Under the Shadow/A small cloud/An altar of earth/Clay in the Potter's hand/new Thing in your life/I will go before you/Yet I will rejoice in the Lord/A heavenly letter for you/Do not fear
We now pass through turbulent times, politically, economically and socially with the whole world being engulfed in violence and terrorism and spiritual darkness and with our Church having a name but being dead. Nowadays, the people of God throughout the world may be concerned about their safety, following the terrorists’ attack on the WTC in USA and the acts of violence and terrorism in other parts of the world. In the electronic and print media, we come across daily gruesome accidents which are likened to “the destruction that lays waste at noonday” and dreaded diseases like “the perilous pestilence that walks in darkness”. We may be worried about our school-going children, about our dear ones working in different offices and factories, about our loved ones staying abroad or traveling by air or by road. But what the Word of God says? Prophet Hosea lamented, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge”! The Word of God in Psalm 91 says that there is security for His people under His shadow. There is a secret place for God's people under His shadow. Our security lies in the secret place of the Most High, and not in the might of our nations. When I was a child, my parents and the Sunday School teachers persuaded me to memorize this entire Psalm. Without knowing the significance of this wonderful Psalm, I memorized it. Today, many of us are like that. Though many of us may recite this Psalm from memory, yet we hardly take God at His Word. We should claim and appropriate His promises.
Secondly, we hardly intercede for the members of His Body scattered all over the world, claiming His promises. We are all “members of His Body, of His flesh, and of His bones” (Eph.5:30). Dear child of God, do you have the mind of Christ to agonize for the members of His body who face afflictions? If we fail to intercede for the members of His Body, the devil would try to afflict His body. Let us remember the model prayer taught by our Lord to His disciples. In that prayer, we find the word “we” and not “I”. Similarly, let us pray not only for our own needs or for the people of our own circle but also for the members of His body all over the world, claiming His promises of deliverance from the perilous pestilence that walks in darkness and the destruction that lays waste at noonday. Daily we ought to pray “Our loving Heavenly Father, deliver Thy people from the pestilence that walks in darkness and the destruction that lays waste at noonday and keep them under Thy shadow". The devil will never and cannot enter His shadow to afflict His people. May God make you an intercessor for the body of Christ!
Will you please meditate on I Kings 18:41-48? The Lord has a message for you. In the days of Elijah, the prophet and Ahab, the King of Israel, there was a drought in the land of Israel. Similarly, you may be facing a spiritual drought in your life or ministry. “Go up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of abundance of rain”, Elijah tells Ahab. Ahab, accordingly, went up to eat and drink. Elijah went up to the top of Carmel, bowed down on the ground and put his face between his knees. Elijah said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea”.
Then it came to pass the SEVENTH TIME that the servant said, “There is a cloud, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea”. So Elijah said, “Go up, say to Ahab, “Prepare your chariot and go down before the rain stops you”.
Now it happened, in the mean time that the sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain.
Dear child of God, you would have sought the intercessory prayers of some minister of God for a miracle in your life. Since you have experienced no miracle, you have now become disheartened. Six times you have seen “nothing”. Now the SEVENTH TIME has arrived in your life, and you are hearing a small voice “Go again”. As you read this message, you can see “a small cloud, as small as a man’s hand”. You can now see a little evidence of the ensuing great blessing upon your life. With this small cloud, you should now trust God and be happy. There will be a sudden outpouring of His blessing in your life. Dear minister of God, there will be a great outpouring of His anointing on your ministry in a manner never imagined by you. The God of Elijah is alive today to perform the same miracle for you. Amen.
"An Altar of Earth"
God said to Moses, “An altar of earth you shall make for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I record My name, I will come to you, and I will bless you” (Exo.20: 24).
You might have already made an altar of earth by sacrificing some thing or the other in your earthly life for the Lord. It may be a sacrifice of your time and comfort for intercessory prayers. It may be your sacrificial offerings for the missionary work. It may be your sacrificial financial help for an orphanage or an old age home. It may be your sacrificial offerings to your church. You might have offered a portion of your house or land for the Lord’s work. In your office, you might have served your employer in a sacrificial manner, fearing God. The Lord now says to you, “I will come to you and I will bless you” because He has recorded His Name in that very place where you have sacrificed for Him.
