At times, it is so easy to walk with Him, to follow Him especially when all is easy. but at other times it is difficult to follow Him especially when you cannot understand Why?.
This thoughts just brought to my mind some phrase i used to follow everyday: "Whatever happens,happens coz He loves me so much". Try to tell that to one having issues in life, they may not understand.
But i draw lots of Comfort from that fact..especially when i am in trouble. that He loves me, and because of that what i am going through can only makes me strong. it has been said elsewhere, "what cannot kill you, will only makes you strong".
The bible says "..i am with you always..". I just need to be with Him, and all is well.
Monday, 29 August 2011
Tuesday, 23 August 2011
Waiting ..
I just have recently quit my job so i could focus on my business. Well the thing is , my business does not seem to be doing so well, but i get a lot of comfort from the words of PS 5 3c, I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation............I am waiting expecting Him to do something!
Monday, 15 August 2011
Levels of Prayers
Today i was watching a movie, an escape from boring afternoon, there was this girl in midst of destruction, war and hopelessness it brings, she was praying. Not for things, nor peace or such things we would pray for at such times, she was asking God to show her what she could for Him.
It reminds me of the prayers i used to make sometimes back, i hardly prayed for needs though i had a lot of needs, i prayed that He may help me be right with Him, at times i would pray for needs and His favour always followed me.
Today i mostly pray for needs, though i have lesser needs, my intimacy with Him is almost gone. I need to pray again for Him to fill me, i need to seek Him for Him.
The kinds of prayers we make could so clearly tell us where we are in relationship to Him.
It reminds me of the prayers i used to make sometimes back, i hardly prayed for needs though i had a lot of needs, i prayed that He may help me be right with Him, at times i would pray for needs and His favour always followed me.
Today i mostly pray for needs, though i have lesser needs, my intimacy with Him is almost gone. I need to pray again for Him to fill me, i need to seek Him for Him.
The kinds of prayers we make could so clearly tell us where we are in relationship to Him.
Sunday, 14 August 2011
New beginnings
Is my faith as sporadic, as my blogs posts? I tend to think so, coz it only when i seriously thinks of Him, that i comes here and write. Maybe one will ever reads this, but being a christian reacquires alot of work and commitment, it is not just a task you start, engage auto pilot and within no time you are in heaven.
setting a specific, regular time to be with Him is crucial, without which you will not have a real relationship with Him. lets then take time to meet Him and Meditate upon Him, Just the way Jesus Christ taught us
setting a specific, regular time to be with Him is crucial, without which you will not have a real relationship with Him. lets then take time to meet Him and Meditate upon Him, Just the way Jesus Christ taught us
Sunday, 5 June 2011
Dark Days or silent years?
In the past, we are told of the many silent years between the old and the new testament. No word was received from God and many heretical texts were written from the knowledge of men. As men tried to fill the void of God voice with their own wisdom and understanding.
Quite often i have found myself in this void, times of dryness when fellowship with God and even with men is cut, while all lone in this desert many are the voices of deceptions that have led me astray from the main stream of His love and fellowship, Filling my heart and mind many a times with strange ideas and persuasions.
But like in the history of the Jews, He came with even a great glory than was before the silent dark days, so i believe and know, my future with Him is even more full, more joyous and more complete than have ever been.
Am so grateful for His salvation, so freely given.
Quite often i have found myself in this void, times of dryness when fellowship with God and even with men is cut, while all lone in this desert many are the voices of deceptions that have led me astray from the main stream of His love and fellowship, Filling my heart and mind many a times with strange ideas and persuasions.
But like in the history of the Jews, He came with even a great glory than was before the silent dark days, so i believe and know, my future with Him is even more full, more joyous and more complete than have ever been.
Am so grateful for His salvation, so freely given.
