My dear Brothers and sisters in Christ, I greet and bless you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. The blessed word that God has given for you today is from the book of Isaiah 43:1,2 “But now, says the Lord who created you, Jacob and He who formed you, Israel:“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you.”
The word “Created” denotes that God chose the People of Israel and made them for His own purpose. God says,” I am Yahweh – the creator of Israel, your King.” It is He who has made us. God emphasizes that Israel belongs to Him. He not only created but also formed him. He formed Jacob to become Israel.
God, like a sculptor, chisels and shapes, pricks and cuts the statue until it is in perfect shape. Similarly, He uses all the methods possible to mould a person to the kind of personality He wants them to be. While this is in process, the person undergoes pain, affliction, struggles and all kinds of infliction; only then can he be made perfect. Until then, God keeps moulding the person.
Jacob did go through disappointments and failures in his life. He was cheated by his own uncle to whom he went for refuge. Jacob loved and wanted to marry Rachel but Laban gave Leah, his eldest daughter in marriage to him. Laban also did not pay Jacob his full wages he had to . Laban cheated him by changing his wages ten times. Laban through envy and covetousness often broke his wage agreement. God wanted to change his character, and wanted him to be more spiritually oriented than an ordinary worldly (character) man.
So God changed his name to that of Israel and made him a great nation of twelve tribes. Through all these afflictions God was preparing him for a better purpose. In the same manner God allowed Job to go through afflictions in order that he might come forth as gold refined in fire and the Lord blessed the latter days of Job, more than his beginning. Likewise, God blessed Jacob, who went with only a staff and he returned back to his father’s house with two companies.
God assures to be with you while you pass through the through the rivers, the water shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you. Therefore, God says, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine.” God acknowledges ownership of His children. God not only creates you but forms you to the kind of vessel that is acceptable in His sight and usable for His glory.
God bless you.
Prayer:
Our loving heavenly Father, we thank You for this blessed day. Lord we thank you for shaping us to the kind of character you want us to be. We praise you because you acknowledge us as your children and that You have redeemed us by Your precious blood. Help us while we pass through deep waters and when we walk through fire. Bless us as you blessed Jacob. We bless Your Holy Name. In Jesus name we pray.
Amen.
My dear Brothers and sisters in Christ, I greet and bless everyone in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. The blessed word that God has given for you today is from the book of Isaiah 46:4, “Even to your old age, I am He, and even to grey hairs I will carry you, I have made and I will bear; Even I will carry, and will deliver you.”
My dear brothers and sisters, God says, “I am the same; I remain unchangeable with the same tenderness, same affection and same care. I am the Lord and I do not change.” God wants you to return to Him in case you have backslide or you have gone far from Him. Man may change due to various reasons; but it is not so with God. He who watched over the infancy of His people with so much solicitude, would not leave them in the exposures and infirmities and trials of the advanced years of their history. The people of Israel always needed His protection and care.
Secondly, He will never leave nor forsake them. Thirdly, He who has been the God of child hood, will also be the God of old age. The above statement refers to Gods hand of protection over the aged in particular. Psalm 102:27 says, “But You are the same. And your years will have no end.” The eternal and unchangeable God remains the same in His love and affection, in His sympathy and care, in His power and protection in His promises, truth and faithfulness, to His people, even in their last days. All God’s children are safe in His hands.
I wish to encourage the elderly people of God to be rest assured of Gods providence for you. Even when you go through pressing infirmities God supports you and cares for you. He considers you as His sons and daughters, the workmanship of His own hands. He is interested in your well-being. Therefore He says, I will bear you, I will carry you, and will deliver you out of all affliction, all temptation and even from the grave so that your soul is delivered. Love the Lord for He hears your voice. He hears your cry for mercy when you are in great need and delivers your soul from death. God says, I will be your God throughout your lifetime. Therefore, draw close to God put your confidence in God. He will rescue you from all your problems. He is a God of promise. His promises are true. For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen. You can rely on Him at all times.
God bless you.
Prayer:
Our loving heavenly Father, we thank You for this blessed day. Thank You Lord, for you care for the young and the old alike. You are awesome in your works. Your love endures forever. Though we are poor and needy yet you think upon us. Therefore we praise your Holy name. Help us Lord to commit our life into your hands and trust in you at all times. In Jesus name we pray.
Amen.
My dear Brothers and sisters in Christ, I greet and bless everyone in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. The blessed word that God has given you for today is from the book of 2 Corinthians 12:9, “My Grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”
Apostle Paul approached God almighty three times about his problem. He says, a thorn in the flesh was given to him. Thorn in the flesh represents, how satan gave continual disturbance to Paul in his ministry. Paul urged God to undo this problem that kept hurting him. Paul says, “A thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan, to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.” Concerning this thing Paul pleaded with the Lord, that it might depart, from him. But the Lord said, “My grace is sufficient for you.”Paul fully knew that whether it was his bodily affliction or the corruption of his nature it would remain with him as long as he was in the body. And as for his afflictions, reproaches, and persecutions for the sake of gospel, would continue or abide with him, wherever he went. But he wanted the devil to depart from him as it hindered his ministry and since Jesus Christ had the power to suppress the work of the devil and to dispose him from the body of men by speaking a single word, he frequently besought the Lord on this account. But the Lord said to him, “ My grace is sufficient for you. ’’God always answers our prayers in one form or another. Sometimes He remains quiet. Your prayers may be unanswered, but it must be for your good and for His glory. God did not grant the request of the apostle, but assured the sufficiency of grace to support him in his ministry. The Bible says, O You who hear prayer, To You all flesh will come.
