Beat Swords Into Ploughshares: Pastor Rajiv's Mid-Week Message

 

Temptation is Beautiful

Good for the Eyes, Bad for the Soul (Adapted from the KJV Devotional) 

“And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise…” Genesis 3:6 KJV

Satan never lures people with repulsive bait, but he always uses things that appeal to our greatest desires. The truth is that God has already provided everything that we need, but Satan incites a dissatisfaction that began in the Garden of Eden. He creates counterfeits of God's blessings and falsely presents that he can give even more, as in the case of Eve and the forbidden tree. The tree was not just pleasant to look at and with good fruit to eat, but it offered something extra—it seemed to make one wise. But in the end, what the devil offers may look good, but it is always destructive to one's soul.

Monday Quotes

When the Christian faith becomes defined by who we are and what we do and not by who Christ is and what he did for us, we miss the gospel - and we, ironically, become more disobedient. Tullian Tchividjian

The truth is the real Christian experience is truly about repenting every day because there is no Christian that doesn't sin. Stephen Baldwin

I'm excited to create more awareness about the importance of giving the youth of America a choice. There's a 24-hour music channel. There's a 24-hour comedy channel. I believe there's a 24-hour gay channel coming. Why isn't there a 24-hour Christian channel that's edgy and hip and cool and new and different, like all that other stuff? Stephen Baldwin

Some of us live a Christian life as if we're always under the stern, watchful eye of our Father and he is very impossible to please... No, God delights even in our heartfelt attempts at obedience. Kevin DeYoung

If creators of Christian culture hope to produce work that will bear good fruit, we must draw our life from the true source - our living Savior. He is real. He is present. But all too often we reduce him to an abstraction, giving him intellectual assent, but not our hearts. Michael O'Brien

I never heard a Christian sermon preached in a church. Lincoln Steffens

Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened. Billy Graham

The greatest legacy one can pass on to one's children and grandchildren is not money or other material things accumulated in one's life, but rather a legacy of character and faith. Billy Graham

You're born. You suffer. You die. Fortunately, there's a loophole. Billy Graham

Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can. John Wesley

Is it not hard that even those who are with us should be against us - that a man's enemies, in some degree, should be those of the same household of faith? Yet so it is. John Wesley

Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction. Blaise Pascal

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony. Mahatma Gandhi

You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty. Mahatma Gandhi

I'm a Christian, a conservative, and a Republican, in that order. Mike Pence

We relish news of our heroes, forgetting that we are extraordinary to somebody too. Helen Hayes

The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches but to reveal to him his own. Benjamin Disraeli

O never give me over to my own heart's desires, nor let me follow my own imaginations! John Wesley

It is not talking but walking that will bring us to heaven. Matthew Henry

He whose head is in heaven need not fear to put his feet into the grave. Matthew Henry

It is common for those that are farthest from God, to boast themselves most of their being near to the Church. Matthew Henry

Saturday Vespers

Image contributed by Coral Keogh

As the day and this week draws to a close, we thank you for your love and guidance. Thank you for the blessings and challenges. May we rest peacefully tonight, knowing that You are always with us.

We lift up our hearts in prayer for all humanity.

For Peace: May peace reign in every nation, and may conflict be resolved through dialogue and understanding.

For Justice: May justice prevail, and may the oppressed find relief.

For Healing: May the sick be healed, the wounded be comforted, and the brokenhearted be mended.

For Love: May love abound, and may we learn to love our neighbors as ourselves.

For Hope: May hope ignite the hearts of all, and may despair be replaced with faith.

For a lady in Australia who will need to under cancer surgery next month

For the Pastor in India who's wife needs your healing for her stage 4 cancer

For a lady in India who need your healing and relief for her back pain

For Jerry who was diagnosed with early-stage pancreas cancer. We pray for your healing and guidance as he gets treatment

Smurfs requests prayer that the Lord would provide them with funds they need for a new roof and that they can get the boiler to light up for heat

Maxime prays that God may use her talents

We entrust the world to Your loving care. Guide us, protect us, and lead us toward a brighter future.

Money, Money, Money

Money is never enough. We keep striving and working for more. This is not new; it is from eons that we already always trying to earn money and more money.

Tom Harper explains this from a Biblical perspective.

Imagine you suddenly find $100 million in your bank account (and it's rightfully yours). What would you do with it?

Once you've celebrated, paid off all your debt, bought a couple cars and moved into your new private-island home, what would be next in life?

An Indian saint and poet, Sant Kabir Das, said thus - 

"Sayeen Itna Deejiye, Ja Mein Kutumb Samaye.

Main Bhi Bhookha Na Rahun, Sadhu Na Bhookha Jaye".

(Please God, give me enough so that I can support myself and my family, and so that no one goes hungry, not me nor any saint who comes to my home). 

Proverbs 30:8-9 also says it so well:

"…give me neither poverty nor riches!

Give me just enough to satisfy my needs.

For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, "Who is the Lord?"

And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God's holy name".

Ecclesiastes chapter 5 directly addresses this dreamy scenario of finding the rainbowed pot of gold. Here are a few points Solomon makes in verses 10 and 11:

1. Those who love money will never have enough.

2. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness!

3. The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it.

4. So what good is wealth—except perhaps to watch it slip through your fingers!

These pithy statements are straight from the New Living Translation. And how true they are!

The main point, which is also a universal truth as we have seen, is in verse 15 "We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day we were born. We can't take our riches with us."

If we can't take it with us, why do we strive for more than we need?

Trusting God for just enough is a way of describing how God provides what is needed in the moment, while also requiring trust in what will come next. 

