Our life - The greatest source of gospel

Are we so passionate about spreading the gospel and not able to do much because of the lack of opportunities?. Some of us might be having thoughts of organizing a meeting, or a musical program, or giving a great speech like one of those great preachers, and yet we are not able to move beyond just dreaming.

We might be thinking that only by conducting meetings and other gospel events, we can touch people, but that is not the only way. I believe, everyone is not called for that. But, I can tell this for sure. God wants everyone's life to be a message to others. The way we conduct and live before others makes the biggest impact than anything else.

We are the gospel to the world. People followed Jesus not only because of His preachings, but he lived a life that was absolutely in line with His preachings. He was lovable to all. He never had any grudge against anyone, He was always willing to comfort and help others, People could not find any fault in Him. All these and more, He achieved by living an ordinary life as a human being just like you and me.

Whenever Jesus went somewhere, the Bible says that people thronged to see and interact with Him. People from all sorts of culture were there. He did not restrict His associations with any particular group. He was open to all. He treated everyone in the same way.

How are we today?. What about our life in our workplaces and in our home and neighborhood. Are we loved by others and do we love others?. Believe me, each of us can make a great impact on others only through our life. Our life speaks more than a thousand sermons. The next time, when you are annoyed with a coworker, dont use a harsh word, instead act in a dignified manner. The next time the neighbor parks his car in front of your gate, dont shout at him, speak words of kindness instead. This is the way to change others.

Be the change that you want to see in the world. I believe this is possible when we allow the Holy Spirit of God to take control of our life. Let us try to live a life in a beautiful way, pleasing to God and others.

The faultless Samuel

Samuel was a man who loved God and was loved by God. What a remarkable personality?. He was a king maker, and yet before God he was the most humble man that we see. He depended on God for everything, and it is this quality that gave him that prominent position in Israel. He never took a decision without consulting God. How many of us do that today?. It might be a small decision of buying a household appliance. Do we take a minute to enquire God about that?. Let us analyze.

Samuel was a man of honesty and integrity, two of the greatest virtues that every leader should possess. The entire nation of Israel was a testimony to his awesome qualities. We read about this in Samuel's farewell speech to the people of Israel. 1Samuel 12 :1-5
"1 Samuel said to all Israel, “I have listened to everything you said to me and have set a king over you. 2 Now you have a king as your leader. As for me, I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have been your leader from my youth until this day. 3 Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the LORD and his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe to make me shut my eyes? If I have done any of these things, I will make it right.”
4 “You have not cheated or oppressed us,” they replied. “You have not taken anything from anyone’s hand.”

5 Samuel said to them, “The LORD is witness against you, and also his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.” “He is witness,” they said.

Oh, what a testimony!. How many of us can boast of such a respect from the people. This is a very good example to us that if we are faithful and honest in whatever responsibility that we are given, we would be exalted by God, and we will win the hearts of all the people with whom we interact. As Christians, we need to be different from others. We need to be a cut above the rest. This is what our God expects. We need to be hardworking, sincere, smart, honest and above all, faultless.

When You Feel Far Away From God

This article was very useful to me. Hope each of us reading would get encouraged by it.

In a life of faith, looks can be deceiving. by Dianne E. Butts

source :http://nowwhat.cog7.org/Articles/ChristianFaith/General/When_You_Feel_Far_Away_From_God.html
"If you feel far away from God, guess who moved!"

I read the one-liner in a magazine and chuckled. But later I questioned its wisdom.

How many times have I felt so close to God one day, but so far from Him the next? I wondered. I know sin erects barriers between us and God, but sometimes He seems distant even when I have not sinned. Why does God feel far away just when I need Him most -- when I'm in difficult circumstances or when my situation looks hopelessly impossible?

I never intend to move away from God, especially in tough times. Yet sometimes He feels so far away. What has happened?

Defeat after victory
I'm not the only one who has felt this shift.
In a dramatic display of God's power, the prophet Elijah witnessed God's nearness. He challenged the prophets of Baal to climb Mount Carmel for a contest: his God against theirs. After these false prophets spent most of the day pleading for their god to accept their sacrifice, Elijah prayed to the one true God. Immediately "the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil . . ." (1 Kings 18:38). Amazed by God's response, the people put the prophets of Baal to death.

When wicked Queen Jezebel heard what had happened to her prophets, she sent Elijah a message: "May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them" (19:2).
As a result, "Elijah was afraid and ran for his life" (v. 3).

Did Elijah feel the Lord had left him in the middle of this difficult situation? After watching God's defeat of Baal's prophets, did Elijah think God would not, or could not, help him?

Faulty feelings
I have fought similar thoughts and feelings as I've slipped into spiritual valleys, often following "mountain top" experiences. But I'm learning not to trust those feelings. Our feelings fluctuate with our circumstances and other factors, and often do not accurately portray our situation. For instance, just because I feel God is far away does not mean He is far away. We know He is the God who has promised "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5) and "Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (Matthew 28:20).

