Grace not shared is grace despaired

In the OT, believers of Yehovah were subject to the Law- we were bound by strict rules- dietary rules, spiritual rules etc etc. We were then broken free from these rules when Jesus died for us.
Jesus became the only way, the only truth and the only gate. It is because of God’s mercy, His favor, His kindness, His blessing and His compassion that He has provided mankind with a salvation plan! We are saved by God’s mercy. We do not deserve the blessings God has given us.

Ephesians 2:4-9
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast.

Notice this passage says:

Ø God made us alive in Christ when we were dead—and this is God’s grace.
Ø God raised us up with Christ
Ø God expresses His grace to mankind by giving us Christ Jesus
Ø God’s grace is through faith.

God’s grace involves a bigger picture than we sometimes realize. At one point in our history, there was a rebellion in heaven in which some of the angels chose to follow Lucifer and abandoned their positions in heaven in rebellion against God. For these, God has provided no salvation plan. There is no hope for them, no chance of salvation. They will be eternally damned to hell when the Day of Judgment arrives. God has not provided a way for them to attain redemption. But for mankind, on the other hand, God in His mercy and grace has given us His Son and a way to be redeemed. He has given us a salvation plan! And this is by His grace. God did not give Jesus to the rebellious angels. He only gave Jesus to mankind. God had this salvation plan in mind from the very beginning.

You, who have been partakers of this grace, have been given the Great Commission.
And when we had sinned and were dead, and had received only what we deserved, God in His mercy and grace provided a way for us to be saved—He provided His Son, Jesus Christ.

2 Timothy 1:8-11 So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life--not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher.

Is it wrong for a Christian to want to be rich?

A lot of people I know criticize new generation churches for proclaiming the prosperity gospel. But, in actuality, what's the prosperity gospel all about? Jesus has promised each of us peace and prosperity. As the children of the King of Kings, are we not prince and princess who can lay claim to their Heavenly Fathers ' bountiful riches? We are! So can we actively pursue money generating works? But isn't money the root of all evil?

Let's take it from 1 Timothy6:6-10.

6But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment.
7For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either.
8If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.
9But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.
10For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Our MAIN AIM is to pursue Godliness. The way to that is CONTENTMENT or gratefulness. If you are grateful , truly grateful for what you have, then it's hard to want anything more. Once we are thus able to control our wants, we are no longer vulnerable to the trickery of our desires. Those who "want to get rich" precariously perch themselves at the edge of a BIG fall. By focusing on what money can buy us, we are taking our eyes off what is really important.

So, is it wrong to be rich? Well, the world in general considers you rich by the number of material blessings you possess. Our desire to meet this standard is what makes it so wrong. By wanting what we don't have, we express a lack of contentment.We are in fact proclaiming,"God hasn't done this right!"

The Scripture commands us on this accord to flee from our lusts for things and to seek the kingdom of God. Pursue godliness. Don't put your hope and security on a fickle master like money.Our Ever Dependable God is more than capable of richly supplying us with things to enjoy!

Falling prey…..

In Revelations 12:10 we see, satan stands before God “accusing our brethren day and night” so that they too like him will not have access to redemptive grace and mercy.

We have to take care that he doesn’t use us as his agents on earth. To the degree of access he has to us, he will use us as his agents to sow discord among brothers. Ever since there were two brothers on earth, he has used this, his most effective and deadly tactic.

This especially true when it comes to judging our brothers and sisters in Christ. In Philippians 2, Paul writes, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves." We are implored to esteem others as better than ourselves, not as worse!

Have you stopped to wonder why we are so quick to believe the worst about someone? Why Else? Because it makes us feel better about ourselves. That goes against what God wants for us- unity.

Unity does not just increase our spiritual authority. It multiplies it!

We are so much stronger when we are together; the enemy knows this. That's why he likes to plant the seeds of doubt and dissension and watch us flounder as we try to see just how many fingers we can point at everyone but ourselves. All because we let one negative thought creep in. Have I completely learned my lesson? No. And I probably never will... after all, I'm not perfect.

But God has been teaching me four things over and over these past few days:
1. It doesn't matter in the light of eternity,
2. He's got it all under control anyway,
3. It's not my job to fix everyone's problems, and
4. Let it go!

Wheat and Weeds

In Matthew 13:24-30, we read the Parable of Tares . Here, the Kingdom of heaven is compared to a field of wheat and weeds.

The wheat in this parable are the believers and God is the Sower. The devil comes in the night to plant the weeds-thoughts and practices that distract us from being true wheat.

As wheat, it is not our job to point out the weeds in our field. Our only responsibilty is to grow as tall as we can and bear as much fruit for the Sower. I know I needed to hear that. I am one of those people who tends to be a litttle too self-righteous sometimes. I see people not conducting themselves "in a manner worthy of the gospel" (Phil. 1:27), and I am so quick to judge. But guess what? I'm not the harvester, so I have no right to pluck the weeds. It's not even my business to find out whether they are truly wheat or weeds. I am here to glorify the Father and Him alone.

