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Painting of the man’s son

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Note: This is a story focused on Christianity. For secular readers, I would suggest to skip this story.

Years ago, there was a very wealthy man who, with his devoted young son, shared a passion for art collecting. Together they traveled around the world, adding only the finest art treasures to their collection. Priceless works by Picasso, Van Gogh, Monet and many others adorned the walls of the family estate. The widowed, elder man looked on with satisfaction as his only child became an experienced art collector. The son’s trained eye and sharp business mind caused his father to beam with pride as they dealt with art collectors around the world.
As winter approached, war engulfed the nation, and the young man left to serve his country. After only a few short weeks, his father received a telegram. His beloved son was missing in action. The art collector anxiously awaited more news, fearing he would never see his son again. Within days, his fears were confirmed. The young man had died while rushing a fellow soldier to a medic.
Distraught and lonely, the old man faced the upcoming Christmas holidays with anguish and sadness. The joy of the season, a season that he and his son had so looked forward to, would visit his house no longer. On Christmas morning, a knock on the door awakened the depressed old man. As he walked to the door, the masterpieces of art on the walls only reminded him that his son was not coming home.
As he opened the door, he was greeted by a soldier with a large package in his hand. He introduced himself to the man by saying, “I was a friend of your son. I was the one he was rescuing when he died. May I come in for a few moments? I have something to show you.” As the two began to talk, the soldier told of how the man’s son had told everyone of his, not to mention his father’s, love of fine art. “I’m an artist,” said the soldier, “and I want to give you this.” As the old man unwrapped the package, the paper gave way to reveal a portrait of the son.
Though the world would never consider it the work of a genius, the painting featured the young man’s face in striking detail. Overcome with emotion, the man thanked the soldier, promising to hang the picture over the fireplace. A few hours later, after the soldier had departed, the old man set about his task.
True to his word, the painting went well above the fireplace, pushing aside thousands of dollars of paintings. And then the man sat in his chair and spent Christmas gazing at the gift he had been given. During the days and weeks that followed, the man realized that even though his son was no longer with him, the boy’s life would live on because of those he had touched. He would soon learn that his son had rescued dozens of wounded soldiers before a bullet stilled his caring heart.
As the stories of his son’s gallantry continued to reach him, fatherly pride and satisfaction began to ease the grief. The painting of his son soon became his most prized possession, far eclipsing any interest in the pieces for which museums around the world clamored. He told his neighbors it was the greatest gift he had ever received.
The following spring, the old man became ill and passed away. The art world was in anticipation!
Unmindful of the story of the man’s only son, but in his honor, those paintings would be sold at an auction. According to the will of the old man, all of the art works would be auctioned on Christmas day, the day he had received his greatest gift. The day soon arrived and art collectors from around the world gathered to bid on some of the world’s most spectacular paintings. Dreams would be fulfilled this day; greatness would be achieved as many claim “I have the greatest collection.” The auction began with a painting that was not on any museum’s list. It was the painting of the man’s son. The auctioneer asked for an opening bid. The room was silent.
“Who will open the bidding with $100?” he asked. Minutes passed. No one spoke. From the back of the room came, “Who cares about that painting? It’s just a picture of his son. Let’s forget it and go on to the good stuff.”
More voices echoed in agreement. “No, we have to sell this one first,” replied the auctioneer. “Now, who will take the son?” Finally, a friend of the old man spoke, “Will you take ten dollars for the painting? That’s all I have. I knew the boy, so I’d like to have it.”
“I have ten dollars. Will anyone go higher?” called the auctioneer. After more silence, the auctioneer said, “Going once, going twice. Gone.” The gavel fell, cheers filled the room and someone exclaimed, “Now we can get on with it and we can bid on these treasures!”
The auctioneer looked at the audience and announced the auction was over. Stunned disbelief quieted the room. Someone spoke up and asked, “What do you mean it’s over? We didn’t come here for a picture of some old guy’s son. What about all of these paintings? There are millions of dollars of art here! I demand that you explain what’s going on here!” The auctioneer replied, “It’s very simple. According to the will of the father, whoever takes the son…gets it all.”
Puts things into perspective doesn’t it? Just as those art collectors discovered on that Christmas Day, the message is still the same: the love of a Father, a Father whose greatest joy came from His Son, who went away and gave His life rescuing others. And because of that Father’s love, whoever takes the Son, gets it all.
If you take Jesus.. Rest all will be given to you…

Dont give up on your desires that has been put into you.

