Ruined Houses

My alarm rings at 5:00 in the morning. My hands anxiously search for the mobile phone all over the bed. I find it either under my pillow or under the bed. I thank the creator of the snooze button and go back to sleep. It rings again at 5:15 am and then at 5:30. From now on, it is no longer an alarm to my ears…. its music.

A loud bang rings… this time it is not the alarm, but my head, and I wake up with a start. I stare at the clock glaring at my face. It is 7:00 am; I’ll just have time to finish my morning routine. I jump out of the bed….

I mumble a careless prayer, that hardly lasts for 3 minutes and read my bible portion in a glance, and then I hurry my way to work.

I’m sitting on a bus and I can’t remember a thing…just what did I read today morning? ….no clue!! So, I take my bible from my bag to help me recollect. I try to memorize a few verses, so that I can meditate through the day. The chill breeze blows on my face…and puts me to sleep. With the bible in my hands, I close my eyes.  I finally awake, when it’s just time to get off the bus.

My day is almost over, and I realized that I’ve exceeded my clock hours. I walk out of the building and am on the way to the bus stop. My ears are plugged with my ipod, blaring loudly my favorite Christian Rap. I suddenly realize that I don’t remember what I read in the Bible today morning.

After a rather unpleasant ordeal, I finally find a place to sit in the bus. My ipod is still plugged in my ears. I have every intention to take my bible and read, but my eyes are too tired. I had a stressful day after all. Besides, I need some diversion. I continue listening to Toby Mac. And when he sings, “I need some time with God, and a mental vacation”, I cringe in guilt.  I promise myself to spend some quiet time with God the moment I reach home.

I am finally at home. I pounce at food. If you look at me eating dinner, you’d think I’ve been starving. While I am eating, I need some diversion. I browse through my facebook page, lazily looking at the photos of my friends. (My eyes are not tired now!!)

I’m done with food now, and every single cell in my body starts crying out in exhaustion. I need sleep. What about my quiet time? Hey, c’mon you can’t pray and listen to the Master’s voice when you are tired; you’ll doze off. Its better I get some sleep and postpone my quiet time for tomorrow morning.

I set the alarm for 5:00 am.

You don’t have to be a prophet to tell what would happen tomorrow.

There were people like me in Bible times too. People like me, who resolved to rebuild the temple of God, as soon as they returned to Jerusalem. They were determined to return to God his rightful place in their lives.

But shortly after their arrival in Jerusalem, things changed. They laid the foundations for the new temple. But the Persian king ordered the work on the temple to cease.

Later the barriers were lifted by another king. But even then, the people lapsed into spiritual lethargy. They were not idolaters, but they had lost their early passion for the worship of the living God.

And just like me, their excuse was, ‘The time has not yet come for the LORD’s house to be built.’ (Haggai 1:2)

While they didn’t have time to build God’s house, they had all the money and the resources, to build homes that rivaled that of the kings. And God asked them, “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house(God’s House) remains a ruin?” (Haggai 1:4 emphasis added)

God asked me this question too.

When we say that we are the temple of God. It does not stop with God just staying in us, sitting in our hearts and looking around. It means that God considers our lives to be a source of His comfort. He wants to confide with us. He has a heart that He wants to share. But we are usually caught up with our own priorities, building our own houses, decorating our own imagination, and living our own fantasy.

Today we do too many things at once. We’re running everyday, working against time and we’re infact not living, but racing our lives. Quiet times, have become a thing of the past. When we read the works of great men and women of God, we shrug and say, “They have no clue about life today”. To add to our slothfulness, we now have Christian leaders, proposing 2 minute devotions and quick prayers for busy people. Pitiful indeed.

God’s message to the Israelites was, “Consider your ways!” I guess, that’s the same message to us as well. Most of our habits and activities make no sense to God, and we’d slowly realize that all our preoccupations finally take us nowhere.

“You have planted much, but have harvested little.

You eat, but never have enough.

