Think right to live right!

Think right to live right!
By Abraham Israel

All the religions in the world system says, ‘To live rightly you need to discipline yourself and change your behavior according to their religious dogmas or instructions without fail.’ In other words it suggests that in order to live a good life you need to change your behavior and the way you live and act daily in that same way [i.e. which includes the way you relate to God and to people]. This is an absolute erroneous cluttered religious mindset which will push an honest seeker of God to soon become a hypocrite very soon after he tries to do these things in his daily life. Why? Because this man who tries to conform himself to that particular religious law will be influenced by a different pattern of thinking [i.e. evil thoughts in contrast to good thoughts] in his soulish realm (Mark 7:20-23), which is the same for every human being in the natural which is strongly influenced by the world system of governance [i.e. Satan and his cohorts] (Rom 7:14-20; 12:2).

Man is essentially a created eternal spiritual being kept in a physical body with an ever expanding knowledge of his soulish mind based on what he sees and experiences through his five senses [seeing, smelling, hearing, touching and tasting]. The soul which is directly connected to the physical body works according to what that particular person thinks always. Hence a man is essentially influenced by what he thinks in his mind. The Bible affirms this in Prov 23:7 by saying, “…as a man [he] thinks in his heart, so is he. “Eat and drink!” he says to you. But his heart is not with you.” In other words the Bible says only when a man’s behavior becomes in line with what he thinks constantly [i.e. motives in his heart], only then he is truly a man of his word whom you can trust. For this to happen one should train one’s mind to constantly dwell in the good thoughts that come from God and reject evil thoughts in Jesus Name when it comes to get imposed in one’s mind.

Otherwise that person who allows or dwells in the evil thoughts will make that thought to soon become a demonic conception of lust in him. In other words when ever those particular demonic thoughts come, immediately the flesh because of habitual practice will immediately become extremely desirous to fulfill it immediately. This is the way demons will keep people in constant bondage to its whims and fancies. These people who will fulfill such lust will soon become powerless against such strong intense desire that will start to rule them. They will continue to do these things thinking that it is an inbuilt weakness in them. This is an absolute lie of the devil to keep people powerless as long as they live. If you have any such patterns of thinking say now to the Lord, ‘Dear Jesus, in your name I bind all demonic activities. I take all my thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ and I apply your blood over my mind, thank you for your forgiveness and cleansing in Jesus name. Amen.’ (Luke 10:19-20; 2 Cor 10:5; 1 John 1:7). Now whenever such thoughts Satan tries to re impose over your mind resist it in Jesus Name by saying, ‘I rebuke you devil, you have no rights over my mind. In Jesus Name Go.’ (James 4:7).

Mostly people who play a religious hypocritical game often will speak outwardly as smooth as butter, but inside their heart they will be bitter against other people with various motives like jealousies, lustfulness, wrath, and covetousness….etc. Jesus always warned such hypocritical living by saying, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.(Matt 23:25-28). In other words Jesus was rebuking, exhorting and challenging these two-faced religious hypocrites to change their evil thinking pattern and behave in line with what they really think.

Think of it, if they have behaved in the way they thought inside their mind, people would have stoned and killed them for all their lawlessness. As a pious devoted religious heads they were always fearful of what people might think of them. As the Bible says in Luke 20:19, “And the chief priests and the scribes that very hour sought to lay hands on Him, but they feared the people—for they knew He had spoken this parable against them.” Here we see that the chief priests and scribes were thinking with an intense desire in their heart to hit Jesus and destroy Him, but they were behaving differently on the outside because of the fear of people around them. This is what David called as “…divided in heart or mind…” (Ps 119:113), where you want to do one thing but because of the fear of people around you, you are behaving in a good way outwardly. It is as good and equivalent to you fulfilling it in the natural world because if the people were not around you, you would have done it. This is why Jesus said in Matt 5:21-22, 27-28, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.” “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

All the murders and adultery that ever happened started only with a small evil thought in one’s heart influenced by the spirit world [i.e. Satan and his demonic world]. As Jesus also said in Mark 7:20-23, “And He said, “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”” Many people are asking why is all the evil things are happening in this world if God is alive? But the fact that such people do not understand is because all evil which starts in the heart of man which when fulfilled, fills the world with all the evil we see and experience. Like in the days of Noah all the peoples are filled constantly with evil thoughts in which they are desiring to dwell as Jesus prophesied two thousand years ago, thus as things are becoming like a living hell in this planet earth God will very soon step in to the earth to rescue it at Jesus’ second coming and will rule it with an iron hand in righteousness for a millennium (Luke 17:26; Gen 6:5).

