amos 5:4 the Lord says “Seek me and live”. ”God is there for those who seek him.” Isaiah 12:15 says, “But if you do not obey the Lord and if you rebel against His commands, his hands will be against you”. Today the Lord’s hand is against those nations who have failed to love God through the obedience of His word. When they obeyed God’s commandments, God prospered them.

Faithlessness is the other cause for rebellion (disobedience).

Faithless people are the ones who have backslidden from their love for God. They disobey the word of God. King David tells in Psalm 119:158

“I look on the faithless with loathing, for they do not obey your word”. Many a times we never realize that we have backslidden until the wall of protection disappears. Psalm 78:34, 35 says “Whenever God slew them, they would seek him; they eagerly turned to him again. They remembered that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer”. Don’t wait for God to slew you and bring you back into obedience.

More than sacrifice God wants your obedience. That is why HE says in Jeremiah 3:22 “Return, faithless people; I will cure you of backsliding.”

When children of God rebel against God the consequences are deadly. The Lord led the Israelites from bondage. From the time they started from Egypt the angel of the Lord went ahead of them as a pillar of cloud by day and as a pillar of fire by night. When their enemy the pharaoh and his army pursued them the pillar of cloud moved from front and stood behind, coming between the armies of Israel and Egypt. It brought darkness to the enemy’s side, but it gave light to the side of the Israelites. In spite of all the miraculous and mighty presence of God with them, the Israelites became impatient and spoke against God and against Moses. Do you know what God did to them? Numbers 21:6 says “Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them, they bit the people and many Israelites died”. Yes my dear friend God allows certain things to touch you or your wealth or your health not to crush you but to heal you. Trials or tests come into our life so as to heal us of our dark areas in our life. Don’t let the luxury of this world to turn your heart from obeying God’s Word. Let not your wisdom and intellectual abilities question the existence of God or His decree. Don’t try to imitate the freedom seekers but seek the giver of freedom from sin. Only when you obey His Word, His promises can be claimed. Every promise of God has a condition attached to it. You can not by pass the condition to posses the promise. The Great & Almighty God has promised this protection for each of you, provided you fulfill your duty.

According to Psalm 91:3-6 things like a fowler’s snare, deadly pestilence, plague, terror by day & night stalk us always. But if you are a child of God who fulfills the duty of obeying God’s word then be of good cheer my friend God’s awesome protection stands firm. Even if you are picked to pass through that valley of darkness God’s grace and mercy will prevail. If at all by any chance you have not accepted Jesus and become His child or disobeyed God’s command then don’t worry God is giving you this opportunity. Kindly pray this prayer with a sincere heart and receive your citizenship in heaven and the protection on earth.

Lord Jesus, I believe in my heart & I confess with my mouth that you are God & that you died for my sins & rose again. I need you in my life as my Savior & Lord. I have rebelled against you by disobeying your commands. Now I understand my mistakes & I repent with all my heart. Pl ease forgive my mistakes & all my wrongdoings & cleanse me from all unrighteousness. Give me a heart & mind that would always be obedient to your words, in the precious name of Jesus I ask AMEN.

Friends, If you have prayed sincerely then you are not alone. Jesus is with you and His angels will protect you. Don’t forget to hate sin & obey God’s word..

Buy a new Bible & read it every day. Search for the promises and comply with its conditions, goodness and love of God will follow you where ever you go.

Rev. Brite Sundar

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Be A Good Example For Others

By Zac Poonen

When Paul called the elders of the church in Ephesus to bid farewell to them, notice what he told them in Acts 20:17-35. He reminded them that he had been with them for three years (Acts 20: 31) and that he had preached to them night and day. Three years is more than 1000 days. And so if Paul actually preached twice every day, as it seems to imply here, he must have reached over 2000 sermons there.

