Rest Assured....

Christian Living and Transformation

​For a long time I was wondering how that happens, transformation in christian living.... Then after many years of growing in the Lord, falling a little, getting back in repentance and many corrections and trying to walk in obedience the Lord has helped me to understand the truth.​
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1. ​The first step is for the sinner to understand their place in the eyes of God (conviction of sin is itself a thing which happens with the help of the HolySpirit and by hearing the word of God)​
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​Bible says there is no other way given to man for salvation except through faith  in the finished work of  Jesus Christ  on the cross.​ (Acts 4:12)
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​ That is the step when a person repents of their sin and accepts Jesus in their heart.​​ This reconciliation to God as a child of God is the first and essential step for all following steps. Those who have not taken this step, need to do this first as without this phase, God's word cannot have any effect in our life.

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​2. Second step is when the word of God can start cleansing us.  Accepting Jesus does not make us sin free, still there are some habits, some actions, etc. in our life which we know are not acceptable to God.  The day we accept Jesus, these things don't change overnight. This is where the word of God comes to play.​

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​Psalmist says "I have hidden your word in my heart that I may not sin against you" (Psalms 119:11).  The key here is to read God's word and write it in your heart (yes commit it to memory, you don't need the verse number but the word is key).  Now once this word is in your mind, the HolySpirit reminds you of this word whenever we do something which is against or opposing to His word.  Again here, we need to heed this reminder and respond in obedience. If we repeatedly ignore it, "the change" cannot happen. ​

Remember here that Jesus overcame the temptations (Luke 4) by the word of God, he knew the verses by heart, so each time a tempting thought was brought by Satan, Jesus replied with the Word. This is the example we need to follow. ​​

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​​​ And this again is an ongoing process. "How does a young man keep his way pure ? By living according to the word of God." (Psalms 119:9) So our action of obedience is important.
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​ 3.  Now as we have reconciled to God and purify ourselves daily by living according to God's word, the third step is to learn to live according to His will.   Here the role of the HolySpirit cannot be stressed enough. You need the infilling of the HolySpirit to live in obedience and power. ​
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​Remember that the bible says "All scripture is God breathed" (2 Timothy 3:16) , "It is written by many authors through the inspiration of the HolySpirit" (2 Peter 1:21). So this makes the HolySpirit the author of the bible.  Now in order to read and understand the bible fully, we need to hear it from the holyspirit. ​
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​Yesterday, my hubby was watching TV, there was an interview with Kamal Hasan about his new film.  His wife Gowthami was talking about some of the Poems (Kavithais) written by him, then she mentioned she had the rare privilege of hearing those Poems being read by Kamal himself. She said that was special because, "He is the one who wrote it, when he reads it, the real emotions, real intentions, and gusto are clearly visible in his voice. His whole being is involved in reciting it."
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​This made me think, HolySpirit being the author, when we ask him to help us understand the word  he will actually convey to us the intentions , emotions, and  the very heart of God ​when each verse of the bible was penned. David wrote "Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your word" (Psalms 119:18).  ​
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​Now understanding the word this way will make clear to us the will of God. Will empower us and move us to live according to the will of God.  Jesus said "Not my will but yours be done" (Mathew 26:42), "My food is to do the will of my father" (John 4:32).​
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​So for this eagerly pray for God to anoint you with the HolySpirit.  It is not a complex procedure, let us remember that Jesus said  " If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him​​" (Luke 11:13)​ .

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​And especially I always wonder at the heart of God in Acts 10, in the house of Cornelius. "While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word "  (Acts 10:44) Here the household of Cornelius had gathered together, they had only accepted Jesus and got baptized , they did not know about the anointing of the HolySpirit, however as Peter was preaching the received the anointing. So God will anoint us if there is a thirst inside.​
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​May God help us experience each of these stages and grow in Him daily.
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All you need...

Getting Our Fingers Burnt

Every one of us is quite familiar with the first commandment. "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength". (Luke 10:27)

But when I was reading 2 Kings chapter 1, I realized how serious God was about this command.

2 Kings 1: 2 - 4

Now Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria, and lay sick; so he sent messengers, telling them, “Go, inquire of Baal- zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this sickness.” But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say to them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal- zebub, the god of Ekron? Now therefore thus says the Lord, You shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die".

Here Ahaziah enquired of a god which is worshiped in the Philistine city of Ekron. And the result of this venture was death.

Ahaziah's father Ahab was no exception. He did something quite similar....  In 1 Kings 22 Ahab and Jehosaphat were getting ready to attack Syria.  Jehosaphat  suggested that they enquire of the Lord, God.  Ahab agreed to enquire of the Lord, but he gathered 400 prophets who will prophesy favorably to him.  Jehosaphat again reiterates that there is  "a prophet" who will speak the words of the LORD. But this is Ahab's response:

1 Kings 22 : 8

And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, Micaiah the son of Imlah, but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but evil"

Here we see that Ahab was not comfortable listening to Micaiah as he would not speak what Ahab wanted to hear.  And in the later part of this chapter, even after listening to Micaiah, Ahab did exactly the opposite of what Micaiah had clearly warned Ahab not to do.

Ahab was afraid that Micaiah's prophesy was true, so he went to the battle in disguise!!! Still with all his workarounds, he died in this battle just as Micaiah had prophesied.

These incidents recorded in the bible point us to a very humbling take away, 

• That we need to look to the Lord our God and no one else for our decisions, direction and blessings. 
• And when God says something which is not what we were looking forward to here, we still need to obey God's word. 
• Unlike olden days when the spirit of the Lord rested on a single individual, a "Prophet", today the Lord has promised to pour out his Spirit on all people. So instead of enquiring of a person, take time to sit at God's feet and enquire of the Lord and wait for Him to speak through his word. 

Stones of Memorial!

I was reading the book of Joshua

In Joshua chapter 3 and 4 the people of Israel cross the Jordan. There God asks Joshua to do some thing very unusual....

verses 1,2,3

When all the nation had finished passing over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, “Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, and command them, saying, ‘Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests 'feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight"

Why did God ask Joshua to do this????

verses 6,7

When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you? ’ then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.

One thought that the Lord impressed in me when I was reading this was , it is important for us as parents / leaders to build "memorial stones" when we experience the goodness of the Lord in our lives. Take a picture and add it to the family album, buy a decorative item, a verse , something  and keep it in your home.... 

And every time you look at it you will be reminded to share the testimony of God's goodness to your children and family and friends....

Especially sharing God's goodness and especially what God did for us (personal experience) to our children is very important , as it will be a cloud of witness which encourages them.  As the world around them questions their faith as they grow, these memorials, testimonies will keep them rooted in God.

Our thankfulness not only edifies us, but  also builds a strong foundation of faith in our children.... Amen.