Only Godly people who have trained themselves according to the word of God and empowered by the Spirit of God can only behave exactly according to the way they think. Only passionate godly Spirit led men and women can honor God with their lips in sync and in line with their heart, by being very close to the heart of God (Mark 7:6-7). In other words only people who think according to the impulse of the Spirit of God can only have a united heart that will speak in line with the good thoughts that come from God in to their mind constantly. This will give them the liberty to act and behave naturally without fear of what people might think about them. They will be bold enough to express their mind in truth and integrity. They will be humble enough to accept their mistake when they are wrong.

Godly people must train themselves by believing and thinking according to the word of God and should confess with their mouth what they believe to be true. They should train themselves to say and speak what the word of God says as the truth by inculcating this type of thinking pattern. This will bring deliverance and victory in their daily life (Rom 10:10). The Apostle Paul also affirms this when he said, “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.” (Phil 4:8-9). Here Paul is suggesting the believer’s to continuously dwell on the thoughts of the goodness of God. All the good things that we see and experience in this world are from God and only from Him. No one is good except God who is the only source of all our goodness in this universe (Matt 5:45; 19:17; Nahum 1:7; James 1:17). Nothing that we enjoy is by chance, but it is absolutely from God who provides all these things to us. So in everything [i.e. no matter how you feel], give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you (1 Thess 5:18). Always be with an attitude of gratitude for all the things that God has provided in your life. Be satisfied and content with what He has given to you which in itself is a great wealth that you possess (1 Tim 6:6).

In today’s world, it is hard to find, hard to see any good things happening, except a few good things. If we open the news paper and dwell in it for a even a short period of time, all the things that our mind will get filled with is nothing but anxiety, fear of unknown, lust and all the depressive things which is the way this Satanically influenced world system which is increasingly deteriorating day by day is driven. The same also applies to other media like television, internet…etc. In such a stressful times such as these, the only place where we can get joy, peace and righteousness is to return to the word of God and meditate upon the promises of God without which there is no hope to have peace in this peace less world of end times.

When we do these things even our words that we will speak to others will give hope to people because it will be filled with grace as a delicious food is seasoned with salt (Col 4:6). Even as we speak in line with what we think in our mind [i.e. ignited minds because of meditating and dwelling on the word of God], our behavior will naturally become in line with the way God wants us to live. Praise the Lord!

The bottom line is ‘Don’t try to think right by trying to be right, instead think right according to the word of God to live right’. Say to the Lord now, ‘Lord Jesus, thank you for your word which has power to transform the way I think. Increase my desire to dwell in your word which will transform my mind to think in the exact way you want me to think so that I will not be conscious of what people might think about me but rather be conscious about what you will think about me. Let your thoughts guide me to take all my decisions that I will be taking in the coming days according to your ways. Thank you for your Joy, Peace and your Righteousness in my life. In your name I pray. Amen and Amen’. Praise the Lord!

The Reason for this Blessed Season!

The Reason for this Season
By Abraham Israel

Introduction:

It is not just about enjoying the day joyously with our friends, but it is about understanding the reason for our celebration. It is all about only one person ‘Jesus Christ’!

1) The baby who is the child of the Holy Spirit is the greatest miracle of all miracles (Matt 1:18).

(i) Your birth is a miracle too!

(ii) The greatest miracle that has happened in your life that takes a life time and eternity to experience and understand is salvation [i.e. Your Spiritual birth].This baby [i.e. new creature] that was born inside of you when you first believed in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior is also the child of the Holy Spirit (John 3:5; 2 Cor 5:17).

