How does the devil deceive you today?

"Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil." Ephesians 6:10,11

Most of us are very much worried about the defeats in our spiritual life. If we dig deep down our hearts, we will acknowledge that there is a tough conflict between choosing to follow the worldly life or Godly ways. The higher danger is when we think that some of the worldly ways are Godly and hence we are trapped in utter deception.
 

We may think that our indulgence in social media to read spiritual messages is a wise thing to do, but what we fail to recognize is that it steals our time in having real fellowship with God. How great would be our spiritual pursuits if we can reduce our social media time and give it to God by meditating on His word and praying.
 

Entertainment, gossips, too much planning about tomorrow, over indulgence in your hobbies, passions or job, be it whatever....if any of these prevent you from having quality time with God, it needs to be addressed immediately.
 

We need to be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power if we have to overcome the world. We wrongly thing that we can do it ourselves by our own efforts, self discipline and resistance. But the word of God is very clear and it says that we have to put on God's armour to stand against the strategies of the devil.
 

Social media, entertainment, keeping you too busy on your passions, making you worry about your future are some of the strategies of the devil to rob you off the fellowship with God. We need to be very wise and nip these things at the bud or else these will eat us up and we will go wayward.

Friend, today, let us return back to God with our whole heart, that love which we had for Him when we entered into a relationship with Him, that early love...It is true that God has blessed us in many ways and let us never allow those blessings and comforts to stand as a wall between us and God. If a tree is not watered for a long time, in a similar way, if we don't draw our spiritual food everyday from God, we will be frustrated, desperate, anxious, egoistic and filled with all the vices of this world. Let us turn back to God today! God bless you!

The importance of Cross

Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord
To the cross where thou hast died
Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord
To thy precious bleeding side

Let these beautiful words of Fanny Crossby resonate through our heart, mind and soul this morning as we look upon the face of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Unless our spiritual eyes are opened to take a glimpse at the bleeding Savior on the cross of Calvary, we cannot have an overcoming Christian life. The Cross is the origin of everything that God has prepared for those who love Him and are chosen according to His own purpose.

It is at that rugged cross that the Almighty God chose to put an end to the wretched bondage of sin over us. This is the reason in our Christian lives, we should always have our minds set on the sacrificial love offered by Jesus at the cross. The Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1: 23 that "We preach Christ crucified which is a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the gentiles".

While the Jews demanded signs and wonders, the Greeks sought after human wisdom for relating with God. We should understand that God chose a cruel thing like cross to bring salvation to us and it is beyond the reach of human wisdom. Many of those in Jesus's days could not accept the fact that He should die on a cross to redeem mankind. It seemed like utter foolishness to them whose mind was full of theology and doctrines, the so called learned people of Christ's time.

We can see the same happening today all around us in Christendom. Preachers thrive well with their wizardry of words, calming people with mesmerising music and blindfolding them with the so called manifestation of power and miracles. If you discern carefully, this is what Apostle Paul calls as human wisdom and he was strongly opposing it.

It is wise to preach the gospel in its plain and simple form rather than packing it up in a nice and wonderful way for everyone to accept. Christ never pleased anyone and in fact he made more enemies when He preached the unadulterated gospel in all its power and so did the disciples and apostles.

Unless, we see the power of the sacrifice of Christ in the cross, it is very difficult to understand anything else in Christianity as everything right from the beginning were pointing to that moment in that cruel cross which Jesus had to endure according to the soverign plan of God. It is the ultimate manifestation of the love of God to save crooks and sinners like you and me. Realizing our filth in the context of God's love is what can cleanse our wounded soul and reignite it to live for God.

If you haven't experienced the love of Calvary in its fullest form so far, I request you to soak in it today by welcoming Christ to come back into your hearts and rule your all. God bless you.