When we base our faith on feelings, our faith fluctuates with every high and low in life. But when we base our faith on what we know of the unchangeable God, our faith remains steady, even in tough times.

Faulty senses
Also, our physical senses -- touch, sight, hearing, smell, and taste -- can influence our internal or "gut" feelings. Elijah's successor, Elisha, was helping the king of Israel frustrate the efforts of an invading army. Enraged, the enemy king sent "a strong force" to capture Elisha.

When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. "Oh, my lord, what shall we do?" the servant asked. "Don't be afraid," the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them." And Elisha prayed, "O Lord, open his eyes so he may see." Then the Lord opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire . . ." (2 Kings 6:15-17).

The servant saw the enemy army surrounding him and Elisha, and he felt their situation was hopeless. But his sight deceived him because he could not see all that surrounded them -- not until God allowed him a glimpse of the vast spiritual army present to protect them.

Martha, whose brother Lazarus had died, learned that her physical sense of smell did not necessarily tell the whole story of her seemingly impossible predicament. When Jesus instructed her to take the stone away from the tomb of her dead brother, she hesitated.
"But, Lord . . . by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days." Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" So they took away the stone. Then . . . Jesus . . . called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out . . . (John 11:39-41, 43, 44).

Spiritual realm
Do our physical perceptions always reflect our entire situation? Can our senses, like our internal feelings, deceive us? If we base our faith only on what our physical senses can perceive, we will fail to take into account the spiritual realm. But there is a spiritual realm, for "God is spirit" (John 4:24).
When we base our faith on spiritual realities, which are not governed by physical laws, our faith will not crumble when circumstances look hopeless or impossible, because we know "nothing is impossible with God" (Luke 1:37).

Knowing God
Faith tough enough to withstand tough times must not be based on what we feel or even what we perceive with our physical senses, but on what we know about God.
David, a young shepherd boy, did this. When he told King Saul he would fight Goliath, Saul tried to discourage him; but David wouldn't listen.
"Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it . . . The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine" (1 Samuel 17:34, 35).

Had David based his faith only on his gut feelings, he might have felt as terrified as Saul and the other Israelites (v. 11). And if he had reacted only to what he saw, the sight of the armor-clad, nine-foot champion (v. 4) might have frightened him away. But David knew the Lord had helped him perform his shepherd duties in the ordinary days of his life when he fought the lion and the bear. He knew God would help him fight Goliath.

Growing faith
How can we know God as David did? We can experience Him on ordinary days by asking Him to help us with decisions and problems. We can study the Bible and the stories of people like Elijah, Elisha, Martha, and David.
As we get to know God better, we begin to base our faith on what we know, not on what we feel or perceive through our physical senses. That kind of faith grows as we grow in our knowledge and understanding of Him. And a growing relationship with God matures into a faith that stands the test of tough times.
After pondering that one-liner in the magazine, I think I'd be inclined to rewrite: "If you feel far away from God, quit relying on what you feel and start relying on what you know!"

Saul - Israel's first king

In the last post, we saw about the circumstances that forced God to think about appointing a king for the nation of Israel. In this post, let us see how God went about in doing it.

Since the people of Israel were very particular in their request for a King, God finally decided to grant them a king but not before warning them with the consequences that they would face with the earthly king. We read about these in 1 Samuel 8:10-17. But the people were not ready to give up their demands, they were very stubborn.

In 1 Samuel chapter 9, we read an account of how God went about choosing Saul to be the king of Israel. Now, Saul was an ordinary young man, a Benjamite from the smallest tribe of Israel, but the Bible says he was handsome and a head taller than anyone else.

The donkeys belonging to Saul's father Kish were missing, he asked Saul to go in search of them along with a servant. After searching at a few places, Saul decided to give up,and he said to his servant 1 Samuel 9:5 "When they reached the district of Zuph, Saul said to the servant who was with him, “Come, let’s go back, or my father will stop thinking about the donkeys and start worrying about us.”
Saul was an impatient man. We could see many instances of his impatience as we read through his story, and it was one of the qualities in him that led to his downfall.

The servant told Saul that they could meet Samuel, the man of God and he would be able to give some details about the donkeys. In the meantime, God spoke to Samuel about Saul, 1 Samuel 9:15-17 "15 Now the day before Saul came, the LORD had revealed this to Samuel: 16 “About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him ruler over my people Israel; he will deliver them from the hand of the Philistines. I have looked on my people, for their cry has reached me.” 17 When Samuel caught sight of Saul, the LORD said to him, “This is the man I spoke to you about; he will govern my people.”

Now imagine, if the servant was not there, Saul would have lost his opportunity due to his impatience. Saul meets Samuel, and Samuel gives tells him of three things that should happen before he can become a king, we can read all these in 1 Samuel chapter 10. Samuel asks Saul to wait for him for 7 days, but again Saul could not wait due to his impatient nature. Amidst all these, Saul was anointed by Samuel as the first King of Israel.