2) The only baby who was of earth from heaven (Matt 1:23).

(i) We are in the world not of the world.

(ii) Our new man inside of us is of heavenly origin.

3) The name of the baby gives us the purpose for which the miracle baby was born. “….Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” (Matt 1:21).

(i) God has a purpose for your life too!

(ii) He has saved you from your past, present and future sins.

4) The baby grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him (Luke 2:40).

(i) God works supernaturally through ordinary circumstances.

(ii) Supernatural grace of God will be upon the work of God.

5) The baby became a boy and was in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking questions (Luke 2:46).

(i) Have a hunger for the house of God and the word of God.

(ii) The people to whom you connect with will determine the fulfillment of your purpose and destiny in your life.

(iii) Get connected with wise people, you will get wiser.

(iv) Always have a heart to listen to wise people and don’t get bothered to ask questions to wise people.

6) When the father and mother of Jesus searched for Him, and found Him in the temple and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Look, your father and I have sought you anxiously.” And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business” (Luke 2:48, 49).

(i) Always be fully focused on the work that you are doing.

(ii) Always make your family members understand that you are a man of purpose, so that they can flow along with you.
“….A House divided against itself cannot stand or will not stand.” (Matt 12:25).

(iii) Always prepare well before you launch yourself in to your passionate mission. ‘The greater the work, the more the preparation.’

(iv) Let your zeal and passion make you fulfill your destiny. Allow and pursue your passion to consume you.

‘Only melted gold can be minted.’

7) If only we will let the miracle of God, who is our Lord Jesus Christ to rule our lives day in and day out, we will also become man and woman of destiny like Him.

(i) Be focused on Him. ‘On whom you focus yourself, you will become like that person in your life.’

Purpose Driven Life

Purpose Driven Life
By Abraham Israel

Purpose -> Plan [ an intention or a plan].

Aim -> The feeling of having an aim in life (Thought collection), Intend to do something (Strong intention).

Driven -> Trying extremely hard to achieve what you want.

1) God has a wonderful plan for your life (Jer 29:31).

2) The fulfillment of this great plan is not automatic, but in co-operating with Him. “For with God nothing will be impossible” (Luke 1:37).

3) Your prosperity and purpose is dependent upon, how well the kingdom which you represent advances (Matt 6:34). “Thy kingdom come [on earth through me –as a part of the Corporate purpose]…” (Matthew 6:10).

4) The Kingdom purpose is the corporate purpose of growing in Christ and seeking to spread the message of the gospel of the kingdom (Acts 8:1, 4).

5) Examples of those who were purpose driven,

a. Jesus (Mark 1:38).

b. Daniel (Daniel 1:8).

c. David to Solomon (1 Chronicles 28:11, 12). Solomon after he builded and dedicated the temple, lost track in his life without a aim because he did not seek God for further plans (Prov 29:18; Eccl 12:1).

d. Ezra (Ezra 7:10).

e. Nehemiah (Nehemiah 2:12).

6) God’s plan and purpose is the most exciting thing that can unfold in your life, if you keep pursuing it with a passion. God will be very pleased with you and will bless you in every possible way. “…the Lord blessed Abraham in all things” (Genesis 24:1).

7) Let the Gospel be your heart beat as is God’s also, ask God to fill you with His Spirit and empower you to fulfill His purpose in your life. Live passionately for the gospel (Acts 1:8).

Understand the role of your involvement in the corporate kingdom purpose by knowing the passion that you feel on the inside of you to fulfill a particular task in the kingdom of God (Num 14:24; Colossians 3:22-25).

9) Live for love [for God is love (1 John 4:8)] with a passion and purpose in your heart and not for things that you can get out from God, then truly you will be driven by the purpose of your life [i.e. God’s plan for your life].

Experience more of God!

Prayer the Pathway to Experience more of God
By Abraham Israel

Prayer is not a ritual that we do to please God, but it is a relationship that we have with Him, because God has extended His hand of friendship through His Son Jesus Christ.

