Grieve Not the Spirit : Pastor Rajiv's Daily Reflection

All that we have must come from Christ, but it comes solely through the channel of the Spirit of grace. Moreover, as all blessings thus flow to us through the Holy Spirit, so also no good thing can come out of us in holy thought, devout worship, or gracious act, apart from the sanctifying operation of the same Spirit. Even if the good seed be sown in us, yet it lies dormant except he works in us to will and to do of his own good pleasure.

It is important for us to better understand the person of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes people think of the Holy Spirit as more of an “It” than a “Him.” But according to Scripture, the Holy Spirit is not only God, but He has a will, a personality, and can even be offended!

One of the places in Scripture where we read about grieving the Holy Spirit is in Ephesians 4:29-32. The apostle Paul writes:

“Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. And do not grieve God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live…. Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of malicious behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tender hearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.”

We need to understand that the Holy Spirit is part of God, embedded into each one of us.  

He is what Jesus left behind to be with us. He is God in us.

If the Holy Spirit be indeed so mighty, let us attempt nothing without him; let us begin no project, and carry on no enterprise, and conclude no transaction, without imploring his blessing. Let us do him the due homage of feeling our entire weakness apart from him, and then depending alone upon him, having this for our prayer, “Open thou my heart and my whole being to thine incoming, and uphold me with thy free Spirit when I shall have received that Spirit in my inward parts.”

The Possibility of the Impossible: Pastor Rajiv's Daily Reflections

Read: Exodus 2 Verses 1 to 10. 

Most times familiarity breeds a state of mindless recitation leading to zero consciousness. The story of Moses in the Bible has been heard so many times we probably cease to think about it anymore. But pause here to examine the scenario:

Moses is born in a scenario, where the king has passed a judgment to kill every male Jewish child. He is therefore destined to be put to death. He is floated into the river as a desperate attempt by his mother to save him. She probably thought it was better for the river to take him than the violent death he faced. The river, instead of swallowing him as it should have, floats him to the kings' daughter swimming nearby, and who is attracted to the baby. She protects him and brings him up and finally Moses saves and leads his people, according to Gods will and wish, out of Egypt to a new land.

Can you see the possibilities of the impossible? That Moses should have escaped Pharaoh's diktat: Impossible. 

That he was not drowned: next to impossible. 

That of all people, Pharaoh's daughter funds him. Incredible. 

That the king's daughter goes against her father and protects an adopts him: Impossible.

Yet, out of all these impossible situations, God brought Moses to finally achieve the purpose God had for him. The appearance of Pharaoh’s daughter and her discovery of the baby were not mere coincidences; they were acts of God, part of an amazing plan to save Moses.

It's the same God who is working in our lives today. He chose us before we were born (Isiaah 49:1) so we are not an accident. He has a purpose for us and will make the seemingly impossible, to be possible to achieve that purpose.

We can never be in a worse position than Moses, yet in every adverse situation we find ourselves in, be sure God will use that same situation to turn our life around.

Moses’ story encourages us to think of all the acts of God in our own lives. It invites us to ponder if and how we show appreciation for God’s saving grace upon our lives and the lives of our loved ones. How do we explain God’s love for us and God’s work of salvation through Jesus Christ? The amazing acts of God are limitless in the Bible but more importantly in our own lives.

So, no matter how impossible it may seem, pray foolishly for God to turn it around, and in our foolishness God will listen. He will act. And He will make the impossible to become possible.

The Last Word: Our Daily Reflection

Who has not heard of the grace of God? A lot many are in the habit of saying "By the grace of God I am fine, or this happened" etc. But do we know Grace is so important that the Bible ends with "Grace". The last verse of the last book of the Bible, Revelations says -

" The Grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen."

The Bible ends with that blessing, the blessing of Grace for all. 

But What is grace? Grace needs to be known and understood, so we give it true value. 

Grace is simply the supernatural enablement and unmerited favor of the Lord. And we have this "supernatural", God given, power we call grace though we do not merit it nor deserve it. We must therefore value it and practice it. 

