GAP BETWEEN THE FINGERS

There was a time in my life when I had thought why God made gap between the fingers? I tried hard to find the answer. Later in my life I had met a nice girl. Soon she became an angel of love to me. One day I gently placed my hand on her hand. With much love we had hold our hands together tightly. She filled the gap of my fingers with her fingers. I had thought that only for this, God made gap between the fingers. I felt a great joy in my heart.

                Soon there was a sign of storm in our life. It was just a sign but there was no storm. Even then I felt her hands were trembling because of fear. I tried my level best to comfort her by tightly holding her fingers that were in my hand. But she desperately wanted to take out her hand off mine. I tried to hold her hand but she pulled it off by force for no reason.

                My angel of love has moved on her own way. I was confused, shattered and broken. I was deeply hurt because I can’t see my hands without her hands. It seemed to be incomplete without hers.

                There I was lying on my table with no hope about my future. My life went into complete darkness. As I laid there with my hands stretched, I felt a hand trying to open my closed hands. It gently opened my hand and the fingers of that hand filled the gaps between my fingers. I wondered who it may be. When I raised my tear shedding face, I saw my Jesus Christ with a comforting look. He said to me, “My son, I love you lots and you have to know that there were gaps created between your fingers so that it should be filled only by my fingers.”

                Yeah.. Now I understood why there were gaps between my fingers. It is for Jesus Christ and only for Jesus Christ.

WILL YOU BE REALLY SUCCESSFUL?

Dear Friend,

                Everyone’s life moves with an aspiration to gain something. In your life too, yesterday you had an ambition. Today you are working or moving towards your goal and tomorrow you may achieve your goal. Is it really the end of your life? Does achieving your goal make you a successful person? Once achieving your dream, you may feel like you have lost nothing. Is that really meant that you have not lost anything? Let’s discuss that.

                As you began growing in your life, you always had a desire to achieve something. Later that desire became your aim. As a part of your aim, today you may feel happy that you got admission in a job assuring course in a reputed institution. To you studies and entertainment became a part of your life. You watch movies, play games, chat with your friends and study at the last. Somehow you will get your degree. Then you will think that you achieved your longing. Will it be an end of your desire? No, not at all.

                Once you finish your studies, you will get a desire to be placed in a MNC. When you achieve that too, you won’t be satisfied. You then look for a girl whose appearance was like an angel and you start loving her and one day you will marry her. Does it going to be the end? No.

                Then you long for children and after that you work too hard for promotion after promotions. One day you will find yourself as one of the elite personality in the society. Wow! This is what you worked and longed for. You enjoyed life with movies, friends, other gender people, family and colleagues. Finally you succeeded in getting your desire. Your society calls you as a great successful person.

                You feel like you never missed anything in your life. You feel like you have not lost anything in your life. Even today as a young person you feel the same. Really have you not missed anything? Really have you not lost anything? No, my dear friend.

                At the end of your enjoyment and achievement you will find that you lost yourself and you missed God. You may accept this or not, but this is the truth. Without God, you will never be successful.

God, the almighty says like this:

“ For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Matthew 16:26

“For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself.......” Luke 9:25

                My dear friend, even if you gain the whole world and its pleasures but lose your soul, you will be called as a loser by God, the one who created you. Because you think that God does not exist, will really never put an end to the reality of the existence of God? God exist, my dear friend. He is real. You need God more than He needs you.

                The only way to gain your soul is to receive God in your life. Only when you gain yourself in God, you will get eternal life. Only when you get the eternal life, you will be a successful person.

                What you achieve in this world, counts nothing compared to what you are going to get after you die. If you don’t have God with you when you live, then you will miss eternal life when you die and you will lose you.

                The only way to gain yourself and to have God with you always is to believe in Jesus Christ and get saved through Him. Jesus Christ is the son of God who died for the redemption of sinners and resurrected after three days. This is the greatest truth in the universe. Jesus Christ has become sin for you in the cross. He died for your sins so that you will be saved from the punishment of your sin.

Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:21

“For He has made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made righteousness of God in Him.”

Why Jesus Christ become sin for you in the cross? Lets imagine that you have a precious friend whom you love lots and lots. Unfortunately your friend commits a murder. As his crime was about to be proved, you has a great desire to save him. You will face only two options. One you have to run to the judge and tell him that you want to die for your friend instead of him. Even if you do this, no one is going to accept. So the final option to save your friend is you have to become a criminal instead of him accepting that you only did the crime.

