Principles of God

Proverbs 11:27
27 1Whoever seeks good finds favor,
    but evil comes to one who searches for it.

if I seek in my heart to do good to others, I will find favor from God.
But suppose if I think evil of another person ( it could be of any form, to hurt with a word, even assassinate their character in my  heart), that evil comes back to the me who searches for it.

it is a natural principle that God has put in.
I always want favor from God, then why not I seek good of others.
Even forgetting to seek good of others is also a problem, because I may miss finding the favor of God. This may sound like little bit of Old Covenant, because in new covenant I find favor by grace and grace alone. 
So in new covenant, I already found favor by Grace of God, now that I already found favor, So because of the favor i received i seek more good for others.
The new covenant compells us to do more (not to gain acceptance/favor), but because I already received it.

May God bless this meditation - Amen
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Psalm 34

Verse 1: I will praise the Lord at all times. I will constantly speak His praises

In God times it is easy to praise the Lord, but when wer are going through worst of times,it is very tough to praise the Lord. Sometimes forget about praises, people will question if God exists?

David is facing one of those worst situations.
He is running away from Saul and now acting infront of Achish as mad man.
In order to escape and save your life, you act like a mad man, what kind of situation it will be.
Now, David is writing in that situation that I will praise the Lord at all times.

In verse 3,David says in those situations that he wants to testify the Lords greatness.


1 samuel 21:10-14 says

10 So David escaped from Saul and went to King Achish of Gath. 11 But the officers of Achish were unhappy about his being there. “Isn’t this David, the king of the land?” they asked. “Isn’t he the one the people honor with dances, singing,

‘Saul has killed his thousands,
    and David his ten thousands’?”

12 David heard these comments and was very afraid of what King Achish of Gath might do to him. 13 So he pretended to be insane, scratching on doors and drooling down his beard.

14 Finally, King Achish said to his men, “Must you bring me a madman? 15 We already have enough of them around here! Why should I let someone like this be my guest?”

Verses 4-7 Prayer

David prayed and God delivered him  out of troubles.

This is great passage that explains the importance of prayer.

even during these fasting times when we are praying,

know for sure:

v4 -anyone going though fear - you will be free of my fears ( v4)

v5- anyone looking for help from the Lord - you will be joyful

    are going through a shameful situation like David - because you prayed to the Lord, your shame will go away.

v6 - are you in some desperate situation, because you prayed, the Lord listens and delivers us out of trouble.

Verse 8 Taste and See that the Lord is good.

Many times we go to costco and taste the sample foods they give.

and then we know that particular food is good.

Without tasting we are not sure whether it is good or not.

If somebody else tell us that food is good we will have only head knowledge.

Similarly, we should have our own testimony of goodness of the Lord.

Many people might talk about their testimonies of the goodness of the Lord they have tasted and see. That is why we have testimony time every sunday at the end of worshipservice. 

If you are really not sure, seek and ask God , i want to taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

V12,13,14 - Do you want a long life.

There are 2 things mentioned in bible for long life.

1) Honor your father and mother 

2) Here in Psalm v12,13 - 

Dont speak evil about others and dont tell lies

I was thinking why there is long life if we dont speak evil about others.

When we speak evil, we speak death to others.

and bible says what you sow is what you reap.

Never speak evil of others.

Also never tell lies in a world that is full of lies.

V19,20

The Righteous people might face troubles.

Christians throught the ages faced persecution. God s gracee was with them in times if of troubles.

May this psalm encourage each one of us to praise the Lord at all times, to go in prayer and seek His help instead of mans help, also taste and see for yourself that the Lord is good

The Lord is with righteous people.

Amen.

March21st2015Meditation

7 “But blessed are those who trust in the Lord
    and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.
8 They are like trees planted along a riverbank,
    with roots that reach deep into the water.
Such trees are not bothered by the heat
    or worried by long months of drought.
Their leaves stay green,
    and they never stop producing fruit.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 NLT


The man who trusts in the Lord is compared to tree planted by the water.
Trust in the Lord - has 2 effects.

1) The tree's roots go deep into the water.
2) Not bothered by the heat, also not worried by long months of drought.

A tree to have deep roots, the following are needed.
              Water,Oxygen,Good Soil.

When these 3 things are there, the roots of the tree go deep down into the earth.
Sometimes the roots go upto 3 to 6 feet. In Some cases where the soil is at its best, the roots have taken to 23 feet also.




In a person's life,  Water is the Word of God(Ephesians 5:26)
Oxygen represents the HolySpirit who gives Life. (Ephesians 5:18, Be filled with HolySpirit)
and the Good Soil is person heart.(Luke 8:15, A humble soil allows Gods word to penetrate).