You drink, but never have your fill.

You put on clothes, but are not warm.

You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” (Haggai 1:6)

Today, we have many attractive man-made principles of faith. Principles that have the audacity to limit the powerful works of an awesome God to some repetitive utterances assumed to be “authority from God”. But our Savior proclaimed the only true principle central to our faith.

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33)

We don’t need quiet times to win God’s favor. God does not evaluate our lives by the lengths of our prayer or scripture reading portion. But He longs to make Himself known to us through these quiet times. Quiet times are for us to know God and understand His voice.

The more, I denied myself some time alone with God. The more I felt miserable. It was then that I realized, that spending some private time with God, enables me to see more of Him and less of myself in every situation that arises through the day.

Most of the times, we don’t move away from God because of some shameful sin. We just starve our hearts without Scripture and prayer and ruin God’s house.  Spiritual lethargy is how we get separated. Consequently, the sweetest communion of all gets wrecked.

“Oh the pure delight, of a single hour

That before, thy throne I spend

When I kneel in prayer

And with thee my Lord,

I commune as friend in friend”

God did not reconcile with man, through His paramount sacrifice on the cross, so that He can manage to have 5 minutes in our busy schedule.

God sacrificed everything so that He can live in me and reach out through me.

Will my sacrifices be any harder?

Have we left His house in ruin ?

Are you losing it right ?

One king never stood for God, the other king was blameless in his ways and followed God’s ways that he even dedicated all the gold and silver vessels to the temple of God. Yet both had to face losses.

One king was looted and the other king suffered loss because he had to pay a huge bribe.

King Rehoboam had an idolatrous life and kingdom.In the fifth year of his reign all the huge treasures in his box was looted away by the Egyptian king Shishak.Rehoboam lost all the wealth of his treasury and assigned bronze shields to replace the stolen gold shields. He never really accomplished anything.His was a fruitless, empty reign.

1 Kings 14:26-27

²⁶ He carried off the treasures of the temple of the LORD and the treasures of the royal palace. He took everything, including all the gold shields Solomon had made. ²⁷ So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and assigned these to the commanders of the guard on duty at the entrance to the royal palace

King Asa’ s life was very different.He put away the male cult prostitutes, removed the idols made by his predecessors Solomon, Rehoboam and Abijam.He even removed Maacah(his mother) from being the queen mother because she had an image made for the goddess Asherah.Asa’s heart was blameless and followed the ways of the Lord.

But he too had to part away with all the wealth of his treasuries.He was put in a position where he had to give away all his gold and silver as a bribe to the king of Syria to lure him to severe ties with Asa’s persistent troublemaker – king Baasha who captured the city of Ramah in Judah and deployed his troops there.Having received these expensive gifts,the king of Syria makes a treaty with Asa.Baasha seeing the threat posed by the armies of Syria, withdrew his forces from Ramah.

1 Kings 15:18,21-22

¹⁸ Asa then took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the LORD’s temple and of his own palace. He entrusted it to his officials and sent them to Ben-Hadad son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, the king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus.

²¹ When Baasha heard this, he stopped building Ramah and withdrew to Tirzah. ²² Then King Asa issued an order to all Judah—no one was exempt—and they carried away from Ramah the stones and timber Baasha had been using there. With them King Asa built up Geba in Benjamin, and also Mizpah.

King Asa reigned securely for 41 years and built the towns of Geba and Mizpah.

Children of God are sometimes led through losses. Financial losses, loss of relationships, loss of honor,loss of health,loss of dreams and sometimes you could even lose very dear and precious things to your heart that you once dedicated to God.

There are times that strike like it did for king Asa where we have to lose and let go of our prized possessions.

But if we are like Asa, passionate about God’s commandments, following His ways never compromising with the world,and holding firm to God’s Word then even things which seem like a huge loss would result as a blessing in disguise.God uses our losses to weaken our enemy and strengthen our hands to build higher grounds and scale higher peaks.