[ritual – something done in a fixed and expected way, but without real meaning or sincerity.]

a) The real purpose God created human beings in His image is because He wanted to have fellowship with man. This is the purpose or the original intent of the creation of man (Gen 1:26; 3:8).

b) The moment the fall of man happened, God did not ask Adam, “Had your breakfast or lunch?”. But He asked Him, “Where are you?” (Gen 3:9). In other words, He was concerned about Adam’s relationship with Him.

c) Because of the fall of man, human beings landed in to three things that kept them away from God. Adam confessed these things to God by saying,

i. I was afraid [Fearful, frightened and worried to face God because of guilt].

ii. I was naked [Uncovered and having no clothes of righteousness or covering which is God’s presence over one’s life, because of disobedience – glory lost].

iii. I hid myself [To hide oneself because of unworthiness is inferiority that has crept in because of enemy’s constant accusation. In other words Adam accepted the enemies thought, ‘God no longer loves you’].

d) God asked Adam, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you disobeyed what I commanded you to keep?” (Gen 3:11). Disobedience to God and lack of fellowship with God still brings the same result in every believer’s life. The evil one will condemn you when you sin and not confess it immediately with repentance to God. Confession [i.e. agreeing that we have sinned and believing that the blood of Jesus has cleansed us] will bring the restoration of the presence of God in to our lives once again.

e) Man [Adam] should always heed the voice of God, as he heed’s the voice of God, his whole household will be blessed by God. The husband should set the pace and wives will follow them and the whole household will be blessed by God. God did not ask this above question to Eve first, but to Adam because he was responsible for the whole family. The woman should submit to the husband’s decisions and as a result should become a builder of the house. As the word of God says, “A wise woman buildeth her home [as a manager]” (Proverbs 14:1).

f) How has man become like one of God, to know good and evil?

God sustains every created being naturally, and He has given a will for every being created [including angels]. When a created being isolates itself knowingly, even after realizing it is God who sustains its life, God will watch and be a spectator of the evil until He judges them on the day of judgment (Prov 15:3; Matt 5:45; Prov 5:21;Eccl 11:9-10). In this perspective, man has become a spectator of evil knowledgably as he gives permission for evil [i.e. sin to conceive in his mind (James 1:14-15)] to operate in him independently and knowingly without restraint [as God also operates in His goodness independently and knowingly (Matt 5:45)] (Prov 5:22, 23; Matt 15:17-19; 12:33-37). If man cannot find that God-connection back he will be just a spectator and a participator of evil without having the power to overcome it. He will die as a result of it [separated forever from God after his physical death].

g) God restored this connection when He made tunics of skin and clothed Adam and Eve [(Gen 3:21; 4:26) Copy and shadow of reality that came through Christ (Heb 8:5; 9:12)]. God has covered us with robe of righteousness (Isaiah 61:1).

• God loves you so much (Ps 53:2, 6).

• Have a separated daily prayer time in the secret place (Matt 6:6).

• Depend on God’s righteousness not on your own (2 Cor 5:21).

• Don’t be selfish, pray [not just for your family, friends…] also for all the unbelievers to know God just like you know Him, for leaders of our nations…and for all the saints of God to preach the gospel by empowered lives (1 Tim 2:1-8).
  

Is there not a cause ?

Is there not a cause?
By Abraham Israel

Cause -> The reason or motive for an action.

For those who do not have a cause in this life will not be effective or be successful in reaching their destiny.

1) Our greatest example of a man who lived with the cause produced the greatest effect of all time [i.e. our salvation]. This is none other than our Lord Jesus Christ. The law of science says, ‘Every effect has a cause behind it.’

2) No one can be effective with out a cause. So only Jesus said, “…for this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come in to the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Every one who is of the truth hears My voice.” (John 18:37).

From the above verse we need to understand Jesus emphasized two causes, and every one of us also need to ask ourselves this question and find out from God,

(i) For what cause I am born?

(ii) For what cause I have come?

In the kingdom of God those who know the cause can only be effective in reaching their destiny.

3) The other great example of a man who shouted in faith even as a young man, “…Is there not a cause?” (1 Samuel 17:29) is none other than the beloved of God David. What made David the most effective king of all time in Israel was that, he knew in himself that he was born with a cause and have come with a cause.

