Utter hopelessness hits when I see my sinful self. When I look at my own self and am compelled to say, 'The things that I know I ought not to do, I end up doing. And the very things I know I should, I don't do." In all this, I know I cannot please God, not in m flesh, not in my deeds.

"For to be carnally minded is death.."[Rom8:6] "Because the carnal mind is enmity with God.."[Rom8:7]

NOW what do I do?? For I know that at numerous occasions, I have allowed my carnal mind to take over me. I 'know' that to please God, I must live by the Spirit, walk, talk, think...by the Spirit. but who knows better than 'me', that I fail Him most miserably in this very thing?

What then should I do? What should I do Lord?

"And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead, will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you", says Paul.

Sin has wages you know -- you EARN something out of it -- Death.

But God gives you not what you deserve, instead He gives you what you do not deserve!! "For if we sin, we have an advocate with the Father - Christ Jesus." What then should I do?

"Do not fear" .. Why? "For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but the spirit of adoption though whom we cry, 'Abba, Father' ". All praises be to God.

Are you getting my point? This war between the members will always be there. Salvation to us is freedom from the effects of sin (relating to the past), from the power of sin(relating to the present) and the presence of sin(relating to the future). Though we see not this deliverance from sin completely in this life, we are waiting... to be made free. While this may cause us to feel sad that we're grieving God so many times by doing exactly what we want NOT to do, that should not and cannot stop us from getting up and walking again.. For that is what God desires of us. Get up and walk says God!! Get up and Walk...! Be satisfied as long as you're able to get up and walk.

Love that song..

"I am weak, but Thou art strong;

Jesus, keep me from all wrong;

I'll be satisfied as long

As I walk, let me walk close to Thee."

Samson was an amazing man of God, a Nazarite, set apart for God from his birth. He had an amazing calling on his life, to start the process of freeing Israel from the clutches of the Philistines. This man's life is quite an irony.

And I want to share how he betrayed his calling, so that we all do not repeat his mistake.
Samson fell in love with a lovely young lady, Delilah. Sounds sweet, but the problem was, that she was from Philistine. Nonetheless, he continued in his relationship with her. On her constant prodding (the NIV reads 'until he was tired to death') he disclosed his source of strength to her. This one mistake led to his eyes being gouged out, and a life of grinding grain, and performing feats to entertain the Philistines. The saddest phrase that I find there, is when Samson thinks he'll just go out and shake the Philistines off, 'he did not know that the LORD had left him' [Judges 16:20]

Being totally defeated and humiliated, Samson is led blind to the prison.

But notice what happens next, his hair begins to grow again. A nazirite, once defiled, had to spend an amount of time in consecration to the LORD again, in order to become a Nazirite again. And after that period, he was to offer a sacrifice to God to be sanctified again. Samson had not the ability to offer a sacrifice, for all he had was his own life.

Being in that pitiful state Samson prayed , 'O Sovereign LORD, remember me. O God, please strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes' [Judges 16:28]
'Let me die with the Philistines'[Judges 16:30]

And having said thus, God granted him strength, such that he pushed the two pillars on which the temple stood, and it came crumbling down, the whole temple upon all those within it. In his death, Samson killed more Philistines than he did all his life.

Only one thought comes to my mind, that God has never, and will never forsake his people, unfaithful though we are. God has not forsaken Israel, though they were disobedient and stiff-necked. Neither will He leave us. Take not for granted His mercy. Live a life that fulfils that for which He caught hold of us. Lest you find yourself standing before Him and hear Him say, "Depart from me. I do not know thee."





Available.

What does it mean to be available? This thought was plaguing my head since a few hours. And, I finally gave in to it, and searched for the dictionary meaning on the net. And its as if, somethings were put into the right perspective immediately.
Le me share with you what I found out there..

available
adj 1: obtainable or accessible and ready for use or service; "kept a fire extinguisher available"; "much information is available through computers"; "available in many colors"; "the list of available candidates is unusually available"

When I read this part, I knew what it meant. But when it comes to being available for God, how do I make sure I am doing the right things, and being Obtainable, Accesible, Ready for use?
Then I went on-->

2: not busy; not otherwise committed; "he was not available for comment"; "he was available and willing to accompany her" [syn: uncommitted]

It all made sense suddenly. And it was exactly in line with the correction meted out by God to me recently...

To NOT BE OTHERWISE COMMITTED is the key to it all! If I choose to NOT commit myself to anything without God's approval, that is the
only way I can be available to Him. And I mean, right down to the level of our thoughts and dreams, and not just our actions and deeds. Let us take the stand to not
even commit our THOUGHTS to anything without the Lord's approval. Only then will be be soft and pliable in His hands...