I am back O Lord

There are so many things that flash through my mind O Lord
My thoughts race to try everything by all means
I try and try...sigh and sigh...but nothing progresses
I am troubled, confused and disappointed

The world is tempting with all its offerings
Like the apple that tempted Eve
There are so many attractions that fascinate me
Only to be enticed and trapped

Till I am stripped naked in the open
As in the garden of Eden
I try to cover my shame with my intellect
only to be bared all over again and again

Then I remembered you O Lord
The gentle voice and the loving cry
That piercing look and merciful countenance
Is enough for me to turn back

Here am I O Lord
again at your feet
ashamed and weak
Lift me up through thy grace

I may stumble and waver
sometimes may go far away
I know you hold my hand all the time
and will draw me back from afar

You are my Lord
The gentle Shephered
The loving Savior
My all powerful Creator

I worship thee with my all
I surrender my being
unto thy feet I bring
my soul and my all

How to get your rewards as a Christian?

Lot of us are seeking our identities through various means. It could be through our jobs, talents, abilities, influences, status in the society etc. It is a never ending quest. As Christians, how are we to go about it?

Let me explain this a bit. When we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour, He has given us a "new life". Yes, a brand new life. We must first believe this. Next, this new life is hidden in Christ who is in heaven at the right side of God. But, one important thing, what happened to your old life?

You have died to the old ways of living or your "old life" is dead. Only when we understand this, we could clothe ourself with the new life. It is all about thinking and setting our minds in the right direction. We will see how we can do it.

1. Think about those things that are part of heaven rather than here on earth. Following the teaching that Christ gave through the sermon on the mount is a good place to start with.

2. Put to death all the earthly and sinful things that are hiding secretly inside you. This includes sexual impurity, lust, impurity and evil desires.

3. Clothe yourself with the new nature that consists of things like mercy, humility, gentleness, patience and kindness and above all "Love".

4. Teach and counsel other with all the wisdom that Christ gives you.

5. Forgive the faults of others as God has forgiven you.

6. Do all your work as if you are doing for God and expect a reward from Him not from this world.

All these things should be done on a daily basis and the peace that comes from Christ will rule our hearts. What is the motivating factor to do all these? It lies in Christ and the things that He will give us when he returns. As Christians, we should always hope for the rewards in heaven rather than trying hard for them here on this earth.

The greatest reward of it all is to share in the glory of Jesus Christ when He comes back. There is nothing better that can inspire a true child of God than this. Jesus Christ offers us hope beyond this life here on earth and that to us is the ultimate comfort, peace, joy and satisfaction. Every reward, accolade, fame and adoration that you get in this world is tempoary and would be gone the moment you die and leave this earth, People would forget you.

Do you want that everlasting reward? Then clothe yourself with the new life that Christ has given you. God bless you!

Will following a set of rules make us spiritually strong?

We establish a set of rules to be followed by ourselves based on what we think is "right" or "wrong". There is an impending danger and deception in it. Let us assume that we set the following three rules that we would follow very religiously

1. No lusting
2. No over eating
3. No jealousy and greed

Now, on what basis we can be sure that we would be able to follow this without compromising? If we say that it can be done through self control and will power, we may deceived. Though, people may say that they have great self control outwardly, only a person's own soul knows the pain and agony it goes through each day fighting against many of these moral and ethical obligations.

The biggest danger of it all is when we try to showcase and discern that strict observance of these rules actually gets us closer to God or in other words helps us to grow in our spiritual life.

The Bible says that in Jeremiah 17:9 that “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?"

It is a matter of the heart rather than anything outward. Jesus also said in Matthew 15:19, 20 "19 For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander. 20 These are what defile you. Eating with unwashed hands will never defile you.”

The most important point to understand is that "We cannot make ourselves good by following a set of rules that are set by ourselves and by depending on our own strengh". Unless, there is a change of heart through true repentance, we will never grow in our spiritual life.

Apostle Paul in Colossians 2: 23 says "These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires"

What is the way out? There is only one way and that is through the saving power of Jesus Christ. This is the greatest miracle of all in which a person's heart is changed and mind is renewed day by day by the power of God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It is only by accepting Him as our Lord and truly following His commands that we become spiritually mature and strong. It is more to do with renewed thinking and priorities rather than just following a few rules that may just give us a temporary feel good factor. God bless you!

God loved us even when we were sinners. Why?