But there is a question that we need to ask ourselves and an evaluation that we need to make.

Have we placed God as our priority and given Him the rightful place in our lives that we can be 100% sure that He will compensate our loses ?

or like Rehoboam, we in our own compromising lives,have made many ‘functional gods’ for ourselves and allowed the devil to steal, kill and destroy and eat up our potential ?

And are we now living in a false sense of honor by making bronze shields for ourselves and living out of the nourishment of our own egos and arrogance?

Being a child of God does not guarantee you a no loss life.Sometimes you may see the same losses as everybody else,and sometimes even more.

I don’t understand how God works but I do know that He works for good. Just remember if you are hidden in Christ, He has already covered up for you. He is a God of compensation.

But before we claim His promise we need to ask the Holy Spirit to confirm our condition. We need to make sure that we only have God in our altar and nobody or nothing else. We should allow the High Priest to evaluate our status and surrender to His voice when He convicts us.

We can then be sure that the Christ our Lord would lead us not just to build Geba and Mizpah but the Kingdom of God itself.

Are you losing it right ?

Distracted heart – Fractured Faith

Sermon Synopsis – 28/06/09

Hebrews 3 :10-11

¹⁰ That is why I was angry with that generation,

and I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray,

and they have not known my ways.‘

¹¹ So I declared on oath in my anger,

‘They shall never enter my rest.’

No doubt, the Israelites were proceeding towards the promised land. But their hearts were wrong. Theirs was an incomplete, interruptive connection to God’s heart. Yes, they knew the God of their forefathers, but failed to perceive His ways.God’s own chosen priveleged people were always distracted. Therefore they never completely conquered the Promised Land and strife never ceased.

An eternity with the Creator King is the final rest that is kept in store for His precious ones. But while on this earthly tent, God still provides His rest through His manifest presence in our lives. A presence that brings forth an overflowing peace, providence, presence, blessing and guidance which empowers us to fulfill His will.

A gracious God, grieved at heart fails to release His rest on His children when He finds their heart distracted.

The greatest deceit of sin, is to make believe that its ok to ‘keep in touch’ with it, as long as you don’t ‘fall’ in it.Eventually,it hardens our soul, makes it insensitive to God and progressively drags you away from God.

You may have been warned against falling in sin. God’s voice today is to stop you from even looking at sin.

– Fix your thoughts on Jesus –

Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. Hebrews 3:1[NIV]

We glorify God in our actions and words most of the time. But not always in our thoughts. The thought life of a person provides the design map for the production of sin. A wavering mind, a negative thought life, an unchecked emotional imbalance and immoral thinking are all signs of distractions. Sooner or later we become vulnerable for a wide range of spiritual attacks.

We can prevent this, when we let Jesus rule our thought life.

So how does happen ?

– Through Repentance

So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice,do not harden your hearts” Hebrews 3:7[NIV]

When we repent, we turn back to God. It is not a one time activity that we did on the day of our salvation, rather it is an act of willing submission that needs to be done everyday, whether we’re doing it for the fifth of the fifty fifth time.

Repentance gives us a mind set that is always looking at God and depending on Him.It reassures that we are indeed hidden in Christ.Repentance needs to be a lifestyle for every Christian.

Instead, we try doing different things like, getting on a meaningless ‘deliverance’ prayer spree, talking with lots of people about our problems, trying to serve God for a few days, attending expensive spiritual confrences and seminars. We try all this in vain to connect to God’s heart. Nothing moves His heart as much as the silent sighs of a repentant heart.

-And Dependance on Him

So we see that they were not able to enter [into His rest], because of their unwillingness to adhere to and trust in and rely on God [unbelief had shut them out] Hebrews 3:19[Amplified Bible]

Many of us claim to depend on God, but deny that in our thoughts and actions. The result is evident in our lives, our heart gets distracted and our faith gets fractured.