What made David as a young man to go and kill the giant Goliath and make history?

(i) David heard about the giant and he did not fear when others allowed fear to intimidate themselves (1 Sam 17:23-25). David did not flee and was not afraid of Goliath, so only the people who saw him like that asked him, “Have you not seen this man who has come up?…”(v25).

(ii) David was excited about the reward and he knew that God is a rewarder of those who seek Him diligently. He was a God seeker (1 Sam 17:26; Heb 11:6).

(iii) David knew that the battle they were into had a cause of God in it and that the result will have the effect of God in it. So only he asked the question to other men, “…For who is this uncircumcised philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (1 Sam 17:26). This made him rise up in faith in that dangerous situation.

(iv) When David was falsely accused by his oldest brother of being prideful and arrogant, David said to him, “Is there not a cause?” (1 Sam 17:29, 30). This was the statement that won the battle for David because people were challenged by his words of faith.

(v) When people heard and saw this man with a cause, they reported it to Saul and Saul called David to meet him (1 Sam 17:31).

(vi) Because David knew that this is a cause in which God is involved and His Name is at stake, he was able to answer the king Saul, “Let no man’s heart [including the king] fail because of him; Your servant will go and fight with this philistine” (1 Sam 17:32).

Think Globally and Reach the Nations for Jesus!

Global Thinkers are Nations Reacher’s!
By Abraham Israel

How many of you want to reach the nations for Jesus?

“Go, go, go and tell them [the world] that Jesus is alive, and you will reach all the nations [people groups]”- [Personal revelation while sleeping (Psalm 127:2)].

Naaman asked for two mules’ burden of earth (2 Kings 5:17), under the superstitious notion that Jehovah, like the gods of the heathen, could be acceptably worshipped only on his own soil. This is a paganistic religious regional fear filled mindset. But our God is called “…the God of the whole earth.” in Isaiah 54:5. Our God is beyond any regional, national and even international boundaries. And He is the one who set the boundaries of the nations and divided the tribes of the earth because of man’s rebellion during the days after the flood when they decided not to obey the word of the Lord to fill the earth but instead chose to build a city, a tower and have a name for themselves (Acts 17:26; Genesis 1:28; 11:1-9). Here God did not cause confusion in their midst because they started to build a city and a tower. But He did cause confusion among them because they wanted to make a name for themselves leaving the God who owns them and created them for Himself out of the blueprint of their existence (Colossians 1:15-16). We as His children need to think like Him with a Global mindset with a heart filled with the love of God for every one irrespective of their national, regional, tribal boundary of every human being.

God’s mindset is not a local [based on a nation, tribe, tongues and people] mindset but a global mind set. We also need to think like Him. This is the likeness of Christ (1 Cor 10:33-11:1). “Go in to all the world….” (Mark 16:15).

What does it mean to go in to all the world and preach [show, tell or proclaim] the Gospel?

a) Tell them [the world] by the way you live (Daniel 6:5, 10).

b) Tell them [the world] verbally (John 1:41-43).

c) Tell them [the world] with power by the power of God (Acts 1:8).

d) Tell them [the world] by the mighty deeds that God has done in your life and through your life (Daniel 6:22, 25).

e) Tell them [the world] by you excelling in your profession (Daniel 1:19-21).

What must we do to live in this global mindset of Christlikeness?

a) You need to take a quality decision not to be influenced by the world (Daniel 1:8).

b) We need to pray for boldness to speak His word with the evidence of His power, by being filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 4:29-31).

c) As you start witnessing to others, great grace will be upon you. With great power you will speak the word of God (Acts 4:33).

d) Always point to the Lord, as the strength and source of your achievement (Jer 9:24; Acts 3:11-13, 16).

e) Work hard to finish the work that God has given to you. Labor much more through the grace of God (1 Cor 15:10). [No pain, no gain].

Never have any boundary or limitation in your mind, think globally. He takes you through, as far as you think without boundary (Joshua 1:3; Genesis 13:14, 16; 15:5; 2 Kings 13:19; Psalm 78:41-42).