Pay attention to v 30: Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.

That's right! Ignore the weeds and concentrate on becoming strong wheat.

Letters to my sister

My youngest sister is highly accomplished- she’s barely 21 and she’s got a hotshot job in Google and climbing the corporate ladder with aplomb! In all that she sets out to do, be it singing, drama, writing, whining (ok, she does that one only to her elder sis’)- you name it, there’s none like her!

Rebecca’s determined that before she has to settle down in life she’s been there, done that. That way she has no regrets in the staid (or so she thinks) married life that’s to follow. Miria and I are extremely proud of her- I don’t remember being this focused or level headed when I was her age. (Any reader who wants to comment on me at that particular age, please refrain! :D, yea yea, I know it’s hard!)She knows all the pressures and troubles she could face and she stays steer clear of them.

But then, it’s hardly a surprise...I remember the seven year old Rebecca whose solution to everything was prayer. The best part of it was hers used to work better and quicker! It was like she had a direct hotline with God! And oh her voice-all the Sunday school songs that I’m trying hard to remember, I seem to recollect in her voice alone!

Yes, indeedy, God’s been faithful. He’s blesses her abundantly for one so young. She’s studying (and passing her tests with the highest marks!), working (and ranked among the highest performers), acclaimed drama artiste (you haven’t sent me the paper clipping yet, Becky!) and one of the Most requested singers in the Goggle TWIF!! And oh, did I mention she got her license recently??

I can’t wait to see what God has in plan for her. He’s given her the opportunities to be molded into someone who can be really powerful for Him. Our lives were created by God to glorify His name. Others may look at us and see the abundance of blessings that come from Him. He knows His purposes for us and how he wants us to live them out. Our very life belongs to Him. Rebecca, my desire for you is to walk in wisdom and make the most of your time and life (Read Colossians 4:5 and Ephesians 5:15). We maybe living one day at a time, but for each of them we are accountable for eternity!

God Bless you, my Love!Remember you are an arrow for Christ!

Sisterhood In Christ

"My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."-Colossians 2:2-3

Ok this blog is mainly gonna be a monologue to my sisters...(not just blood ones!!) ASK ANY of them!It's what I do best..TALKING! ;)

I think I “talk” so much cause I have to express all that emotion to someone! Sometimes I need a sounding board to work out how I actually feel, how I must react, or Prayer Support. We need to tell someone how we feel and it’s not acceptable saying those things to the actual person…so we tell somebody else.

It takes two people to make any relationship. What makes a good friend? Talking about the common things we like and doing the things we like to do? When I think of a good friend/sister, it’s one I can count on when I mess up, one I can honestly tell when she's messing up etc. Many of my sister friends tell me that its uncany - we often end up doing or saying watever the other is thinking!

But there are times when I mess up being a sister/friend. When I am not around and or even not encouraging them in their love for Christ. I often find myself happy being in the dependent position rather than being the one depended upon. Maybe it's that I dont want to appear pushy. So mostly I delude myself into thinking they need their space and just pray. Being passive isnt always good.

I realize though the biggest thing that holds me back is myself. I myself am not transparent enough. Like being a leader. You shouldn’t have to tell people to follow you. You should act like the person they should follow. If I’m not acting like a good sister, then how can they be one too? I think a huge part of it is major pride issues and admitting that you are flawed…

I know I m blessed to have so many sisters around me. You guys encourage me, guide me , correct me and love me unconditionally. I hope and pray that I can be the same to you and to many more. There may be many times I ve let you down. But Yea, I m striving to correct and collect myself back so that together we can sit at the right hand of Christ.

P.S. If I m leaning on you too much and you think I could be standing on my own by now, tell me. Your faith in me is gonna definitely bolster me!!
And if you think you could do with a helping hand and shoulder to lean on, COME ON OVER!-mine's waiting for you!

My Calling!

I’m glad I teach Sunday School. It gives me a lot of children to minister...to pass on what I have.. It’s fun and believe me it’s insightful. Children have a different way of viewing things. They may see an aspect that we as adults do not. They are fun and above all- it’s fulfilling finding the answers to their different queries.

I spent last Sunday showing them all about the power of prayer and I m looking forward to seeing what they have to come back and tell me.

I have wondered why He gave me a burden for children….

I found the answer to that in…“Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate.” Psalm 127:4-5

:) You take a long time to aim an arrow. You need foresight to see where they will land…and do what you must do to help them land there.

Children are wonderful partners in the work God has assigned us to. They can go where we cannot reach ourselves. If you have a dream that is bigger than you, recruit kids—they will definitely help you finish it. They’d be like arrows fired on the battlefield — the children you have influenced, will continue to take ground for God, long after you have fallen.

All you need to do…is prime that arrow, aim, FIRE! Once you let go of that arrow, it goes straight to that bulls’ eye — unwaveringly straight and right on target.

And for those of you who are suffering from Empty Nest Syndrome, remember—You need to let go of that arrow for it be effective :)