IT IS TIME FORGET THE PAST & CELEBRATE A NEW BEGINNING

As the New Year stands before us, like a new chapter in a book, waiting to be written by God on our lives, it is important we must turn the old pages and give it all to Him. That way we allow Him to give us a brand new start.

 

God knows that we need many new beginnings. And that is the reason He took the whole of eternity and broke it down into incremental pieces of 24 hours period that we know as a “day”. Then every 365 days we start a whole new year. There is also a new season four times every year. So many chances for a new start. But always, every 24 hours, the sun sets and rises again with a new dawn – another chance at a new beginning.

And very surely some blunder and absurdities have no doubt crept in. Get rid of them and forget them as soon as you can but make sure that to take the lesson learned and move on because tomorrow is a new day. Do not waste a moment of today on the rottenness of yesterday.

 

Keep on doing the same old things and expect a different result is next to impossible. So, first and foremost in our endeavour to bring closure to the old and begin the new right is to make sure every area of your life – gifts, talents, work, triumphs, everything is dedicated to Him. If we dedicate everything to God for His purposes, then it is guaranteed that everything would turn out for good.

May your days be painted in gold. May your life be filled with diamonds. May the stars shine bright on your world. May God’s special favors & blessings be upon you. Happy New Year 2015 !

DO YOU KNOW WHY YOU SUFFER?

The Bible says that sufferings is one of the means of God to turn our attention towards Him. Who can ever find a human being without suffering ?  The big truth is that how we  deal with it is going to affect our lives in a big way  - for our good or for the worst.  Let's see here how suffering affect us:

Suffering is helpful when	Suffering is harmful when
We turn to God for understanding, endurance and deliverance	We become hardened and reject God
We ask important questions we might not take time to think about it in our normal routine	We refuse to ask questions and miss any lesson that might for good for us
We are prepared by it to identify with and comfort others who suffer	We allow it to make us self-centred and selfish
We are open to being helped by others who are obeying God	We withdraw from the help others can give
We are ready to learn from the trustworthy God	We are ready to learn from the trustworthy God
WE realize we can identify with what Christ suffered on the cross for us	We accuse God of being unjust and perhaps lead others to reject Him.
We are insightful to the amount of suffering in the world	We refuse to open to any changes in our lives

Do you know Job’s greatest test was not the pain, but he did not know why he was suffering !

Our greatest test may be that we must trust God’s goodness even though we don’t understand why our lives are going a certain way. So what suffering has to say in our lives?

Get to learn to trust in God who is good and not in the goodness of life!

DO YOU HAVE A FLIGHT PLAN?

Airline pilots do this on every flight. They set their course. If they are going to go from London to Berlin, they file a flight plan. Once they set their course, they know they will only go to Berlin. However, if you don’t have a course, you will land in any city that looks enticing. But if you set your mind and your flight plan , then you are not tempted to land in Paris or Amsterdam.

In life, if you don’t know where you are going, any road will be tempting. Probably you may have had tried many roads only to see the dead ends. The important thing to take note here is that God has set our course of destiny – our flight plan before we came to being in this world.  So, if any one of us see ourselves in a dead end, it is very clear that we have distracted course that is not set for us. But no need to worry . When you mess up , what you do ? Do you beat yourself up? No! Renew your mind.

Set your mind to follow God’s ways , even amidst obstacles and once you commit to focusing on God rather than your strength & strongholds you will see your life gets much simpler because you will know what to say ‘No’ to, and what to say ‘Yes’ to.

Do you know why some people have a weak faith? It is because they have not yet decided what is truly important!
 

MIRACLE IN THE MAKING

Probably many of us are looking for a miracle right at this moment – To improve in health or in finances , To get out of a difficult situation , To fix up broken relationships or To have a changeover but all we want is instant miracles. And when things we pray for don’t happen, we get disappointed. The enlightening here is that miracles will happen for those who believe but not in the way we presume it but in a way how God has planned it.

 

Let’s have a look at the anatomy of a miracle . Some miracles happen in flash but I want to tell you about the kinds of miracles that changes lives, changes destinies, or change people’s future. Often these miracles take place over a period of time. They are more like a process taking on the form of a season rather than a second. These kinds of miracles require our utmost cooperation and its fulfilment depends on our partnership.

 

God puts these miracles in slow motion so that we can actually examine the components of a miracle and thus better understand the ways of God in order to cooperate with Him.

 

In the book of Acts 12:7-11 , we see Peter was thrown into prison for spreading the gospel. And while was being kept in prison, the people were praying fervently. Then on the very night before King Herod was about to bring Peter out, accuse him, and most probably put him to death, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers chained to these guards and there were guards by the door watching over the prison. But suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and light shone in the cell. He struck peter’s side and roused him to get up quickly . The chains fell off his hands. The Angel said to him to put on his sandals and coat and follow him. Peter went out and continued to follow him. He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened for them by itself and they went out along one street and immediately the angel departed from him. And when Peter came to his senses, he realized God has sent forth His angel and rescued him.

 

Peter didn’t realize he was in the midst of a miracle. God slowed down this miracle in order to allow time for it to come to pass. It took time for the angel to hit him in the side, rouse him , and say get up. It took time for Peter to put on his sandals, his clothes, coat, and follow the angels pass the guards. It is when Peter gets to the gate and turns around that he realizes he was walking in the midst of a miracle all along.

 

An obvious miracle took place but wasn’t an instant one. You may be walking in the midst of a miracle right now and like Peter may not even realize it. Your destiny, future, family, children, job, or finances could be a miracle in the making. You may not see the end of it yet and may not know how long it will take to get to the iron gates but if you follow Him even through potential opposition and danger, you will realize the miracle God has for your life.

 

You may be walking in the midst of a miracle in the making. Cooperate with Him all the way to the gate!