First Thing First!

First Thing First
By Abraham Israel

Theme: The importance of the word of God (Ps 138:2).

The Word is God

• The word of God is eternal. You can stake your life on it. God spoke in the book of Genesis, in the N.T, the same word who is God that spoke in the Book of Genesis became flesh (Ps 119:89; Gen 1:3; John 1:1). [Logos – Eternal Word; Rhema – Spoken Word].
• The word of God has the creative power to bring things in to existence. When God speaks, it is already done. God created this world through His spoken word (Gen 1:1,3; 17:5,6).
• The word of God which is implanted in you will save your souls. The word has got the ability, firepower, energy, strength and the potential to save and deliver you from all filthiness and abundance of wickedness when you nurture the word in you (James 1:21; 1 Peter 1:23). The word of the Lord is preached by the gospel (1 Peter 1:25).
  
  Gospel – Euagellion – Good News.

• The word of God has got seed potential. It is actually a seed, which Jesus himself conformed (Luke 8:11).
  
  

  Ex: Seed from pharaoh’s tomb which germinated after 3500 years.

Seven important applications of the word of God in our daily life

1) The word of God should be meditated [pondering by talking to ourselves] upon (Ps 1:2,3; Josh 1:8,9). The result of it is good success and prosperity in life (Gen 24:63).

2) The word of God should be used as a lamp [daily guidance] and a light [long term vision (LTV- Experiencing God’s word more and more)] in our lives journey (Ps 119:105).

3) The word of God should be our strength in our affliction. It will sustain us (Ps 119:92). Affliction should move us towards experiencing the power of His word and it should not move us away from His Word (Ps 119:67,71).

4) The word of God makes us wiser than our enemies, gives more understanding than our teachers when we keep it by restraining our feet from every evil way (Ps 119:97-101). In the Jewish culture, wisdom is walking in the fear of the Lord in their daily lives.

5) When you get a personal word from the Lord, your hope upon its fulfillment should increase day by day by the power of the Holy Spirit (Ps 119:49-50; Rom 15:13). Hope sustains your faith.

6) Your love for the word of God by keeping it in your heart, will be directly proportional to how much you love Jesus (John 14:15; Ps 119:103; Acts 13:22).

7) The word of God reveals the character of God and will keep us from sinning against God (Ps 119:9, 11, 130). “The entrance of Your word gives light …”.

Ask God to give you a love for His word, ask Him to open your eyes to see and hear Him and His voice through His word.

Favour with God and Men !

Favour With God and men!
By Abraham Israel

a) When you have favour with God, favour with men will come to you (Luke 2:52).

b) This will happen only when you grow and increase in wisdom and stature. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov 9:10). The fear of the Lord means growing in the character of God which hates evil, pride, arrogance, evil way and the perverse mouth. These are the personification of wisdom which is God Himself (Prov 8:12, 13). To understand is to have more experiential knowledge of the Holy One of God which is Jesus Christ (Prov 9:10; Ps 16:10).

c) Most of the Christian people, they will try their best to please men and then they will keep on asking for God’s blessing over their lives. This is wrong because it is in the reverse order. First of all only when we grow in wisdom, the grace of God will be upon us. When the grace of God is upon us we will find favour with God and men automatically with in a certain period of time (Luke 2:40, 52).

d) This is what had happened in the first century Church, when the believers heard and received the witness of the apostles, great grace came upon them all which was upon the apostles by the favour of God upon their lives (Acts 4:33; Galatians 2:8, 9; 1 Cor 15:10, 11).

e) The reason that the apostles had great favor with God and men is because they were called to the apostleship by God and they spent most of the time in ministering the word of God and Prayer (1 Cor 1:1; Acts 6:4; 5:12-14). Every believer is called by God to be a kingly-priest. The man or woman who spends hours and hours in prayer and in the word of God will surely have the favour of God and men in their lives (Joshua 1:8-9; Psalm 1:1-3).

f) The great grace of God present upon a person or a group is none other than God Himself present with them by His Spirit upon them, in them and with them (Acts 7:9, 10).