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Dear God,

Give me strength to share the words that you intend for me to share. Let your words touch a hurting soul and heal. Father, you are the greatest comforter. You chose us when you planned creation. Let us know you more and fill our hearts with you. I ask for the peace that comes only from you. We ask in the Mighty name of Jesus Christ.
Amen

Now, I like to share a message about not giving up.

Giving up on desires.

Giving up on Desires that has been put into our hearts by God.

For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. – Jeremiah 29:11

Yes! The desires which we sometimes give up thinking, It might not be God’s Will for me.

How sure can we be on this?

This is something almost every new believer who started submitting to God in the earlier stage used to experience. We give up on our dreams just because we failed at times.

It is written in Holy Bible, God gave those desires.

How to differentiate if our desire came from God or out of our own will. Here is a simple trick. Think about it. If your desire satisfies flesh. It is not from God.

If it satisfies soul, there are chances that, It might be from God.

How to be even more sure.

We can have a set of conditions like,
Does my desire, glorify God?
Does my desire help others apart from me.
The outcome of my desire, will it benefit other children of God?
Then it might be from God.

If then, is it right to Give up on our dreams?

It is good if we submit everything to God. And let him do everything on the right time. But discouragement doesn’t come from God. If we give up on a dream because of certain discouragement. We are losing something. And if we are staying bitter, that our dream failed. Its not the right way as well. It actually takes us away from God. God has created us to be filled with Joy! It has been repeated throughout Psalms, How David held on to God in spite of his troubled times.

I like to share some example. Abraham, Job, Joseph, David who saw through their dreams come to pass.

Discouragement. Even Jesus, was discouraged. The Holy Son of God once prayed.

“Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

We as humans, sometimes gets discouragement. Its one of satan’s strongest weapon formed against us. But, we can get over it by Believing. We should believe what God has put into us. He put a dream of hope inside everyone of us. Lets pray that our dreams come to pass on God’s timing. Till then we will pray for his strength to stand and hope!

Isaiah 60:19-22 “No longer will you need the sun to shine by day, nor the moon to give its light by night, for the Lord your God will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Your sun will never set; your moon will not go down. For the Lord will be your everlasting light. Your days of mourning will come to an end. All your people will be righteous. They will possess their land forever, for I will plant them there with my own hands in order to bring myself glory. The smallest family will become a thousand people, and the tiniest group will become a mighty nation. At the right time, I, the Lord, will make it happen.”

Makes sense now

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Note: This is a story focused on Christianity. For secular readers, I would suggest to skip this story.

There was once a man who did not believe in either the virgin birth of Christ or the spiritual meaning behind it, and was skeptical even about God. He and his family lived in a farm community. His wife was a devout believer and diligently raised her children in the faith. He sometimes gave her a hard time about her belief and mocked her religious observances.

“It’s all nonsense — why would God lower himself and become a human like us? It’s such a ridiculous story,” he said.

One snowy day, she and the children left for church while he stayed home. After they had departed, the winds grew stronger and the snow turned into a blinding snowstorm. He sat down to relax before the fire for the evening.

Then he heard a loud thump, something hitting against the window… And, still another thump. He looked outside but could not see anything. So he ventured outside for a better view. In the field near his house he saw, of all the strangest things, a flock of geese. They were apparently flying to look for a warmer area down south, but they had been caught in the snowstorm. The storm had become too blinding and violent for the geese to fly or see their way. They were stranded on his farm, with no food or shelter, unable to do more than flutter their wings and fly in aimless circles. He had compassion for them and wanted to help them. He thought to himself, the barn would be a great place for them to stay. It is warm and safe; surely they could spend the night and wait out the storm. So he opened the barn doors for them.

