Be Strong And Do The Work

I was up quite early. Almost 4.30 A M As I read the scriptures, I lifted my heart in prayer:I read Haggai 2:4 "Be strong all you people of the land" declares the Lord,' and work. For I am with you."
This is exactly what I needed to hear from the Lord.' I am with you says the Lord almighty.' Then there is nothing to fear or doubt.

I stared writing from my heart to the Lord:

' Lord, you have a blue print for me
A plan, a purpose, a path specially for me.
Help me run on the track you have set for me.
Not looking back or on to the sides,
Not to watch others- to compare or criticize, Not even to applaud.
I have to run. The time is up.

Help me do the work you want me to do,
Have the attitude you require from me.
The joy and peace that is necessary Lord only you can supply these.
These are the STRENGTHS I need
Specially Your joy is my strength.
Today is the day to begin Lord.

Burn up the thorns that beset,
Let me be the vine that give the fruit you look for
Work on my discouragements and failures. Oh holy Spirit help me!
There is no time to waste
Lord start instantly.Renew.
Let my roots touch your spring of water and be refreshed.
Thank you Lord.'

How wonderful the Lord is! His word revived me.It put a new hope and joy into me.Truly His word is like the rain that refreshes the soul!
Needless to say the day was blessed. I was happy and had opportunities to help some one else.Praise the Lord

The Joy Of The Lord

We sing ' When I am down He lifts me up.' This was my experience this morning.

Yesterday afternoon we visited some spiritual people. When I returned, some how the joy and gratefulness I had in the morning seemed to have ebbed away. A kind of void and anxiety about my stand with God clouded my mind. Instead of praising God , I earnestly prayed to show me what I should do.

My God is so good. He ministered the instruction I needed during my meditation this morning:
' That joy may remain in you that your joy might be full' [Jn.15:11] This was the Joy what I needed and this is what I am seeking after.

I read from' My Utmost for the highest,' the following: 'The full flood of my life is not in bodily health, not in external happenings, not in seeing God's work succeed.' [I remembered that I was praising God joyfully last morning exactly for these things but that did not last] 'But in the perfect understanding of God and in communion with Him that Jesus himself had.' This is what I really needed.

I also saw the things that hindered the continuity of this flow of joy: [1] The irritation of thinking of circumstances we face. [Jesus called it the cares of this world] Before we know we are caught up in the show of things.
How true what the book said: 'All that God has done for us is mere threshold. He wants to get us to the place, where we will be His witness and proclaim who Jesus is'

By being rightly related to Jesus we find our joy. It is in that place "out of you shall flow rivers of living water,' begins. We become a center for Jesus Christ to pour the living water through. My heart cried, 'I want to be there Lord.'

I was also taught how we should not hinder that kind of flow:
[1] Stop being self conscious.
[2] Stop being a sanctified prig.

I realized that I had both these failures: While at worship I become self conscious and that prevents the intimate connection with Jesus. Also a self righteous attitude comes up in me and and the enemy swells it up and prevents my corporate whole heared worship .I asked the Lord to help me out of it.

The positive thing to do is to Live a life hid in Christ.
The life that is rightly related to God is as natural as breathing where ever it goes! [ That is what I am after I cried] The lives that have been of most blessing to others are those who were unconscious of it.

I remembered how simple I was some time back, thinking of pleasing God alone. Then people have remarked, what I said or did unconsciously, blessed them. But after a certain incident in my life, self consciousness crept in. I became concerned about peoples' opinions. I told the Lord all these things.

What we used to sing as children' Just a little talk with Jesus makes it right,' is so true. As I prayed,' Lord help me to be rightly connected to you all the time. Let my cup run over and bless others with your ioy, ' God's peace and Joy filled me.
I wish and pray that all who read this will be blessed.

Whose Side Are You On?

Most of us try to have God on our side. We want to do things to please Him; go to church and do many Religious works, just to please God and to keep him on our side. We know, if God be for us no one or thing can be against us.

I heard someone asking: "Are you on God's side?". If I am on His side, then sure He will be on my side. What makes me or marks me as being on God's side?

Jesus said, 'Thine they were and thou gave them to me; and they have kept thy word" [John 17:6] Keeping God's word in truth is very essential.

Lord Jesus makes His disciples His own possession. He expects us to remain in that position. Then God's claim comes first: "He that loves his father or mother more than me; He that loves son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me" [Mat.10:37]. Whatever we do will be to maintain a right relationship with love. Then we will be a perfect delight to Him. We will be entirely His. He is a loving God who delights to Bless those who are entirely His.