Understand and realize that God stoops down to make us great. That is God's grace, and it really is sufficient. By His grace we have been saved many times from any mess up we could possibly imagine, known or unknown. If Grace is at work in our life, no one and nothing can harm us. God has got us covered. The popular term, "I have had a narrow escape" is in fact an unknown acknowledgement of a God given help. 

Let us therefore value it by practicing Grace in our lives. Tell ourselves everyday - "the Grace of Lord Jesus is with me; I will succeed today in everything I do for the Lord and for humanity. If we are going through any challenge, say, "I receive grace from the Lord to overcome this challenge. As we continue to say it, the Holy Spirit will make sure we receive it.

If we have overcome a challenge, be aware that it was nothing but God's Grace at work. Don't believe me: Look minutely at each detail that has transpired during that challenge and see for yourself. Did something "magically" work out"? Did someone come into your life to help you? Did a sudden thought come into your mind to give you the solution? That was grace. So, remember all your narrow escapes and analyze the "escape". 

Grace deserves to be valued, let us therefore value this grace and honor it.  By doing God's will, in happiness, overcoming our own, we show a tiny bit of gratitude for this unmerited grace.

​Grace deserves to be practiced. "​Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need​"​.​ ​

Don't Try Faith: Pastor Rajiv's Daily Reflections

1 Peter 1:7, NIV: These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. — 1 Peter 1:7

Faith trials are a part of life. Faith untried may be true faith, but it is sure to be little faith, and it is likely to remain dwarfish so long as it is without trials. Faith never prospers so well as when all things are against her: tempests are her trainers, and lightnings are her illuminators. and no faith is so precious as that which lives and triumphs in adversity. 

Tried faith brings experience. Faith increases in solidity, assurance, and intensity, the more it is exercised with tribulation. Faith is precious, and its trial is precious too.

However, while faith will try you, don't try faith, especially the young in faith, lest it discourage.

You will have trials enough without seeking them: the full portion will be measured out to you in due season, when you are ready, maybe at age 25 or age 55. 

Meanwhile, if you cannot yet claim the result of long experience, thank God for what grace you have; praise him for that degree of holy confidence whereunto you have attained: walk according to that rule, and you shall yet have more and more of the blessing of God, till your faith shall remove mountains and conquer impossibilities.

The Silver Knife: Pastor Rajiv's Mid-Week Message

 

Self Will: Our Daily Reflection

"Thy will be done".

Saying this is easy but doing it is as hard as climbing Mt. Everest. 

A sixteenth-century doctor, Thomas Fuller, once said, "Beware of no man more than thyself." So true.

Yesterday we talked about how we try and force our will on God and our inherent rebellion. Isaiah 48:4 says - 

“Because I know that you are obstinate, And your neck is an iron sinew, And your forehead bronze..."

Our rebellious self-will is well known to God as well and there are numerous warnings in the Bible.

Overcoming self-will, to be able to do Gods will takes tremendous courage and strength. Where do we get this courage?

Simple: ASK God. He has already given all we need to know and remember in His word. Dwell in it.

Ask, Seek, Knock and keep knocking till you find the answer. But where is the door? It's the Bible and your prayer is your knock. Keep reading, keep praying.

The Rebellion: Pastor Rajiv's Daily Reflections

By nature, men and human have an undeniable religious impulse, but they also have an undeniable rebellion against God. What men want most is not the elimination of religion but want their own version of "religion". They say they want the kingdom, but they don’t want God in it.

If God wants to enter our kingdom, He better show some proof, and this is frightening, especially the emphasis on signs and wonders among some Christians is frightening.
Yet we look for signs, not remembering that when Moses and Aaron showed miraculous signs, so did the Egyptian magicians as did the cohort of Anti-Christ.

Why then do we rebel and ask for proof when our very lives are proof? God created us and invited us into His Heavenly Kingdom, yet we want to have our own kingdom, where we are the kings and queens and our wishes and desires reign paramount. My way or the Highway Lord!

And, if God wants to live in our kingdom, He better show some signs and miracles! Give me what I want. 