Saturday, 28 May 2011
Hope
May 28
Simeon and Anna
No more beautiful scene could be imagined than this meeting of age and infancy in the Temple. As we read the story of the life of Jesus, we find Him surrounded on all hands by hypocrisy, until we begin to wonder if there was any religion left in those who haunted these sacred courts. But here, for a moment, the curtain is drawn aside. We get a glimpse of a Jewish man and woman. And we find them living holy and separated lives, and longing for the advent of Messiah. On a gravestone erected over certain soldiers in Virginia there are these words, "Who they were, no one knows; what they were, everyone knows," and we might use these words of Simeon and Anna. Who Simeon was we shall never learn; Luke is at no pains to tell us that; but what he was in his daily life and walk, in his inmost desire, and in the sight of God, everyone knows who has read this Gospel chapter. Simeon and Anna, then, entered the Temple when the infant Savior was there, and to them the glory of the child was shown.
Never Give Up Hoping
First, then, we learn that we should never give up hoping. When Alexander the Great crossed into Asia he gave away almost all his belongings to his friends. One of his captains asked him, "Sir, what do you keep for yourself?" And the answer of the king was, "I keep hope." Now we do not read that Simeon was an old man, though it has been universally believed that he was (see Luk 2:29). But through all his years Simeon was like Alexander: he had parted with much, but he had held fast to hope. The days were very dark days for Israel; no John the Baptist had sounded his trumpet note; everything seemed hopeless for the Jews, and some of the noblest of them had taken refuge in despair. But this brave soul "waited for the consolation of Israel," and we know now that his waiting was not vain. Do you see the roots of that heart-hopefulness of his? It ran down to justice and devotion (Luk 2:25). it would have withered long since if it had not been rooted in an upright life and in fellowship with God. Dishonest conduct and forgetfulness of God are always visited with the withering of hope, for hope hangs like a fruit on the first two great commandments. Let us all keep hoping, then, as Simeon did; let us be expectant and on the outlook to the end; and let us remember that a glad and helpful temper is only possible when we are just and devout.
God's Performance Greater Than His Promise
Next we see that God's performance is greater than His promise. There is an old legend that Simeon had stumbled over the words in Isa 7:14. And as he prayed and wrestled with his doubts, it was revealed to him that with his own eyes he would see the virgin's Son. All that he dared to hope for was a glimpse—"a brief glimpse" and "a passing word" would have sufficed him. He lived in expectation of the hour when someone would say to him, "Behold Messiah!" Now the expected moment has arrived—and is it merely a glimpse of Messiah that he wins?—he takes the child of all his hopes up in his arms (Luk 2:28). No wonder that he broke forth into such glorious praise; he had got more than he could ask or think. God's promise had buoyed him through many a weary day; but the performance was greater than the promise. We should all remember that in entering a New Year, and when we speak about the promise of the year. God has a royal way of doing things, and His cups have a happy art of running over. The devil is a most lavish and tireless Promiser, but how the promise is performed let our own past days tell us. God's promises are very many and very great; but to a living and prayerful faith as Simeon's was, the performance is greater than the promise.
Simeon and Anna Saw Jesus in the Temple
Again we remark that Simeon and Anna saw Jesus in the Temple. The shepherds had seen Him lying in the manger; there, too, the wise men from the East had seen Him. But it was not in the manger that He was seen by these two devout souls; it was in the House of God. Now there is a sense in which we all must find Christ in the manger, we must discover Him under life's lowly roofs. In places which were never consecrated, but where the daily drudgery is done, there must we waken to the presence of Jesus. But on the other hand it is equally true, that we shall miss Him if we do not go to church; and we must never enter a place of worship without the prayer, "Sir, we would see Jesus." Columba got his Gaelic name, "Colum of the churches," says an old Irishman, because as a boy he was so devoted to church-worship; like Simeon, he saw Jesus in the Temple.
Till We Have Seen Jesus We Are Not Ready to Die
Lastly, we learn that till we have seen Jesus we are not ready to die (Luk_2:29-32). Children do not dwell much upon death; God did not intend that they should do so. But sometimes, even to children, comes the thought, "When is a person ready to die?" Well, length of years has little to do with it, although all young people think that it has. We are not ready to die when we are seventy; we are ready when we have seen Christ as our Savior. Have the children of the family seen Him so? Are the fathers and mothers praying for that end? A little girl dearly loves to hold the baby. Get it from Simeon's arms, and give it her.