Have you seen the way children with behavioral issues react on certain things? They may show some tantrums, cry or even become so aggressive and intolerent. How do we view them? We think that they do everything deliberately and try to confront them in the worst possible ways. We shout, yell and scream at them in the pretext of correcting and disciplining them. Why? Because we have not understood their thought process. We have no clue about what is going on inside them. We just try to force our views and disciplining strategies on them without even realizing their need and in abilities.

Now, imagine that each of us are people with behavioral issues and assume God would deal with us in the same way as we do with our children. How would that be? Would we be spared for the sort of atrocities we do in and out during our lives, even after getting old and think that we are "correct" in everything and have become "holier" than others? Is God trying to thrust a set of rules on us even after knowing that we have our own limitations and weaknesses? How many of us would have been spared if God had not abolished the ten commandments?

All of us have one problem or the other in our lives and all of us have our own burdens and weaknesses to carry. Only God can understand our concerns and worries as He created us. We are so precious to Him and that is the reason He doesn't get angry with us for every wrong thing we do. Instead, His grace and love covers us. It is because of His sheer grace and mercies that we are alive and are spared.

And, God expects us to do the same with others. He wants us to be people with compassion on others. God wants us to live without cheating others. God expects us to be genuine in all that we do. God doesn't want us to show partiality in anything and act otherwise on the outside.

God sees through our hearts rather than just the outside smart behaviour of us. He knows what is inside there and we can't fool him just in the way we walk fooling others around.

Let us be people who love others genorously, live without selfish motives, help others, seek and offer forgiveness and more importantly show the attitude of "Jesus Christ" to every one whom we come across.

God chose to love us even when were wicked and dead in sin. In front of this amazing love, even our best intent or works in this world would look as filthy rags. But, God honours our attitude. When we pray for someone or show our concern, love and empathy for other's problem, God honours that and He would never let you go empty handed for it.

John 15:13 says "There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends." and Jesus Christ practically demonstrated it on the cross. We are no way worthy of such an amazing love, but yet God chose to love and heal us from our sins.

Let us be people who honour this great God of ours by practicing what He preached. Let us love one another, let us help one another, let us pray for one another and in this way, God is glorified and honoured. Let us take our worries and concerns to God in prayer and also understand that He expects us to show the same kindness and love towards others. In this way, we can have a fulfilled and complete life. God bless you!

4 Steps to a successful Christian life

The human mind has the capability to conceive evil beyond our imagination and control and then forces us into sins which we would never think about. Nobody is immune to this. Is there a way out? Yes, read on...

Once, We were enemies of God and were seperated from Him through our evil thoughts and actions.This was the helpless situation of mankind from the time of Adam to Christ as there was no permanant cure for the wretched soul. But, everything changed when Jesus Christ sacrificed His life and rose up again. We were again united with God entirely through His grace, the sacrifice of His son and the unimaginable power of the Holy Spirit.

Colossians 1: 22 says "he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault"

It was not 99.9 % salvation but 100%. Jesus completed everything that we would need and thus He said "Finished" on the cross. The foundation has been laid and it is upto us to cooperate with God to build our lives on top of the foundation. We need to do the following four things to make sure that we grow consistently in our relationship with God.

1. We "must" continue to believe in this truth all the time. We should always think that Christ has won the battle and we need to march on with Him as His truthful soilders.

2. We "must" mediate on the Word of God every moment. This will help to strengthen our souls through nourishment with Spiritual food.

3. We "must" pray all the time. Prayer helps us to connect with God, submit us to His will, take all our worries to Him and receive the peace that He offers.

4. We "must" continue to grow in the fellowship of others, giving and receiving all the help that is needed to grow more and more in the image of God.

It is not in isolation that God wants the church (His people) to operate, rather each and every stone in the church should be equally strong so that it stays together in tough times.

If we truly follow the 4 steps above, we will never miss the mark as God is faithful and is ready to help all those who genuinely desire to walk in His ways. Jesus Christ is the "only" one who can change our lives. We take Him for granted many times, but we may not have the period of grace all the time. It is better to seek and find Him now than never. God bless you!