To be able to depend on God to meet our needs, dreams and aspirations is our greatest strength. But the evil one, makes us believe that it is a sign of our weakness. And he offers a lesser and destructive source of strength called ‘stubborn will’.

We can still have conversations with God, serve God, be loved and appreciated, but if we are going to depend on our stubborn will to complete things. We’ll be nothing but pathetic, weak and unsatisfied wanderers.You’ll see a temporary high, when things happen as you think and say, but your stubborn will promises much and performs nothing.

Only God knows your potential, because He designed it, and only He can show you how and where to use it.

We were created for His intentions. So when we begin to live for His intentions, He will provide us with the Faith and the Focus that we need to be able to enter His rest.

Get your heart connected again.

From Danger to Refuge

From Danger to Refuge

Every period of transition makes you a little uncomfortable.And it is common to think that what you’re going through is the most difficult phase of your life. But the truth is, that in every step up ; your journey has its own share of trouble and pain.

In the previous stage of transition in my life, I spent the entire time, in denial. Unable to accept the things that were happening.Until then, I was in control, I chose what I wanted and did. The very thought of stepping into a life, that was way different from my aspirations put me in tremendous anxiety.

Yet another transition now, this time; its not denial but reflection.

And I just made a very frightening observation…

I have been living a very dangerous life.

DANGER #1 Instead of drawing a sense of fulfillment and joy out of my relationship with God, I have been using broken and cracked pits, even some ‘spiritual’ ones that I’ve made for myself.

My longings are the most powerful part of my personality. It drives me forward, shapes my thinking and fuels my enthusiasm to stay alive.

The things that I long for, do 2 things to me ; they give me a great deal of personal satisfaction and challenge the growth and maturity of my spiritual life.

One of the things that I long for, is to communicate God’s heart through the written word.Though, I am nothing but a terrible amateur; each time I finish a writing piece, I feel so elated and blessed. But recently, I was wondering, what if I can’t write ? what if someone stops me from writing ? what if a career comes in between ? what if I stop receiving that divine spark..???

Will I still be happy and satisfied..?

Was I wrong in enjoying the fact that I can write ? Ofcourse not. What was wrong was depending on that for fulfillment.

We all have foolish strategies disguised as noble motives, that we depend on, to fulfill God’s plan for our life. Instead of finding our security and significance in God, we try to find them in our own efforts.

Jeremiah 2:13 (CEV)

You, my people, have sinned in two ways– you have rejected me, the source of life-giving water, and you’ve tried to collect water in cracked and leaking pits dug in the ground.

Are you depending on anything else like a good career,a bright academic record, a fruitful ministry or a happy relationship for fulfilment ? Then you are living a dangerous life.

DANGER #2 I sometimes get caught up pursuing lesser goals than God and His Glory. Many legitimate objectives of my life (like education, excellence ,missions or even service) sometimes override the priority that I give for God and His honor.

Charles Colson, the one time assistant of President Richard Nixon, went to prison due to his involvement in the Watergate scandal. Later he surrendered his life to Christ Jesus. He is famous for his unique ways of presenting his clear grasps on God. In his book Loving God, he writes, “There seems to be a desire in many of today’s Christians, to be more interested in finding themselves than in finding God.”

Eccl 3:11(NIV)

…He has also set eternity in the hearts of men…

I think that the thing which brings more pain to God is the fact that His children settle for superficiality.I have God in my intelligence but the world is in my heart. This is evident when I sometimes compromise on my eternal goals.When I think that I am the centre of God’s plan, instead of giving His will priority over mine.

It took me some time to understand that God’s will and plan is not just the ‘best’thing out there, but it is the only thing that will establish my identity. If I end up doing anything else, my life would rot away and I’d just be an unsatisfied, unhappy wanderer.

What if God were to say to you today, that the goals that you have for your life, are not in His mind ? Will you be able to take that ?

DANGER #3 I don’t find worth in who I am but in what I do.

