thorn in the side

thorn in the side
Originally uploaded by chandrangopalan

Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn't get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan's angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn't think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me, My grace is enough; it's all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness. Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ's strength moving in on my weakness. This passage was taken from the Message Bible in the second epistle to the Corinthian in chapter 12 verses 7 to 9.

How can I think of a handicap as a gift? It almost seems impossible to think of a handicap as a gift but that is what the passage says Paul did. He recognized that it was then that Christ's strength is manifest. How is that so? In this world that we live in many of us are effective and efficient in our abilities to get things done, as we exercise the task over and over again until we become very good at it.

In Christendom this is evident when we participate in serving God. We can become so good at doing something that the Presence of God is not there at all in our serving. The "corporatization" of serving has crept in into many of our roles such that it is becoming easier to do any task without God being in it.

But what is impressing me today is that there is a "gift of handicap" which is placed in our circumstance so that God's grace become our dependency. Wow! This is a sobering thought because God wants us to depend on His grace to take us through life in its entirety. Being one with Him is a must in doing His bidding and a soldier needs the Commander in Chief for wisdom, guidance and direction.

Lord I pray Your grace will be sufficient for me, in Jesus name!

Is Sex an important topic to discuss?

 

This is an exciting article which was delivered to my Inbox. I read it and it really made sense. I am glad for universities who do such research for the benefit of mankind. http://www.cuw.edu/tools/current_students/student_services/counseling_services/sex_before_marriage.html

Sex Before Marriage - Top 10 Risks
CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY WISCONSIN COUNSELING SERVICES
_______________________________________________________
No one doubts that sexual activity in the new millennium is physically, emotionally, and socially dangerous. So it's important to think about all of the ramifications.
10. The risk of death.
No one can deny that having sex before marriage can have grave consequences. More than 600,000 cases of AIDS have been reported in the United States since 1981, and as many as 900,000 Americans may be infected with HIV.
"HIV Infection and AIDS," www.onhealth.com, (21 November 2000).
1 Corinthians 6:18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.
1 Corinthians 10:8 We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did-and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died.
9. The risk of lost relationships.
When you choose to develop a sexual relationship with someone, you have immediately changed the entire definition of the relationship. God's intent was for a man and woman to enjoy sex throughout the course of a lifetime. There is no such thing as casual sex. Once you have developed a sexual relationship, that relationship turns a critical corner. After the relationship ends, you and your partner will experience that guilt and pain of promises broken.
1 Corinthians 5:9 I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people-
Hebrews 12:16 See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son.
8. Risks of incurable disease.
Imagine that you have found that one special person with whom you want to share your life. And now you are forced to break the news that you have an incurable disease. Even though such diseases like herpes are generally not considered life threatening, there are no cures. Not only is it incurable, it fills a life with worries, awkward revelations, and continuous need for medication. Herpes and other STD's are everywhere. (Over 50 million cases of Herpes in the U.S. alone.) Why risk contracting an STD.
Romans 1:24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.
1 Corinthians 6:13 "Food for the stomach and the stomach for food"-but God will destroy them both. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
1 Corinthians 6:18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.
7. The risk of damaging the destiny of your future marriage.
There is no way that premarital sex of any kind could be a plus for your future marriage. It only causes suspicion, mistrust, and regret.
Galatians 5:19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;
Hebrews 13:4 Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.
6. The risk of permanently damaging your testimony as a Christian.
You'll never be able to honestly say, "I was a virgin before I was married." You'll never be able to live as an example of committed purity.
Romans 13:13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.
1 Corinthians 5:9 I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people-
Ephesians 5:3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people.
5. The risk of depression.
Those who participate in premarital sex experience emotional damage that may lead to an increased chance of mental depression and emotional despair.
2 Corinthians 12:21 I am afraid that when I come again my God will humble me before you, and I will be grieved over many who have sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual sin and debauchery in which they have indulged.
Jude 1:7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.
4. The risk of placing your future children in spiritual harm's way.
The Bible clearly speaks of the concept of generational sin. What you sow (plant) spiritually may be reaped in the life of your children. Break the power of Satan's curse. Remain pure before God and you'll be tenaciously guarding the future of the next generation.
Proverbs 22:8 "He who sows wickedness reaps trouble..."
Proverbs 20:7 "The righteous man leads a blameless life; blessed are his children after him."
Proverbs 14:6 "He who fears the Lord has a secure fortress, and for his children it will be a refuge."
Proverbs 31:28 "Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her..."
3. The risk of sexual dysfunction.
People spend millions of dollars to correct sexual dysfunction through drugs and psychotherapy. Why? Because they entered marriage with unresolved sexual issues. For example, a man may think that he will be free from the curse of pornography once he gets married, only to find that the problems are even more noticeable and controlling. Sexual purity before marriage is the first step to incredible sexual fulfillment after marriage.
Mark 7:21 "For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,"
Hebrews 13:4 Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.
2. The risk of shame.
Premarital sex imputes a spiritual state of shame that becomes a major weapon of Satan. God forgives you, but you will still face the fruit of the sin and you'll still be vulnerable to Satan's whispering accusations on your worth as a person and your value as an active Christian.
1 Corinthians 5:1-2 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father's wife. And you are proud! Shouldn't you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this?
Jude 1:7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.
1. The risk of disobeying God and letting Satan get a foothold.
The Bible, time after time tells us to flee sexual sins. Why? Because it is a major strategy of the devil to sabotage God's work on Earth.
Matthew 15:19 "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander."
Corinthians 6:9 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders...
Colossians 3:5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
1 Thessalonians 4:3 It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality;
Revelation 2:14 "Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality."
Revelation 2:20 "Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols."
Revelation 9:21 Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.
Revelation 21:8 "But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars-their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."