Simeon and Anna
And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him .... And there was one Anna. a prophetess .... which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day— Luk_2:25, Luk_2:36, Luk_2:37Age and Infancy Meet
No more beautiful scene could be imagined than this meeting of age and infancy in the Temple. As we read the story of the life of Jesus, we find Him surrounded on all hands by hypocrisy, until we begin to wonder if there was any religion left in those who haunted these sacred courts. But here, for a moment, the curtain is drawn aside. We get a glimpse of a Jewish man and woman. And we find them living holy and separated lives, and longing for the advent of Messiah. On a gravestone erected over certain soldiers in Virginia there are these words, "Who they were, no one knows; what they were, everyone knows," and we might use these words of Simeon and Anna. Who Simeon was we shall never learn; Luke is at no pains to tell us that; but what he was in his daily life and walk, in his inmost desire, and in the sight of God, everyone knows who has read this Gospel chapter. Simeon and Anna, then, entered the Temple when the infant Savior was there, and to them the glory of the child was shown.
Never Give Up Hoping
First, then, we learn that we should never give up hoping. When Alexander the Great crossed into Asia he gave away almost all his belongings to his friends. One of his captains asked him, "Sir, what do you keep for yourself?" And the answer of the king was, "I keep hope." Now we do not read that Simeon was an old man, though it has been universally believed that he was (see Luk 2:29). But through all his years Simeon was like Alexander: he had parted with much, but he had held fast to hope. The days were very dark days for Israel; no John the Baptist had sounded his trumpet note; everything seemed hopeless for the Jews, and some of the noblest of them had taken refuge in despair. But this brave soul "waited for the consolation of Israel," and we know now that his waiting was not vain. Do you see the roots of that heart-hopefulness of his? It ran down to justice and devotion (Luk 2:25). it would have withered long since if it had not been rooted in an upright life and in fellowship with God. Dishonest conduct and forgetfulness of God are always visited with the withering of hope, for hope hangs like a fruit on the first two great commandments. Let us all keep hoping, then, as Simeon did; let us be expectant and on the outlook to the end; and let us remember that a glad and helpful temper is only possible when we are just and devout.
God's Performance Greater Than His Promise
Next we see that God's performance is greater than His promise. There is an old legend that Simeon had stumbled over the words in Isa 7:14. And as he prayed and wrestled with his doubts, it was revealed to him that with his own eyes he would see the virgin's Son. All that he dared to hope for was a glimpse—"a brief glimpse" and "a passing word" would have sufficed him. He lived in expectation of the hour when someone would say to him, "Behold Messiah!" Now the expected moment has arrived—and is it merely a glimpse of Messiah that he wins?—he takes the child of all his hopes up in his arms (Luk 2:28). No wonder that he broke forth into such glorious praise; he had got more than he could ask or think. God's promise had buoyed him through many a weary day; but the performance was greater than the promise. We should all remember that in entering a New Year, and when we speak about the promise of the year. God has a royal way of doing things, and His cups have a happy art of running over. The devil is a most lavish and tireless Promiser, but how the promise is performed let our own past days tell us. God's promises are very many and very great; but to a living and prayerful faith as Simeon's was, the performance is greater than the promise.
Simeon and Anna Saw Jesus in the Temple
Again we remark that Simeon and Anna saw Jesus in the Temple. The shepherds had seen Him lying in the manger; there, too, the wise men from the East had seen Him. But it was not in the manger that He was seen by these two devout souls; it was in the House of God. Now there is a sense in which we all must find Christ in the manger, we must discover Him under life's lowly roofs. In places which were never consecrated, but where the daily drudgery is done, there must we waken to the presence of Jesus. But on the other hand it is equally true, that we shall miss Him if we do not go to church; and we must never enter a place of worship without the prayer, "Sir, we would see Jesus." Columba got his Gaelic name, "Colum of the churches," says an old Irishman, because as a boy he was so devoted to church-worship; like Simeon, he saw Jesus in the Temple.
