Tiny Little Prayer

HEALING LOVE

THE LORD NEVER DISAPPOINTS

SECOND WEEK OF EASTER : SATURDAY ..... 7.05.11

RANDOM REFLECTIONS

SECOND WEEK OF EASTER : SATURDAY      7.05.11

JOHN 6:16-21 ........ THEY SAW JESUS WALKING ON THE LAKE.

After the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves the crowds believed that Jesus was the Messiah and attempted to forcibly make him their leader and king. Even his disciples wished him to be a worldly king. But Jesus who knew the will of his Father fled the temptation and went back into the mountains  to commune alone with his Father in prayer. Meanwhile the disciples leave in a boat for the opposite shore without Jesus.It was dark and the sea became increasingly violent because of a storm and the disciples begin to struggle in the boat. Just then Jesus comes walking on the choppy seas and  fierce wind and first calms the frightened mind of the disciples telling them that it is indeed he and there is no need to fear.The disciples gladly believe Jesus and invite him into the boat  and at once Jesus calms the seas and the boat reaches its exact destination smoothly and quickly. Jesus was always calm, determined and victorious in all of his difficulties because of his constant closeness with his Father in prayer. All the time Jesus was with his disciples there was nothing the disciples lacked and life was without fear. In the same way when Jesus stays in our life we are blessed and happy and have nothing to fear even though sometimes difficulties may surround us. Just then and now and always Jesus cares for us and will protect us. We have to just go to Jesus in prayer.

God Bless.

SECOND WEEK OF EASTER : FRIDAY 6.05.11

RANDOM REFLECTIONS

SECOND WEEK OF EASTER : FRIDAY  6.05.11

JOHN 6:1-15 .......... TO ALL WHO WERE SITTING THERE HE GAVE OUT AS MUCH AS THEY WANTED.

Only God could have protected the first-born of the Jews from fearful death in the land of Egypt by means of the blood of the first Passover Lamb. Only God could liberate them from nearly 400 years of hard slavery from the Egyptians and lead the millions through the desert by spectacular miracles to the Promised Land. Only God in Jesus can multiply 5 loaves and two fish in excess to feed the starving thousands to their satisfaction leaving 12 basket-full of surplus.Neither the money the disciples had nor the few loaves and fish the boy had was possible to feed the huge crowd. And Jesus performed this miracle just before the feast of the Passover to remind the disciples and the crowd how God rained down unlimited Manna and fowls to feed the millions for forty years while they journeyed in the desert. Jesus by this miracle makes a point that he is the same God and Messiah who has now come down to offer Salvation to all mankind and which salvation no one else in the world can ever give except for him. But the Jews still refused to believe in him.

Our God is a God of impossibilities who not only offers salvation as a free gift but also removes all the seemingly impossible obstacles that come in our everyday life if we would only pray and trust in him.

No one asked for food but still Jesus fed the hungry crowds. Similarly even if we fail in our desperateness to cry out to him he is sure to rescue us because he loves us and gave his life for us.

God Bless.

GOOD DAY

o

SECOND WEEK OF EASTER : THURSDAY .......5.05.11

RANDOM REFLECTIONS

SECOND WEEK OF EASTER : THURSDAY  5.05.11

JOHN 3:31-36............... THE FATHER LOVES THE SON AND HAS ENTRUSTED EVERYTHING TO HIM.

The testimony of John the Baptist about Jesus is very emphatic. He says that Jesus is of divine origin and he is the Son of God. In the human aspect of Jesus the Holy Spirit dwells in its fullness and therefore whatever Jesus reveals about God is true. The Father has entrusted everything to his son Jesus and so Jesus knows the will of the Father which he has revealed to us. The words that Jesus speaks are the words of the Father himself.Those who believe the words of Jesus attest to its truth and are blessed with eternal life and whereas those who doubt or disbelieve him tend to call Jesus a liar and hence they remain always under God's anger. Adam and Eve committed the same sin of doubting God's word and believed the words of Satan and incurred God's curse and their souls died. Those who believe in Jesus have their sins forgiven and are reconciled with the Father because of the atoning sacrifice of Christ. Belief in Jesus brings back our dead souls to life. Those who are given the opportunity should not reject the gift of God. Salvation and eternal life can be obtained only by believing in Christ. There is no other choice given to men according to the Word of God.

God Bless.

HAVE A NICE DAY

HAVE A NICE DAY

SECOND WEEK OF EASTER : WEDNESDAY 4.05.11

RANDOM REFLECTIONS

SECOND WEEK OF EASTER : WEDNESDAY    4.05.11

JOHN 3:16-21 .......  GOD SENT HIS SON INTO THE WORLD SO THAT THROUGH HIM THE WORLD MIGHT BE SAVED.