We some times see the rots of a tree grow horizontally and not vertically. that is because the soil is not good enough for the roots to penetrate and so grow horizontally.



A tree which has deep roots, the roots which go deep into water has many advantages.

Such tress are not bothered by heat.
why deep rooted trees are not bothered by heat is  when there is heat, what plants need is water.
A deep rooted tree, whose roots go down to the water levels are supplied with water from the deep.
and so it does not bothers the heat.

Also not worried by long months of drought.
because during long months of drought, there is no rain, and when the there is no rain, generally the plants wither and dry up. But a deep rooted tree whose roots go deep into water does not worry and wait for the rain to come.A deep rooted tree gets its water from the deep even in the times of drought.
That is why their leaves are green and they never stop producing fruit even in drought times.


A person whose trusts in the Lord is like this tree whose roots go deep into the water.
When heat he does not wither because he gets the water from the deep source of his trust in God.
Even during months of drought/storms when everyone else is falling away, this person who trusted in God still is fruitful, because he has continuous supply of water from his deep trust in God.

A good soil with water and oxygen makes tree roots go deep into water.
A person with humble heart that allows Gods Word and Holy Spirit to work in his life, this person goes deep in his trust in God and he withstands heat, drought and is still fruitful.

Blessed be the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

May God Bless this meditation - Amen

Sonship

As we are in the year of Sonship. I want to concentrate on few things on SonShip.

In OT, people always called God as God, they never called God as Father.
They always say o God Almighty
O God My Provider.
God, Rock of my Salvation.
God, My Redeemer.

But they never called God as God my Father.

They were very afraid of God.

But Lord Jesus revealed that God is Father

Luke 11:2

He said to them, “When you pray, say: “‘Father, hallowed be your name,"

That is why today we can pray that Heavenly Father.
What a privilige it is.

A son always reveals God as Father to others. Since Lord Jesus Christ lived as the Son of God, He revealed to the world that God is Father, which no one has did earlier.

But if you see the heart of God, Right from the beginning, God intended man to be in SonShip to live like Son of God.

How do we know
Turn to Luke 3:38

³⁸ the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam,the son of God. 

The Holy Spirit is revealing from this verse that God wants Adam to be in the sonship.
To live as son of God.
Not as a slave.
Not as a person who always have this wrong fear.
But to live as son of God.

but since Adam failed to live as what God has intended for him, that is to live in the sonship,
death came to mankind. but thanks be to God  that through the last Adam that is Jesus Christ who lived as Son, we now have life.

1 Corinthians 15:21
²¹ For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. ²² For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.

If a man does not live in sonship, the result is always death, not only death to himself, but also brings death to others.

But if a man lives in sonship, the result is always life, not only life for himself but he brings life to others.

That is why Lord Jesus He gave abundant life to others because He lived a life of Son.
Whenever He spoke to samaritan woman, he gave Life by living water.
Even when He spoke to rich man, He said leave everything there is life.

Lord Jesus is a life giver, because He is Son of Living God.

Love of the Father

      As a Son, we should know the Love of the Father.

A person who loves the Lord Jesus Christ should know that Father Loves Him.

John 16:27
No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.

The fear in life comes because we dont understand how much the Father loves us and cares us.
you evil fathers know how to love your children, How much more our heavenly Father loves us.

Jesus never feared about his food, his shelter, his money, or his health.
But He knows the Love of the Father and that everything He needs comes from the Father.

How do we know we are sons of God.
Romans 8: 14 says.

 14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For youhave not received a spirit of slavery [g]leading to fear again, but you have received [h]a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.

A good test whether we are son of God is Check ourselves whether Am I led by Spirit or Am I led by flesh.

A daily life reveals, 

the decisions we take in life reveals,

Our attitude to others reveals

our love to others reveals

Not a spirit of slavery of fear.

But a Spirit of adoption.

Am I led by Spirit of God.
The Son always is led b Spirit.
Also the Son looks for inheritance from the Father not from the world.
because Son knows He is heir.
Do we know we are the heirs of God.


A Son always knows the heart of the Father.

 Lord Jesus  says in John 15:19-21 that A Son can do nothing by Himself.
Father loves the Son, and the Son does exaclty what the Father does.
I always see my daughter growing up and sees that she immitates me whatever I do, she imitates me.

In Genesis 22:7
7 Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” And he said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God will [a]provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.
The son listened to his father and in verse 9 even after tying him up, Issac did not question hi father, but just listened and obeyed his father.
This is true sonship, If Isaac has not listened to his father and questioned him, then that would have shattered Abrahams's promise.
We many times see Abraham as Father of Faith, but we miss to see the Obedience of Isaac in understanding and listening to his Father.