He waited, watching them, hoping they would notice the open barn and go inside. Nevertheless, they did not notice the barn or realize what it could mean for them. He moved closer toward them to get their attention, but they just moved away from him out of fear.

He went into the house and came back with some bread, broke it up, and made a bread trail to the barn. They still did not catch on.

Starting to get frustrated, he went over and tried to shoo them toward the barn. They panicked and scattered into every direction except toward the barn. Nothing he did could get them to go into the barn where there was warmth, safety, and shelter. Feeling totally frustrated, he exclaimed, “Why don’t they follow me? Can’t they see this is the only place where they can survive the storm? How can I possibly get them into the one place to save them?”

He thought for a moment and realized that they just would not follow a human. He said to himself, “How can I possibly save them? The only way would be for me to become like those geese. If only I could become like one of them. Then I could save them. They would follow me and I would lead them to safety.”

At that moment, he stopped and considered what he had said. The words reverberated in his mind: If only I could become like one of them, then I could save them. Then, at last, he understood God’s heart towards mankind… and he fell on his knees in the snow.

Little Johnny and the Goose

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Little Johnny visiting his grandparents was given his first slingshot.  He practiced in the woods, but he could never hit his target.

As he came back to Grandma’s back yard, he spied her pet goose.  On an impulse he took aim and let fly.  The stone hit, and the goose fell dead.

The boy panicked.  Desperately he hid the dead goose in the wood pile, only to look up and see his sister watching.  Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing.

After lunch that day, Grandma said, “Sally, let’s wash the dishes.”  But Sally said, “Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen today. Didn’t you Johnny?”  And she whispered to him, “Remember the goose!”  So Johnny did the dishes.

Later, Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing.  Grandma said, “I’m sorry, but I need Sally to help me make supper.”  Sally smiled and said, “That’s all taken care of.  Johnny wants to do it.”  Again she whispered, “Remember the goose.”  Johnny stayed while Sally went fishing.

After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally’s, finally he couldn’t stand it.  He confessed to Grandma that he’d killed the goose.

“I know, Johnny,” she said, giving him a hug.  “I was standing at the window and saw the whole thing.  Because I love you, I forgave you.  But I wondered how long you would let Sally make a slave of you.”

 
This is how we let our guilt dictate for life. As a believer in Christ, we must be aware that Christ has paid the price for our sins 2000 years ago. Its easy to go to God than covering up our mistakes. God had seen everything. He knows. Yet he choose to forgive. Its up to us to take it.

Donuts for Pushups

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Note: This is a story focused on Christianity. For secular readers, I would suggest to skip this story.

There was a boy by the name of Steve who was attending school in a western state. Mr. Christianson taught at this particular school. He had an open-door policy and would take in any student that had been thrown out of another class as long as they would abide by his rules. Steve had been kicked out of his sixth period and no other teacher wanted him, so he went into Mr. Christianson’s class. Steve was told that he could not be late, so he arrived just seconds before the bell rang and he would sit in the very back of the room. He would also be the first to leave after the class was over. One day, Mr. Christianson asked Steve to stay after class so he could talk with him. After class, Mr. Christianson pulled Steve aside and said, “You think you’re pretty tough, don’t you?”

