GHG SHORT DEVOTIONALS - 55 (DO NOT TEST GOD)

“Do not put the Lord your God to the test..." - Deuteronomy 6:16

Many a times we test our God doubting His ability to perform wonders in our life. We demand God to do something to prove that He loves us and hears our prayers. We have to trust God instead of testing Him.

1. God doesn’t work on ‘Ifs’ to prove Himself.

“…If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” – Matthew 4:3

“…If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down…” – Matthew 4:6

 “…Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” – Matthew 27:40

“…If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross…” – Matthew 27:42

Even when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness and when He was hanging on the cross, He never heeded to the words of those who asked Him to prove His power and belonging. 

Do not test God asking Him to prove Himself. He is all powerful. If you trust in Him, He will do greater things in your life out of His compassion and love that He has upon you.

2. Trust God and seek Him. You will see God’s glory.

“…Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” – Luke 5:12

A leper believed that Jesus is able to make him clean. Jesus healed him.

“…But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.” – Matthew 8:8

A centurion’s servant was lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented. He came to Jesus and told Him his problem. Jesus told that He will come to his house to heal his servant. But the centurion believed that a single word of Jesus alone is enough to heal his servant. Jesus marvelled at his faith.

 

Everyone who had come to Jesus in faith received miracles. Not even one went back without miracle.  Even today if you look to God in faith without any doubt, you will see His glory. He will do greater things in your life.

#GHG Short Devotions

GETTING A JOB AT GERMANY AND MARRIAGE – TESTIMONY OF MR. GEORGE ESLI (PART FOUR) – FINAL

In Germany there is no concept of placements during our course i.e. companies will not come to you to hire you rather you would have to send in job applications to all your desired company.  Since I already was doing my master thesis in Procter and Gamble, they could potentially hire me if they felt that I was a good match to the company.  By GODs amazing grace I was highly recommended for a job after I completed my project.  But unfortunately, the company went on a hiring freeze status which is standard procedure when companies are in cost cutting mode. So even though my colleagues wanted to hire me they couldn’t.

I felt a little pressure, I had already learnt enough about GOD and His work in my life that I remained confident that GOD is going to make a way for me soon enough. Since I was not a student anymore I wasn’t getting the student subsidized hostel and without income in my hands I was staying over at friends’ places and the little saving, I had to spend it to get food supplies. I felt like a Nomad that time as I didn’t have my own place to stay, no income and just a little money that I could use for each day to buy food.

In the meantime, I was continuously applying for jobs at different company but it looked like I had to wait for some time. As days passed by I was tired with the constant moving from one place to another. It was difficult cause every time I moved, I had to pack all my belongings and leave, I also had to be tight on my spending as I didn’t know how long I would be searching for job. But I always felt the hand of GOD supporting me. It was another learning experience for me. 

After nearly 3 months I received a call from my Supervisor at Procter and Gamble that they found a job for me. He mentioned the company was still in hiring freeze but he could convince the authorities to open a job position. I had never felt so happy in my life, it was the first time that I had a proper full-time job and most importantly I could stop living my nomadic life.  I just praised GOD that He is such a loving Father and never gives up on His children. 

I had successfully started work, I had nice set of colleagues, had a wonderful place to stay near the river, financial freedom and again a Christ centered and focused church with the opportunity to serve in the Lords ministry.  A wonderful ambience by GODs amazing grace. I was busy at work and travelling with friends during weekend. It was such a blessed life, yet unexplainable I was feeling lonely at times. I had pretty much everything I wanted but sometimes even if I am surrounded by people and very good friends I felt a little depressed. I didn’t have any reason for it.

I soon realized that it was time I needed a partner for life. I’ve been praying for many years that GOD should be the one choosing my partner and I needed the perfect will of GOD, when it comes to choosing my wife. I believed this was the most important decision in anybody’s life after deciding to follow Jesus. I spoke to my parents about it, but before I could proceed on in this chapter of my life. I wanted to do something for my parents. They were still living in a rented flat and my desire was to, GOD wills, buy them a house. So, I spoke to my parents about both my desires and we all prayed about it.

As life went on I slowly began to understand about my relationship with GOD. I started to feel a fatherly connection to Him. The love of GOD is available to all of us, but we truly are empowered only when we realize this amazing love. This sense of son hood was a big strength for me. Knowing He sent His one and only son, Jesus, to die so we can continue to have this relationship, the meaning for me was so deep. When I let the desires of my heart known to GOD it was exactly a son asking a favor to his father and GOD did fulfill my desires.Satan will fight to steal GODs blessings and peace from us. Sure enough, there were a lot of barriers which had to be overcome.