g) When you are favoured by God, it is God who will bring you in to favour with men and even your enemies (Daniel 1:9; Prov 16:7).

h) Position yourself to be favoured by God by not defiling yourself by the world and its lust, this ultimate positioning of yourself in God can be done only by growing in faith and in relationship with God through Jesus Christ (Daniel 1:8; Ester 2:7-11, 15, 17-18, 20, 22; Neh 1:4, 2:4,6).

i) His favour upon us in not by any kinds of works that we do for Him, but by His mercy, grace and love (Ps 147:10, 11; Eph 2:8; Rom 5:8).

j) Every man seeks for mans favour, but the ultimate man will seek the Lord’s favour over His life because He is the real owner of this planet earth (Prov 29:26; Ps 104:24). Satan is only a pseudo ruler in this planet earth according to the people of God.

k) Keeping the word of God in your heart and mind all the time and walking according to it will bring both the favour of God and man in your life (Prov 3:1-4; Ps 1:2, 3).

l) Having the favour with God and men is the real prosperity in any man’s life, because you can have all the money in the world yet you cannot buy the favour of God and men with it. Always seek the Lord, and His favour will be upon you. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!

Battling Everyday’s Problems (2)

Battling Every day’s problems (2)
By Abraham Israel

(i) When the problems in your life overwhelm you and make you fearful you can do three things,

• Set yourself or position yourself to seek the Lord.

• Proclaim a fast [i.e. fast and pray].
• Ask help from the Lord. (2 Chronicles 20:3, 4).

(ii) In 2 Chronicles 20:5-11, the king Jehoshaphat asks the Lord by confessing His sovereignty and Majesty of Him by saying and asking Him, “Are you not God in heaven…”. Then he asks the Lord by confessing His sovereign control over nations and His power and His might by asking the Lord, “Do you not rule over all the kingdoms of the Nations…”.

• From the above verse we can learn that, ‘When problems come, do not focus yourself on the problems, instead, seek the Lord and acknowledge that your problems are with in the control of God Almighty and that He is able to solve it by His power and might.’

• Learn to ask Him or confess to Him what He has already revealed about Himself and His majesty.

(iii) “Are you not our God…” (2 Chronicles 20:7). Learn to ask God by personally and intimately relating to Him as ‘My God’, and even when you are in a group setting you can relate to Him as ‘Our God’ which is intimate and personal. Make sure you are asking Him referring to the covenant with which He remembers and intervenes (2Ki 13:23; 1 Chr 16:15; Ps 25:14; 105:8). Confess to Him His promises and tell it to Him by faith that He will hear and save as He has told in His Word.

God is always pleased or delighted when some one by faith confesses to Him, His word. It is a type of worshipping God by saying that He is faithful to fulfill His word. It is Honoring God by confessing His word back to Him.

(iv) After affirming that He is our personal God by His covenant and by His word and worshipping Him for who He is to us and what He can do for us, then we can ask Him or beseech Him saying, ”O God our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor we know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.” (2 Chronicles 20:12).

a. Will you not act for us.

This is a desperate cry of a real person whose heart is totally dependant on the Lord. This is a cry of faith. This is also a confession of faith.

b. We have no power.

This is also the place where we will truly understand our powerlessness to solve our problems with out our God’s Super Natural Intervention. In other words we are confessing to God, ‘If You don’t intervene, we will be no more.’ This is the place where Paul experienced God’s intervention again and again in His life, when he went through such trying circumstances. So only Paul finally attained a level of maturity where he confessed, “When I am weak then He is strong”. This is the place where God will work and powerfully intervene for us and through us, if only we will accept our weakness and wholly depend on Him for our very survival. This is the best place to be in, with God.

c. Nor do we know what to do.

This is the place where we have no battle plan. It is the place where we acknowledge our utter helplessness, inner confusion and chaos. Here not only we are accepting our powerlessness, but we are asking for His further guidance. In other words we are asking for His battle plan, we need to come in to His presence expecting His revelation and answer to our desperate need.

d. But our eyes are upon you.

