Could it be you?

I acknowledge my transgressions. (Psalm 51:3)

In one of his sermons the great preacher Charles Spurgeon said: "I have known some who preached the Gospel with power, but lived to depart from it altogether. I have known some who discharged the duties of deaconship and eldership with considerable diligence, who have afterwards given way to their evil passions. I have thought some of them to be... the holiest of men. While they have been praying I have been lifted up... to the very gates of heaven; If anyone had said... these would one day fall into gross sin, I would not have believed it. I would sooner have believed it of myself. Those who seemed stronger than we ......have fallen! What about me then… weak as I am!

Our Lord's disciples who sat at the table with Him, when they were told that one of them would betray their Master, each enquired: 'Lord, is it I?' That was a very proper question. There was not one who asked, 'Lord, is it Judas?' Probably not one of them suspected him.

And it may be that the worst hypocrite in this assembly... is the one upon whom there does not rest at this moment a single shade of suspicion. He has learned to play his part so well that his true character has not yet been discovered."

If those words describe you.... Run to the arms of Jesus.

Don't walk. Run!

Run to the One Who loves you with full knowledge of your sins and struggles, whose blood can cleanse you, whose grace can lift you, and whose power can help you to live an overcoming life.

Remember: Every Saint has a past, Every Sinner has a future!

( by Irma Raymond)

Quote for the day

"To love to preach is one thing; to love those to whom we preach is quite another." - Richard Cecil

Quote for the day

"What others think of me is becoming less and less important; what they think of Jesus because of me is critical." -Cliff Richard

Beat stress the smart way

Stress has become a common word today. Many undergo it and seldom know how to overcome it.

Usually when someone goes through a stressful season, his mind would be full of himself. “Look at me, why am I going through this? Why has God allowed this? No one cares for me. Oh, poor me!” In other words, his eyes are stuck on himself and his challenges.

It’s not completely wrong thinking about one’s challenges. But when someone’s mind is full of himself, he tends to think that he is the only one on this universe going through such challenges! But the truth is, there are a whole lot of people going through similar – even worse – issues.

If not handled properly, this attitude can lead him to self pity and isolation. This would make the problem more complex. But there is a way out!

To some it may appear as naive while some others may consider it as burdensome. But here’s that smart way for you to break stress: try reaching out to others!

How does it work? Simple: it compels you to take your eyes off of yourself and fix your gaze on somebody else who is hurting. Though the initiation may seem to be hard or idiotic, in the process of doing so, you forget your troubles and would have the satisfaction of helping someone who was in real need.

Check this out: “If you are generous with the hungry and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out, your lives will begin to glow in the darkness, your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight” (Isaiah 58:10 MSG).

If I want to get into somebody else’s shoes, I got to do something important – I must get rid of my shoes! This is one of the smart keys to overcoming stress.

When you find stress making you a “friend request”, push the “don’t know” button and “chat” with somebody who is hurting or “retweet” an encouraging word to a discouraged soul! You could even help the hungry with a food packet or help the needy financially. This will burst stress and you could handle your challenges with a clear mind. And that’s smart living!

( by Joe Abraham, taken from turnbacktogod.com)

God will make a way...

I'd like to share about yet another miracle God did for us today.

I graduated in engineering, and am doing my MBA now. From the beginning, I was scared about Finance, because it was totally new to me. Yet somehow, my friends and I enrolled ourselves in a case study competition held by IIM. It was a case on a bank, and involved many financial terms. Day before yesterday, we had attended the Preliminary round, and the judge said that our knowledge was superficial, and it wasn't enough to crack the case.

The competition was scheduled to happen today. Even yesterday evening, we had many doubts and could not figure out a proper way to proceed. A friend of mine, was very desperate and started praying while the rest of us were working on the case. We were about to leave the lab, when a student I've not seen before, approached us and asked us what we were working on. We explained the case to him. He spoke with us for about 45 minutes, explained various terms and procedures, and gave us leads to work on the case.

We presented the solutions today, and secured the second prize!

I'm just awestruck at the way God helped us. A stranger had come out of nowhere, and helped us with the case, expecting nothing back in return.