Obtainable, Accessible and Ready for use... Not being already committed to something...

This site has been really helpful for me and my friends. Its hosted by All Peoples Church & World Outreach, Bangalore, India

http://www.apcwo.org/OnlineResources/Online.htm

May it be a blessing to you as well.

My friend shared this wonderful thought with me...and I'd like to share it here.

When we wait upon God, its generally a painful wait. Sometimes we lose our patience, and start getting frustrated. Sometimes we try, try, try, try to make things happen..and hence lose our state of rest in God. And once again, the result is none other than frustration.

We know the Word of God says, "Rejoice in hope".. But we fail to rejoice having not seen, and hoping for a long time. Then, what's the secret? How can we wait upon God so that we can walk and not faint, run and not be weary, and soar with wings like eagles, and mount up, above all our circumstances?? Simple... :)

Our problem lies in the perception of the word "wait". Waiting does not mean sit around waiting, and doing nothing. It means to wait upon God as a waiter waits upon the customer. The waiter keeps a sharp eye on the customer, seeking to fulfil his every need. At the slightest signal from the customer, the waiter runs to serve. THAT is how we are to wait upon God. And when we're busy serving God while we're waiting upon Him, we will have no time to get frustrated. Because we will learn to be sensitive to every move of His, we will be satisfied serving Him, while yet 'waiting upon Him'.
And in the right time, He will reveal His will to us, and we will walk in the way He shows us. This is how we can learn to "rejoice in hope".

Thank God for the friend who was failthful to share this principle of waiting with me...her name's Rosylint. :)

When the israeliets were bring led by Joshua to their Promised Land, an amazing incident occurred - the crossing of the River Jordan.

Believe it or not, this incident was also pointing to the future incident of the salvation of mankind by the blood of Christ. Let us see how.

Joshua 3:13 - "And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the LORD -the Lord of all the earth—set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap."
Today, our High Priest carried the New Covenant, the covenant of His blood and His Spirit.

Now think of the River Jordan to be the sin and judgement that awaits us, and we can't cross over into our Promised Land, heaven till that River separates us from it.

Joshua 3:15b-16a - "Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water's edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing."
The moment Jesus touched the judgement, or should I say, took it upon Himself, the River of Judgement stopped.
And not only did the River stop flowing, but "it piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam" [Joshua 3:16]

And the amazing part is this -
"Herefore, just as sin entered the world through one man[Adam], and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men........
so also through the obedience of the one Man[our High Priest, Jesus Christ] many will be made righteous." [Rom5:12-19, Highlighting mine]

This is my family. My Mumma, Dada and Babui(dad). I decided to write something different today. Indeed these three are the most wonderful gifts of God in my life, among all the people that I have known in all these years.
Let me start -
Mumma - She's a very beautiful woman. I love her eyes and her smile. She's also very naughty...! Sometimes when she's really in mood for fun, she'll dance around and make funny faces till we're all splitting with laughter. She's very approachable, hence I keep talking to her and telling her all that's happening in my life...specially what God's doing in my life. I remember from the days of old, how we've fought, made up, fought again. I was very stubborn, and she was equally stubborn! hehe, we have had lovely fights!! But praise God, through them all, I've known her to be my best friend. She can't tolerate ANYONE speaking against me or my brother!! And she misses me....:) aww... i love her.

Babui - For the first five years of my life, I believed Babui was a bengali word meant to be used for a father. haha..I was mistaken, it was the word my brother used to call dad when he couldn't say Baba(the actual bengali word used for the same)!! Anyway, Babui is one of the nicest people I've ever met. He's truly simple at heart, and very very intelligent. He's so quick and intelligent, that we all seem to bore him sometimes! :D I've spent years rebelling against him, and yet when the time came for me to leave him, I can still remember how he was kissing me goodbye at Borivli station. And he kept telling his friend, "Take care of my daughter."Sigh... it brings tears to my eyes to just think about it again. But, oh well, this is life. And yea, whenever I visit them at home now, my dad gives me the longest hugs! :)

Dada - That means 'brother'. My brother is five years elder than me, and as is very expected, he has been the protective, concerned brother all these years. He takes good care of me, and is always ready with advice if I ask him about anything. The few incidents I remember very vividly are when we used to go for walks at night, during the loadshedding in Indore.. When we used to go out to have dinner, and drive around late night.. :) Oh, and also all the ice-cream treats he gave me at Top-n-Town!! :D yum yum.. Also some incidents from the earlier years... When we were playing around and I was blindfolded. I happened to bang my head to the wall, and because I was very young, he came running, and hugged me. Oh there are so many more.. But I'll share just one more - When I got my results of 12th Standard CBSE board exams - they had wrongly declared my math marks as 33, and I had actually got 81. This was rectified two months later, but the day I got my results, he had specially called me in his room, and sat beside me, comforting me, because I was at my wits' end. God bless my brother...!!!