Steve’s answer was, “Yeah, I do.”
Then Mr. Christianson asked, “How many push-ups can you do?”
Steve said, “I do about 200 every night.”
“200? That’s pretty good, Steve,” Mr. Christianson said. “Do you think you could do 300?”
Steve replied, “I don’t know… I’ve never done 300 at a time.”
“Do you think you could?” Again asked Mr. Christianson.
“Well, I can try,” said Steve.
“Can you do 300 in sets of 10? I need you to do 300 in sets of ten for this to work. Can you do it? I need you to tell me you can do it,” Mr. Christianson said.
Steve said, “Well… I think I can… yeah, I can do it.”
Mr. Christianson said, “Good! I need you to do this on Friday.”
Friday came and Steve got to class early and sat in the front of the room. When class started, Mr. Christianson pulled out a big box of donuts. Now these weren’t the normal kinds of donuts, they were the extra fancy BIG kind, with cream centers and frosting swirls. Everyone was pretty excited-it was Friday, the last class of the day, and they were going to get an early start on the weekend.
Mr. Christianson went to the first girl in the first row and asked, “Cynthia, do you want a donut?”
Cynthia said, “Yes.”
Mr. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked, “Steve, would you do ten push-ups so that Cynthia can have a donut?”
Steve said, “Sure,” and jumped down from his desk to do a quick ten.
Then Steve again sat in his desk. Bro. Christianson put a donut on Cynthia’s desk. Mr. Christianson then went to Joe, the next person, and asked, “Joe do you want a donut?”
Joe said, “Yes.”
Mr. Christianson asked, “Steve would you do ten push-ups so Joe can have a donut?” Steve did ten push-ups, Joe got a donut. And so it went, down the first aisle, Steve did ten pushups for every person before they got their donut. And down the second aisle, till Mr. Christianson came to Scott. Scott was captain of the football team and center of the basketball team. He was very popular and never lacking for female companionship. When Mr. Christianson asked, “Scott do you want a donut?” Scott’s reply was, “Well, can I do my own pushups?”
Mr. Christianson said, “No, Steve has to do them.”
Then Scott said, “Well, I don’t want one then.”
Mr. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked “Steve, would you do ten pushups so Scott can have a donut he doesn’t want?”
Steve started to do ten pushups. Scott said, “HEY! I said I didn’t want one!”
Mr. Christianson said, “Look, this is my classroom, my class, my desks, and my donuts. Just leave it on the desk if you don’t want it.” And he put a donut on Scott’s desk.
Now by this time, Steve had begun to slow down a little. He just stayed on the floor between sets because it took too much effort to be getting up and down. You could start to see a little perspiration coming out around his brow. Mr. Christianson started down the third row. Now the students were beginning to get a little angry.
Mr. Christianson asked Jenny, “Jenny, do you want a donut?”
Jenny said, “No.”
Then Mr. Christianson asked Steve, “Steve, would you do ten pushups so Jenny can have a donut that she doesn’t want?” Steve did ten, Jenny got a donut.
By now, the students were beginning to say “No” and there were all these uneaten donuts on the desks. Steve was also having to really put forth a lot of effort to get these pushups done for each donut. There began to be a small pool of sweat on the floor beneath his face, his arms and brow were beginning to get red because of the physical effort involved. Mr. Christianson asked Robert to watch Steve to make sure he did ten pushups in a set because he couldn’t bear to watch all of Steve’s work for all of those uneaten donuts. So Robert began to watch Steve closely. Mr. Christianson started down the fourth row.
During his class, however, some students had wandered in and sat along the heaters located on the sides of the room. When Mr. Christianson realized this; he did a quick count and saw 34 students in the room. He started to worry if Steve would be able to make it.
Mr. Christianson went on to the next person and the next and the next. Near the end of that row, Steve was really having a rough time. He was taking a lot more time to complete each set.
Steve asked Mr. Christianson, “Do I have to make my nose touch on each one?”
Mr. Christianson thought for a moment, “Well, they’re your pushups.. You can do them any way that you want.” And Mr. Christianson went on.
A few moments later, Jason came to the room and was about to come in when all the students yelled, “NO! Don’t come in! Stay out!”
Jason didn’t know what was going on. Steve picked up his head and said, “No, let him come in.”
Mr. Christianson said, “You realize that if Jason comes in you will have to do ten pushups for him.”
Steve said, “Yes, let him come in.”
Mr. Christianson said, “Okay, I’ll let you get Jason’s out of the way right now. Jason, do you want a donut?”
“Yes.”
“Steve, will you do ten pushups so that Jason can have a donut?” Steve did ten pushups very slowly and with great effort. Jason, bewildered, was handed a donut and sat down.
Mr. Christianson finished the fourth row, then started among those seated on the heaters. Steve’s arms were now shaking with each pushup in a struggle to lift himself against the force of gravity. Sweat was dropping off of his face and, by this time, there was not a dry eye in the room.
The very last two girls in the room were cheerleaders and very popular. Mr. Christianson went to Linda, the second to last, and asked, “Linda, do you want a doughnut? Linda said, very sadly, “No, thank you.”
Mr. Christianson asked Steve, “Steve, would you do ten pushups so that Linda can have a donut she doesn’t want?”
Grunting from the effort, Steve did ten very slow pushups for Linda..
Then Mr. Christianson turned to the last girl, Susan. “Susan, do you want a donut?” Susan, with tears flowing down her face, asked, “Mr. Christianson, can I help him?”
Mr. Christianson, with tears of his own, said, “No, he has to do it alone, Steve, would you do ten pushups so Susan can have a donut?”
As Steve very slowly finished his last pushup, with the understanding that he had accomplished all that was required of him, having done 350 pushups, his arms buckled beneath him and he fell to the floor.
Mr. Christianson turned to the room and said.
“This is how it was with our Savior, Jesus Christ.  He said to the Father, “Into thy hands I commend my spirit.” With the understanding that He had done everything that was required of Him, he collapsed on the cross and died – even for those that didn’t want His gift. And just like some of those in this room, many choose not to accept the gift that was provided for them.