Dear pastor, you would have continued to sacrifice your time and comfort for serving your congregation members without expecting any reward from the Lord. Dear evangelist, you would have traveled far and wide to preach the gospel at the cost of your health. It is now time for the Lord to come to you and to bless you. You need not ask Him for His blessings because your sacrifices have come up for a memorial before God. He remembers all the sacrifices made by His people at the altar, and needs no reminders from them in this regard. The quantum of your sacrifice hardly matters here. Even if you have given 1$ to our God, it means that you have sacrificed that 1$ because you could have spent that money for meeting your own need. In the sight of God, that 1$ is very precious because you have sacrificially given to Him. God will definitely visit the place of your sacrifice i.e. the altar.
He now comes to you with His hands full of blessings. His blessings may be a mighty anointing of His spirit on your ministry or an abundance of His finances. As you read this message, you can see your Lord standing by your side and can hear His small voice, “I have come to bless you” Amen.
As commanded by the Lord, Jeremiah the prophet went to the potter’s house where the potter was making some thing at the wheel. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so, he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make. Then the Lord said to Jeremiah, “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter…. Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel” (Jer.18: 1-6).
Dear child of God, you are the clay in the Lord’s hand. God allows the trials and tribulations that you face with a special purpose. Your faith is being tested through fire. No doubt, you were marred in the hand of the Potter. However, the Potter still holds you in His hand to make you again into another vessel. He will not rest until another vessel is made. Do not resist the tempest, which is allowed of God to make you into another vessel. Through every suffering, the Lord is making you into a vessel of His choice. “Woe to him who strives with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to Him who forms it ‘What are you making’ Or shall your handiwork say, ‘He has no hands? Woe to him who says to his father ‘What are you begetting or to the woman, ‘What have you brought forth?’” (Is.45: 9-10).
Dear child of God, you are the clay in the Potter’s hand. The Lord chooses only humble people like you who consider themselves as the clay taken from the earth. You may not consider yourself as a vessel of gold or of silver.
Baptist John cried: “Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low….” (Luke 3:5). Those servants of God who exalt themselves as the mountain and hill, or who consider themselves as the golden or silver vessels in the Hand of God just because they have been bestowed with certain spiritual gifts, shall be brought low, and those servants of God who consider themselves as the dust of the earth or as the valley shall be filled.
Dear servant of God, you may not be a great orator on the pulpit. You may not have enough money to organize any evangelical crusade. But, if you are a man with “a contrite and humble spirit” (Is.57: 15), you will become the clay in the Potter’s hand and the Lord will make you a vessel of His choice. Though you were marred in His Hand in the past, you will be shaped and made into another vessel meet for the Master’s use if you have a “humble spirit”. The Lord tells you, “As the clay is in the potter’s hand, as are you in my Hand”.
Have you suffered a grievous and unbearable loss in your life? Has the Devil stolen from you the good things like joy in your married life or your health or your wealth? Have you been in the furnace of afflictions for a very long time, losing all your faith in our Lord?
The Lord now wants you not to “remember the former things nor consider the things of old”. The things that existed till yesterday are the former things or the things of old. You should not remember them today. Because the Lord is going to “do a new thing” today. “Now (as you read this message) it shall spring forth” (Isaiah 43:15-21).
He reveals Himself to you as “the Creator of Israel, your King”. As the Creator of Israel, He creates absolutely new things – which you have neither seen nor heard since the beginning of this world (Isaiah 64:4). This promise is meant for His chosen people. He is your King, seated on a high throne above the worldly and the devilish kingdoms.
If you are a scientist or a research student redeemed by the blood of Christ Jesus, having spent many years in futile research, the Creator of Israel will now enable you to discover some thing new, absolutely new, in the field of your research which the children of the world could not invent.
If you are a businessman/professional redeemed by the blood of Christ Jesus who could not find any new ways in your business/profession, the Creator of Israel will now create absolutely new ways which the children of the world could not lay their hands on.
The Lord also reveals Himself as the One who makes a way in the sea, a path through mighty waters, a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. He is a God of impossibility.
Do not worry any longer about the future of your son/daughter because He makes a way in the sea. Where you could not find a way till yesterday, He now opens a way. NOW IT SHALL SPRING FORTH.
Do not worry any longer about the mighty waters, threatening your married life. In these mighty waters sent by the Devil, He makes a path for you. NOW IT SHALL SPRING FORTH.
Do not worry any longer over the constant existence of a spiritual wilderness in your life for a long time even after your spiritual birth in His Kingdom. This may be the barren condition of your womb or your financial bankruptcy or some “incurable” disease afflicting you or your dear one. The Lord makes a road in this wilderness for you. NOW IT SHALL SPRING FORTH.