A true Son always looksup to God in whatever He does. and sees the heart of God and does accordingly.

A son always does everything that the Father wanted Him to do
That is why Acts 13:22 says, David knows the heart of God, and God is giving a testimony that David always does what God wanted Him to do.

Knowing the heart of God is about knowing what it pleases God.

JOhn 5:19-21
⁹ Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. ²⁰ For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. ²¹ For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.

A Son is always a giver.

Today we see Christians , always keep asking.

Lord Jesus who lived as a Son, showed what it is like to live as Son of God who gives.

That is why whenever Jesus faced sinners like tax collectors, prostitutes , He always gave life not condemnation.

If we see a sinner like a prostitute we immediately condemn, but Lord Jesus who is the Son, has cared for them and showed love to them and bring them to repentance.

That is why in Luke 5:4-8, when Lord Jesus spoke to Peter initially, he didnt say you are a sinner.

⁸ When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”

But he showed abundance of Love of the Father and in that abundance Peter repented.
Even with Samaritan woman,  He talked about living water, and then brought her to repentance.

A son always brings more sons to Heavenly Father by showing the Love of the Father and not by condemnation.

But a person who under bondage of law always condemns people and make them go more into bondage rather than making them son of God.


A Son is a care taker.

A son is not a selfish man. A son of God always care for others needs.
Today we see in our lives how many times we act so selfishly.
Lord Jesus never said this is my money, my home, my life.
Everything He has , He kept sharing all through the life.

These are the days where we complain, oh this is my money , oh this is my property.

Hebrews 12:24 says  blood of Jesus speaks better than blood of
Abel.
The blood of Abel cried out to God.
Bu the blood of Jesus Christ, made peace with God.

24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.

A son takes care of others.

Let us see one example:Matthew 17:24-27
Here we see an example where Lord Jesus even paying the taxes of Peter.
Today we are so selfish in our money or any of our things, we forget about others.
But here we see a wonderful example of Lord Jesus even paying the taxes for Peter.
Because He does not earn it on his own thoughts or own ways, but He receives everything from His Father.

Even our earning when we rely on the Father , then whatever we earn we will be easily giving.
This Church is wonderful in giving, and this passage encourages us more to live in the sonship.

Matthew 17:24-27

²⁴ After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?”

²⁵ “Yes, he does,” he replied.

When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?”

²⁶ “From others,” Peter answered.

“Then the children are exempt,” Jesus said to him. ²⁷ “But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”

How wonderful it is to live as Son of God.
Lord Jesus Christ showed how to live as Son of God.
and now the HolySpirit in us ready to help us to walk in that Sonship that we have received.
Are we ready to walk in that SonShip?

Psalm33

Sing Joyfully

V1
when a dress fits you, you wear it happily.
when a jewelry looks good for you, you will adore yourself with that.

The Word says, The Praises of the Lord fits perfectly for a righteous person.
For a unbeliever/ for a person who is not washed by the blood , for them the praises does not suit because they dont know the joy of being clothed with righteousness,

but for you and me the righteousness of Christ s given and the praises of the Lord fits perfectly for each one of us.
You may be of any color of any region of any language, it doesnt matter, but what matters is if you are a person washed by blood of Jesus Christ, the no matter who you are , the praises of the Lord fits you.

Remember the dress or jewelry is good, somebody will tell you.
But here the Word o God says it fits you perfectly.

When you have a nice dress or jewelry that fits you, if you dont use it or just keep it a locker, never uses it then it is of no use.
Similarly, the praises fits you perfectly and if you dont sing it and just look depressed all the time then it is of no use.

When some nice dress or nice jewelry suits us, then we try to wear it very frequently because we look good in it and we love it.

Similarly, the praises of God suits a believer perfectly why not wear it every time.


V 2 & 3

The message translation says
Use guitars to reinforce your Hallelujahs!
    Play his praise on a grand piano!
Invent your own new song to him;
    give him a trumpet fanfare.

This verse says play skillfully, give your best. Give him a trumpet fanfare
When a football team or cricket team returns victoriously, the people arrange parades and give them  big fanfare, nobody forces them to do it but out of love they give that fanfare they give their best.

How about us when we gather as Church, give Him the best, instruments give your best.
just think how much skillfully David would have played the instruments for His God.
singers give your best.
not only people who lead us, do your best.
ushers do it skillfully,
Sunday school teachers, give your best to the kids,
people who cook food and bring it,
Do everything because you are not doing to please a man.
But you are doing it for the glory of God.


V 4 - 9

The Lord loves the righteousness and justice.
If a wife loves the husband she will know what he likes and cooks accordingly.
Know what the Lord loves and do it in your life.