Value

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An young man was so depressed, He had a tough question in his mind. He wanted to know the value of him. This is a question, which no one was able to give a convincing answer to. Hence he decided to ask a wise man to evaluate him. He hoped that the wise man will give him the answer for his question.  The wise man, instead handed him a stone crystal asked him to enquire people for its value but never to sell it. By this the man was so annoyed, he came in hope to know his value, now he has to find the value of an useless stone.

Firstly, He went to a fruit seller and asked the stone’s value. Fruit Seller said He can get a dozen of apples in exchange with the stone. Remembering the Wise Man’s advice. He was not ready to sell it.

Secondly, He went to a potter and asked the stone’s value. Potter was interested in buying the stone. He offered a beautiful vase for an exchange. Surprised at the knowledge of better value. He moved away rejecting the offer.

Thirdly, He went to a Jeweller and asked the Jeweller to value the stone. Jeweller enchanted by the beauty of the stone, offered to pick any expensive jewel in his shop. Which was politely declined by the man wondering why the value of the stone is getting expensive every passing minute. He wanted to get to the end of it. So He decided to ask the King of the state.

Reaching King’s palace, He showed the Stone to the King and requested if King can evaluate the Stone for him. King said it is a very expensive stone and offered half his kingdom if he agrees to sell the stone to King. For which he was a bit tempted however keeping the wise man’s advice in mind. He walked towards wise man’s hut to say about the value of the stone.

While upon reaching the hut, He shared his experience. Wise man laughed at him and replied just like the stone, He cannot be evaluated as well. Since People value based on their knowledge. But there will be always more value to anything than we will ever know. 

How to overcome unbelief

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Today’s topic is about not having faith in God. When God promised something it will come to pass. Because God never changes. He is the almighty. Praise the Lord!

When our plans doesn’t work or when it doesn’t happen on the right time. We tend to lose hope, faith and we may find ourselves sinking in unbelief. Its natural. We are imperfect. We can ask God’s help to become a strong believer. He will give to whoever asks.

And about the promises getting delayed. Trusting God also involves in trusting his timing. He planned your promise that will come to a pass on the best timing. Accuser uses this delay to manipulate things and take away our faith, hope and beliefs. How to overcome this?

Here is an example from the Holy Bible

Mark 9:23 “What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.”

This particular verses is about a boy possessed by a demon. The father of the boy says “Have mercy on us and help us, if you can.” If we can make a note. Father of the boy wished his son to be healed. He had hopes, he had faith. But believing was hard. Yes… believing is hard. We can easily believe a miracle for others. But when it comes to us. We fail to believe. Because we are trapped to our world. We are closer to our world and that makes us far from God. If we see from God’s perspective, our issues are nothing. He can make it disappear without a sign of it. […Another reason for expecting miracle for others and not expecting it for ourselves is guilt, guilt is a weapon of accuser. All your sins are forgiven 2000 years ago by the blood of christ. In God’s perspective all are equal. If anyone can have a miracle. Why not us? That’s the right attitude…]

Lets read the following and lets try to figure out some more meaning.