                This is what Jesus Christ has done in the cross. To save you from judgement and punishment, He became sin on the cross for you. He shed His blood and gave His life only for you. He was resurrected and even today He is alive.

                My dear friend, if you want to gain yourself, you have to come to Jesus Christ. He alone can give you eternal life. He is ready to forgive your sins and accept you as you are. He will never cast away anyone who comes to Him. He will surely accept you as His own child as He has done to me. Jesus loves you lot. Will you come to Jesus today and accept Him as your personal saviour?

“Don’t love yourself and Don’t miss God”. God wants to see you in Heaven. Me too.

JESUS WANTS TO KNOW (AUTHOR UNKNOWN) - The Article I like most

If you never felt pain,

Then how would you know that I am a Healer?

If you never went through anything,

How would you know that I am a Deliverer?

If you never had a trial,

How could you call yourself Overcome?

If you never felt sadness,

How would you know that I am a Comforter?

If you never made a mistake,

How would you know that I am a Forgiver?

If you knew all,

How would you know that I will answer your questions?

If you never were in trouble,

How would you know that I will come to your rescue?

If you were never broken,

Then how would you know that I can make you whole?

If you never had a problem,

How would you know that I can solve them?

If you never had any suffering,

Then how would you know what I went through?

If you never went through the fire,

How would you become pure?

If I never corrected you,

How would you know that I love you?

If you had all power,

Then how would you learn to depend on Me?

If your life was perfect,

Then what would you need Me for?

With Love,

Jesus Christ.

PERFECTION YIELDS GOODNESS

Joshua 1:5 And Joshua said to the people, “Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”

If we expect goodness to come out of our life, we should first submit ourselves to the process of sanctification and perfection.

Many times we miss the opportunity to receive goodness and also to yield goodness, because we do not prepare ourselves in the presence of God to receive and yield it.

We can understand this from Genesis first chapter. In Genesis first chapter we will be reading about the way that God create everything.

Genesis 1:2 says: “The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep...”

The earth was not in a perfect form. God can make the earth to yield crops, fruits, and living creatures in the first day itself. But He never did that because He knows that the earth was imperfect.

So God spent the first two days and some part of the third day to make the whole world perfect. He arranged the things of the world in a perfect way. That is, He prepares the world to yield goodness.

Only when He completed the work of perfection in the world, He made the world to yield every good thing. He made the sun and stars to shine on the earth. He made the earth to yield living creatures and birds in abundance. God finally sees that everything was made good. A formless earth at the beginning was made to yield goodness at the end only after the process of perfection.

My dear young people, if you want God to do something in your life or through your life, you should allow Him to make you perfect. Without God’s perfection in your life, you cannot yield goodness.

Gold has to go through the process of heating in a fiery furnace for purification. Only then it will form as Gold. The fiery furnace is the one which makes the Gold perfect. If you submit yourself to God and do things according to His counsel, He will make His light to shine upon you.

Allow God to clean you so that you will be perfect. Then God will enable you to yield goodness and you will be a blessing to many. May God shine upon you and through you!!

ASKING IN THE NAME OF JESUS

There was a famous promise which most of us always use while praying. I heard many people asking God so many things using this promise:

     John 14:14 “If you ask anything in My name, I will do it”

What a wonderful promise it is! Jesus says that He will do all the things we ask in His name. But at times we are not getting things even though we ask those things in His name. Why? The reason is we fail to uphold the conditions that God has given us. Let us quickly see three conditions that we have to follow so that God will fulfill His promise.
1.   John 14:13 “And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”

Jesus is ready to do whatever we ask in His name but the things we ask should glorify the Father God. Many times we ask for great Spiritual power having an intention in our heart that we will be appreciated if God’s power is revealed through us. If we think like that, surely God will never answer our prayer because He will never share His glory with anyone. He is God. So whatever blessings or desire that we ask should glorify the Father. Only then Jesus will grant our request.
2     John 15:7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you.”

Without abiding in Jesus, if we ask anything using His name, the request will not be granted. Living in sin thinking that it won’t affect the movement of God’s hand in our life is a foolish thought. Abiding in the love of Jesus is very important for us to receive what we ask in His name. Jesus says in John 15:8 “By this My Father is glorified...”