While I was evaluating my Christian life, I realized that my condition is not bad enough that I need counseling, but also not good enough that I can call it an abundant life. “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). I react with anger or guilt or spend my days in fear and anxiety. I am not the kind who can say with Ezra: “The joy of the Lord is my strength”.

Thus came the painful realization, that I was really paying lip service to God but depending more on my ego strength than spiritual power to progress ahead in my journey.I never experience satisfaction or devastation either. I am just holding myself together. How different is my life from the rest of the world?
God bases your worth not on your performance, but in who you are in Christ.When we assimilate this , we’ll have the joy that was meant only for His children. A joy that will never decrease.

Colossians 2:10(NKJV)
…and you are complete in Him…

.

Do emotions of worthlessness take over you often because you don’t perform very well? Instead of learning from your mistakes, do you think that your life has no value at all?

Such a thought pattern, will allow a huge range of negative emotions to take over . Remember your worth is in, who you are in Christ.

DANGER #4 Not knowing God enough that we can understand His magnificent love.

Recently in a communion service, God confronted me about my nature of grumbling. The words that brought me to my knees was this, “Grumbling and Complaining is a symptom of ungratefulness.”

I asked God for forgiveness and told Him that I’d rather not have anything at all than to be called an ungrateful daughter. I said, “God, teach me to love you enough”.

But recently, the Master taught me that I cannot manufacture love towards Him. My love towards Him is a consequence of His love towards me, “We love because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19). Selwyn Hughes says, “Our problem is not that we don’t love God enough, the problem is that we don’t realize How much God loves us”.

In the fiction, The Shack, William P Young writes; “So many believe that it is love that grows, but it is knowing that grows and love simply expands to contain it. Love is just the skin of knowing”.

We don’t usually doubt God’s power or His authority. We all know that He is Almighty God capable of doing mighty things in our life. But during periods of exhaustion, we don’t doubt his power but His love. If the devil can succeed to make us believe that God does not love us enough, then you’re already in his track, with time he’ll be directing your life and influencing your decisions.

Ephesians 3:17-19 (NIV)

..pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Do you spend enough time getting to know God ?

Maybe you too are in a transition like me, with a head full of dreams and a heart full of God. I encourage you to wait, for a moment and receive some inner strength from the Source. My dad often says, “If you have one full day to cut a tree, spend half a day sharpening the axe”.

The greatest privilege in my life, is to be able to be picked up by God and given the grace to receive Him into my life. When I received Christ Jesus as my personal saviour, He did not just give me something to make my life better, but I received Christ Himself to think, feel and choose in my life.

But most of the time, I fail to experience the life that He wants me to have and depend

on my foolish strategies for fulfilment ,
on my lesser goals for honour ,
on my performance to evaluate my worth and
on my own capacity to love my Creator God.

This kind of living is dangerous, because it makes me a candidate to a whole range of negative emotions that could take over any time.

So I’ve decided to

depend on my relationship with God for fulfillment ,
to never override my goals for God’s glory and honor,
to evaluate my worth based on who I am in Christ,

and to enjoy every moment of life feeling cherished that God loves me with a love that I can never imagine.

Enjoying my lessons!
Callie

With Chance, Merry Christmas

“God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son”, Jesus was the revelation of God’s love.

But I believe that my Master had another message as well when He sent His Son.

Jesus is, God saying, “Here, HE is your last chance”.

Since the devil corrupted the human race, the one thing we all do in common is play the blame game. Blame each other and get kicked out of Eden, we do this all our lives. This eats our joy and most importantly our potential.Our potential to be what our Maker really made us to be.

If it is you out there, Jesus is your last chance!!

You started off with zeal, but somewhere down the road, you lost track of your route.Now you find yourself in a place that is truly detestable. A life steadily drowning in a deluge of secret sin.

If it is you out there, Jesus is your last chance!!

Nice words no longer heal your wounds, you’ve seen that no relationship kept its promise. You are thirsty and distraught but every love you find is a shallow puddle. You are betrayed and bitter.