People, today I am feeling especially thankful for my family.. Its not that we never had tough times. In fact, we've survived some of the worst things that can befall a family. But, God was with us throughout. :) And I am thankful for everything, and everyone in my family.
Oh and yea.. not to forget...Buto!!(Black Beauty)


She's my koochie koooooo!! :D muah muah!!

Joshua 1:11-15

So Joshua ordered the officers of the people: 11 "Go through the camp and tell the people, 'Get your supplies ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the LORD your God is giving you for your own.' "

12 But to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joshua said, 13 "Remember the command that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: 'The LORD your God is giving you rest and has granted you this land.' 14 Your wives, your children and your livestock may stay in the land that Moses gave you east of the Jordan, but all your fighting men, fully armed, must cross over ahead of your brothers. You are to help your brothers 15 until the LORD gives them rest, as he has done for you, and until they too have taken possession of the land that the LORD your God is giving them. After that, you may go back and occupy your own land, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you east of the Jordan toward the sunrise."

I've read this passage so many times. But today it seemed to speak something to me. And I want to share it with you all.

Do we realise, that we are not to sit down and rest till our brethren have received what God wants them to?! Have we not failed to fulfil our responisibility towards God and His people again and again? Let us ask God, and repent. Let us make a new start, determined to help our brothers and sisters...whatever it takes.

Didn't the Gadites,Reubenites and those of Mansseh's tribe know, that it could be a long time till their brethren receive their Promised Land? Did they not think, that it could cause them a lot of pain and separation from their families if they went ahead following Joshua's directions? Yes they did. Yet they said , "Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go"

How beautiful would it be, if we believers would not rest till our brethren have all that they need... I can only imagine.

Light Without Sight.

Worthless.
Can a blind man see when it is brightly lit around him? Can a seeing man see in the darkness? No.

John 9:25 states the blind man witnessing to the pharisees saying..."One thing I know, though I was blind, now I see." Full stop!!

The Pharisees, though they saw the Light of the world with their own eyes, failed to see. And Paul, saw only when he was struck blind. What mystery is this?

Those who are veiled by the god of this age, fail to let the glory of Christ, the Light shine through the darkness surrounding their lives [2 Cor 4:3,4]. He has veiled them, and hence they do not see. But we see...! How? Because we have received the Spirit of God, who knows all things. After all, no man can say that Christ is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. [ 1 Cor 12:3]

Praise God, that we are made to see, though we were blind. And those who believe they see, are actually blind. Let us pray, that God would use us to let His light shine through us into the lives of all the blind around us, that they may see and say "Though I was blind, now I see"

43% Geek

Just a short study on what humility brings in our lives -
Wealth [Proverbs 22:4]
Honor [Proverbs 15:33,Proverbs 22:4]
Life[ Proverbs 22:4]
Safety from God's wrath [Zephaniah 2:3,1 Kings 21:29]
Guidance [Psalm 25:9]
Sustenance [Psalm 147:6]
Rejoicing [Isaiah 29:19]
Grace [1 Peter 5:5]
Exaltation [Matthew 23:12,Luke 18:14,Luke 14:11,James 4:10]
Wisdom [Proverbs 11:2]
Forgiveness [Luke 18:14 - because the man was humble before God, he went back justified!!]
Deliverance [2 Samuel 22:28]
Turns God's anger [1 Kings 21:29]
Esteem from God! [Isaiah 66:2]
Blessing [Luke 1:48]
Healing of the land [2 Chronicles 12:7]
Obedience [Philippians 2:8]
The crown of salvation [Psalm 149:4]
The humble are the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven!! [Matthew 18:4]

Humility is a necessity in God's children[Philippians 2:1,Colossians 3:12], and I think the reason is quite evident! :) Praise God!

Thanks for the suggestion Sarah!!

I remember around three-four days ago, I wrote in my journal that one of my greatest weaknesses is the inability to see God in both His aspects - love and wrath. And I wanted to understand what it really was like.
I must say, God is so true in everything that He says, including where He says, "Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you".
Today I got perhaps the most vivid explanation of what I was seeking - the Cross.
When we behold the cross, we shall see, the love and wrath of God, manifested in its fullness. The wrath of God that must be satisfied, was the necessity of the cross. And the love of God that saved us, was manifested in the only Son of God, Jesus Christ, giving His own life on the same cross.
Think of it, its overwhelming!
God punishing, and God accepting the punishment on our behalf. What love is this??
The unfathomable, incomprehensible, unchangeable, incomparable, indescribable love of God...
Hallelujah!