True, "He works in ways we cannot see, He will make a way for me".....

All Praise and Glory be to God!

The Refiner's Fire…

Tough times don’t last, but tough people do.

Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you. (1 Peter 4:12)

It takes fire to purify gold, and when God gets ready to refine us He uses fiery trials!

Nothing gives strength to your character and depth to your faith, like tough times.

Whenever you see someone whose life reflects the character of Christ - you're probably looking at someone who's been through the fire.

But here's some good news: you may be in the fire today, but God has His hand on the thermostat! He knows the heat required to burn away the impurities that hinder His purposes in your life. His hand fans the flames needed to teach you endurance, forgiveness, compassion, and a lot of other character building lessons.

You need His correction - you don't enjoy it - but you need it.

Listen: "We do not enjoy being disciplined. It is painful, but later, after we have learned from it, we have peace, because we start living in the right way" (Hebrews 12:11).

God will do whatever it takes to protect His investment in you - you know He sent His Son only for that - for you!

We spend so much time talking about what we want from God, when the real issue is... - what He wants from us and what He'll do to get it.

John said, "He'll place everything true in its proper place... everything false He'll put out with the trash to be burned" (Matthew 3:12).

Maybe that'll help you to understand some of the things you're going through at the moment.

So don't shy away from the fire, but rejoice that He is making you anew!

Trust Him today!

God bless you!!

( by Irma Raymond)

A promise being fulfilled...

Happy New Year wishes to you all. I am sharing with you a beautiful experience I had with God on last Friday...

Being my first post for this year, its a pretty long one, do bear with me and read it.

As some of you may know, I play on the keyboard for mass every Sunday, in my church.

I got my first keyboard 6 years back. The timings for classes weren't convenient, and so I never attended any classes. I just meddled with the instrument every day, and prayed that God teaches me to play music. Soon I learnt to play by ear, the songs I hear. Then I learnt chords. Within one year, I joined the English choir in my church. I still don't know what prompted us (my sister and I) to meet the choir master and ask him permission to play for mass. To my surprise, he agreed. I knew very little about music. I could play a song exactly in the same tune as we sing, with a single finger at a time. I couldn't play chords in their entirety. I knew only the shortcut chords. And I couldn't play without accompaniment.

Surprisingly, many congratulated me now and then, on my ability to play by ear (since I didn’t know notes). This made me complacent, and I wasn't motivated to learn further. So, for about 5 years, I played in the same fashion........till November 2009. A new boy joined our choir, and he was a master at the piano. I couldn't even compare the way we played. His music was far superior compared to mine.

The first idea that came to my mind was to run away. I felt I had done a good job for five years, and I decided to hand over the responsibility to him. The truth was, I didn’t want to face the humiliation that comes when you play side by side with a music genius. I told him to take over and he did.

I was content to just sing along with the others. All but one friend was happy with this decision. She (Sagai) told me that God just required our availability. It didn’t matter if I couldn't play like him. Everyone is called to do something for God, and I had just turned down that offer. I didn’t listen to her.

I couldn't bear the humiliation. There were times, when this boy couldn't make it to the mass, and when I played at those times, my choir would criticize me, saying he played better.(they hadn't felt it till then)... Then it happened that this boy left to a different place to pursue his higher studies, and my choir had no other option than to put up with my music. The criticism continued.

At this junction, I met a friend who was part of a band. He plays on the keyboard and plays really well. He too was like me, he didn’t know notes, he prayed and learnt the instrument. I didn’t have enough faith to pray and believe that God will teach me like he taught my friend.

He’s my senior at college, and one day he was telling me how there will be no one to lead praise and worship in our college prayer group, once he leaves this year. I carefully didn’t tell him that I play for my choir. Why should I? I have seen my friend play, I know what I play, and I know the stark difference in the way we way. I know what was happening in my choir. Should I risk humiliation again?

But my friend got to know somehow. From then on, my friend kept asking me to take up the responsibility. I kept refusing and I even told my friend, that I knew nothing about the keyboard.