If it is you out there, Jesus is your last chance!!

You thought, life could not be any better.Your world was perfect.Suddenly everything came crashing down. Before you could realize what’s going on, you were buried inside rubble and debris.You are bruised and bleeding but no one can help.

If it is you out there, Jesus is your last chance!!

With the economy tumbling down, your future is turning its back on you too, you don’t find the opportunities which promised you a great life there any more.You are afraid and confused wondering how you will journey in a strange and different world all by yourself.

If it is you out there, Jesus is your last chance!!

You feel you are living somebody else’s life, feeling overtly responsible and completely lost track of your passion and purpose. You are just dragging your life along, instead of living it.

If it is you out there, Jesus is your last chance!!

You feel that you’ve worked too hard and deserve a luxurious break, but that seems impossible,considering the pressure,competition,responsibilities on your back, life just seems to get harder and complicated everyday.

If it is you out there, Jesus is your last chance!!

You have tasted every good thing in life, but still there is a vacuum that refuses to settle. An emptiness that sucks your peace, making you feel worthless and your life meaningless.

If it is you out there, Jesus is your last chance!!

No one cares to see the jewel that you really are, no one cares to recognize your rare potential. You don’t fit in the crowd, because you are special. But people call you strange.Even you can’t understand yourself, and absolutely clueless about what you will amount to.

If it is you out there, Jesus is your last chance!!

Things have begun to slow down, and you wonder, if everything you ever slogged and sweat for is really worth it. The greatest question of life become to strike real on your face.”Is death really final?” “Where is my journey from here?” “Can anything be done about my not-so-perfect past?” “Am I really hopeless?”

If it is you out there, Jesus is your last chance!!

Christmas, by itself is only the beginning of a story that began in a tiny place called Bethlehem, the angelic choir or the royal gifts alone don’t make it a happy story. Surrendering yourself to this Last Chance given to you by God can recreate the magic of Christmas in your life and in your home, and spark the beginning of a spectacular journey and a glorious destination, with the Master Himself.

Many are dying everyday without knowing that they have a Last Chance, and many of our brothers and sisters are forced to depart their earthly bodies so that the rest of the world may see their Last Chance.

Have you used your Last Chance?
Have you helped someone see their Last Chance?

Wishing you a Merry Christmas filled with true Christmas joy!!

Living with my Last Chance and enjoying every bit of it..
Callie

Laboring Queens

The last week was berserk.

Mumbai, the most energetic metropolitan of India was paralyzed with fear when terrorists attacked 11 busy and populated places on 26th November.The Taj luxury hotel, a prestigious 105 year old heritage building was under siege holding in custody many hostages. The Oberoi Trident Hotel was also victim to the same.The Nariman House, which is a Jewish outreach center in the city was seized and assaulted leaving 8 of its inmates killed. The total number of confirmed fatalities of the 2 day Islamic militant attack sized up to 195 and more than 300 people were wounded.

In Tamil Nadu, torrential rains created havoc.86 persons died, and thousands became homeless.Roads became inaccessible, and standing crops in over 100,000 acres of land became totally submerged in flood waters.

I was reading the book of Esther as a part of my daily devotion and in seasons of crisis, such as these times, I’ve learnt many lessons for my own life from the life of Esther.

“…Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” [Esther 4:14]

The Background

King Xerxes ruled over a kingdom that stretched from India in the east to Egypt in the west.

The lives of all the Jews living in this Persian empire were threatened by the order given by King Xerxes who in-turn was poisoned by minister Haman, an anti-semitic.
One Jew was safe, Haddasah, who rose to be a queen and was later named Esther.

She had a choice, she could reveal her identity and fish an opportunity to save her kindred, but if the King was not convinced she could lose her life instantly. Or ; she could stay silent, and live in safety and comfort while her brethren were being massacred.