My dear brothers and sisters, The Bible again says, I cried out to the Lord, because of my affliction and He answered me. This indicates that God answers our prayers. Sometimes He remains silent. This shows that God has postponed your request, for a better purpose. God is all sufficient. The grace of Christ is sufficient grace for all the elect of God. When God said to Paul, My grace is sufficient for you, he gladly accepted his response and said that he will glory in his infirmities rather than insist God to undo the work of the devil. Paul realised that in his weakness the “Strength” of God would be perfected. Paul says, I will boast in my infirmities, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. ”I take pleasure in infirmities in reproaches, in needs in persecutions, in distress for Christ’s sake, for when I am weak, then I am strong.
In the same manner , my dear sisters and brothers prepare your hearts to receive what God has in store for you, than regret as to why God has rejected your prayer. Then God will bless you. God will strengthen you and enlighten you.
God bless you.
Prayer:
Our loving heavenly Father, we thank You for this blessed day. Lord grant my children the grace they need to overcome any hard situation in their life. May they realize that in their weakness Your strength will be perfected. Have mercy on them and answer their prayers. Give them a heart to endure patiently the afflictions they go through. In Jesus name we pray.
Amen.
My dear Brothers and sisters in Christ, I greet and bless everyone in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. The blessed word that God has given for you today is from the book of Isaiah 43:4, “Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life.”
My dear children of God since you are precious in His sight, God wants to honor You. Many would have despised you all these days. You are hurt and saddened at heart. But do not be worried as what the world thinks about you. What God thinks about you is more important, The Love of God is infinite. There is no malice or guile in His love. His love is pure and spotless. God loves you so much. His love for you is immense. You may be nothing to others. But you are very precious in Gods sight. He considers you as saints. You may be considered much less in the eyes of the world. But you are precious in the sight of God who has chosen you. God considers you as the apple of His eye.
God says, you have been honorable. Being born of God You have become more honorable. You wear the robe of righteousness, garment of salvation, and you have been favored by the presence of God. God again says, “I have loved thee” Since God has loved you, you have become precious and honorable. It is an act of complacency and delight. God takes pleasure in those who hope in His mercy. His love is incomparable. Bible says, For God so loved the World that He gave His only begotten son that who so ever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. God says, I have loved you with an everlasting love. I have drawn you with loving kindness. God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. In this, is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us.
God does not love you based upon your performance. There is nothing you can do to cause God to love you any more than what he has already done for you. He loves you, even more than you love yourself. The knowledge that God loves you, will keep you going in this sinful world. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
My dear brothers and sisters, God loves you, for you are precious in His sight. Therefore He will honour you and provide men to help and assist you in times of need. Therefore trust Him at all times. He will prepare a table for you in the presence of your enemies. He will anoint your head with oil of gladness. He will lead you beside the still waters.
God bless you.
Prayer:
Our loving heavenly Father, we thank You for this blessed day. Thank You Lord for your unconditional love that passes all understanding. Thank you Lord for having chosen us as your children. Help us to love you sincerely and faithfully. Nothing should separate us from the Love of God. In Jesus name we pray.
Amen.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I greet and bless everyone in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. The blessed word that God has given you for today is from the book of Ruth 4: 14,15, “Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a close relative; and may his name be famous in Israel! And may he be to you a restorer of life and a nourishes of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him.”
My beloved children some of you are so hurt and worried in your life , You think that you have become a burden to your parents. With much pain your parents have educated you. Yet you could neither secure a good job nor prosper in your business. You feel so ashamed of yourself. You consider yourself a waste because you seem to be so useless and you are unable to keep any one happy in your family. This is how Naomi felt when she lost her husband and her two grown up sons. Though married they had no children. Her daughter in laws, both Orpah and Ruth had become widows. She was in a miserable state of life. There was no one to comfort her.
The name “Naomi “indicates “good, pleasant, lovely, winsome.” Naomi is the wife of Elimelech. A famine causes them to move with their two sons Mahlon and Chilion from their home in Judea to Moab. Things have gone from bad to worse for Naomi. Not only had she lost her husband but lost both of her sons in untimely deaths. However she hears that God has provided food for His people again and so Naomi made a very important decision to return to Bethlehem. Bethlehem means a house of bread. Naomi’s decision to return from Moab, is a turning point in her life. Naomi insisted her daughter in laws to stay back in Moab. But they lifted up their voice and wept, Orpah kissed her mother in law, and returned to her home. But Ruth clung unto Naomi. She chose to follow her and care for her rather than to seek a husband in Moab. When Naomi returned to Bethlehem, people in the city were excited because of them. and they said, “Is this Naomi ? “So she said to them, ”Do not call me Naomi but call me Marah.” Naomi had a kinsman of her husband’s family. His name was Boaz, a man of great wealth. Ruth worked in his farm. She gleaned in his fields, and later became his wife. Through Boaz, she bore a son and called him Obed. Thus Naomi was blessed with a grandson. Then the women in the town blessed Naomi saying, “The Lord has not forgotten you, for your daughter in law has borne you a grandson.” Thus Naomi who experienced bitterness in her earlier days was blessed in the latter part of her life.
God changed her bitterness into sweetness. In the same manner God will change your situation. In case you are going through a bitterness in your life, kindly hope in God’s word and He will transform your life. All you need is to listen and obey to God’s word.
God bless you.
Prayer:
Our loving heavenly Father, we thank You for this blessed day. Lord bless my children to listen to your soft voice and to obey You, at all times especially when they go through bitterness in their life. May they experience Your goodness at times of distress and bless them to overcome all trials in their life and be successful in their endeavour. In Jesus Name we pray.
Amen.