If Father God has to be glorified as stated in condition one, we have to abide in Jesus who is the true vine. We have to love Him truly and follow Him diligently.
3.     John 15:16 “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.”

The final condition is we have to bear fruit and only then God will grant whatever we ask Him in the name of Jesus. Bible clearly says that every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. It’s important for every son and daughter of God to bear fruit that pleases God. Only when we bear fruit, our prayer that we make in the name of Jesus will be answered.

We can relate all the three conditions as like this: First we have to abide in Jesus. Abiding in Jesus will enable us to bear fruit (John 15:4). That is the second part. Finally when we bear fruit, Father will be glorified through us. Then as Father is glorified, He will grant us all blessings that we ask in the name of His son Jesus.

Abide in God. Bear fruit. Glorify the Father. Surely God will grant your heart’s desire.

ANOTHER YEAR

Every time when we celebrate our birthday, we used to thank God for adding one more year in our life. Every time when we get into 1st January our heart rejoices for the New Year. Let’s see from Bible that why God is giving us one more year.

There was a parable about the barren fig tree which was told by Jesus is given in Luke 13:6-9. The parable goes like this. A man who is the owner of a vineyard comes to his vineyard seeking fruit on a fig tree. But he found none. So he calls the keeper of the vineyard and told him to cut the fig tree since it is not giving any fruit for three years.

We have to understand one thing. The owner of the vineyard comes regularly for three years seeking fruit in the fig tree. But the fig tree has never produced a fruit. So the owner gets disappointed and asks the keeper to cut the tree and throw it off.

The fig tree also would have thought that it was useful for nothing. It would have said within itself: "Yeah! What the owner saying is correct. I should be cut down since I could not produce any fruit." It would have hated itself for its outcome.

At that moment came a sweet voice of the keeper of the vineyard saying: "No my Lord! Don't cut it down. Please give one more year to this tree. I will do all that is possible for this tree to bear fruit. If it bears fruit you keep it. If it does not bear fruit, then you can cut it down."

"Give my son/daughter one more year" - that is the voice of Jesus pleading to Father God so that we won't be cut down. We may not have produced any fruit before. You would have thought in your heart that you are eligible to be thrown off from God's garden because of the sins you have done that stopped bearing fruit in your life. 

Jesus Christ is saying: "My son/daughter let Me give you one more year. In this one year I will give you My grace, mercy and strength to bear fruit. You may not have produced fruit in the past year. Don't worry. I am giving you a new year to start again. A new opportunity to live for Me. If you bear fruit atleast in this year, I will keep you with Me in My garden...Forever."

Bear fruit for God in this New Year so that you won't be cut off. May God's grace sustain you!!

REACTION AT THE TIME OF DISTRESS... (How we will react when we face troubles?..)

We have the habit of walking in God’s path with great faith until we face difficulties. Once difficulty comes we tend to lose our faith. Let’s see an example of living from the life of Jesus Christ, The Almighty God.

Condition:

                We can understand the sorrow that Jesus had before crucifixion through Matthew 26:38 Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death...”

                We can also understand the sorrow that disciples of Jesus had through John 16:6 and 22. Jesus says in John 16:6 & 22 that His disciple’s heart has filled by sorrow.

                The condition that we see here is both Jesus and His disciples were filled with sorrows in their heart.

Reaction:

                The reaction of the disciples of Jesus when their heart was filled with sorrow can be read in Luke 22:45. The disciples were sleeping because of sorrow. That is the reaction of disciples.

                If we turn our attention to Luke 22:44 we can see the reaction of Jesus. The verse says: “And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly...”

                Being in sorrow and agony, the disciples slept but Jesus prayed more earnestly.

Outcome:

                Because Jesus prayed more earnestly at the time of distress and agony, He overcame that and fulfilled His Father’s desire.

                But the disciples of Jesus could not overcome the sorrow and so they fled away and denied Jesus.

                We have to learn from the life of Jesus. Even when we go through agony or sorrow, we should learn to pray more earnestly. If only we pray more earnestly, we will overcome the tribulations through the grace of God.

                Don’t sleep while going through tribulations but pray. Prayer moves God’s throne. Keep praying. God be with you!!

JUDGE GENTLY (Author Unknown) – The poem which I like most

Pray don't find fault with the man
who limps or stumbles along the road
Unless you have worn the shoes he wears,
or struggled beneath his load.