Mark 9:19-22 Jesus said to them, “You faithless people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.” So they brought the boy. But when the evil spirit saw Jesus, it threw the child into a violent convulsion, and he fell to the ground, writhing and foaming at the mouth. “How long has this been happening?” Jesus asked the boy’s father. He replied, “Since he was a little boy. The spirit often throws him into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us, if you can.”

Help us if you can. We can clearly see the mindset of the father. He wants any kind of help. He lost hope (can’t complain about it, we go through the same).

Mark 9:24 The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”

After Jesus’s words. We see a transformed man. He not only starts believing. He also seeks God’s help to overcome his unbelief. Yes, it’s not wrong to ask anything. If we lack something, we can always go to our Father in heaven who never denies. Specially when we like to change ourselves for good.

How to overcome unbelief?
Answer: Ask the Father in heaven. He never denies.

-Shalom-

Further Reading – Mark Chapter 9
*verses taken from New Living Translation

How to differentiate our inner voice

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Today s topic is about how to differentiate the voice of Spirit and Accuser

This is the hardest thing for almost every believer.

When I started hearing about God. I believed every voice I heard in me was from God. And I believed that its only me and Holy Spirit having the conversation. For me the Satan is some creature busy in hell. Who doesn’t mind my work and only enjoys when I sin. There were only 2 options all the time. Either to hear God or do as I wished. Doing a good deed makes God Happy and when i fail that makes Devil Happy. It took me almost a decade to understand that the accuser had a very good control on my decisions. It was a shock. It was a revelation. But I thought I could easily defeat him by denying his words. Its not that easy. This is a lifelong warfare.

Let’s see it with the Holy Bible s perspective. We usually believe all God’s words, verses, scriptures, motivational messages comes directly from God. And whatever it says will be the decision we take. Yes… but… Satan can manipulate the same scriptures to manipulate, misdirect us. Here is an example.

Matthew 4:1-11 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry. During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.” But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'” Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, ‘He will order his angels to protect you. And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.'” Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.'” Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me.” “Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.'” Then the devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus.

Jesus was the Son of the Almighty God. He had strength and wisdom to understand the difference.
What about mere us?

To differentiate, let’s first hear the voice. If it encourage us to feed the flesh we can be sure that its not from God. Even if it sounded nice, encourage us or we get the goosebumps when it perfectly matches our situations. Think once. If we did it, will it take our peace? Or it ll make anyone lose their peace. Or will it sow a seed of hatred in someone’s heart or in ours. Better we can change thoughts and sit still. Its much better to do nothing than to do something that we might repent later.

Secondly to be a deaf to devil. Its hard… too hard. The more we try, more the devil ll lie. The war will get tougher and tougher.. Devil doesn’t knows to give up. Being a believer is facing harder battles everyday. And we do have a reward for facing all these trials. We can silence devil by feeding the spirit.

There is also an easier way. As taken from Amplified Bible

James 4:7 So be subject to God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him], and he will flee from you.

Step 1
Be subject to God – Submit yourself to God.
Completely submitting ourself to God. We must admit that we can’t do it on our own. We must acknowledge who he is. We must believe in his strength.

Step 2
Resist the Devil – Stand firm against him. Its easy to say no to devil once. But it doesn’t stop him from coming back. We must be firm on our stand.

He will flee from you. Yes he will.
As a believer we can win few times and fail few times. That doesn’t make us a failure. In God’s eyes. He cherishes every victory. Let it be a small one. Still that ll make our Father in heaven proud

How to differentiate the voice of Holy Spirit and Devil
Answer: If the voice encourages feeding the spirit it is from Holy Spirit. If it encourage us to feed the flesh it is from the Accuser

-Shalom-

*Verses taken from New Living Translation and Amplified Bible

Does God really loves me?