We know how Esther fasts and prays for 3 days to boldly confront the situation. She meets the king, despite the high risk involved, plans a perfect banquet inviting Haman, and gently revealed to the king his evil ploy , and further created opportunities to provoke his anger and completely destroyed Haman, along with his plan and secured the safety and progress of the Jews.

The Lessons

Some are called to be a queen in the enemy’s palace.

I am graduating in Engineering this year, I plan to do a masters in Business Administration and also want to be certified in various technologies.I see myself as an entrepreneur in the near future handling diversified products and services.

But do you know what I am called for?

I am called to be laborer in the field of the Lord’s harvest.This is not my wish list, but my confirmed purpose.

Every work, every degree, every business venture for me is an effort, an act of labor in my Father’s vineyard.

Esther used her position to maneuver the decision of the king preventing the annihilation of the Jews.She could not have done this, had she been an ordinary Jew girl.[Esther 5:3]

Sometimes God gives His children extraordinary position and power in this sinful world, not just because He loves to “bless” but because there is an assignment that He intends to complete through the position He’s given you.
*God uses those who are willing to be promoted but who are not willing to be assimilated.

Greater the position, higher the responsibility towards the Kingdom.

You need Prayer even if you are a queen.

It is strange how some of us label only a few as “prayer warriors”, and conveniently delegate the conscious praying habit to them alone.

She was the queen, but she fasted and prayed for 3 days in order to confront the situation with the king.[Esther 4:15]

Fasting is the act of humbling your whole being to the sovereignty of Almighty God.Prayer is the result of my yearning to be connected without interruption to the Heart of the Master.

Esther did not ‘brainstorm’ or try ‘six thinking hats’ or operate on ‘metaphorical thinking’ ,or ‘Fuzzy thinking’ or ‘mind mapping’ or ‘Synetics’ , to solve her crisis situation; instead she prayed.

I don’t deny the power of creative thinking, but that comes second to the power of prayer. Don’t just do it, Pray first; a prayer of humble submission.A prayer of total acknowledgment of the authority of God. The Master will then speak His strategy and plan for action.

Because she prayed,

1. she found favor in the eyes of the king and found an opportunity to meet him,[Esther 5:2]
   
2. she came up with a strategy to throw a banquet inviting Haman ;[Esther 5:4]
3. God made the king have swings of insomnia which compelled him to read the old diaries where he read the account of how Mordecai had saved his life from an assassination plot years before.He was reminded that he never rewarded him,so early next morning the king make arrangements to reward him.[Esther 6:1-10]
   

All of this further made way to complete her assignment.

On the day of the banquet, Esther intelligently provoked the king’s anger by exposing Haman and his evil plot and caused him to be hung in the gallows that he arranged for Mordecai.[Esther 7:1-10]

Divine providence will not come your way, without continuous conversation with God.

Give up your present and step out in courage and faith.

Hadassah, gave up her comfortable average, ordinary Jew girl’s life, and proceeded to venture out into an entirely new world, to become a queen in a pagan palace. She had to undergo 12 months of beauty treatment and preparations before she could enter the contest and qualify to be King Xerxes’ new queen.[Esther 2:12-18]

It is easy to play a safe game, and stay secure. But it needs tremendous courage to get out of your comfort zone and dare to take the challenge.It takes preparation and perseverance to be promoted.I believe Hadassah believed that she was not ordinary material, so she stepped out and she made a difference in the lives of millions of Jews.

Once she became queen Esther, she did not settle for luxury, and allow her self to become a slave to the new life that had got hold of her, instead she stepped out in boldness risking her life by deciding to reveal her Jewish origin, saying “If I perish, I perish”.[Esther 4:16]

As a Christian, we need to face battles in every day life, because we have a very powerful enemy who is afraid of our very powerful potential given to us by our omnipotent Father.

We have a choice, we can fight and move forward or grumble and remain where we are.

You make the decision.

Will you step out in faith and take a risk, and reap the benefit, for yourself and many others whose whose eternity depends on you?

“…Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”[Esther 4:14]

Another king?