This rebellion can cost us heavily. The outcome of rebellions is frequently mentioned in the Bible -
1. Those who rebel are delivered into the hands of their enemies. Nehemiah 9:26
2. The rebellious dwell in a dry land. Psalms 68:6.
3. If you rebel against the Lord’s commandments, the hand of the Lord will be against you. 1 Samuel 12:14-15.
4. Rebellion can cut short your life and ministry.
5. The Holy Spirit will turn against you. Isaiah63:10.

And just to demonstrate how seriously God takes ourbrebellious acts here are some examples - 
Rebellious acts in the Bible
• Lucifer was cast out of Heaven. Ezekiel 28:11-19, Isaiah 14:12-14.
• Saul was removed from being king. Isaiah 13:16.
• Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised Land. Number 27:14.
• Jonah was swallowed by the big fish. Jonah 1:15-17.
• Judas Iscariot hung himself because he rebelled against Jesus. Luke 22.


Still want to rebel with your will ?


It is dangerous to rebel against the Kingdom of God, the Will and Word of God and to turn away from His plans, for there is no real liberty in rebellion. So, if you have rebelled against God, it is not too late. Our God is merciful. If you cry out to Him, He’ll save you. Psalms 107.

Which is the bigger wonder? Pastor Rajiv's Daily Reflections

Which is the bigger wonder? Gods' faithfulness or our unbelief? 

He keeps his promise a thousand times, and yet the next trial makes us doubt him.

We are as continually vexed with anxieties, molested with suspicions, and disturbed with fears, as if our God were the mirage of the desert.

Yet as we read Isiaah we see He says -
Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands. — Isaiah 49:16

. “I have graven thee.” It does not say, “your name.” The name is there, but that is not all: our person, our image, our case, our circumstances, our sins, our temptations, our weaknesses, our wants, our works; He has graven us, everything about us, all that concerns us.

With this understanding will we ever say again that our God has forsaken us or forgotten us, when he has "graven" us upon his own palms?

The Key to Blessings: Daily Reflections

Isiaah 58:6-11 says - 

6“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
10 If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Today I read an ad from a non profit which had a picture of a little girl with tears. Someone asked her are you a Muslim, Hindu, Christian or Sikh etc. And she simply replies, "I am hungry".

A very sad ad that was. But so much truth in it. The quoted verses are as true today as they were thousands of years ago during Isaiah's time.

And that's the thing: we want God to give but we are not willing to share. The quoted verses make it quite clear- God entrusts us with more when we are willing to use His blessings to make sure no one we know is hungry, or is insecure or without a job, or sick or in any sort of situation which is leaving him/ her in hunger or fear of something.

You may say God said that to Israel as a nation. Sure. But who makes up a nation? Ordinary people like you and me. If we don't do it at our small level, how can any nation do it on a national scale? And how can we ever have a hunger free, terror free, educated world?

So tonight when we pray to our God, let's make sure we at least pray for others and while we ask for His blessings on finance, jobs etc., keep in mind the key to getting those blessings : sharing our blessings and caring for others. Lets resolve to wipe each tear away from people around us.

He never promised a Rose Garden: Pastor Rajiv's Daily Reflections

 Remember Isiaah when he said - 

"But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint. but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint..."

God did not promise us a rose garden and a life of ease and comfort. Our life of "free will" ensures that we will make mistakes, many mistakes; that our enemy will attempt to derail our lives and that we will need to work hard to earn a day of leisure. This is a given. 

What He did promise us though was that, with His help, we will overcome problems, we will fly over trouble, He will sustain our strength so that we do not faint in the battle called life and finally that through Him, we will prevail.  what do we need to do? Call on Him. Acknowledge Him and ask Him. Psalm 91 14-16 says - 

“Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

He will call on me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble,

I will deliver him and honor him.

With long life I will satisfy him

and show him my salvation.”

Here are so many promises for us. Eight promises to be precise. Eight promises with just one condition: That we love Him and acknowledge Him. Acknowledging God means that we accept our faults, ask for His help and forgiveness and wait for His direction.