Keep your eyes on Jesus alone and tell it to Him by your confession to Him. This is the ultimate place where you will get a definite answer. And you will know it in your spirit with a peace that passes all understanding (Phil 4:6, 7) [In other words you will not understand with your mind, why you are having such a peace when you are still holed up in your chaotic external unchanged situation]. He will be keep you in perfect peace because your total trust will be in the Lord in this place (Isaiah 26:3). This is the place where we stop crying and trying and God starts working. Hallelujah!

(v) After this, God will give you a definite plan and answer to proceed. Act in faith with out doubting, but praising Him for His answer and also for His mercy which He has shown. God will make sure that you will win the battle because it is now not yours, but His, because you have given it to Him. Hallelujah!

Battling Everday’s Problems (1)

Battling Every day’s problems (1)
By Abraham Israel

(i) Whether we like it or not, our enemies [the devil & his armies] will always try to intimidate us and will try to take us captive and kill us by inducing fear in us and then will attack us (1 Samuel 17:1; Eph 6:12; John 10:10).

(ii) Our enemies will project themselves as champion fighters and their head as their chief champion [the devil]. Goliath was a type shadow of the devil, with whom we are fighting the spiritual warfare. Goliath was huge in size [Height- 10.7 feet; Weight -200 kg] (1 Samuel 17:4-7). Satan always boast’s of his power which he in fact has it in him (Luke 10:19; 1 John 4:4).

(iii) Our enemy will roar and speak negative things continuously and will try to paralyze us with fear. The missiles that he uses against us are negative and discouraging thoughts. “….the devil walks about like a roaring lion…” (1 Peter 5:8). The devil continuously plans and executes these missiles. The devil always will play mind games and the mind is the battle field where we either win or lose the spiritual battle (1 Samuel 17:8-10).

(iv) In 1 Samuel 17:11, we see that Saul and all Israel heard these words. Then fear took hold over them and they were dismayed and greatly afraid. Never hear and accept the words of the enemy in to your heart (Eccl 7:21). If you do that, you are opening yourself to the spirit of fear, which when gets inside you, will start to intimidate and bully you (2 Timothy 1:7). Instead, first recognize the enemy’s tactics and “…take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” (2 Cor 10:5). To hear in the spiritual realm is to allow thoughts in to your heart. Never allow negative attitude to control you, by allowing negative thoughts. If you allow it, you will feel worried, disappointed and upset. You will become unwilling to do the warfare because you will be worried and discouraged. This may even cause the same attitude to spread to others infectiously (Deuteronomy 20:8). The catch phrase that the enemy will use to make you still more fearful till you get paralyzed is ‘What will happen if you lose the battle?’.

(v) The devil is a relentless enemy, so he will continuously try to attack you, especially if you are an over comer. Here we see a parallel with Jesus’ wilderness experience. Jesus was tempted for forty days, yet He overcame Satan by the anointing of God that was upon Him. Here also Goliath presented himself forty days morning and evening before them, and finally David was the one who overcame Goliath by the anointing of God that was upon him. The anointing was stirred up when he used the name of the Lord against Goliath. We too should use the name of our Lord [i.e. ‘Jesus’] when waging warfare against our enemy Satan; this can only stir up the anointing of the Lord which is with in us and upon us. So David was a type shadow of Jesus Himself (1 Samuel 17:16).

(vi) When David heard the same words spoken by Goliath, he spoke by faith in God against him. His faith began to stir up because he knew the covenant of circumcision. So in order to become men and women of faith, we need to fully understand the covenant that God has initiated intact with us and then speak out by faith depending on the faithfulness of God.

David was not confident on his own ability or his strength, but he spoke by faith saying, “The Lord will give you in to our hands”. His confidence was on the ability of the Lord. He was so sure that God will give Goliath in to his hands that he immediately acted with faith by taking a stone and slunging it towards him. David won! (1 Sam 17:24-47). Hallelujah! You too will win the battle every time you will resist Satan and his cohorts’s in the Name of the Lord and act out against it by speaking out and acting in faith against these evil forces. Praise the Lord!