Till We Have Seen Jesus We Are Not Ready to Die
Lastly, we learn that till we have seen Jesus we are not ready to die (Luk_2:29-32). Children do not dwell much upon death; God did not intend that they should do so. But sometimes, even to children, comes the thought, "When is a person ready to die?" Well, length of years has little to do with it, although all young people think that it has. We are not ready to die when we are seventy; we are ready when we have seen Christ as our Savior. Have the children of the family seen Him so? Are the fathers and mothers praying for that end? A little girl dearly loves to hold the baby. Get it from Simeon's arms, and give it her.
From : Devotional Sermons by George H. Morrision
Friday, 27 May 2011
May 27
Momentary Light Afflictions, Eternal Weight of Glory
Having our temporal difficulties "working for us" is a new, heavenly perspective on afflictions. People generally consider their afflictions as something that is working against them, not for them. Yet, afflictions can work for good, and the good is even eternal! What a gracious plan is revealed in this contrast: "light affliction . . . for a moment" and "eternal weight of glory."
First, consider that heavenly enjoyment of God's "glory" can result from our earthly experiences of "affliction." The difficulties that we endure here on earth can prepare us for opportunities to enter into more glorious fellowship, worship, and service of the Lord in heaven. (Our next meditation will examine when this occurs.)
Then, consider that our afflictions are "light" compared to the "weight" of the glories that lie ahead. This does not mean that our trials on earth are trivial. Note the "light afflictions" that Paul encountered. "In journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness — besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches" (2Co_11:26-28). Yet, Paul counted these as light when compared to the "substantial magnitude" of the glory awaiting him in heaven.
Lastly, consider that the difficulties of life are "but for a moment." Whereas, the resulting heavenly blessings are "eternal." Trials often seem like they will never end. Yet, they eventually pass away. Actually, it is the heavenly glory that results from the trials that will never end.
What an amazing plan God has! He wants to use the trials of our lives to enlarge our spiritual capacity to enter more fully into the glory of knowing Him, worshiping Him, and serving Him forever and forever!
Eternal Father, give me more and more of this perspective on afflictions. Help me to see them as potentially productive in an eternal sense. Remind me that my trials are momentary and light, considering the eternal weight of glory they can produce, Amen.
From: Day by Day by Grace, Bob Hoekstra
Momentary Light Afflictions, Eternal Weight of Glory
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. (2Co 4:17)Believers in Jesus Christ are "ministers [servants] of the new covenant" (2Co_3:6). We serve God by His grace, experiencing it and passing it on to others. "For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God" (2Co_4:15). One astounding privilege of living and serving by grace is that our momentary light afflictions can be producing for us an eternal weight of glory!
Having our temporal difficulties "working for us" is a new, heavenly perspective on afflictions. People generally consider their afflictions as something that is working against them, not for them. Yet, afflictions can work for good, and the good is even eternal! What a gracious plan is revealed in this contrast: "light affliction . . . for a moment" and "eternal weight of glory."
First, consider that heavenly enjoyment of God's "glory" can result from our earthly experiences of "affliction." The difficulties that we endure here on earth can prepare us for opportunities to enter into more glorious fellowship, worship, and service of the Lord in heaven. (Our next meditation will examine when this occurs.)
Then, consider that our afflictions are "light" compared to the "weight" of the glories that lie ahead. This does not mean that our trials on earth are trivial. Note the "light afflictions" that Paul encountered. "In journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness — besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches" (2Co_11:26-28). Yet, Paul counted these as light when compared to the "substantial magnitude" of the glory awaiting him in heaven.
Lastly, consider that the difficulties of life are "but for a moment." Whereas, the resulting heavenly blessings are "eternal." Trials often seem like they will never end. Yet, they eventually pass away. Actually, it is the heavenly glory that results from the trials that will never end.
What an amazing plan God has! He wants to use the trials of our lives to enlarge our spiritual capacity to enter more fully into the glory of knowing Him, worshiping Him, and serving Him forever and forever!
Eternal Father, give me more and more of this perspective on afflictions. Help me to see them as potentially productive in an eternal sense. Remind me that my trials are momentary and light, considering the eternal weight of glory they can produce, Amen.
From: Day by Day by Grace, Bob Hoekstra
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