GHG - 14 (OBEY GOD AND DO GOOD)

“Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” – James 4:17

Once I completed my PG degree, God gave me a job in a Christian university. There was a prayer centre near to that university and most of the students will go there and pray. As I studied in the same university I also used to go that prayer centre and pray for my needs. While I was studying I went into lot of depression and struggles. So most of the times I will be in that prayer centre crying and praying. That prayer centre becomes an integral part of my life.

Even after I joined as a staff, I regularly visit the prayer centre. God blessed me with a starting salary of Rs.17,000 and I was so happy about it. After giving tithe to God I used to send the remaining money to my parents who lived with my brothers in another city. Mostly I will have a little amount of money for my needs.

On a particular day I had Rs.140 on my purse. I woke up in the morning and I found that there was not much balance in my mobile phone and so I thought I will recharge for Rs.100 and as I live in the hostel I thought I will manage few days with the remaining 40 rupees.

Having decided like that I went to the prayer centre to pray. As I entered the prayer centre I saw some people sitting on the chair and praying. I was crossing those people to enter into a room where I can pray without much disturbance. But as soon as I crossed a very old lady who was sitting on the chair, God spoke to me saying, “Take that hundred rupee and give it to the old lady sitting there.”

I know it was God’s voice but I don’t want to believe that it was His voice because I had planned to use that money for my own need. So I knelt down there and instead of obeying I started advising God. I told Him that I need that hundred rupees for a urgent cause and so I can give forty rupees to her.

I didn’t stop with that. I told God that I don’t know whether He was the one who spoke and so if I have to give her the forty rupees she has to immediately get up and go out of the prayer centre.

I know for sure it was God who asked me to give hundred rupees but actually I don’t want to give that to her. I was reluctant to obey God’s voice. I was watching her and she didn’t moved. I was happy about it and I told God that it was my thought to give some money to her and not His voice. I was about to conclude my prayer asking God to leave this matter because she didn’t moved out. 

Then I heard God’s stern voice with so much authority saying, “I will not ask My daughter to go out of this prayer centre for the money you wish to give, for in My presence she is experiencing comfort and joy.”

Hearing that voice I was trembled and I immediately realized my mistake. Again I prayed asking God’s forgiveness and I told God that I will obey His voice and will give hundred rupees to her.

After some time I saw her going out of the prayer centre and so I rushed to her and gave her the money telling her that God wanted me to give the money to her. As soon as she got the money, she looked unto the sky and with great joy she told, “Thank You Jesus.”

Also she placed her hand upon me and asked God to bless me from the bottom of her heart. When I saw her joy and happiness I felt so bad for my thoughts that I had before giving the money to her. On the other side I was happy for realizing the joy in giving.

My dear young friends, when Jesus Christ asks you to help someone do not hesitate. Always obey His voice. When you obey His voice you will be blessed and also others will be blessed through you. God wants to use you for His glory.

That day God used me to help her and she glorified God. Similarly He wants to use you for His glory. Tell God today that you will obey Him in every situation and surely He will use you.

Even though God has taught me so many things there were times I disobey God because of my weakness. Recently in one situation I disobeyed God and I felt bad about that for a year. What was that situation?

-         To Be Continued In GHG - 15

THE WALL - 17

BE A CHANNEL OF BLESSING TO SOMEONE WHOM YOU DON'T KNOW

“Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these

my brethren, ye have done it unto me”.   Matthew 25:20

I know a young guy whose life is being blessed by God. Though he belongs to a middle class family, God guided them financially. His siblings did not get a good salary at the beginning of their career. Nobody in his family has got a 5 digit salary till he finished his degree. By the guidance of the Holy Spirit, he made an oath to the Lord saying, “If I get a 5 digit salary at the start, I will sponsor a child”. The Lord honored the oath he took and blessed him with 17,000 rupees as his starting salary. He also promised the Lord saying, “For every 15,000 I’ll sponsor a child”. I’m happy to witness that he is earning more than 45,000 rupees and by the grace of God he is sponsoring three children now.  Not just that....his wife who is a great support to him, is also sponsoring a child. Today I can boldly tell that as a family they are blessed abundantly.

I would like to quote what he said, “When I see my life now, I’m blessed beyond measure as a result of sponsoring children”. What an amazing witness of how Jesus Christ honours an oath and blesses accordingly!

Your life can also turn to be a blessing if you desire to help the needy. God has blessed you so that you can be a blessing to someone. Instead of just being a blessing to yourself, you can become a channel of blessing. 

Following is the reference of some Christian organizations which will help you in Child sponsoring.

www.fmpb.org

www.gemsbihar.org

www.jesusredeems.com

If you wish to help a child, you can contact the above ministries. They will tell you the procedures. You can also sponsor a child from any of the Christian organisations that you know. I have just given some of the organizations who do that truly according to my own knowledge. 

Be a channel of blessing to someone whom you don’t know. God will reward you richly.