Ephesus was the place where they had once had a great revival and where Christians had burnt their old books of magic and witchcraft costing nearly half a million rupees. It was also the place where handkerchiefs that had touched Paul’s body were used to heal the sick and deliver the demon-possessed. God did some amazing miracles through Paul in Ephesus on a scale that hadn’t been seen anywhere else (See Acts 19:11,12,19).  At the end of all this, what does Paul remind the elders of? Does he remind them of his sermons or the miracles? No.

He tells them to remember the humble way he had lived among them, from the first day they had seen him (Acts 20:19). Even if they forgot his sermons, they could never forget how he lived among them. His life had made a permanent impact on them. They could never forget his compassion and his simplicity. They’d remember that he had worked hard with his own hands as a tentmaker to support himself and his coworkers – so that he would not be a burden to them and also to be an example to other Christian workers (Acts 20:34,35). They would never forget that during all those three years, Paul never desired money, or gifts, or even a new set of clothes, from any of them (Acts 20: 33)!

Paul also reminded them how he had proclaimed the WHOLE counsel of God to them uncompromisingly (Acts 20:27). He hadn’t been a man-pleaser, seeking popularity for himself. He had preached repentance and every other unpopular subject, if it was profitable for his hearers, even if some got offended thereby (Acts 20:20, 21). These are the things Paul pointed out to them.

If you pastor a church for three years like Paul did at Ephesus, and then leave, what will your flock remember you for? Will they remember you as an impressive preacher or as a humble man of God who showed them by your life, what Jesus was like. Will they think of you as one who drew them closer to God and challenged them to be more Christlike or as one who taught them how to distribute tracts?.

We have a very great responsibility to demonstrate to the next generation what Christlikeness really means. People who look at us – the way we live, preach and serve – should be able to see in us what it means to be a true servant of the Lord, in the style of the apostles and prophets of old, and not in the style of 20th-century film-star-like evangelists. Whether we realise it or not, we’re leaving behind us an image, wherever we go – an image that’s going to remain in people’s minds long after we’ve gone away and long after they have forgotten the messages that we preached to them.

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For more information write to: wftw@cfcindia.com
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Sharing with love

By Jeyapaul

I pray that you may be ACTIVE IN SHARING FAITH, so that you will have a FULL UNDERSTANDING OF EVERY GOOD THING we have in Christ – Philemon 1:6

In 1990, when I completed my class X, I had four months holidays before I could join Class XI. Being a young boy, sitting at home all the time and playing was not my mother’s favorite. So, by force she made me join in typewriting class. The class was from 6am to 7am everyday, being in holiday getting up early like school days was a tough decision for me, and over this, the first session at the typewriting institute was full of theory and they didn’t allow me to touch the typewriting machine. After a week’s time, they asked me to type 2 full A4 sheet just the letters “asdfgf” and “;lkjhj” for the entire week. I found very boring and useless, I was asked to do this for a week. But somehow, I managed to go through this and even wrote my lower grade typewriting exam and passed out in first class typing with a speed of 30 words per minute.

Today, for the obedience and perseverance I had in completing those 6 months typewriting class has enabled me now to use computer at a faster pace and type with ease. I now have a full understanding of why my mother pushed me that day in 1990 to that typewriting class and how God has planned this to be one of the very useful skills essential for me.

In the same way, the word of God says in Philemon, that to have a FULL understanding of every good thing we have in Christ; we ought to be ACTIVE in sharing FAITH. Philemon 1:6, has two sections in it; one prompting us to an action and the second the benefit of that action.

Sharing is Multifaceted in Christ Jesus

Let us explore the one prompting us to action is “Be active in sharing your faith”. I believe sharing your faith doesn’t just mean sharing our testimony of how God saved us or how God is so faithful to us in difficult circumstances. But I understand it further more deep; sharing your faith means, every action that you do in your life because of the faith you have in Christ Jesus. Sharing of love, sharing of money and resources, sharing mercies we have received from Christ, sharing the joy, sharing hope and so on. The greater meaning that God has in sharing your faith means that sharing not just by words but by deeds. God’s word says faith without deed is dead. So we are called to share in action rather than mere words.