Spiritual brokeness needs spiritual dealing and healing

 

2Co 7:8 – 12 I know I distressed you greatly with my letter. Although I felt awful at the time, I don't feel at all bad now that I see how it turned out. The letter upset you, but only for a while. Now I'm glad--not that you were upset, but that you were jarred into turning things around. You let the distress bring you to God, not drive you from him. The result was all gain, no loss. Distress that drives us to God does that. It turns us around. It gets us back in the way of salvation. We never regret that kind of pain. But those who let distress drive them away from God are full of regrets, end up on a deathbed of regrets. And now, isn't it wonderful all the ways in which this distress has goaded you closer to God? You're more alive, more concerned, more sensitive, more reverent, more human, more passionate, more responsible. Looked at from any angle, you've come out of this with purity of heart. And that is what I was hoping for in the first place when I wrote the letter. My primary concern was not for the one who did the wrong or even the one wronged, but for you--that you would realize and act upon the deep, deep ties between us before God.

When anyone in the Body of Christ is hurting all members suffer. The example of cutting of a thumb from the human body given by Ps Daniel explains this very brilliantly. The thumb will die if it is not connected back to the body and that is the distress the passage speaks of. As Paul explains to the Corinthians it was for the benefit of all that his first letter was written. The thumb by itself will start to decay and rot and that is the dealing we face spiritually if we are put away from the body. But if healing were to take place we need to desire to come back through God's grace with sincere repentance and then restoration becomes available to all who have gone astray.

At different seasons of our life we maybe tempted to break away and Ps Daniel related to us in his sermon over the weekend the time he did that and how God challenged him to come back to Him. Today I am proud to say we see a Pastor who is strong, restored and doing great exploits by His grace for Him whilst remaining in the Body. The bandwidth that he has has always amazed me and he is growing from one level of glory to another. Praise God for His restoring nature!

I pray in my season of distress I will turn back to God quickly in sincere repentance so that I can be restored again to His body.

Pastor Daniel is a great inspiration to me!

 

......continuation from last post

Henry commentary states, "Here we have, I. Orders given to send spies to search out the land of Canaan. It is here said, God directed Moses to send them (Num_13:1, Num_13:2), but it appears by the repetition of the story afterwards (Deu_1:22) that the motion came originally from the people; they came to Moses, and said, We will send men before us; and it was the fruit of their unbelief. They would not take God's word that it was a good land, and that he would, without fail, put them in possession of it. They could not trust the pillar of cloud and fire to show them the way to it, but had a better opinion of their own politics than of God's wisdom. How absurd was it for them to send to spy out a land which God himself had spied out for them, to enquire the way into it when God himself had undertaken to show them the way! But thus we ruin ourselves by giving more credit to the reports and representations of sense than to divine revelation; we walk by sight, not by faith; whereas, if we will receive the witness of men, without doubt the witness of God is greater.

In my estimation a bad report is when we walk by sight and this was amplified very recently when I displayed a lack of self control in the midst of loved ones and staff in an argument of my rights with my wife. Although my wife and I had resolved this later the visual experience would have left a bad taste in their mouths.

The very thing which we sometimes boast of to others that we would not do, is the very thing I fell to as I was tempted. May Our Good Lord Jesus Christ cause healing to come to those affected and may I continue to trust His Good Report for our lives.

Our children learn from our modeling

 

Ps Daniel gave a very heart provoking sermon this evening. It was one which I could easily relate to as I had at many times not been a good role model to both my natural child and spiritual children who the Lord has placed in my care.

Many times my behavior has not been reflective of God's character. Simple things like speeding up when the amber light is turning to red at a traffic junction comes to mind as an example. Our thoughts even excuse us by justifying and affirming us because we were rushing to do a "God deed". This simple act of justification talks about our right to do what we did. In the process our responsibility to do the right thing and being a role model is neglected.

The next generation which comes out of this behavioral training will have an uncanny resemblance to the generation which taught them. Sometimes we only become aware of this when another person relates to us this phrase "like father like son or like mother like daughter" concerning their behavior. Then when we recollect our behavior, usually talking to our parents, we will find they too were echoing then what we are saying to our children now.

The passage that was expounded on was Numbers Chapters 13 & 14. The verse which ....to be continued

Will I become a prodigal son?

Will I become a prodigal son?
Originally uploaded by chandrangopalan

Starting in Luke 15 verse 12 we see the story of a father which describes the Father heart of God. In the next ten verses I have chosen these following verses to highlight his heart for his prodigal son.