“Now appoint us a king to rule over us like all other nations” This is what the people of Israel asked Samuel when he became really old. Samuel is displeased with this request and so is God.

God takes it very personally and He says “they have rejected Me”.

When I was reading this passage, I said “God!!! you are over-reacting, all that the people of Israel wanted was a king like every other nation”.

And as I was meditating on this, God showed me some stuff that He did not allow me to have in the past, things which I was very passionate about but I was bluntly refused. God asked me “Did you ask for the wrong things?” I said “No”. He continued by saying “Had I allowed those things in your life, would you be the same today?”. I replied sarcastically, “Definitely not, I would have been a lot more happier”. And God said “Exactly!!! you would have been a lot more happier and then rejected me”. I tried to argue with God “No that’s not true !!!”. But I had my own doubts.

Every Christian who knows God personally will agree that getting close to God is a process, it is long, sometimes exciting, sometimes painful, sometimes fun, sometimes dry and sometimes it feels like your in love.

I believe that rejecting God is also a process. The first thing that draws us away from God can be anything that gives us security other than Him. For some it could be money, for some relationships, for some education and for some a career; sometimes even good health can give security.This kind of security that replaces God will slowly rule over us.For the people of Israel a ‘king’ would give them security.

I stood there reminiscing my past. I was a lot stronger,braver and confident before. I was secure. But the source of my security;was definitely not God. Today I feel week, impoverished, inadequate; by myself, so I have to rely 100% on God; there’s no way I can afford to reject Him now.

I said “God!! this makes you look like a bad guy!!”. And God said “You’ve forgotten who I AM child…. relying on me 100% is your greatest privilege…..only this way you get to do things and achieve heights you could never have done by yourself;to get you to do this I have to look like a bad guy..all for love!!!!!!!!!”

Friends, we are talking about a God here, who does not want to stop with just being someone who is there to answer prayers. But He involves Himself deeply in our lives and concerns Himself with every activity that we perform. Don’t be discouraged!! You don’t need the securities that you are looking for. Let God rule over you.With Him you will see great heights and explore new horizons.If this is what you are looking for, then leave it to God because HIS ways are HIGHER.

This is what I call faith.

II Samuel 9:5
They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.”

II Samuel 9:7
And the LORD told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.”

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

Isaiah 56:5
I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off.

Ephesians 3:20
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us

The Comfortable God

When I was returning from college today, I saw an ad of an upholstery shop.It was a hoarding with a picture of an Indian deity ‘lord ganesha’ and he was resting on a pillow and there read a caption; “Feel like God”.

As I looked as this, I thought to myself, “Is my God really feeling so comfortable?”

God created man in His image so that He could relate with him and have a certain comfort level with him and one of the best things about being a Christian is that you get to know God rather that just getting to know about God.But as far as I know the human race has been giving God a lot of trouble and making Him uncomfortable right from its genesis. Every time I pray, I should begin to ask God, “Are you comfortable with me?” No doubt I am precious to God, but when He looks at me, does God think He can trust me?

I remember the day my little sister was born, She is 7 years younger to me, so she was more like my own baby than my sibling. When she was an infant and in her toddler years, I was so careful about her and she was very precious to me. Nevertheless even today she is precious to me, but she is 14 years now and she gives me a different form of joy, I can talk my heart to her, share my dreams, my dislikes, my pain, my dejections with her with a perfect comfort level ;knowing that she will respond in a mature way.

I believe that God has a lot of things to tell us , He’s not just a ‘Blessing Box’ He is living and a Person with whom I have a relationship, but do I wait in the presence of God to understand His heart rather than just tell him my grievances??

Does God have the comfort level with me that He originally intended ? Can God talk His heart to me? …….I have to find out…..

Genesis 1:27
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Deuteronomy 32:9
For the LORD’s portion is his people, …

Genesis 18:17
And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham [My friend and servant] what I am going to do

Acts 13:22
He testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’

John 10:27
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.