There may be tacks in his shoes that hurt,
though hidden away from view,
Or the burden he bears...placed on your back,
might cause you to stumble too.

Don't sneer at the man who's down today,
unless you have felt the blow
That caused his fall or felt the shame
that only the fallen know.

You may be strong, but still the blows that
were his...if dealt to you,
In the selfsame way at the selfsame time
might cause you to stagger too.

Don't be too harsh with the man who sins
or pelt him with word or stone
Unless you are sure...yea doubly sure
that you have no sins of your own...

For you know, perhaps,
if the tempter's voice should whisper as softly to you
As it did to him when he went astray
could cause you to falter too.

SAYINGS ABOUT PRAYER FROM SAINTS OF GOD

Martin Luther said: “If I fail to spend two hours in prayer each morning, the devil gets the victory through the day. I have so much business I cannot get on without spending three hours daily in prayer.”

John Welch, the holy and wonderful Scotch preacher, thought the day ill spent if he did not spend eight hours or ten hours in prayer.

Bishop ken was so much with God that his soul was said to be God enamoured. He was with God before the clock struck three every morning.

Bishop Asbury said: “I propose to rise at four ‘o’ clock as often as I can and spend two hours in prayer and meditation.”

Bishop Hamilton said: “No man is likely to do much good in prayer who does not begin by looking upon it in the light of a work to be prepared for and persevered in with all the earnestness which we bring to bear upon subjects which are in our opinion at once most interesting and most necessary.”

Dr.Judson: “Arrange thy affairs, if possible, so that thou canst leisurely devote two or three hours every day not merely to devotional exercises but to the very act of secret prayer and communion with God. Endeavour seven times a day to withdraw from business and company and lift up thy soul to God in private retirement. Begin the day by rising after midnight and devoting some time amid the silence and darkness of the night to this sacred work. Let the hours of nine, twelve, three, six and nine at night witness the same. Be resolute in His cause. Make all practicable sacrifices to maintain it. Consider that thy time is short, and that business and company must not be allowed to rob thee of thy God.

John Wesley a famous evangelist who spent more than 2 hours in prayer said: “God does nothing except in response to believing prayer.”

S.D. Gordon: “Prayer strikes the winning blow; Service is simply picking up the pieces”

S.D. Gordon: “The greatest thing anyone can do for God or man is pray”

E.M. Bounds: “Talking to men for God is a great thing, but talking to God for men is greater still.

E.M. Bounds: “The men who have done the most for God in this world have been early on their knees. He who fritters away the early morning, its opportunity and freshness, in other pursuits than seeking God will make poor headway seeking Him the rest of the day. If God is not first in our thoughts and efforts in the morning, He will be in the last place the remainder of the day."

 

William Cowper: “Satan trembles when he sees the weakest Christian on his knees”

John Bunyon: “Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer”

Charles Spurgeon: “I would rather teach one man to pray than ten men to preach.”

Oswald Chambers: “We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on our difficulties.”

S.D. Gordon: “Prayer wonderfully clears the vision; steadies the nerves; defines duty; stiffens the purpose; sweetens and strengthens the spirit."

C.H. Spurgeon: “Prayer can never be in excess.”

Watchman Nee: “Our prayers lay the track down which God’s power can come. Like a mighty locomotive, his power is irresistible, but it cannot reach us without rails."

Leonard Ravenhill: “A man who is intimate with God will never be intimidated by men.”

Andrew Murray (Emphasised): “Many Christians backslide...They are unable to stand against the temptations of the world, or of their old nature. They strive to do their best to fight against sin, and to serve God, but they have no strength. They have never really grasped the secret: The Lord Jesus will every day from heaven continue His work in me. But on one condition—the soul must give Him time each day to impart His love and his grace. Time alone with the Lord Jesus each day is the indispensable condition of growth and power."

J.H. Jowett: "It is in the field of prayer that life's critical battles are lost or won. We must conquer all our circumstances there. We must first of all bring them there. We must survey them there. We must master them there. In prayer we bring our spiritual enemies into the Presence of God and we fight them there. Have you tried that? Or have you been satisfied to meet and fight your foes in the open spaces of the world?"  

“IT IS THROUGH PRAYER ESPECIALLY THAT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN SUFFERETH VIOLENCE AND THE VIOLENT TAKE IT BY FORCE.”

