USE YOUR SWORD

VERSE: ...And the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Eph 6:17

If you read through Eph 6:10-17, you will notice that the only offensive weapon in our armour is the Word of God. So it is God's Word that is going to take us through temptations that the devil puts in our lives.

When Joshua was made leader, the Lord instructed him in Josh 1:8, "This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success." This verse just tells us how important it is read, mediate and apply the Word of God. If that is done, our ways become prosperous and we will have success.

James 1:22 has a strong warning and when I say say strong, it really is. It says, But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. The other word for delude is to "deceive" yourself. So if you don't apply the Word of God in your life, you deceive yourself. This is extremely dangerous.

What can I do now? You can start using your sword by memorising verses in the Bible as it says in Ps 119:1, Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You. Deut 11:18 also illustrates the same thing, "You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead." Once you mediate on it and memorize them, start applying them in your life, you will start seeing changes in your life!

THOUGHT: Are you deceiving yourself in the use of the sword?

All verses have been quoted from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright (c) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved.

A bottomless well?

Verses: Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.” Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction. And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My clothes?” But His disciples said to Him, “You see the multitude thronging You and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’ “And He looked around to see her who had done this thing. But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.”

[Mark 5:25-32, NKJV]

Most people have a favourite verse. Mine is Philippians 4:13. But there is another verse, which shakes my spirit every time I read it. That is Mark 5:30. In particular the phrase ‘power had gone out of Him’.

Jesus promised that whatever we ask in His name will be given to us. ‘Therefore I say to You, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.’ (Mark 11:24) This is just one of the many places he talks about praying and receiving from God. But when we think of Jesus’ healing power, we normally think of someone approaching Him, presenting His/Her need for healing and then Jesus responding to their faith with kind words and with His healing power. But the woman in the verses above got the power first and the words later. Her faith turned things the other way round.

It is almost like Jesus in His loving-kindness has put His power in a well that is bottomless. All we need is a bucket of faith tied to a rope of patience. We may draw as much as we need. Given that God’s power is infinite, the possibilities are endless...

But we often see that reality is different. We do not always receive what we ask for. There could be many reasons. James 4:3 says, ‘You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.’ It’s hard to admit that we sometimes ask with the wrong motives. Our loving Father does not want to spoil His children. But we may also ask good things that we really need and God still does not answer. Or so we think.

Based on something I heard in fellowship I have realized that it is wrong to say that God does not answer prayer. A father would not turn his back on a son who asks for something. He will always respond in some way. In the same way God always ANSWERS prayer: either with a ‘yes’, ‘no’ or ‘wait’. The hardest of these is ‘wait’ because during that time, it looks like He is ‘not answering’. But to everyone who has finally received the answer to their prayer, they realize it was worth the wait.

Those who don’t receive what they ask for, even though they are not ‘asking amiss’, would just have to realize that what they ask for may not be according to His perfect will for them, which is what it best (Romans 8:28). But they can always know that His grace is sufficient for them (Read 2 Cor. 12:7-9)

‘Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.’ (1 John 5:14, 15)

THOUGHT: How big is your bucket of faith? How long is the rope of your patience?

Ministry of Reconciliation

VERSE: 2 Cor 5:18 "Now all {these} things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation".


THOUGHT: I couldn't but help share this on THINK BOUT THIS!. This was first shared at my house church(we meet as small groups on weekdays) by Shannon Pinto. This verse and this entire thought hit me and changed my life and I am sure it will help those who maybe struggling in this area.

Firstly, you need to have a heart of mercy to mend a broken relationship. In 2 Cor 2:7(a), Paul advises the Corinth Church that had a problem in reconciliation. It says, "so that on the contrary you should rather forgive and comfort {him,}". Paul advises them to forgive and comfort the person. Secondly we ought to be peacemakers and not just peace lovers. Matt 5:9 says, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Keeping all this in mind let us look at:

FIVE STEPS TO RECONCILIATION IN A BROKEN RELATIONSHIP.

1. Talk to God before you talk to the person.
This is the first important step.Ps 62:8 says, "Trust in Him at all times, O people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us". secondly, keep your cool as it says in James 1:19,20 {This} you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak {and} slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. Finally even if the other person or group involved in the relationship has made the mistake, don't fret.Ps 37:1 says, "Do not fret because of evildoers, Be not envious toward wrongdoers".

2. Always take the initiative
The perfect example in the Word is Matt 5:23, 24 "Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you,leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering". The initiative counts in the case of a broken relationship.

3. Sympathize with their feelings
These verses sum up this statement, Phil 2:3,4 "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not {merely} look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others". Humility is a key in mending a relationship.

4. Confess your part of the conflict
A perfect reminder is in Matt 7:3 which says, "Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?". Accepting your part in the entire conflict can help resolve the issue.

5. Do not justify
This can sometimes be hard. But Jesus could be the perfect example. 1 Pet 2:21-23 says, "For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps,WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH;and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting {Himself} to Him who judges righteously.".


THOUGHT: Are you ready to embrace the ministry of reconciliation that Christ has asked us to embrace?

Christianity is not a RELIGION!

VERSES: If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as,"Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!"(which all refer to things destined to perish with use)--in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence. (Col 2:20-23)


I guess the title of this article may surprise many but this is what the Bible says. When you accept Christ, you are not adopted into some religious body with a thousand rules! Christ died on the cross and rose on the the third day to redeem us. This simply means He wanted to restore our relationship with Him not to impose some rules on us but to give us eternal life.

Now we have to realize that we were born to sin. The bondage of sin was broken for us on the cross. We are now free in Christ once we choose to believe That Christ has redeemed us. This freedom in Christ has no additional rules or regulations. We don't need to start wearing white clothes or stop eating non-vegetarian food to show that we are holy and religious. All that we need to do is live a life that glorifies Him and understand that Christianity is a relationship with our Savior. It is that simple. You need to spend time with Him daily and allow Him to change your life. The time you spend with Him is very important. The time you spend with Him helps you realize what He wants in your life. So stop living a life of rules and start living in the freedom that Christ gave us on the cross.

THOUGHT: Do you think Christianity is a bunch of rules or is it a relationship with our Savior?

Do you believe that I am able to do this?

VERSES:
Mat 21:21 And Jesus answered them, Truly I say to you, if you have faith (a [14] firm relying trust) and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, Be taken up and cast into the sea, it will be done.

Mat 9:28 When He reached the house and went in, the blind men came to Him, and Jesus said to them, Do you believe that I am able to do this? They said to Him, Yes, Lord.



When I first got the news that I was moving to Mumbai(Bombay), I was filled with excitement as well as uncertainity. I wasn't sure of many things especially how I would arrange my accomodation. For those who know Mumbai, it happens to be one of the most costliest cities to live in India and finding accomodation can be a nightmare.

After staying at a hotel for nearly four days we decided, we needed to shift into a new flat. We had only one evening to find a place to stay. We started at 4pm and had not found a place to stay even after looking for one for 4 hours. We were taken to some places that we couldn't even call a place to stay. It was getting frustrating when God reminded me of those two verses I mentioned above. Our mountain was getting a place to stay and God was asking me whether I was ready to believe that He is able to do this? It was that simple. I knew God was in control. All I needed to do was to believe like the blind men.

As we were almost giving up, one of my colleagues got a tip from his friend that a place may be available in Andheri that was quite close to one of our offices. We decided to pay a visit to the place though it was getting late. By 9:30pm, we finally reached the place. We were impressed because it had all the amenities that we required. All that it required was FAITH that HE will do it.

THOUGHT: Many times in our life when uncertainty strikes us, God asks this one simple question, Do you believe that I am able to do this? What will be your answer?