For Those Who Love God

        Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind". Matthew 22:37.

                God has promised great benefits for all those who love God. The first and great commandment for us is to love God with all our heart, mind and soul. God loves us unconditionally and we must show our love to God by doing what He commands. If you love Me you will keep My commandments - John 14:15. Jude 21 says that keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.

                 God protects all those who love Him. The Lord preserves all who love Him - Psalm 145:20. When we love God, all things work together for good in our life.  And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose - Romans 8:28. God prepare great blessings for those who love Him. What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him - 1 Corinthians 2:9.

                God shows mercy to those who love God. But showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments - Exodus 20:6. We will receive the crown of life when we love God and remain steadfast under trial. Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. James 1:12.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Help us to follow Your commandments and love You with all our heart, mind and soul. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Worship the Lord in Spirit & Truth

God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth - John 4:24.

                      Our God is worthy of praises and He inhabits the praises of His people. Worship the Lord with a thanksgiving heart and gratitude for all God had done in our life. God is seeking and longing for true worshipers. True worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him - John 4:23. We can express our love and thanks to God from our heart by exalting and magnifying Him in worship. I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart - Psalm 9:1.

                      We can worship God in spirit and truth when God’s word dwell richly in us and when we are filled with the spirit of God. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord - Colossians 3:16. Worship the Lord with gladness by singing songs and hymns. Be filled with the Spirit. Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord - Ephesians 5:18,19.

                      Let us worship the Lord in the beauty of His holiness and tremble before Him. Give to the Lord the glory due His name; Bring an offering, and come into His courts. Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth - Psalm 96:8,9. Worshiping God truly involves offering us as sacrifice to God. Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God--this is your true and proper worship - Romans 12:1.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, We honor You and praise You for who You are. Help us to worship You in spirit and truth. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

The Blessings of the Righteous

       For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous; With favor You will surround him as with a shield. Psalm 5:12

                        God blesses the righteous people in several ways. God answers the prayer of righteous people which is powerful and effective. The Lord is far from the wicked but He hears the prayer of the righteous - Proverbs 10:3. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.- James 5:16. The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry - Psalm 34:15. He delivers them from all their afflictions. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all - Psalm 34:19.

                     God will never withhold any good thing for people who walk upright. No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly - Psalm 84:11. The generation of righteous are blessed and his descendants will be mighty on earth. The righteous man walks in his integrity; His children are blessed after him - Proverbs 20:7. His descendants will be mighty on earth; The generation of the upright will be blessed - Psalm 112:2. God protects the righteous and keep them safe. The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe - Proverbs 18:10.

                       The righteous flourish and their path of life shine brighter like the morning sun. The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.- Psalm 92:2. The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.- Proverbs 4:18. As Noah was a righteous man and blameless in his generation, he found grace in the eyes of the Lord (Genesis 6:8,9). Let us wear the breastplate of righteousness each day to be protected against the attack by devil and lead a righteous life.         

PRAYER: Dear Lord, You are the Lord who blesses the righteous people. Help us to lead a righteous life and receive the blessings from You. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Ebenezer - Thus far God has helped us

Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us. 1 Samuel 7:12.

                           In 1 Samuel 7, we see about Israelites defeating the Philistines. Samuel said the Israelites to gather at Mizpah. So, all Israelites gathered at Mizpah and they fasted. When the Philistines heard that people of Israel were gathered at Mizpah, they came against Israel. Israelites were afraid of Philistines and they asked Samuel to cry to the Lord for them. While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to Israel.

                            Samuel cried to God for Israel and God answered him. The Lord thundered with a mighty sound against the Philistines and threw them into confusion. God delivered Israelites from the Philistines. Samuel set up a stone between Mizpah and Shen and called its name Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far God has helped us”. The Hebrew word Ebenezer means stone of help.

                              Our Lord who has helped us so far in so many things, will surely continue to help us in all the situations of our life. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Psalm 124:8. I will lift up my eyes to the hills- From whence comes my help?  My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Psalm 121:1,2.  Let us always remember how God has helped us so far in the past days and thank Him. Our God Ebenezer, who has helped us so far will lead us to greater glory in the coming days.

                                                                                                          

PRAYER: Dear Lord, You are our helper. We thank You for being as Ebenezer in our life and helping us so far. Continue to help us every day. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

You are Our Potter

But now, O Lord, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter; And all we are the work of Your hand – Isaiah 64:8.

                                       Our God is the potter and we are the clay. We are all the work of God’s hand. By His grace, God transforms us into beautiful vessels that will bring glory and honor to Him. God is molding us and shaping us according to His will to become more like Him. Let us allow God to perform His will in our life so that we can become vessels of glory and honor. God wants to form us into a vessel for honor and useful for the master prepared for every good work - 2 Timothy 2:21.

                                       We are in the hands of God like the clay in potter’s hand and our times are in His hands. Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel - Jeremiah 18:6. God has put treasures in us to carry out His purpose in the world. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us - 2 Corinthians 4:7. We are God’s masterpiece created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do.

                                  Like how the clay cannot determine what the potter is doing, sometimes we also may not understand what God is doing in our life and why He is doing it. God’s ways and thoughts are always higher than our ways and thoughts. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts - Isaiah 55:9. So, let us humble ourselves and submit to God’s will like the clay in the hands of potter.

                                                   

PRAYER: Dear Lord, You are our potter and we are the clay. We submit ourselves to You as the clay in the hand of potter. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Draw Near to God

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you - James 4:8.

                                Moses longed for God and His presence. He said to God that he cannot lead the people of Israel unless the presence of God comes with him. He also asked God to show His glory. Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face - Deuteronomy 34:10. God spoke with Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend. So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend - Exodus 33:11.

                                 The Lord is near to everyone who prays to him, to every faithful person who prays to him - Psalm 145:8. When we draw near to God in prayer, He will be near to us. He will show us great and mighty things which we never know. He will show you things to come - John 16:13. God will carry us close to His heart and will guide us like a shepherd when we are near to Him. He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young - Isaiah 40:11.

                               With a true heart and full assurance of faith, let us seek God and draw near to Him. Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith - Hebrews 10:22. He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him - Hebrews 11:6. Seek God and give priority to spend time with Him  every day. When we draw close to God, we can hear His voice clearly and walk according to it. As we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us.

                                                           

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Help us to draw near to You every day. Let us seek You diligently with true heart and full assurance of faith. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Power of the Tongue

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit. Proverbs 18:21.

                            Our words are very powerful than we realize. Speaking negative words will open the door for enemy. The word of God has life and unlimited power. Confessing God’s word and speaking faith filled words with our mouth will bring changes in our life. Assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says - Mark 11:23.                          

                             The words we speak have life and power. God created all things in heaven and earth with words. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast - Psalm 33:9. Let us fill the mouth with life and not death. Tongue can be tree of life - Proverbs 15:4. As there is death and life in the power of tongue, let us pay attention to the words we speak. Teach me, and I will hold my tongue; Cause me to understand wherein I have erred. How forceful are right words - Job 6:24,25.

                        We are accountable to God for every idle word we speak. Let us encourage one another with the words we speak. Speak pleasant, wise, kind and tenderhearted words that builds others and gives grace to others. Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, Sweetness to the soul and health to the bones - Proverbs 16:24. Let us speak only the words that build others and gives grace to others who hear - Ephesians 4:29. Find opportunities to speak kind and tenderhearted words - Ephesians 4:32.    

                 

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Help us to speak only the life giving and faith filled words. Set a guard over our mouth and watch over the door of our lips. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.