Dear minister of God, you need not worry over the spiritual desert in your church with no hope of revival amongst the congregation members or over the spiritual desert in your evangelistic ministry with only a few souls being saved every now and then. The Lord makes rivers in the desert for you. Pease note that it is not a river but “rivers”. There will be a revival in your church. Thousands of people will be saved through your evangelistic ministry. Your ministry will overflow with a mighty anointing of His Spirit and your empty coffers with an abundance of finances. NOW IT SHALL SPRING FORTH.
Calling us “My people, My chosen”, the Lord tells “This people I have formed for Myself. They shall declare My praise”. True, you are going to declare His praise to the entire world after experiencing the “new thing” in your life. He gives waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert to give drink to His chosen people. If you are doubtful about His promise to you, He now challenges you “Shall you not know it?”.
“I will go before you and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron.
I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the Lord, Who call you by your name, am the God of Israel” (Is.45:2-3).
There are indeed crooked places in your life. Oh, you have been struggling all these years to straighten these crooked places on your own but
have miserably failed. Despite your best efforts and hard work, you are unable to reach the desired goal in your life, because of these crooked places.
The Lord is now going before you and is making these crooked places straight. Doors, which were closed once and for all, would be opened
because the Lord Himself is making these crooked places straight by His Right Hand.
There are indeed gates of bronze, which stand in your way all these years, like the Red Sea before the fleeing Israelites. The devil has erected these gates of bronze. In the past, you did try your best to break these gates with the help of your friends and relatives but in vain. You are wondering why these gates of bronze are still before your eyes like the wall of Jericho, despite your earnest prayers. And you have lost all your hopes in God, owing to frustration and despair caused by these gates of bronze. Today, the Lord is going before you and is breaking in pieces these gates of bronze by His Spirit so that you can go ahead and possess the Promised Land in your life.
Are there bars of iron in your life, preventing you from progressing in your life? People around you have placed these iron bars in your business/career so that you are not able to produce the desired results. You have struggled a lot to cut these iron bars. Today, the Lord is going before you and is cutting these bars of iron by His Spirit so that you can achieve the desired goal.
In addition, the Lord will give you “the treasures of darkness”. All these years you have been treading on the path of loneliness, frustration and despair; tears have been your meat due to severe afflictions in your life. But the Lord has kept “treasures” for you, which He has brought out of this darkness. These treasures are His blessings in abundance. He restores seven times all that you have lost in your life when you passed through the valley of darkness.
Out of His secret places, He has brought forth “hidden riches” which nobody else could find or which you have never imagined of. A torrential rain of His anointing, not merely a few drops of dew of His anointing, will come upon you so that you can fly to greater heights in your life and ministry. The bondage of the devil will be broken. These riches were hidden from you when you were passing through the furnace of afflictions. These hidden riches will be peculiar to you.
By doing the above mighty things for you, the Lord, who calls you by your name, will prove that He is the God of Israel who led the Israelites to the Promised Land.
“Yet I will rejoice in the Lord….”
“Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls; Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength; and He will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and He will make me to walk upon mine high places” (Hab.3: 17-19).
Let us meditate on the above Scripture portion prayerfully. Prophet Habakkuk starts his prophetic book posing a question to none but God Himself, “O Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear!” But he ends the book affirming his faith in God.
Dearly beloved in Christ Jesus, the fig tree which you expect to blossom after a long wait may not blossom, despite your best efforts in your field of work or mission field. Nor there may be fruit on the vines. The fruit of your hard labor in your life or in the vineyards of God may fail despite your earnestness and perseverance. The labor of the olive may fail. Whatever you earn out of your business/career may not be forthcoming, notwithstanding your hard and sincere work.
The fields may yield no food. The material blessings that you long for may not be forthcoming, in spite of your earnest prayers. The fields in which you work may not yield the desired fruit. In your evangelical field, you may not be able to win souls despite your best efforts and prayers. The flock may be cut off from the fold. There may be a terrible and unexpected loss in your business due to certain unforeseen circumstances. There may be no herd in the stalls. There may not be a single penny in your pocket or in your bank for God’s ministry. There may be no enough bank balance to continue to run your school or orphanage. Are you prepared to face such a misfortune in your life?
In the event of any of the above calamities affecting your life, what will be your reaction? Like a hen, which sits on its eggs patiently with a lot of great expectation, you are patient enough to await His blessings. If the expectation fails to take shape in its due time, where will be your faith in God?