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This is a major question for many believers. We know
God loves us. But still, we tend to forget it most of the times. Here is an
experiment. Father God, please forgive me
for putting it this way. I am saying this only to prove the way you love us.
Experiment:
Take
something you like. Try admiring it. Do it for a while. Keep on admiring. You will start loving it more. You
might even take an object that you consider to be a gift of God.
Observation:
You
will notice that object will be lost.
Conclusion:
God
‘ll never let you love something more
than you love him. He will take it away.
That
is why many preachers say put God first. Because they experienced God’s ways.
For
people who don’t have time to experiment. Or doesn’t like to face the wrath of God. Here is something to check. If we
think back, we would notice that we might have lost something in some part of the
time. That would have been our most
favorite thing ever at that time. Or it might be something that made us put God
second.
Exodus
20:4-5 “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of
anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to
them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not
tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon
their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and
fourth generations of those who reject me.
Idol
not necessarily the real Idol. We should take the meaning behind it. Idol can
be anything from wealth, health, relations, wife, son or daughter.
Here
is a real-life incident. I have a friend
who was blessed with 2 baby girls. She
thanked and praised God for blessing her with those angels. But her love for
her babies was so much that she gave the
first priority to her kids. One of the baby
was weak and had injuries. The other was short-tempered
and that hurt her. The little kids never understood the mom s love. Her love
was ignored most of the times. That was her testimony that revealed that Idol
can be anything that we try to keep above God. Love for her daughters was the
Idol. And God made her come to the revelation
that he is first.
If
I love anything more than God. God will make me lose it. And why is that? Isn’t
it God’s given gift? Why he made me lose it? Doesn’t God’s gift stay forever?
Yes,
it came from God. Everything good comes from the Almighty God. Then why does he
take it back?
The answer is Love. God loves us. He loves us so much that he
can’t lose his first place. He wants to be our Alpha and omega. I tried to
analyze how he works. All I could come up with is this. Here is a small story
from imagination…
I
imagined myself to be a father of a 3-year-old.
My baby loved a bicycle on the street. And seeing the glow in her eyes. I
wanted to gift her by bicycle. I saved up my daily expenses for a
month and brought her the cycle in her favorite color.
On my way back home. I imagined my beautiful angel running towards me with her
huge smile and her warm hug. And I wanted to hear ‘thank you, daddy, love you’ in her sweetest voice. I
couldn’t wait till I see her reaction. And I could see my home from distance.
Since I wanted to show off. I horned from distance. As expected my baby ran
towards me. I could see her jumping. This is the moment I waited for so long.
She
came running towards me and said ‘Thank you,
Daddy’. She missed ‘I love you’. I was a bit disappointed but my child would
have forgotten in the excitement. She was
extremely excited. So I let her enjoy her moment. She loved her ride so much
that she forgot to take snacks. She wanted her mom to take pictures of her with
her new ride. She loves to show off 😉 whose kid is she, she inherited it from
me.
That
day she cycled so much. The moment she entered home (after safely locking her
cycle) in the garage, she went to bed.
She said ‘daddy, am not hungry’. And went to sleep. I missed her Hug, Goodnight kiss,
and our favorite Bedtime Story.
Its
official – am jealous of my new rival – the bicycle. I can’t see my daughter
love the cycle more than me. I skipped my lunch meal to get her this bicycle.
Does she know how much I worked hard to get this? I couldn’t stand it.
I went to the garage took the bicycle and sold it. I just want my daughter
back. I want to be her first priority.
This
is exactly how our Father in heaven feels. He loves us so much that he can’t
lose his place. If a small human like me can be hurt about losing my place to a
cycle. How much our heavenly father would be hurt when we loved his gifts more
than him.
If
God takes back a gift. Just know that He
was hurt because you didn’t love the way
you loved him before he gave you the gift.
Father,
Thank you for every blessing you showered upon me.
I
love you. Yes Father, am not shy about saying this anymore. I Love You. We love
because you loved us first.
1
John 4:19 We love each other because he loved us first.
-Shalom-
*verses
taken from New Living Translation

Before they call, I will answer.

by

This is a testimony written  by a doctor who worked in Africa.