We are made in the image and likeness of God; and God created the earth to share His joy with the human beings. He didn’t create it for himself, but for us to enjoy and be happy. This character of God reveals that we too ought to reflect that character of sharing in our life.

When something is shared with someone, spiritual blessings are activated in the giver and the receiver’s lives. For instance, let us imagine like this, person A shares his food with person B who is hungry, what are the unseen blessings that are activated here in persons A and B. Person B who was fed, is freed from his hunger, he respects person A for his act of love, he praises God for meeting him at the point of need and there is a scope for his trust in God to increase. Person A, who fed the hungry, has a greater satisfaction in his soul to have served the needy, praises God for enabling him to feed another person, earns a relationship of another child of God and his fame is spread amidst the people.

This is what God means by sharing of faith. This type of sharing of faith unfolds the heavenly blessings upon lives. The more we share the more we do well, the more we are activated based on the faith we have in Christ, God’s awesome blessings are unfolded in our lives and his name is glorified.

But how do we need to SHARE?

We need to SHARE
           S – Self-lessly
In       H – Humility
By      A – Acknowledging God
           R – Restlessly
And  E – Earnestly

When we share our faith in action, God expects us that we do that not seeking any selfish benefits but with humbleness, acknowledging God in every action and doing it restless and with earnest.

When we keep on sharing such a faith, we will have a FULL UNDERSTANDING of every GOOD THING that we have in Christ. We do not know sometimes, why God asks us to do certain things, but only way to get answer to such questions is to just be obedient and persevere to do what God calls us to do, so that we may have the full understanding of every good thing in Him.

May God bless you to be active in sharing your faith, not by words but by deed

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Prophet Elijah

By Zac Poonen

In 1 Kings Chapter 17 the first thing I want you to notice about Elijah are his words to King Ahab: “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand”.  These true prophets did not fear kings because of one reason : They stood before the Lord. Kings were mere specks of dust before God. The great need is for young men who can be prophets like that. Knowledge of the Bible is important. But more important than that is this: You must live before God’s face. To live before God’s face, you must keep your conscience 100% clear – not 99%, but 100%. And you must humble yourself totally. Your face must be in the dust all the time. That’s how Elijah lived.

If God can’t find young men like that, I hope He will find some young sisters who live before God’s face and be a voice for Him. You may not stand in a pulpit, but you can influence people from your homes. God needs many brothers and sisters in our land who live before His face.

Elijah was a man who was instantly obedient to every little thing that God said. God told him one day to go and hide himself by the brook Cherith – and he went at once (1 Kings 17:3). There the ravens brought him bread and meat and he drank from the brook (1 Kings 17:6). At 8 o’clock every morning, a raven would bring him some food. Again at 5 o’clock in theevening, another raven would bring him some food. These crows would bring him meat. If the crows had brought him vegetables, that itself would have been a miracle. But for a crow to bring meat (which it loves) is a greater miracle. That’s how God provided for Elijah. But gradually, after a few days, Elijah began depending on the ravens and not the Lord!

Many servants of the Lord start out trusting the Lord for their financial needs. But after a few years, they are no longer depending on the Lord, but on some ravens – human beings who send them regular support! That is exactly what happened to Elijah. So what did the Lord do? He stopped the ravens. God wanted to shake off Elijah’s dependence on ravens and to teach him once again to depend on the Lord. So thank God when the ravens stop coming – when the promised support doesn’t come. Then you will learn once again to trust the Lord alone for your needs. I have been through experiences like that. I thank God for the times when He has turned away my eyes from ravens to Him Who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and Who has said that He will supply all my needs according to His riches in glory through Christ Jesus.