I would like to close this with a beautiful verse from 1 Samuel chapter 10, verse 6 "The Spirit of the LORD will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person". Yes, when we are filled with the Holy spirit of God, our personalities would change. This then, is the journey of Saul from an ordinary person to becoming the king of Israel, a magical change of life that was orchestrated by God alone. Even today, the same God could work wonders in our lives if we obey and trust Him.

Israel's first request for a King

Let us look at a different topic today. This is about the consequences that led the people of Israel to ask for a worldy King. We know that the people of Israel were under the direct rule of God. The judges appointed by God were their first point of contact for settling disputes.

In 1 Samuel, we read that Samuel was appointed by God to be their judge. Samuel was a man who loved and revered God. He was a hard working man, and he always thought about the well being of the people of Israel. We read in 1 Samuel Chapter 6,that when Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as leaders, but they were not good. They went after bribes and other illegal ways of earning money.

1 When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as Israel’s leaders. 2 The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. 3 But his sons did not follow his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.

The children of Godly leaders too fail, what an eyeopener for us!. This is the first reason that the people of Israel wanted a king. They were not ready to trust the children of Samuel. When we lose our trust and integrity, we will be disliked and replaced.

This was the time that Israel as a nation was under severe threat of a war. People thought that only if the have a king, they can be secure. They went and told Samuel about their concern. Samuel was very angry not because they rejected his sons, but they rejected their rule of God. This shows that a leader like Samuel cared more about God than his family.

God told Samuel to breif the people against the dangers of having a king, but the people were not ready to give up. So, God finally decided to give them a king. Sometimes in our life, when we go against the will of God, there would be some warnings. But if we forsake them, We might get what we wanted, but we inherit trouble.

As children of God, we would only be safe if we are under His direct rule. But when we choose the ways of the world, and look at others, we start rejecting His rule and land ourselves in trouble. Today, whatever might be the case, if we are not under God's governance, let us ask Him to come and take His place in our lives. We may think that our assets, job, education etc, might be our security, but in seconds they would vanish.

Only God's protection and rule lasts forever. Let us safely return to the rule of His Kingdom.

In the next post, we will look at how God chose the first King of Israel.

Response and Reaction

Reaction and response may seem to signify the same thing, but there is a big difference. When something that we don't like happens, How do we handle?. Do we rush to conclusions, lose our composure and start to attack the problem without thinking much, or we remain calm, collect the facts and then respond to the problem?.

When we respond to the problem in a calm and correct manner after gathering all the information, we will always be successful. We will never lose our image and respect. Rememeber, it takes a lot of time to gain respect, but takes a second of foolish act to lose it.

Next time, whenever we are faced with tough and provoking situations, let us atleast take a couple of minutes before we react to the situation. Those two minutes will be very helpful to avoid many unpleasent happenings. May be your boss irritates you, or a coworker or neighbour is of nuisance. Take some time analyze the situation and then handle it. It is also true that only in those moments, God can speak to us. Let us always remember that we need to be smart, and not foolish in our actions.

Hannah - A Character study

1 Samuel starts with the story of Hannah. Her husband Elkanah had another wife called Peninnah. For some reason, Elkanah loved Hannah more than Peninnah though Hannah was barren and Peninnah had children. This clearly shows that love need not be based on our posessions. I am amazed to think that God too loves us even if we are "useless" and have "nothing".

Verse 5 "But to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved her, and the LORD had closed her womb."

Why was Hannah barren?. It was because Lord had shut her womb,and it is God who gave her favor in her husband's eyes. Peninnah started teasing Hannah since she was barren. Let us get a feel of that from the verse below.

"Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the LORD, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat"(Verse 7)

If we were in Hannah's place, what we would have done?. Probably we would have given a mouthful back, or used the influence with Elkanah to throw the rival. But Hannah did not do any of these. She was a Godly woman and had such wonderful qualities. She knew that it is better to go to the Lord than to retaliate. All she wanted was a child and she knew that the enemy would shut up once she gets a child.

She went to the presence of God and poured her heart. Do we do this when we are in a need?. We must learn from Hannah here. Nobody could help us in our trying circumstances other than God. Verse 10 says "In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the LORD, weeping bitterly."

Even while praying, she had to face some taunts. This time from a very old leader of the church, Eli. Mistaking her to be drunk, he shouted at her. Hannah's response here too was a Godly one. Even during her weak phase, she didnt lose her composure. On, what a lesson?.

Once she had poured her heart out to God, her face changed and the downcast look had gone. Those who look upon God will never be let down. God answered Hannah's prayer and she gave birth to Samuel, who would go on to become one of the greatest prophets of God and who anointed King David.

These are the lessons that we learn from Hannah

1. She was pious and simple
2. She was polite
3. She was a woman of faith and prayer
4. She was truthful and loyal to God (as she had vowed, she gave Samuel to the service of the Lord)
5. She was a dutiful woman

Let us learn these things from this wonderful woman.