Lord, I desire to be a delight to you. Lead me and help me to become what you want me to be, is my prayer today.

Recipe for Constant Joyfulness

I heard a teaching from the book of Philippians today. St. Paul, who said: "Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice." [Phil.4:4], did not just say it. He really experienced that kind of joy in his life.
The unbecoming conduct of some Christians, some preaching the Gospel for selfish reasons and lack of unity among the Christians were troubling him. Besides all this, he was in prison. These factors could have killed anyone's joy, but not Paul's. Instead, he taught them that their life should be worthy of the gospel, they should realize that they are all working for the same cause, eliminate disunity and have clean hands and pure hearts.

To have that kind of joy all the time, we should learn to take the bad things in life and turn it for good. In the midst of a problem, don't focus on the problem, focus on the good thing that came out of it [Phil.1:15-19]. Look at the people who are praying for you. These things will give us joy, advised Paul.

I realized how true it is. There are times when we do not want to tell our problems because it may paint a bad picture about others who are involved in it. Or for fear of publicity we may not want to confide in someone and carry the burden all alone. such an incident took place a few weeks back and my heart was far from rejoicing.

Then, my sister from Sri Lanka,called and said that two people from a powerful prayer group inquired from her about me. They had said that they were urged to pray for me. My sister did not take it that seriously as she knew that I was in good health. When she told me about this, though the problem which weighed me down remained the same, an unspeakable joy came to me. The thought that the Lord raised up people who do not know anything about me, to pray for me, gave me a fresh love for the Lord.

The Lord understood what I was going through inside. The thought that He was working on the matter I was praying about and that He cares for me, revived me. An inexplicable kind of joy filled me. Without thinking, I began to sing a chorus I knew:
"All that I have is in Jesus, He satisfies, Joy He supplies, Life will be worthless without him. All things in Jesus I find."

Don't you think that we have a loving, understanding, wonderful, almighty God?

Praise Casts Out The Spirit of Heaviness

Praise is the antidote for being depressed and heavy. How to praise and for what to praise, when you are sad, you may wonder. This morning, I was in very low spirits. People's actions, words, attitudes, disapproval, rejections and disappointments can easily be joy killers. I am glad our Lord does not want us to remain in that state. This is how I got over it:

First, I tried to read the Bible and pray but my mind revolved around things that happened and were going to happen. Remembering a Sunday school song, "Just a little talk with Jesus makes it right!", I told Jesus all that I felt. He reminded me of a verse from Isaiah 61:3. I read it a few times:

"To appoint unto those who mourn in Zion to give beauty for ashes, oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified."

God's word combined with prayer worked a miracle. The Lord, within minutes, took my heaviness completely from me. I was able to praise Jesus for what He did on the cross for me, to make me accepted by God. If the Almighty God loves and accepts me what does it matter if others consider me not worthy enough to be in their function? All the feeling of hurt left me. I sang I am free. Thank you Jesus you have done it all for me.

I was able to pray the following for the wedding party with sincere love:

Lord, bless the couple, embarking the new boat, in the sea of life today, starting a a new family, keep them under the shadow of your wings. Protect them from every storm and strife of tongues, as they busy them selves in your service. Help them discern what is right.

May love for You and for each other fill their hearts. May they understand others' views. Use them to bring healing to hurting hearts.

Bless the Pastor who is uniting them. May his heart be free from hurts and offenses, so that your blessings flow from his prayers to the trusting couple.

Bless the loving, trusting, followers as they sing your praises to bless the couple this morning.

Amen.

Answers to Prayer

Jesus was encouraging his disciples to pray before He was crucified:

"And in that day you shall ask me nothing Verily verily I say unto you,what so ever you shall ask the father in my name, he shall give it to you. Hither to you asked nothing in my name: ask, and you shall receive, that your joy may be full."
John 16:23-24

When Jesus himself has given such a promise why should we not boldly come to His presence and pray? God is interested in making us happy. He has given us the authority to use his powerful name in prayer. His name has so much power.

We may wonder why sometimes we do not get an answer to our prayer. God does hear us. What we asked may not be good for us at that time. He always answers. It may be yes, no, or wait. Instead of looking for the answer, if we look to God when we pray,we will not be disappointed.

"Am I devoted to my desire or to God?", is a good question to consider. Your heavenly father knows what you are in need of even before you ask him. The purpose of asking is to know God better and to develop a relationship with him.