The Lord then changed His method and  told Elijah now to go to Zarephath. Zarephath was outside Israel. Elijah may have imagined that some rich businessman there would take care of him. But when he reached Zarephath, what he found was not a rich businessman, but a poor widow who was just about to have her last meal! And the Lord told Elijah, “She will support you”! God’s ways are truly amazing. God does things like that, because He is a jealous God. He wants us to trust in Him, and not in ravens or rich businessmen. He will use a weak person whom you least expect to be able to help you, and use him, so that no flesh may glory in His presence.

The widow said, “We were just about to have our last meal and die.” Elijah told her, “Don’t be afraid. Make me a little bread cake from it first. The bowl of flour shall not be exhausted nor shall the jar of oil be empty, until the day the Lord sends rain on the face of the earth.” (1 Kings 17:13,14).  And the bowl of flour was not exhausted and the jar of oil did not become empty.

There are many preachers today who use this incident to teach poor people to give them money. But that is a total misinterpretation of this incident. First of all, most of today’s preachers are not prophets like Elijah. Secondly, most of today’s preachers are lovers of money, unlike Elijah. These two facts alone put Elijah in a different class altogether, from most of today’s preachers who exploit the poor. Further, Elijah asked the widow for just a bare meal to survive in a time of famine; and he ate the same food that the widow and her son ate. Today’s preachers are not asking for money for them to survive, but for them to support their grand lifestyles. There are multitudes of false prophets around today.  Unfortunately, since most of God’s people do not know how to distinguish between a true prophets and a false one, they are deceived.

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For more information write to: wftw@cfcindia.com
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Water Turned Sweet

Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. He threw in to the water, and the water became sweet. Exodus 15:25

Our God is the God of the beginning and the end. He has everything under His control. Whatever He does is always for our good. This good God leads Joseph to Egypt ahead of the others. God’s plan was to preserve a remnant of His people from the disastrous famine. Eventually the Israelites multiply but soon are oppressed and enslaved. In their pain and agony they cry out to their Creator. God hears their cries, sees their oppression, remembers His covenant with Abraham and acts in concern for His people. Leading such a huge group of people out of bondage unto freedom to possess a land of their own was not an easy job. God chooses Moses to be His prophet and sends him to Pharaoh to redeem His people.

God’s act was not an ordinary one. In His unfailing love He led His people and in His strength He guided them. The Lord went ahead of them as a pillar of cloud in the day and as a pillar of fire in the night. He sank the pursuing enemy by bringing the water of the sea on them, but He made His children walk through the sea on dry ground. The redeemed people saw the mighty, miraculous and awesome works of the Lord. Exodus 15 quotes the song that Moses and the Israelites sang exalting the Lord.

Ex.15:22 says that Moses led the Israelites into the Desert of Shur after crossing over the Red Sea. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. They were thirsty and were desperately looking for water, but found nothing. When they came to Marah they found water but could not drink as it was bitter. What did the Israelites do?? The Bible says that they grumbled against Moses (Ex. 15:23). How could they do that? Didn’t they see the deliverance of the Lord!!! Didn’t they see the Lord fighting the battle for them!!!! They forgot God and turned against Moses.

My friends even today some Christians are no different from those Israelites. When God blesses them with miracles and wonders their joy has no bounds. They jump & rejoice, but when they pass through a dry & drought patch they quickly forget the countless blessings that God had blessed them with and begin to find fault with the situation. Today recession, financial crisis, sickness, loss of loved ones and some other harsh situations have driven many around through arid & ruthless situations. They have been going round and round for days or weeks on their fragile human strength, with no remedy or solution. With their strength failing they begin to grumble against the authority that God had placed above them. What about you? Are you sailing in the same boat? Are you grumbling against the people whom God has kept in authority over you? Well you are terribly wrong.