One night I had worked hard to help a mother in the labor ward; but in spite of all we could do, she died, leaving us with a tiny, premature baby and a crying two-year-old daughter. We would have difficulty keeping the baby alive; as we had no incubator (we had no electricity to run an incubator). We also had no special feeding facilities.

Although we lived on the equator, nights were often chilly with treacherous drafts. One student midwife went for the box we had for such babies and the cotton wool that the baby would be wrapped in.  
   
Another went to stoke up the fire and fill a hot water bottle. She came back shortly in distress to tell me that in filling the bottle, it had burst (rubber perishes easily in tropical climates).  “And it is our last hot water  bottle!” she exclaimed. As in the West, it is no good crying over spilled milk, so in Central Africa it might be considered no good crying over burst water bottles.  They do not grow on trees, and there are no drugstores down forest pathways.

“All right,”  I said,  “put the baby as near the fire as you safely can, and sleep between the baby and the door to keep it free from drafts. Your job is to keep the baby warm.”

The following noon, as I did most days, I went to have prayers with any of the orphanage children who chose to gather with me. I gave the youngsters various suggestions of things to pray about and told them about the tiny baby. I explained our problem about keeping the baby warm enough, mentioning the hot water bottle, and that the baby could so easily die if it got chills. I also told them of the two-year-old sister, crying because her mother had died.

During prayer time, one ten -year-old  girl, Ruth, prayed with the usual blunt conciseness of our African children.  “Please, God” she prayed, “Send us a hot water bottle today.  It’ll be no good tomorrow, God, as the baby will be dead, so please send it this afternoon.”

While I gasped inwardly at the audacity of the prayer, she added, “And while You are about it, would You please send a dolly for the little girl so she’ll know You really love her?”

As often with children’s prayers, I was put on the spot. Could I honestly say “Amen?” I just did not believe that God could do this.

Oh, yes, I know that He can do everything; the Bible says so. But there are limits, aren’t there? The only way God could answer this particular prayer would be by sending me a parcel from the homeland. I had been in Africa for almost four years at that time, and I had never, ever, received a parcel from home.  Anyway, if anyone did send me a parcel, who would put  in a hot water bottle? I lived on the equator!

Halfway through the afternoon, while I was teaching in the nurses’ training school, a message was sent that there was a car at my front door. By the time I reached home, the car had gone, but there on the verandah was a large 22-pound parcel. I felt tears pricking my eyes. I could not open the parcel alone, so I sent for the orphanage children. Together we pulled off the string, carefully undoing each knot. We folded the paper, taking care not to tear it unduly.  Excitement was mounting. Some thirty or forty pairs of eyes were focused on the large cardboard box. From the top, I lifted out brightly-colored, knitted jerseys. Eyes sparkled as I gave them out. Then there were the knitted bandages for the leprosy patients, and the children looked a little bored. Then came a box of mixed raisins and sultanas – that would make a batch of buns for the weekend.

Then, as I put my hand in again, I  felt the…..could it really be?

I grasped it and pulled it out. Yes, a brand new, rubber hot water bottle. I cried.  I had not asked God to send it; I had not truly believed that He could.

Ruth was in the front row of the children. She rushed forward, crying out, “If God has sent the bottle, He must have sent the dolly, too!”

Rummaging down to the bottom of the box, she pulled out the small, beautifully-dressed dolly. Her eyes shone! She had never doubted!  Looking up at me, she asked, “Can I go over with you and give this dolly to that little girl, so she’ll know that Jesus really loves her?”

“Of course,” I replied!

That parcel had been on the way for five whole months, packed up by my former Sunday school class, whose leader had heard and obeyed God’s prompting to send a hot water bottle, even to the equator.

And one of the girls had put in a dolly for an African child – five months before, in answer to the believing prayer of a ten-year-old to bring it “that afternoon.”

“Before they call, I will answer.” (Isaiah 65:24)

When you receive this, say a prayer. Prayer is one of the best free gifts we receive. Let’s continue praying for one another.