What Matters The Most

Text: Matthew 15: 1-20

In reading the above text, we notice that the Pharisees pin pointing the disciples’ mistake for not washing their hands before their meal. The Pharisees were legalistic group of people who were all out to catch Jesus and His disciples for breaking the Jewish tradition. Here in this context they see the disciples as defiled because of eating with an unwashed hand.

In verse 18 and 19 Jesus qualifies what can actually defile a person. What actually matters the most for God is the attitude of our hearts (Joel 2:12-13). Not how we look like or even what ministries that we are involved in. All that matters for Him is the attitude of our hearts.
To know Jesus deeper, we need to have change of heart. It is not merely refraining from certain activities but retuning the heart in such a way that we have no desire for what is evil. If you want to maintain your spirituality and walk an upright life before God, then you need to have a change of heart. Remember even Jesus said to the Pharisees, “What comes out a person defiles him rather than what go into him”. The attitude and the state of our hearts matter the most. Our God is a God who searches our hearts.

God expect a repented heart and untainted by evil desires. We who are His children should at all times tune our heart towards God. We should learn to pray to Jesus to purify our heart daily. What matters the most to God is the attitude of our hearts.

Growing Deeper

Text: Luke 5:1-11

Peter and his friends appeared somewhat indifferent to Jesus. They went about washing their nets while the crowd pushed their way up to Jesus to listen to what He had to say. Jesus could have chosen to ignore these disciples. But what did Jesus do? Vs 3 tell us that Jesus initiates the conversation with Peter. Jesus was concern for Peter, thus, He wanted Peter to know Him more deeply and experience Him more fully. Jesus singling out Peter showed that Jesus wanted to minister not only to the masses but to each of us individually also.

Jesus’ personal ministry to Peter continued further when He commanded Peter on vs. 4. Note here that a carpenter-teacher (Jesus) was telling a professional fisherman how to fish. But Peter obeyed. Obedience is the key for us to know Jesus more deeply and experience Him more fully. The fruit of their obedience motivated Jesus to call them for His ministry. Because they obeyed the first command, Jesus gave them the call in vs. 10. Vs. 11 tells us that they (Peter, James and John) left everything behind and followed Jesus.

Friends, unless Peter obeyed the first command, there would have been no second command or request for him. Then Peter and his friend would have missed out on God’s direct intervention in their lives. Likewise, we need to take the first small step of obedience before God will work mightily in our lives.

Many of us have been Christians for a long time. Most of us are born to Christian parents. The length of time or period we have become Christian does not actual matters. What matters the most is how deeply do we know Christ? And how can we know Him better and serve Him more? Obedience is the first step to know Christ better and to grow deeper into a personal relationship with Him.

Power of Praise

In Acts 16:16-30 we read an incredible account of the mighty power of God demonstrated through Paul and Silas. They were slapped in jail for setting a demon-possessed lady free. She brought in a great deal of revenue to her owners by fortune telling. With the demon gone, her owner’s means of income is affected. So, Paul & Silas being the cause of this disruption received terrible beating for their act of kindness and were slammed into the prison. The two servant of God were slammed into prison and got terrible beating for doing good and glorifying God’s name. What will be our response if we are encountered by such kind of circumstances? Probably we will get frustrated. But these guys did something remarkable. They held a worship service in the middle of their suffering. That was when the miracle happened.
# Read vs 25-26.
When the people of God raises praise to Him, God’s hands are moved. What more when we go through difficult circumstances. We must note here that Paul and Silas did not pray for their release, neither they prayed a prayer of vindication but all that they did was to praise God – miracle happened. THEY WERE MADE FREE BY THEIR PRAISES TO GOD! People of God let us be assured that when we praise God, He liberates us from our circumstances and sets us free. No matter how great our circumstances are our praises will move the hands of the Lord. What happened to Paul and Silas was a miracle. Something that is beyond human comprehension. The prison cells that are locked were opened and every bound prisoner was freed. This is the power of praise. Today, my friend let me encourage you from the word of the Lord. If you are bound by any form of bondages or circumstances – stop struggling and complaining but instead start giving praise to God – you will find victory and your salvation will come.