Monday Quotes

Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible. Francis of Assisi

Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence. Vince Lombardi

Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago. Warren Buffett

When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost. Billy Graham

My home is in Heaven. I'm just traveling through this world. Billy Graham

Comfort and prosperity have never enriched the world as much as adversity has. Billy Graham

The main rule to me is to honor God with your life. To life a life of integrity. Not be selfish. You know, help others. But that's really the essence of the Christian faith. Joel Osteen

When a man becomes a Christian, he becomes industrious, trustworthy and prosperous. Now, if that man, when he gets all he can and saves all he can, does not give all he can, I have more hope for Judas Iscariot than for that man! John Wesley

The Christian missionary may preach the gospel to the poor naked heathen, but the spiritual heathen who populate Europe have as yet heard nothing of Christianity. Carl Jung

Did I offer peace today? Did I bring a smile to someone's face? Did I say words of healing? Did I let go of my anger and resentment? Did I forgive? Did I love? These are the real questions. I must trust that the little bit of love that I sow now will bear many fruits, here in this world and the life to come. Henri Nouwen

First of all, the Jewish religion has a great deal in common with the Christian religion because, as Rabbi Gillman points out in the show, Christianity is based on Judaism. Christ was Jewish. Barbara Walters

The sometimes-tough love of the Christian faith of my childhood demanded a certain amount of self-reflection and, occasionally, self-criticism. J. D. Vance

The bird is powered by its own life and by its motivation. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right. Abraham Lincoln

Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous. Albert Einstein

There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, 'All right, then, have it your way.' C. S. Lewis

God meets daily needs daily. Not weekly or annually. He will give you what you need when it is needed. Max Lucado

This is a paradox of man: compared to God, man is nothing; yet we are everything to God. Dieter F. Uchtdorf

The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. Mahatma Gandhi

Saturday Vespers: Come to the Water

And Jesus said : Come to the water

Stand by My side.

I know you are thirsty You won't be denied

I felt ev'ry tear drop

When in darkness you cried And I strove to remind you

That for those tears I died

Lord Jesus, you have called us and we have found you. You feel our pain, our joy and our challenges and are with us through it all.

we thank you for providing us with parents who brought us to you. We pray for all those who have gone before us to you, parents, father, mother, husband, wife, aunts and uncles and friends, as we remember them not only today but every day. We thank you for our time with them.

Thank You for the gift of this new day. May this Saturday be a day of rest, renewal, and peace. Fill our hearts with gratitude for the blessings in our lives.

We pray for healing for the sick, comfort for the grieving, and hope for the discouraged. For financial health, physical health and healing and emotional strength for those who need it. For a Pastor in India who's wife is suffering from stage IV cancer - we ask for your miracle of healing. For a senior - relief from pain in her back and hips and renewed mobility.

Ben requests prayer for his Mum that the skin cancers she has been diagnosed with yesterday, will be completely and successfully removed on Friday 13th December. Please pray that all cancer cells will be removed and that she will be 100% cancer free after the surgery. Please pray that God will comfort her and take away her worry and fill her with peace as He protects her and His healing hands will be upon her.

Anonymous requests us to pray for healing for her husband, mom and dad.

Trishey and Tanu ask for prayer in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

Rajeev P prays For his personal life with Jesus and giving him wisdom and strength through tough times

Sara says "Please join me in prayer for my mom. She has a severe bacterial infection for 8 weeks now (2 months) and she slips into bouts almost of hysteria. There is demonic influence with it because she has demons come to her in the night telling her she is going to die soon. Please pray for my whole family for deliverance from generational strongholds and for my mom to be healed".

Lord Jesus, May Your love and grace surround us all.

Pastor Rajiv's Mid-Week Message

 

What's in it for Me?

“Religion today is not transforming people— it is being transformed by people. It is not raising the moral level of society— it is descending to society's own level and congratulating itself that it has scored a victory because society is smiling, accepting its surrender.” - A. W. TOZER (1897-1963)

These words reflect the true state of society and Christianity today. As Christians, do we embody Christianity? Or do we take what is convenient and ignore or justify the rest.

Christianity is not a convenience. It is a way of life to be led by emulating Christ for the Glory of our Father in Heaven. Don't we pray that? When we help someone in need is it for Gods glory or our own? When we perform church activities, is it for our own name to be up in lights or for the body of Christ? When we pray for someone to be healed is it for Gods glory or because we just like that person? Do we use the church as a social and networking platform or THE house of God? Do we follow Christ with a zero agenda ?

The fact is today's society views every thing with the lens of WIFM (what's in it for me) instead of "what's in it for God".

We cant pick and choose as we do. Living the Christian life means going out of our comfort zone and our "convenience zone", with a zero agenda. It means taking a step back from self glorification.

Christianity is not supposed to be the surrender of the church but our own surrender to God. It can involve surrendering small things throughout the day, or surrendering bigger things like hopes and dreams. Are we ready for that or is it an inconvenience?

A Small Peg in the Wall

                                          

A Pastor in Haiti related this parable to make a very strong point. We relate it as it is:

A certain man wanted to sell his house for $2000. Another man wanted to buy it very badly, but he was a poor man and he couldn't give the full price. After much bargaining, the owner agreed to sell the house to the man for $1000. But the reduced price came with a stipulation. The owner would sell the house, but he would keep ownership of a large nail, protruding from over the front door.

Several years later, the original owner decided he wanted to buy the house back. Understandably, the new owner was unwilling to sell.

As a result, the original owner went out, found the carcass of a dead dog in the street, and hung it from the nail he still owned. Soon, the house became unlivable, and the family was forced to sell to the owner of the nail.

The Haitian pastor concluded the story with these words: "If we leave the devil with even one small peg in our life, he will return to hang his rotten garbage on it."