I once heard a preacher say, "If you're equipped for it, its not the calling of God on your life." And I was amazed at how God can take someone who was absolutely not able, and make him/her do what God purposes in His heart. But it always intrigued me, at How God works. I was indeed a little disappointed, because I believe I can speak well, I can sing well... Does that mean God can't use me? That was the question that plagued me a long time.
And then I heard about Moses.. When he was called, he indeed said unto God, "But Lord I cannot speak!" It further disappointed me, for after all, Moses had been called to speak to Pharaoh, to the Israelites... when he could not speak....!!
So.. Is there no hope for God calling those who are talented? Will they always fail God by depending on themselves rather than leaning on God in their weakness? After all, if I'm good at something, I may end up taking for granted God's grace and go ahead in my own strength and destroy everything!
But, if you notice, in Acts, Stephen describes Moses as a man "mighty in words and deeds"..BEFORE he was called by God. Then came the question in my mind, did God call a man who was well capable of speaking..? Then what about the fact, that Moses said to the Lord, "I cannot speak"?
Aah.. I finally got it. Its not necessary that when we're called we are not capable of doing anything.. Rather, it means, that when we realise the responsibility given to us by His Majesty, to carry out His purposes here on earth, despite our talents, we can look upon ourselves and say.. "But Lord, I can't!!"
Its a point of realisation that we must reach, that without the Lord's grace, we can do nothing. That's when God can use us.
So Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
May the Lord use you... Mightily!!
Love,
Rini

SURRENDER.

Contrary to common opinion, I find 'surrender' to be such a beautiful word.When we truly know our Father, we can trust Him. And when we focus on who He is, that He never changes and is eternally good, we can begin to 'let go' and 'let Him'.

Little by little, He takes us, He teaches us to trust Him. As we get to know Him, we learn to let Him. Let Him take control, let Him take over. And we learn, that though we may have the choice of saying 'NO' , but He's always the One to say 'YES'. If we're doing what God wants us to do, its still only His grace..Its only because He chose us for those good works. However, its always our own choice to miss out on what He wants us to do, by sayin No to Him.

I did not choose Him, He chose me. I've only chosen to 'let Him'. And that's the only sane thing that I could do, knowing that He is my 'all-in-all'. There is nothing without Him, and in Him I find all things.

There's such unspeakable joy when I lay my life in His hands, and let Him. Even in my worst, I can look up and see Him with me and say "Yes LORD!".

The sooner we learn this, the better.

Isaiah6:1-7
Isaiah sees the Holy Almighty God seated on the throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filling the temple. The seraphim standing and crying to one another, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!"

Mark1:40
The leper sees Jesus. The same God..only His glory wasn't apparent to the naked eye. The same "I AM THAT I AM".. Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, the Alpha and the Omega...as mere man, yet fully God.

Isaiah saw the glory and was cut to the core. He cried out in repentance, "Woe is me!" Surely there was no hope now!
The leper, according to the law, an outcast; thrown out of the society after making his head bare and tearing his clothes. Surely there was no hope now!
"I am undone Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips..." How profound.."I am undone ... I've lost all that i have done in my life.. my very being is at stake. I am a sinner!!!!! The holiness of His Majesty is so awesome. What should I do? Where should I hide myself ?"

The leper looked at Jesus. I know not what he saw, because the Word says, "When we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him". Yet he came to Jesus. Imploring, begging, pleading, kneeling down, probably taking the chance of his life. After all, Jesus could have asked him to go away. He was a leper after all...an outcast. "If you are willing....You can make me clean."


Now picture yourself, a sinner, cut off from God's kingdom. Probably choking in the sea of your own sins and iniquities. Coming to Jesus and sayin, "Woe is me, for I am undone! A sinner and I live among sinners! But Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." You're wondering if there's any hope for you now.

Then occurs the greatest miracle of all---SALVATION!

The seraphim flew to Isaiah, a live coal taken from the altar, the place where sacrifices were offered. He touched it to the lips of Isaiah, and said, "Behold this has touched you, your iniquity is taken away and your sins purged."

Jesus moved with coimpassion, put out His hand and touched the leper. No, not the live coal from the periodic sacrifices that are offered on the altar, but the Supreme Sacrifice, the "Lamb that was slain" touched the leper.


Today too, Jesus touches us, and says, "I am willing; be cleansed."