God did not hesitate to sacrifice his only begotten son since it was necessary and inevitable for our salvation. This shows God's immense love for us and how precious we are in his sight. But he is sure to send his son once again at the end of times to judge the world concerning sin, righteousness and the truth about the real God .It is only through Jesus we are saved and it is only through him we receive the Holy Spirit by whose power we are enabled to live virtuous lives in gratefulness to God and this becomes the basis of God's judgement. All this God has done so that we may become his adopted children and be worthy to live with him in eternity in his Kingdom. Hence Jesus tells Nicodemus that by merely knowing  the scriptures and leading  a virtuous life as Pharisees do, one does not enter the kingdom of God.It is only by genuinely believing in Jesus that our sins are forgiven and we are filled by the Holy Spirit to lead a life pleasing to God. Salvation is a gift of God and we receive this gift again by  grace by believing in Jesus and as a result we are enabled to become a light to the world and the salt of the earth.

God Bless. 

Fwd: HAVE A NICE DAY

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: DAVID JOSEPH <djbakianathan@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, May 3, 2011 at 9:37 AM
Subject: HAVE A NICE DAY
To:

                                                                                             

SECOND WEEK OF EASTER : TUESDAY ...... 3.05.11

RANDOM REFLECTIONS

SECOND WEEK OF EASTER: TUESDAY ...... 3.05.11

JOHN 3:7-15 .........  NO ONE HAS GONE UP TO HEAVEN EXCEPT THE ONE WHO CAME DOWN FROM HEAVEN, THE SON OF MAN

 Jesus tells Nicodemus that those who are born again are transformed persons and this is the work of the Holy Spirit. This transformation takes place by super-natural means and cannot be explained but has to be simply believed.This is a basic super-natural phenomenon that occurs in the natural world and whereas in the spiritual realm there are more amazing occurrences brought about by Jesus himself as he is truly God. Belief, trust and obedience to Christ will bring about unbelievable changes in our life and in the world. Christ reigns in heaven as well as on earth. Praise the Lord. 

" I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they have ever dreamed of." John 10:10

God Bless.

TEST OF PERSEVERANCE

May 2011 (01)

The Test of Perseverance - Zac Poonen

God anointed Elisha with a double portion of the anointing that Elijah had. This was God's seal of approval on Elisha's life. But before God anointed him thus, he had been tested.

As in the case of all true servants of God, Elisha too was called to the ministry while he was faithfully doing his secular duties.

"Elijah found Elisha the son of Shaphat, while he was plowing with twelve pairs of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth. And Elijah passed over to him and threw his mantle on him."(1 Kings 19:19).

Thereafter, Elisha spent many years doing menial jobs for the prophet Elijah. He was known as the one "who used to pour water on the hands of Elijah."(2 Kings 3:11b).

He did not seek great things for himself, but God had great plans for that young man.

Before Elijah went up to heaven, Elisha had to be tested. And so Elijah told Elisha to stay on in Gilgal, while he himself went on to Bethel. Elisha refused to stay back and was determined to go with Elijah. At Bethel, Elijah again tried to shake off Elisha by saying that he had to go to Jericho; but Elisha stuck on like a leech. Finally, at Jericho, Elisha was tested once more in a similar way. Again, Elisha passed the test of persistence and accompanied Elijah to Jordan. It was thus that he got the double portion of the anointing - God's best for his life (2 Ki.2:1-14).

What is the message here for us? There are various stages in our spiritual development at which God tests us to see whether we are satisfied with what we have already received or whether we will press on to God's highest.

Gilgal stands for the place where our sins are forgiven.

"The Lord said to Joshua, `Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.' So the name of that place is called Gilgal to this day."(Josh. 5:8-9).

Many Christians get thus far and stop there.

Some press on till Bethel (meaning 'the house of God') - which stands for fellowship with believers in the family of God.

"And Jacob called the name of that place Bethel. Then Jacob said, `This stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will be God's house.'" (Gen. 28:19,22).

Some stop here.

But a few go still further to Jericho - which stands for the manifestation of the supernatural power of God.

"The people shouted with a great shout and the wall fell down flat.....and they took the city (of Jericho)."(Josh. 6:20).

This is as far as most Christians ever go.

Very, very few go all the way to Jordan - which stands for identification with Christ in His death, as symbolised in baptism.

"Then Jesus arrived at the Jordan, coming to John, to be baptized by him."(Mt. 3:13).

Very, very few are willing to walk the way of the cross - "the new and living way that Jesus has inaugurated for us through His flesh." (Heb. 10:20).