Whenever you face a bitter experience or a crisis, don’t waste time questioning or accusing anyone. Just run into the loving & caring arms of Jesus. Pour out all your hurt, your negative feelings, your fear & your disappointments to the One who watches over you without sleeping or slumbering. God is interested in the minute details of your life and He will guide you if you ask Him to do so. Just as a child runs into the arms of his father on a daily basis, you should also have the habit of running into the arms of your Heavenly Father on a daily basis. That is nothing but a strong prayer life. Prayer is the life line of every Christian. Today many Christians are in the habit of saying micro-prayers in the morning as they dash out of their houses or start their vehicles or before they gulp their bread both physical and spiritual. Every prayer arrow shot is so selfish and self centered. How many of you out there, run into the arms of Jesus recognizing His true selfless love?? Are you open & honest with Him out of your love for Him? Please check yourself.

How is your prayer life?

Look at Moses, after he had an encounter with the Living God his prayer life soared higher and higher. The prayer time of Moses was a time of communication with God. Both of them conversed. God spoke to Moses face to face giving him specific instructions, designs, patterns, rules, regulations. Moses sought God on every matter, every problem whether posed by the defiant Pharaoh or by the arrogant and stiff neck Israelites; Moses followed what God instructed him to do or Moses obeyed God’s instruction. Whenever you go to talk with your Creator try the following

* Stand before God expecting to converse with Him.
* Be honest with God and let Him know everything
* Acknowledge God’s presence & all His goodness in your life.
* Be aware of God’s character before you make a request
* Be willing to wait and listen
* Graciously accept His solution

Grumbling did not help their thirst to be quenched. The water was there but it remained bitter. The people didn’t seek God’s help but continued with the grumbling words. My dear brothers and sisters, you might have been blessed with a blessing say a job, a house, a marriage partner or a financial breakthrough, but may be it has some bitter taste in it somewhere. May be you have received the blessing that you had been longing for, but may not able to enjoy it! You sense a hindrance that is blocking the fullness of joy. What is that bitterness? It could be a curse that has crept in through the grumbling words that fell out of your own mouth. Prov.18:21 says “The tongue has the power of life and death and those who love it will eat its fruit”. The fruit that you have today is the due to the seed that you had sown earlier.

Moses was the prophet of God. He was God’s voice to the people. He had a wonderful prayer life with his Creator. God had given His authority to Moses to perform miracles, signs and wonders. The people grumbled against Moses, but Moses cries out to God. God answers Moses’ cry. The Lord showed Moses a piece of wood (Ex.15: 24,25). Moses threw this piece of wood into the water and the water became sweet. Is in that a wonderful and awesome miracle!! How did it happen? The prayer of a righteous man backed up by the power in that piece of wood. Proverbs 15:29 says “…. but he hears the prayer of the righteous” and James 5:16 says “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective”.

Friends this piece of wood symbolizes the cross of Calvary. Galatians 3:13 says that Jesus became a curse for us by hanging on the cross. Every curse in your life has been paid in full by Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Please let this Jesus touch those secret areas of your life. He will turn your Marah into sweet.

Every Marah in your life is a test that God places before you to see if you are attentive to His commands and are doing right in His eyes. If you are careful to keep all His decrees He will lead you from Marah into Elim a place of plentiful water or a place of blessing.

During my days of fasting prayer the Lord revealed to me how, many Christian families come under curses and continue to stay under it as they try to use money power & worldly wisdom to solve it. Yes my dear brothers and sisters God has called us out of bondages and slavery to be blessed and be a blessing. Don’t entangle yourself into it.

Ask God to show you the wrong done by you. In the present generation many Christians speak lies deliberately. They just don’t dread their Creator who is a silent listener to their conversations. Friends even a small lie can bring a big curse upon you, your land and your generations. Be very careful when you talk to or talk about servants of God in particular. Remember God did not spare Moses’ sister Miriam when she spoke against Moses. Look at the words of God. Numbers 12: 7- 9 “When a prophet of the LORD is among you, I reveal myself to him in visions, I speak to him in dreams…Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? The anger of the LORD burned against them”. Today many of the children of God provoke the anger of God against them, against their children and even against their entire generation.