The Word of God does not predict that you are going to be hit by any of these misfortunes. However, the question is whether you will believe God in the likely event of any of such misfortunes befalling you. Are you prepared to trust Him even in such adverse circumstances by joining Habakkuk in saying, “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation”? We trust God when every goes well with us. God might not have answered some of your prayers for long. “ The word “Yet” makes a lot of meaning to the people of God. Like Habakkuk, you must have complained to God, “O Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear!” Notwithstanding this, will you affirm your faith in God today by saying, “I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of salvation” You should end up in affirming your faith in God by saying, “The Lord God is my strength; and He will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and He will make me to walk upon mine high places”. One day, you will definitely walk upon your high places in this very world.
A heavenly letter for you.....for you only!
"Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold! I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands; thy walls are continually before Me." (Isaiah 49:15-16).
According to the above promise given by God who never lies, He will never for forget you, though a woman may forget her sucking child, He has graven you on the palms of His hands and all your tears are continually before Him. The Lord has heard your prayer. Please read Luke 18:1 - 8 about an evil judge, who feared no God, ultimately dispensing justice to the widow in distress. Do not faint but keep praying till God answers your prayer. If even an evil judge can be worn down like that, don't you think that God will surely give justice to His people who plead with Him day and night? (Vs.7)
Everything that is happening in your life is not accidental but is allowed of God with some specific purpose. God wants to take the pearl out of you through this furnace of afflictions. In everything, give thanks unto the Lord as this is the secret of Christian life. God will change all the adverse circumstances that surround you today. All things work together for your good only (Rom.8:28). May be, these present troubles that you undergo are from your own people or your spouse or owing to some hurdles placed by the Devil in your life. Ultimately, you will be the over-comer through Christ Jesus.
The Lord is today teaching you longsuffering which is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. When you pass through the furnace of afflictions only, you may learn longsuffering. Kind David prayed to the Lord, "Everyone that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found; surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him" (Ps.32:6). As you face this trouble in your life, do not faint in your prayer-life. Surely, the floods of great water shall not come nigh unto you.
"The Lord will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. And they know thy Name will put their trust in thee; for thou, Lord, has not forsaken them that seek thee" (Ps.8:9-10). "I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread" (Ps.37:25).
Be careful and watch out for attacks from the Devil, our great enemy. As a roaring lion, he is walking about to devour you. But stand firm and resist him in the Name of Jesus Christ when he attacks your faith life. The more he attacks your faith, the more you should trust the Lord. Remember that other Christians all over the world are going through such sufferings too. After you have suffered a little while, our God, who is full of kindness, will give you His eternal glory. He will pick you up and set you firmly in a high place and make you stronger than ever (I Pet.5). Cast all your worries on Jesus Christ who cares for you and your loved ones.
Do not fear! God is very nearer you than you imagine. Has not our Lord told you from His Word that He would be with you when you pass through water or walk through fire? Only for a little time, you have to pass through this furnace of afflictions. Let the tempest come and go. You may be facing one affliction after another. As you are aware, all things work together for your good only. Whether it is loss or grief, or whether what happened in your life was expected of or otherwise, it is for your good only. God's ways are not yours and His thoughts are not yours as His are higher than yours. Surely, the Lord is teaching you longsuffering in the midst of your afflictions. The Lord is trying His people through fire as silver is tried. We must rejoice in our afflictions as our Lord expects us. God is your refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, you need not fear though the earth is removed and though the mountains are cast into the midst of the sea. There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad His people in His city. GOD IS IN THE MIDST OF HER; SHE SHALL NOT BE MOVED: GOD SHALL HELP HER. (Ps.46:1-6).
The people of Israel had to spend nearly 40 years, instead of 2 weeks to cross the wilderness for getting into the Promised Land, because of their unfaith and murmuring against the Lord who performed miracles, one after another, before their very noses. Had they rejoiced instead of murmuring and showing their unfaith, they could have crossed the wilderness in a matter of two weeks. In a similar manner, you are also required to cross this wilderness before entering the Promised Land. This Promised Land is not a life after death or a life in heaven. It is available to us on this very earth.
The Israeli people were not seeking the Lord very earnestly but were seeking only His blessings and His protection in times of trouble. But, let us seek only our Lord and not His blessings alone. When we seek our Lord with all our mind and soul, we can have His abiding presence with us always and if the presence of God is with us, we will surely get His blessings too. Let us not bother about our enemies or the Devil. The Word of God clearly says, "Fear not, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord which He will show you today for the Egyptians (the enemies of God's people) whom you have seen today you shall see no more for ever. The Lord shall fight for you and you shall hold your peace" (Ex.14:13 - 15).
You should praise the Lord in every thing or in every situation and pour out your heart before Him as He is very nigh to those of broken hearts and with contrite spirits. All your tears are before Him. Our God is a father of fatherless and sets the solitary people in families under His care (Ps.68:5-6).