Then I attended a retreat someday, and God promised me that I would lead praise and worship someday. It meant a lot to me. Though I had refused every offer that came my way, and I was playing for my church choir, only because they couldn’t find someone else to play, I know that I was yearning to play really well. I wanted to play for God, but I just couldn’t face the shame and pain you get when you are tested. That is the Devil’s powerful weapon against us, and I fell a prey to it.

After that retreat, I just walked up to my friend, and asked him permission to play just one song for the mass. That song didn’t turn out well. Though I felt sad, somehow I felt very peaceful. And I knew that God would make that promise come true. My friend’s testimony of how he put up with even greater humiliation, just to learn the instrument, inspired some hope in me.

Then I asked my friend to help me learn that instrument, so I can take up the responsibility when he leaves. My friend agreed. My own keyboard got repaired. I borrowed a small one from a friend and prayed that I learn properly.

Our practice sessions started. My friend tried to teach me how we can play. But I couldn’t follow properly what he said. Music calls for creativity, and I knew I had little creativity in me. We practiced this way and that, but I only went home surer that I would never learn that instrument. I had no hope at all. But I did keep practicing what my friend kept teaching me. Along with this, came the painful process of unlearning some of the things I had learnt previously.

Day after day passed with no hope and (I assumed) no progress. Then I bought a new keyboard because the one at home had no touch sensitivity, which is essential to give the song its feeling. The keyboard cost me a whopping Rs.37000. The only thing that kept drove me to do all this, was the promise God gave me at the retreat.

I kept practicing like this for the last 3-4 months. On Friday night, I was desperate! I had bought a new keyboard for such a huge price, just hoping I will learn to play, but I couldn’t produce good music. What I played was dry; there was no life in it. I just couldn’t take it anymore. For about three months I had kept asking God to teach me, day and night I asked him, and NOTHING had happened.

I asked God why he let my friend talk me into taking up this responsibility. I asked him why he gave me that promise. Why did he let me buy the keyboard? Why he taught my friend, and didn’t teach me? Why he had inspired hope in me, and now left it in pieces? For five years I have been playing on the instrument. And for the last 4 months, I was trying to learn it in real earnest. All that had gone for a waste. My heart ached, and I cried out to God. Lord, if you will not help me learn this instrument, why are you giving me the desire to worship you, why are you sending me so many offers when you know I can’t play? What AM I SUPPOSED TO DO now?

After crying for a long time, I felt I must praise God. But, I was so sure that nothing good will ever happen to me as far as music is concerned. Maybe, I just didn’t have it in me.

I gave up the idea of praising God, and went to play on the keyboard, without any expectation, without any hope, even without a desire to learn to play. I just ran my fingers over the keys. After some 5 minutes, I had just practiced some pattern when I realized that the song made sense. I kept building on it and praise be to God, I played a full song in half an hour! There was life in my music! For five years, I felt no life in the music I played. But, now, I felt that music reawakening life within me.

I played that same song till one o’ clock that night. I must have played it some 50 times. The song goes like this “In His time, In His time, He makes all things beautiful, In His time…” How true! I thought that all I had learnt in the past 5 years, especially the last 4 months, was a waste of time. But as I continued playing, I realized that I was only polishing what I learnt then. God had been answering my prayer every time I had practiced. He had been teaching me ALL THIS WHILE. Now, all those lessons were taking form in my song, and the song was amazing! The next morning I woke up and played another song, and it too turned out beautiful.

Yesterday (Sunday), I practiced hard and left for choir practice. I played this song there, and a puzzled choir looked at me. I could see the surprise in their eyes, and the happiness on Sagai’s face. The mass started, and I felt life flow into EVERY song that I played. When mass got over, Sagai rushed to me and whispered “IT WAS AWESOME!” It was the happiest day of my life.

I came home, and kept smiling from ear to ear till I went to sleep that night.

This doesn’t mean that I have mastered the instrument. I still have lots to learn, but now, I HAVE HOPE! And my music has life!

I believe beyond doubt that God will fulfill His promise to me. And I know, he will.

To Him alone, belong all Praise and Glory!