He made the heavens with His Word.
by His breath he made all the host.
Psalmist says He is might creator, let all the earth fear Him. Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.
When you come to the presence of God, be gripped with that awesomeness of God.
Have Reverence to the Most High God.

Sadly, these are the days where people gripped by gadgets, whats going on in whatsapp, what email i get,what textmessage that i got and even when you come to the presence of the Lord, you some play a video game, some keep looking at whatsapp messages, some keep texting.
Remember what God said to Moses, by striking the Rock,

"Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them."

Do you wan to see what is to have reverence to God.
God who is enthroned above Cherubim.
God of glory, God of Might,God of Power.
Children of Israel looked at God as God who is enthroned above Cherubim.
Psalm 80:1 - Go who is enthroned above the Cherubim.
Psalm 18:10 -God who rode upon Cherub

To understand this God who is enthroned above Cherubim.
Cherub are different types of angels in the presence of God.
Ezekiel 10:21 - gives the description of how Cherub looks like
21 Each one had four faces and each one four wings, and beneath their wings was the form of human hands.

Now coming to Man, when Adam and Eve sinned and were thrown out of garden of Eden
and in Genesis 3:24 it says

24 So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.

So whenever anybody try to transgress to go to the tree of Life, the Cherub and the Flaming Sword will slain them.

Now after that times passed by then came Moses.
When God gives commands to Moses on how to build the tabernacle.
In Exodus 25:V17-22

7 “You shall make a [p]mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half [q]cubits [r]long and one and a half cubits [s]wide. 18 You shall make two cherubim of gold, make them of hammered work [t]at the two ends of the mercy seat. 19 Make one cherub [u]at one end and one cherub [v]at the other end; you shall make the cherubim of one piece with the mercy seat at its two ends. 20 The cherubim shall have their wings spread upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings and [w]facing one another; the faces of the cherubim are to be turned toward the mercy seat. 21 You shall put the mercy seat [x]on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony which I will give to you. 22 There I will meet with you; and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak to you about all that I will give you in commandment for the sons of Israel.

So we see that Cherub were on either side of Mercy Seat.
Whenever the high priest enters the holy of Holies.
Exodus 26:V1 and V
1 “Moreover you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twisted linen and [a]blue and purple and scarlet material; you shall make them with cherubim, the work of a skillful workman. 
 31 “You shall make a veil of [at]blue and purple and scarlet material and fine 
twisted linen; it shall be made with cherubim, the work of a skillful workman.

So we see that even the tabernacle curtains and even the veil was crafted with Cherubim.
So whenever a priest enters the tabernacle, he always sees the cherubim, on the curtains, when he in the holy place and when he goes to most holy place there also he sees this Cherubim.

The Holy of Holies:

Ark of Covenant,(golden pot(manna), Aarons Rod,tablets)
Cover t with Mercy seat
Upon Mercy seat  - put 2 Cherubim.
And I will dwell in the midst of Cherubim

This is how we understand the Word Shekinah. God dwells between Cherubim.

I will dwell in the midst of Cherubim, brought a huge weight upon people of Israel.
they say we have a God who dwells in our midst that we cannot go to Him.

when a high priest enters only once a year.
The picture of Cherubim always gave them the picture of Adam sent out of Eden.

Since Israelite's moved from one place to another.
When people come to move the Tabernacle.
when they lift up their heads,they would see curtains with pictures of  cherubim
Oh God who dwells between Cherubim.

Even the Veil has picture of Cherubim.
So as soon they came to worship

2 people went to the temple
pharisee was so proud
another guy looked at Cherubim and fell on his face and confessed his sin.

When Solomon built the temple, the pictures of cherubim is all over the walls.
So any one comes into the temple, they would see cherubim all over the place, and there was fear of God.
Today we need to say to people please turn off your cell phones.please don't talk.

If it is like this that God dwells in the midst of Cherubim, but thanks to God that Lord Jesus came and torn the veil.
Dear Church, Living in this prosperous country, Let us have the fear of God.
Let us reverence to this God Most High.
It is not a destructive fear, It is a constructive fear, the fear of God.


V 10,11
whose counsel are we taking in every aspect of our life.
In our every decisions, do we take the counsel of the Lord or do we go by counsel of the world.
God frustrates the plans of the peoples.
when a man gives counsel, he can think of it for that moment or the effect of that decision for some years.
But when God gives counsel, He looks at generations to come and gives the counsel.

Example of Saul not killing out all the agagites.

Do you take the counsel of the Lord.


V 13-15

The Lord looks down from heaven and see the hearts of man.
We should always be in the constant reminder that God is seeing.

Many times we are concerned whether  people seeing or not.
Whatever you do, do it knowing fully well that the God is looking down into my life every moment.