Thanksgiving unto God is a vital part of our Christian faith (1Thess 5:18). THANKFULNESS IS A COMMAND TO BE OBEYED REGARDLESS OF OUR CIRCUMSTANCES OR TRIALS. When we obey this command, we will surely be blessed – God’s liberation comes to us; not only to us but also to others who are associated to us. So, people of God let us take a great joy in giving thanks and praises unto God.

Waiting is worth the Wait.

“The Prodigal Son” is a very famous parable that Jesus used to express the love of the Father for sinners like us. This parable is the third of its series found in Luke 15. The first parable talks about the lost sheep; second about the lost coin and the third is about the lost son. All three of them talks about the lost of something precious to someone. As for a father, no loss can be greater than losing of his son or daughter.

This parable tells us that a man had 2 sons. One of them decided to betray the father’s trust and to leave home with his share of his father’s estate. What the son demanded for was totally out of norm (vs 12). In the context of the 1st Century Galilee, the demand that the younger son did was totally unacceptable by the society. It is seen as a greatest betrayal and the community will reject the son entirely. In normal circumstances, an estate is only divided among the rightful heirs upon the death of the father. Not only demanding the estate to be divided but vs. 13 tell us that the sons chose to leave his father’s home. He left his security and comfort zone with the great wealth that he has inherited from the father. It was a choice to leave the Father and to indulge into sinful activities.

Today in our own lives, we too make a lot of choices. Sometimes, our choice seems to be against God’s perfect will. We think we know everything. We think what we know what is the best for us. We think we can survive and be independent with what we have – We too make wrong choices just as the prodigal son did. At times we are so impatient that we don’t wait for God’s timing. The son’s time to divide the estate and to leave home was not up yet. But his impatient and greed led him to betray his father’s trust and demand for a split in inheritance and left the home. We too at times, are very impatient. We bulldoze our ways through to get what we want. We don’t want to wait for God’s timing and often gets our self into trouble just as the prodigal son got himself into.

Let us be reminded, as children of God if we don’t wait upon the Lord and seek to choose our own ways in life we will surely end up in misery. Our security and blessings are only when our lives are centered in God’s perfect Will. When we sway away from God’s plans and ways, we may enjoy a temporary form of materialistic blessing which will not last. The prodigal son did not die or became paralyzed when he betrayed his father. In fact, he left home happily with his great estate. He enjoyed all his wealth. But because he was not in the center of God’s will, he sinned against God eventually he lost all that he had. He became a desperate man who was even without basic necessities (food). Let us be cautioned, that prosperity and wealth that is accumulated outside of God’s will, will eventually lead us to ruin and disaster.

Giving Our Best

Text: John 12: 1-11

Here we see the story of a woman who honors Christ. She honored Him with her precious possession – with nard. Anointing a guest with perfume was a common Jewish custom at feast. Nard was a perfume from India. It was a very expensive perfume worth three hundred denarii’s which was equivalent to a year’s wages (vs. 5). Mary’s gesture of honoring Jesus leaves us behind with 2 important thoughts:-

1. She gave of her best to Jesus.
Vs 3: Mary could have done what she did with many other ordinary perfumes that would have caused much cheaper. Well, the Middle East is also known for manufacturing perfumes. So Mary could have just used an ordinary local made perfume to anoint Christ. But, she used the best perfume for Christ. She gave her very best – the best that she could afford unto the Lord. Jesus was so blessed and taken back by her gift not because it was an imported perfume but because of the attitude of her heart. Jesus deserves the best from us. Are we giving Him the best off all things? Or are we giving for the sake of giving. Giving is not only money but it also involves other areas of life (time, dedication & service unto God). Some give out of compulsion, but Mary gave out of love for the Lord. The attitude of her heart pleased God.