But it is these few, who are wholehearted enough to press on to total death to self, who receive the double portion - God's best.

All of us are being tested today, as to what stage we will stop at.

www.cfcindia.com

SECOND WEEK OF EASTER : MONDAY 2.05.11

RANDOM REFLECTIONS

SECOND WEEK OF EASTER : MONDAY   2.05.11

JOHN 3:1-8     UNLESS A MAN IS BORN FROM ABOVE, HE CANNOT SEE THE KINGDOM OF GOD.

Nicodemus was a pharisee, a teacher of the Law and a respectable member of the Sanhedrin. But he had his own doubts and wanted to know for certain from Jesus how to enter the kingdom of God.He was ashamed of being seen in the company of Jesus and entertaining such fundamental doubts and hence chose to visit Jesus under the cover of darkness.Jesus was impressed by his humility and wanted him to go one step further and acknowledge him as God through whom he can obtain salvation. Titus 3:5-7 explains :-" he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. Because of his grace he declared us righteous and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life." Therefore not by the 'righteous things' like the strict observance of rituals and practices as prescribed in the Law and the performance of good deeds that  one can earn his salvation. We are born again by the 'waters' of baptism when all our sins are forgiven after sincere repentance and turning away from sin through the merits of the passion, death and resurrection of Christ. Through the same passion, death and resurrection of Christ our soul is regenerated by the infilling of the Holy Spirit and we are born again as a new person and a child of God. Because of our response of belief and repentance to the grace and initiative of God our life is transformed by the in-pouring of the Holy Spirit  and as a result we easily become obedient to God's will and commandments and perform good deeds. Every Christian by definition should be a born again person if his faith in Christ is genuine. If a Christian is living a sinful life then his faith is not genuine and his salvation could be doubtful.Ultimate salvation is for those who persevere till the end in genuine faith and obedience to the word of God. Right faith involves believing the word of God and obeying it and again faith is a gift of God.

God Bless. 

HAVE A NICE DAY

                                                                             mkj     

BLOG UPDATES 1.05.11

RANDOM REFLECTIONS

SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER ...... 1.05.11

JOHN 20:19-31  ....... EIGHT DAYS LATER, JESUS CAME

www.davidjoseph-bakianathan.blogspot.com

www.bakianathan.wordpress.com

God Bless.

SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER ....... 1.05.2011

RANDOM REFLECTIONS

SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER ...... 1.05.11

JOHN 20:19-31  ....... EIGHT DAYS LATER, JESUS CAME

At the time Jesus was arrested all his disciples abandon him and flee for their lives except for Peter and John who secretly follow Jesus to the house of the high priest. Soon after the death of Jesus all the disciples are huddled together in fear in a locked room.They feared that the Jews would soon arrest, torture and crucify them as they did to Jesus.They were not willing to suffer and die in such a horrible manner for Jesus. Hence they were shivering behind locked doors. They must have that thought enough is enough and decided not to have anything more to do with Jesus.They felt terribly let down by Jesus. Their grand dreams of ruling an earthly kingdom along with Jesus died tragically on the cross and lay buried in Jesus' tomb.They never entertained any thoughts of Jesus rising from the dead.They were awaiting their own execution any moment in paralysing fear. In this scenario Jesus enters through closed doors and  reassures them that he is alive in flesh and blood by showing them the scars of his wounds.He breathes upon them the Holy Spirit of peace and healing and gives them the power to forgive themselves and their common enemies.The disciples are filled with great peace and joy.But Thomas who was absent wanted to physically confirm for himself that Jesus was alive. Jesus obliges him after eight days with another appearance through closed doors and admonishes Thomas for wanting to believe only after a personal revelation to him. Jesus says 'heard faith' is better than 'experiential faith'. Heard faith may sometimes lead to experiential faith by God's grace for deepening one's faith, but belief that comes by hearing the word from others is the most common and basic type of faith.This is the kind of faith that pleases God most.Sometimes we may envy those who claim to have been initially converted after having seen a vision of Jesus or heard his audible voice or even experienced the Spirit of Jesus in their inner most being.This happens only in extraordinary cases. But Jesus wants us to have a simple child-like faith in him that comes from just listening to his word preached by others or by reading the holy scriptures.This is the reason why Jesus commends those who believe in him without insisting on physically experiencing him. That is why most of us are blessed in the words of Christ. Faith is indeed one of the most precious gifts of the Holy Spirit.Let us pray for this gift of faith in greater and greater measure for us and for our loved ones.Let us pray for the faith that can discern God's plan for us in the daily circumstances of life.

God Bless.