The younger said to his father, 'Father, I want right now what's coming to me.' "So the father divided the property between them. ……. "That brought him to his senses. ……I'm going back to my father. I'll say to him, Father, I've sinned against God, I've sinned before you; ………."When he was still a long way off, his father saw him. His heart pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him. ………"But the father wasn't listening. He was calling to the servants, 'Quick. Bring a clean set of clothes and dress him. Put the family ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.

The character of this father is so clearly reflected in way he dealt with his prodigal son. In asking for his inheritance the son was saying, “You are dead”. In giving him his inheritance before his death the father was saying, “You need to know for yourself”. In coming to his senses the son was saying, “Now I know my sin and as an outcast to my villager I am willing to die by being stoned”. The father watching for him through the seasons from a distance ran to meet him, which was saying, “I must reach him first before anyone recognize him as my son and stone him”. And finally when the father did see him, this old feeble man must have run to the gates of his community and without pay any attention to what the prodigal son said embraced him and protected him from the reaction of the villagers. Immediately to confirm this action he reestablishes him as a son so that the villagers could not stone him. Although the father restores his sonship, the son will never again be rewarded with inheritance.

Will I be a prodigal son?

What kind of fruit is showing in my life?

What kind of fruit is showing in my life?
Originally uploaded by chandrangopalan

What kind of fruit is showing in my life?

Many times in my life the truth of my inner being was revealed when I was put through a trial. The sermons in our church during the past weekend were simple and yet "brutal". It spoke about the fruit which I displayed in times of adversity.

Galatians 5:22-23 talks about all the good flavors in the fruit found in our lives. I pondered on the vices and virtues which are found in the Bible and in my life. My prayer is to have more of the virtues and less of the vices.

VICES: neglecting God and others - sexual immorality (Gal 5:19); impurity (Gal 5:19); Lust (Col 3:5); Hatred (Gal 5:20); Discord (Gal 5:20); Jealousy (Gal 5:20); Anger (Gal 5:20); Selfish ambition (Gal 5:20); Arrogance (2 Cor 12:20, Gal 5:20); Envy (Gal 5:21); Murder (Rev 22:12-16); Idolatry (Gal 5:20, Eph 5:5) Witchcraft (Gal 5:20); Drunkenness (Gal 5:21); Wild living (Luke 15:13, Gal 5:21) Cheating (1 Cor 6:8); Adultery (1 Cor 6:9, 10); Homosexuality (1 Cor 6:9, 10); Greed (1Cor 6:9, 10, Eph 5:5); Stealing (1 Cor 6:9, 10); Lying (Rev 22:12-16)
VIRTUES: the by-product of living for God - Love, Joy, Peace, Patience (long suffering), kindness, goodness, faithfulness (Gal 5:22) and gentleness, self-control (Gal 5:23)

The most frightening things about all this is when our hearts become hardened or like Pharaoh's heart when God hardens it we may not consider exhibiting virtues. The verse in Galatians 5:21 states for the "least" obvious sin to the "most" obvious sin the one who practices such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

When Daniel was serving 4 pagan kings he served faithfully until the last king released them at the appointed time (70 years later)and recognized Daniel's God as the Most High God!

Lord Jesus Christ, I pray I will have more of your fruit and less of my vices displayed in my life so that Your name will be glorified always. Amen

Will I choose to be a wicked servant?

wicked servant
Originally uploaded by chandrangopalan

Preparing for a Bible session I had to cover a few of the letters Paul wrote to Timothy, Titus and the Thessalonian church. It talked lots about keeping on the straight and narrow!

These verses in 1 Timothy 6: 3-5 spoke volumes to me about what not to do. "If you have leaders there who teach otherwise, who refuse the solid words of our Master Jesus and this godly instruction, tag them for what they are: ignorant windbags who infect the air with germs of envy, controversy, bad-mouthing, suspicious rumors. Eventually there's an epidemic of backstabbing, and truth is but a distant memory. They think religion is a way to make a fast buck".

I must constantly ask myself if I have denied the faith, am conceited and argumentative, cause confusion, envy and factions and looking to use spiritual things for financial gains!

At that judgment day what will Jesus say to me, "You ...............servant

Rising from the dead

Rising from the dead
Originally uploaded by chandrangopalan

Today's verse was recited to me by an old friend who discuss a personal issue with his child. His conversation exposed me to the need for clear Biblical teaching and strong discipleship. Any person who strayed had to come under the correction of the Word and the subsequent healing process which leads to reconciliation. The lack of such action will lead to confusion and disorder to the whole Body.

The verse in Luke 16:30-31 states, "'I know, Father Abraham,' he said, 'but they're not listening. If someone came back to them from the dead, they would change their ways.' "Abraham replied, 'If they won't listen to Moses and the Prophets, they're not going to be convinced by someone who rises from the dead.'"

This is a powerful section of scripture that spoke to me of the conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit in my life. If I decide not to heed the prompting of the Holy Spirit and change my ways I will not be convicted by anyone, not even someone who rises from the dead.

Do I know of such a one.....Jesus Christ rose from the dead!