Our God is full of mercy and compassion. The Cross of Calvary is the way out. Repent from your grumbling, evil words & lies spoken, arrogant attitude towards God’s servants and ask for forgiveness. Run into the arms of Jesus, be honest before Him and grow in your prayer life like Moses & receive your miracle.

Your Marah will turn in to sweet

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Being Mother is Calling

By Zac Poonen

There is a lot of difference between “a profession” and “a calling”. Let me explain what I mean. Suppose there’s a sick child in a hospital and a nurse looks after it for 8 hours on her shift-duty. That nurse then goes home and forgets all about that child. Her concern for that child was only for 8 hours. Now she has other things to do, such as going to the movies and watching television. She doesn’t have to think about that child again until the next day when she goes back to work. But the mother of that child doesn’t work 8-hour shifts! She can’t go to the movies when her child is sick. That’s the difference between a profession and a calling. If you apply that illustration to the way you care for the believers in your church, you’ll discover whether you’re a nurse or a mother!

Paul said, in 1 Thessalonians 2:7, “We proved to be gentle among you as a mother tenderly cares for her own children. Having thus a fond affection for you, we were well pleased to impart you not only the gospel but also our own lives because you’ve become very dear to us”. Paul not only imparted the gospel of God to those Christians but his life as well. Any ministry that is not done in this way is not really Christian ministry. Paul served God like that because he had a calling to the ministry. He didn’t take it up as a profession.

It’s wonderful to serve the Lord. It is the greatest thing in the world. Nothing on earth can be compared with it - but only if you’re called. It cannot be reduced to a profession. God called me to serve Him (full-time) on May 6, 1964 when I was an officer in the Indian Navy. I handed in my resignation then to the naval authorities. But it was like Moses asking Pharaoh to let the Israelites go! The Indian Navy wouldn’t release me. It took two years and repeated applications before they finally released me – miraculously – in God’s perfect time. Being called of God has made all the difference in my life. First of all, it doesn’t matter to me now, what people think about me or my ministry, because Someone Else is my Master and I have to answer only to Him. Secondly, I can trust God to stand by me and give me grace whenever I face any trial or opposition in my ministry – and that happens often. Thirdly, it doesn’t matter to me whether I receive any money or not, and whether I get any food to eat or not. If I receive food and money, well and good. If I don’t get any food or money, that’s fine with me too. I cannot stop serving the Lord, just because I didn’t get money or food – because God has called me.

I can’t get rid of my calling. I’m not a salaried employee who can stop working when I’m not paid or fed! It’s like the case of the mother and her child. A nurse will stop working if her salary is not paid one month. But a mother can never stop.  She doesn’t get a salary in any case! And she’ll look after her baby even if she doesn’t get any food or money! That’s how the apostles served the Lord.  What a glorious thing it is to be called of God! You can never do the Lord’s work, the way God wants you to do it, if you do it as a profession. It has to be a calling or nothing. Every other job in the world can be done as a profession. But not a mother’s, or a father’s, or that of a servant of the Lord! All these are the result of a calling. Paul told the Corinthian Christians that even if they had 10,000 teachers, they still had only one father (1 Cor.4:15). Paul was both a spiritual father and a mother to his flock. His was not a profession but a calling.

“Take this child and nurse him for me and I shall give you your wages” is what the Lord has said to me (Exod.2:9). He said that to me first of all concerning my own physicalchildren. And then He said that to me concerning my spiritual children too. When we take care of God’s children He’s the One Who is responsible to give us our wages, not man. If we serve men, then let us look to men to pay us. But if we serve the Lord, then let us look to Him alone to provide us our needs, in whatever way He sees fit. And let Him also decide how much we should receive each month.