All glory be to God!

In 1 Chronicles 14, we read that King Hiram sent messengers and goods to David..and David perceived that God had established him as king over all Israel since his kingdom was greatly exalted.

Was it the goods that made David understand his kingdom had been established by God, or was it the messengers? Maybe it was the very fact that King Hiram sent something to David that convinced him that God had established his kingdom. What was it that David was able to perceive that God had established his kingdom over all Israel?

Lets take a sneak-peek into David's past.

David was a shepherd. You know what a shepherd is, I'm sure. A shepherd takes care of sheep. Yes, he tends the sheep of his master. He takes them out to pasture. He rubs oil on them to keep them from fleas. He also saves them from attacks of wolves and the like. That was David's job. Hardly a description for a king..!! Even Samuel was mistaken when God sent him to the house of Jesse to anoint the king of Israel after Saul. God told him, that he must not look at the outer appearance of the brothers of David, who were certainly good looking and mighty, but to look at the heart, for that is how God judges man. Not looks, but the heart. That's what counts in the eyes of God.

Ok, so David was soooo insignificant in his father's household, that even when the great prophet Samuel arrived and summoned the sonds of Jesse, Jesse didn't even bother to call David. Now, that's pitiful. And when David arrived, I must say he wouldn't have been a pretty sight! Probably all dirty from a day out in the sun and tending the sheep. Probably also smelling like the sheep... However, it pleased God to anoint that man as next king over Israel. I must say, I'm convinced - "God's thoughts are not my thoughts and God's ways are not my ways. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are His ways higher than my ways, and His thoughts higher than my thoughts." [derived from Isaiah 55:9,10]

Anyway, moving on from there, David was promoted from a shepherd to a musician! He was given the task of playing music, so that the tormenting spirit that troubled Saul would leave. Furthermore, from there, he was in the "WANTED" list of Saul.

But being in the deplorable state that he was in, God still blessed him with an army, that is actually called to be like "the army of God" in my Bible! Surely, as time went by, David finally did PERCEIVE, that God had established His kingdom over all Israel, since his kingdom was higly exalted.

I am stressing on the word "perceived" again and again, because, we often look at our circumstances, and try to "perceive" what God is doing in our lives, or where He's takins us, and what He wants from us.

I just want to tell you, that its good to read from our circumstances, but its also necessary to take into account EVERYTHING that has happened in your life till now before we draw conculsions. Surely David has more than enough evidence that God had established him.

You see, we can be sincere but we can be sincerely mistaken as well! And it is dangerous to draw wrong conclusions and fall. True, God gives us a second and a third and a fourth... and a billionth chance. But why waste time?

You see, just being after God's own heart doesn't mean we're always right. Even being a prophet of God doesn't mean we're always right.
Yes I'm talking about the incident where David, the man after God's own heart decided to make a house of cedar for God. A prophet of God, Nathan was also pleased and asked David to go ahead. Both were mistaken. It was not the will of God that David should build a house for God. Rather God wanted Solomon to build Him a house.

Friends, its VITAL that you listen to God. The time is near, and there's much to do. We all fall and fail Him as well. Its ok. Get up and get going again. But don't take anything for granted. Trust Him, and listen to Him for the littlest things. May you fulfill what God has called you for, that you may be able to say " I have run my race.I am waiting for my reward in heaven" as Paul said. May you find Father God standing with His arms open wide saying ."Well done thou good and faithful servant!"

You see, those who ask of Him and enquire Him for their lives... are established by God. We can see in the following verses [8-17] that David asked of God for both the attacks on the Philistines. He was not complascent after the first victory. Neither did he start the second attack till he heard the marching sound on the top of the mulberry trees. Oh, I wish I could experience what David did that day! The army of God marching ahead of him...preparing the victory for His servant!

As we can see, David was established over all Israel, and in verse 17, we see that David was feared among all the nations!
God wil use those who ask Him to, and they wil bring His knowledge in all the nations.

JESUS will see you thru
HE will watch you in the darkness,
Show you love, will see you through

HE will watch through the night,
Hold you in HIS arms,
Give you the love that no one can give

HE will watch all you do,till the morning comes
hold the light for you,
HE will take you through

HE will guide you,with HIS bright wings,
HOLD you till your heart learns to see,
What HIS love can be......

sit silently my soul
quiet and still
Till He comes along

In the silence i wait
straining my ears;till,
I hear His gentle voice

His mercies everflowing
My ever present help in need
He lifts me up from the mire

His voice gives me peace
He fills me with joy
When He comes along..

Sit silently my soul.....
sit silently....

lyrics:Rini