2. She gave in all humility to God
Vs. 3: Normally the host will not anoint the feet of the guest. It is the duty of the most menial servant to wash the feet of the guest. Instead, the host will always anoint the head of the guest with perfumed oil to ease the heat in the guest body (excessive heat during the day in the deserts). Instead of anointing Jesus’ head, she anointed His feet. She did not find herself worthy to anoint His head so she went down to His feet. To touch and anoint others feet, we need to have a great measure of humility. She totally deprived herself of her self esteem and humbled herself before the Lord. Moreover, the Bible tells us that she did not only anoint His feet, but she also wiped His feet with her hair. The hair of a woman is considered her glory and dignity. Mary used her hair to wipe Jesus’ feet. This signified her total humility and devotion. She not only gave her most precious possession, but she also gave herself without reservation.

Being a Vessel of Blessing

Text: Mattews 14: 13-21

This story, the feeding of the five thousand is the only miracle Jesus preformed that is recorded in all four Gospels. Therefore we can conclude this to be a very important occurrence. It occurred during the Passover season about one year before Christ’s death (John 6:4). Wherever Jesus went large crowds gathered. Now at this time several things had happened. Remember, Jesus was just rejected by the people in His hometown, as a matter of fact; He departed the area as they were attempting to push Him off a cliff. His disciple’s had just returned from the mission field, a trip He had sent them on (Mark 6:30; Luke 9:10). Word had just come to Him that Herod had beheaded His forerunner, John the Baptist (Matt 14: 1-13). Not only was John His friend and partner in the ministry but also he was Jesus’ cousin, His own flesh and blood.

Having going through all this, Jesus and His disciples got into a boat and crossed the Sea of Galilee to a deserted place to be alone. But when the people heard that Jesus had departed they followed on foot. When Jesus saw that the crowds had followed them, how did He react? Did He get back into the boat and go further away? Did He get upset that He wouldn’t get any rest or time alone with the disciples? No, far from being irritated by this intrusion, He had compassion for them (vs.14) and began to cure them from any and all afflictions they had. Likewise, He’ll have compassion for each of us. All we have to do is to turn to Him and put our trust in Him. He’ll take care of all our needs.

The second lesson that we can draw from this story is, John in his gospel records that the 5 loaves and 2 fish were owned by a little boy (John 6:9). God could have performed the miracle even without the boy offering what he has. But, our God is a God who creates opportunity for us to partake in His plan and purpose for mankind. He invites us to be in partnership in His ministry. He uses what we have. He never demanded the boy or the disciples to go to the nearest shop and get some more bread. But all that He did was, He used what the boy had. It is even true today, that the Lord expect us to participate in His ministry to bless others. It is not that God can not do without us, but it’s an honor for us be part of His mission. Here, the boy availed what he has. Are we likewise availing what we have for His glory or are we withdrawing ourselves from being used by Him. Only when the boy availed what he had the Lord made it enough for the great multitude. The boy was the agent of blessing for the crowd simply because he was willing to share what he has.

I am personnally challenged when i meditate upon this passage. Many a times we ourselves being children of God fail to avail ourselves to be used by Him for His glory and for the edification of others. So, after a long time of silence, i have once again decided to start blogging and be a blessing for others. I hope i can keep this fire and go on blogging rather than once again going into silent mode after a while.

My Prayer: God give me your strenght and keep this conviction afresh everyday that i will serve you and your people faithfully. Amen.

A New Start

I think it is high time for to start blogging again after a long break. As usual busy schedule at work has kept me away from blogging. Anyway, i want to be back in action since many find this blog to be a blessing. Moreover, i have all the time under the sun now (i am on a medical leave for the next 6 weeks). Just underwent a throat surgery and i am required to rest my voice.

See you all soon with more interesting stuff. Stay connected. God Bless.