There is a dignity about a true servant of the Lord.  “Take these children and nurse them for Me”, says the Lord, “Bring themup for me and I will give you your wages”. Those wages will not be in terms of money, primarily. I believe the Lord takes care of our earthly needs, since He taught us to pray for our daily bread and He has ordained that those who preach the gospel should live of the gospel. So He will take care of all our earthly needs. But there’ll be a far greater spiritual reward, in addition. Paul wrote to the Christians at Thessalonica that they were going to be his crown and his joy when the Lord returned (1 Thess.2:19). He found his delight in them, just as a father finds his delight in his children.

An elder (who is a spiritual father) will be delighted when he sees that believers, who came as raw material to his church once, have now become men of God. This is something akin to the delight a sculptor has when he has fashioned a shapeless rock into a human form. He had to chip away at that block for many months and years before the face and figure of the man came out of it! That is the work that God has given us to do too. We must never be satisfied with merely having instructed people correctly. If the image of Christ has not come forth in their lives, we have accomplished nothing at all.
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For more information write to: wftw@cfcindia.com
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Related posts:

1. The Sufferings of Christ
2. Let Your Life Be A Good Example For Others
3. All Of God’s Commandments Are For Our Good

Saint Augustine

After the conversion of St. Paul on the road to Damascus, the dramatic conversion of St. Augustine – as he himself tells it in his Confessions – is the most significant conversion story in Christian history.Augustine is considered the most important early church father in history of the church. He was one of the widely quoted Christian Church Father.

Famous Quote: Thou hast created us for Thyself, and our heart is not quiet until it rests in Thee.

Saint Augustinee: Augustine of Hippo

Born: November 13, 354 in North Africa

Died: August 28, 430 

Quotes of Saint Augustine:

Love:

God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.

Love is the beauty of the soul.

What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.

Humility:

It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.

Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending. You plan a tower that will pierce the clouds? Lay first the foundation of humility.

Do you wish to be great? Then begin by being. Do you desire to construct a vast and lofty fabric? Think first about the foundations of humility. The higher your structure is to be, the deeper must be its foundation.

Humility is the foundation of all the other virtues hence, in the soul in which this virtue does not exist there cannot be any other virtue except in mere appearance.

There is something in humility which strangely exalts the heart.

Faith:

Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.

Seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand.

Giving:

Find out how much God has given you and from it take what you need; the remainder is needed by others.

Forgiveness:

Forgiveness is the remission of sins. For it is by this that what has been lost, and was found, is saved from being lost again.

Jealousy:

He that is jealous is not in love.

Bondage of Sin:

Give me chastity and continence, but not yet.

O Lord, help me to be pure, but not yet.

To abstain from sin when one can no longer sin is to be forsaken by sin, not to forsake it.

Suffering:

God had one son on earth without sin, but never one without suffering.

God judged it better to bring good out of evil than to suffer no evil to exist.

Salvation:

He who created us without our help will not save us without our consent.

Wisemen:

I have read in Plato and Cicero sayings that are wise and very beautiful; but I have never read in either of them: Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden.

Friends:

If two friends ask you to judge a dispute, don’t accept, because you will lose one friend; on the other hand, if two strangers come with the same request, accept because you will gain one friend.

Believing the Bible:

If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself.

About Miracles:

Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we know about nature.

About Adultery:

Passion is the evil in adultery. If a man has no opportunity of living with another man’s wife, but if it is obvious for some reason that he would like to do so, and would do so if he could, he is no less guilty than if he was caught in the act.

Patience:

Patience is the companion of wisdom.

Prayer:

Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.

The desire is thy prayers; and if thy desire is without ceasing, thy prayer will also be without ceasing. The continuance of your longing is the continuance of your prayer.

Last Week I heard Max McLean’s moving rendition of St. Augustine’s Conversion sends chills down the listener’s spine. Quentin J. Schultze, Ph.D. It was awesome.

Related posts:

1. Martin Luther's Famous Quotes
2. You are the Lord the Famous One Song