PLEASE PRAY FOR THE CHRISTIANS IN EGYPT AND SYRIA - TAKEN FROM A FORWARDED EMAIL

CHRISTIANS TARGETED IN SYRIA

The last haven for Christians in Syria is no longer safe. A massacre last week in the Wadi al-Nasara (“Valley of the Christians”) was the first attack on Christians there; it was previously a relatively peaceful area. More than 90,000 Christians have fled to the Wadi to escape danger in other parts of the country.

Most of the 15 Christians shot dead in the attack on 17 August were young people, two of them volunteers with our partners who are distributing aid from Barnabas to Christians in the Wadi. The incident signalled an intensification of the threat to the minority community.

Syrian Christians have long feared a repeat of what happened to their counterparts in Iraq following the US-led invasion of 2003; they were scapegoated by Islamist militants who perceived them as allies of the West because of their Christian faith. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Christians were forced to flee their homes as Christian communities became the objects of targeted attacks by Islamist militants.

That nightmare is fast becoming a reality in Syria.

TARGETED IN EGYPT

In Egypt, Christians are also being scapegoated, by the Muslim Brotherhood for the ousting of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi at the beginning of July. Attacks against them and their property began immediately after his removal but ratcheted up severely following the dispersal of the Brotherhood’s sit-in protests by the authorities on 14 August; more than 60 churches were torched as well as countless other Christian institutions, homes and businesses.

Reports of further attacks are continuing to come in, with Christians in Minya and Giza said to be especially at risk. The Muslim Brotherhood has reportedly taken over control of Kerdasa, Giza, and has forced all the Christian residents out.

In Deir Mawas, Minya, Islamists destroyed the facilities that supply water to the villages, leaving the residents unable to put out any further fires deliberately started in their properties.

Elsewhere, a Christian taxi driver, Rafaat Aziz Mina, was brutally murdered in Alexandria when Islamists noticed a cross hanging from his rear view mirror. Rafaat, who was in his early 20s, was dragged out of the vehicle, kicked, punched and beaten to death.

PLEASE PRAY:

For wisdom and Godly advice for Western leaders as they respond to events in the Middle East; may their actions help and not harm vulnerable Christian minorities.

For peace, order and stability to be established in Syria and Egypt, and that justice may “roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream” (Amos 5:24). That the Lord will pour out His resources to meet the needs of His people in Syria and Egypt.

For Syrian Christians, especially those who lost loved ones in last week’s massacre in the Wadi al-Nasara, that they will be able to say, “My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my saviour – from violent people you save me.” (2 Samuel 22:3)

For Egyptian Christians affected by the recent Islamist violence, that the Lord will restore church buildings and other properties that have been destroyed and give Christians courage and peace as they live under the continuing threat of attack.

DO NOT FEAR BECAUSE OF SUPERSTITIOUS BELIEFS

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” – 2 Timothy 1:7

When I started to grew up from childhood to adulthood, I was told by the elders that it is unlucky if a black cat crosses my path and if it happens I have to return back to home immediately for it is a sign of danger.

Not only that but I also heard so many superstitious beliefs that really threatened me. Some of the superstitious beliefs are as follows: The cawing of a crow indicates the arrival of guests. Hiccups mean someone is thinking about you. Getting married without looking at the horoscope will result in divorce or fight. Nails should not be cut at night for there is a greater possibility of the attack of evil spirit if we do so. It is highly inauspicious to cut hair on a Tuesday. The list goes on.

These beliefs brought fear in my mind. Whenever I thought of these beliefs I lost my peace. Once when I was doing some work in my home, a lizard fell on my head. There was a superstitious belief that if a lizard falls on our head it is a sign of death coming our way. For the next one week I was tormented because of the fear of death. After some days my mom told me that I was protected under the blood of God and so no evil can touch me. Even after hearing that I feared but after some days God taught me that superstitious belief are lies in which we should not put our trust.

When I joined a college to study PG course I met a guy who never walks under a ladder and the gap of a pillar because he believed that if an eldest guy in a family does that, it will lead to death.

When we as a family started to follow Christ the first thing my mom did is she took our entire horoscope files and she had thrown that to fire. Many relatives told her that without horoscope she can’t find a good wife to any of her sons. But she had put her trust in Christ and did that. Now if you look at our lives, I and my two elder brothers were living a happy married life. We had found our wives not based on any horoscope but by God’s word and because of that we are living a life blessed by God.

My dear young friends, you might be following the superstitious belief and horoscope. Because of several beliefs your heart might be filled with fear and sorrow. You might have lost your peace and joy because of the words of an astrologer.

Today God wants you to know that He has not given a spirit of fear but of power, love and sound mind. Jesus Christ is telling you today, “You are my child. My words alone will come to pass in your life and not the words o an astrologer. I have plans to give you peace and joy. So do not fear. I will forgive you and bless you.”

Ask God’s forgiveness if you had gone to find the words of an astrologer. Jesus Christ is ready to forgive you and give you a new life. Trust in God and follow His words. You will live in peace and joy. God bless you.