A WASTED CHANCE... (Wasting the chance that God gives to us)

    Many times in our life we get a chance to do something for God. Most of the times we waste those opportunities thinking we will get it back again on some other time. Who knows? We may never get that same chance again. We have to be very careful in doing God’s work. Let’s see an example from Matthew 26:36-46 and Mark 14:32-42.

    Jesus went to Gethsemane with all His disciples and took Peter, James and John little further to be with Him to pray (Mark 14:32 and 33). In Mark 14:34 Jesus says “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch.”

    Jesus gave Peter, James and John a chance to share His burden. Those three disciples got an opportunity to serve Jesus which other disciples didn’t get. To other disciples Jesus told to sit (Mark 14:32). But He gave those three, a chance to be with Him in prayer to share His sorrow which is so extreme to bear.

    But what they did after getting that wonderful chance? Instead of keeping watch and praying they fell asleep. They were with Jesus but they failed to understand His sorrow. They thought they will get another chance. So they wasted the chance of sharing God’s sorrow. A golden chance has been wasted. The time that God has given to them to fulfil the chance comes to an end. In Matthew 26:45 Jesus came to those three and said “...Sleep on now and take your rest...” (Easy reading comfort-able KJV version).

    Jesus knows that they had lost the wonderful chance and so only He said “...It is enough...” (Mark 14:41). They didn’t get any more chance like the one they got in that night. They never had any opportunity to share God’s extreme sorrow after that night because they wasted their chance.

    Even to you my dear young people, God has given a chance. A chance to live holy life, a chance to lead others to Christ, a chance to do God’s ministry, a chance to share God’s burden through prayer. God has given a time period to fulfil that chance. Peter, James and John would have thought that they will sleep for an hour and after that they will pray.

    This hour is God’s time to use the chance that God has given you, not the next hour. When the next hour comes the chance may have been taken out from your life.

    So be careful to use the chance that God is giving you. Whatever God is asking you to do, do it with all your might. Don’t postpone God’s work. Don’t reject the chances that God is giving. More than God needs you, you need God a lot. So do whatever He asks you to do. Don’t be like those three disciples who wasted the God given chance. Ask God’s grace to fulfil His work that He has given you. Even this day, you may be feeling so bad about wasting so many chances that God has given you. Do not feel bad my dear friend, GOD’s GOLDEN HANDS OF GRACE is stretched forth towards you. Reconcile with Jesus so that He will give you His grace to you to fulfil the work that He has given you.

    God bless you!!!

RIGHT PLACE...WRONG TIME... (Being at right place and acting at wrong time)....

Matthew 26 talks about the last supper and also the happenings took place in Gethsemane.

    Jesus went to Gethsemane with all His disciples but took Peter and two sons of Zebedee with Him to the place further in which He wants to pray. We can read about Peter (we will concentrate only on him) from Matthew 26:37 onwards. Jesus took Peter with Him and asked him to tarry and watch (26:38). 

    From this we can understand that Peter was at the right place. Being at the place where God wants us to be is not alone important but we have to reach as per God’s will at God’s time. Then only we can bear fruit for God.

    Jesus asked Peter to watch and pray (26:38, 40, and 41). That is God’s time for Peter to react. If he would have reacted at the right time according to God’s word, it would have surely benefited God and Peter also.

    But Peter failed to do so. He felt asleep (26:43). Later God says that the time to react was over (26:45, 46). And there came a multitude to catch hold of Jesus. Peter started to react at a wrong time. He took the sword and smote off the ear of high priest’s servant (26:51).  Jesus says, “.. for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword” (26:52).

     Reacting at a wrong time had put Peter’s own life in danger. The high priest is not going to leave peter for cutting down their servant’s ear. They will punish him to death. His ministry is about to get over by his own deed.

    Really it would have ended if Jesus has failed to stretch out His Golden hands of grace.  Jesus is a loving God. He didn’t fail to save Peter. He stretched forth His GOLDEN HANDS OF GRACE and touched the ear of that servant and behold he was healed (Luke 22:51).

    That is the power of God’s Golden hands of Grace. Today it is stretched out towards you. Even you would have reacted wrongly in your life. You would have disobeyed God’s word. That would have put your Spiritual life in danger. Don’t worry my dear young people; God’s Golden hands of Grace will not forsake you. It will set right your life. God’s grace will forgive you. God’s Golden Hands of Grace will take hold of your hand and It will carry you further. You will be a Victor through GOD’s GOLDEN HANDS OF GRACE.