I was applying a NRI housing loan from Germany in India which made things complicated. In the end, by GODs amazing grace and awesome mercy, I could buy a house for my parents. I did learn one more thing though, the name of Jesus is above all names. So many times, have I studied and sang praises about the name of Jesus, but it took many tricky situations for me to really understand the name of Jesus is all powerful. Every time there was a delay or a barrier, every time I felt that the devil was playing his part, I prayed and commanded in the name of Jesus. We as children of GOD have the authority to confess and command situations in the name of Jesus. When I prayed in faith in the name of Jesus I could see that the situations were changing, doors were opening. I really would encourage everybody to explore and try the name of Jesus, the name above all names.

Shortly after my parents moved into the new house, they started looking for a bride. I had no doubt that GOD will send for the right person, and I was very confident and felt safe to leave this decision to GOD the father. I met somebody whom I thought could be my wife, we were actually exchanging emails for nearly 2 months, like the old-fashioned way. I was praying every day and was very cautious that I shouldn’t speed things up and everything should happen in GODs own time. It was really difficult, but by GODs amazing grace I was able to overcome all the temptations.  After nearly 3 months of exchanging emails sometime very long ones, I felt its time to talk to her over the phone. Instantly we found that our grandparents were very good friends and from the same village and our mothers grew up together.  I just felt GODs working in such wonderful ways, soon enough the marriage preparations had started.

By GODs amazing grace and for his glory we had a great wedding with nearly 2500 people.  Also during the wedding GOD showed signs and wonders. One such situation was during the reception, after the wedding. The event was organized in an open ground. And it was raining heavily, but exactly until the event was overthere was no rain and as soon as the event was completed the rain started to pour again, another example that GOD is in control of everything.

I am really thankful to GOD for blessing me with such a wonderful wife, who is not just my partner but my friend, my confidante and my biggest supporter and inspiration, she is in every way more than I could ever ask or dream about. Whenever we let GOD choose for us, He is going to give us the very best.

My wife and I wanted to start our family life. But I was nervous, for some reason I felt I was not ready. I had fear in my heart. After knowing so much about GOD and His ways, there was once again another situation where I sort of took him out of the equation again. This time GOD spoke to me through my wife, kindly and caringly. As a Father He totally understands us, all we need to do is go to Him, I promise He is always waiting for us with open arms no matter where we are and what our situation is.

By GODs grace my wife conceived the following month, it was really difficult for us as we were in Germany away from our family.  We had to learn so many things on our own but GOD was continuously supporting us. And when it was time for the little guy to come out we were at the hospital. It was just my wife and I in the hospital and after 12 hours of waiting and struggling, Levi came out hale and healthy, praise GOD.By GODs grace she had a healthy pregnancy.

Our parents were with us for the first 3 months but after that we had to raise Levi without additional help. Many a times we were totally lost and a lot of times it was very stressful. We had to learn to put him to sleep and teach him to feed.  But we have such a loving GOD who is always looking at us. He yearns for a fellowship with us. So that’s what we did, that’s what I will encourage all to do.

The Bible tells in Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." Even when life seems out of control, you can be sure of this one thing that God has a plan and a purpose for you.It’s a good feeling when GOD shows up just in time,but the best feeling is when you realize He has never left you. The Bible says we are to grow in our faith. We do this through praying to God, reading the Bible, and obeying the Holy Spirit’s prompting in our lives.Remember, now that you belong to Jesus, nothing can separate you from Him. No matter what happens, you have God’s promise of eternal life and His peace and protection for your life now.

So my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, don’t dig up in doubt what you planted in faith.Even if all you have left is a tiny whisper, simply keep praying. For there is nothing our God cannot do.

#GHG Testimonies

HIGHER STUDIES AT GERMANY - TESTIMONY OF MR. GEORGE ESLI (PART THREE)

By God's grace I graduated from Karunya University. It was a wonderful feeling.  My friends and class mates all had job offers and they knew what to do next. I wanted to go back to Germany and continue my Master Studies. Although I was assured a place in the university, there was an opportunity to get a full scholarship, and I had applied for it. All through my life GOD had been showering me with amazing grace and I thought I will surely get the scholarship and wouldn’t be a burden to my parents anymore financially. I felt it was my duty from now on to take care of myself even if I wanted to study further.

I prayed with a lot of faith, got as much recommendation letters that could help me and sent in my application. Many weeks passed and it was time to get the results of the scholarship. I was so excited to open the email but unfortunately, I didn’t get the scholarship. It felt like my entire life cracked, I was so upset that I wanted to break something. I really couldn’t understand, what could have gone wrong. I thought of myself as an eligible candidate for the scholarship, I had the favor of GOD, it should have been a done deal.

Now I realize, after many years since this happened, how wrong it is to make our own plan and then ask God's approval on it. Our GOD is the GOD of wisdom and it is not so wise to trust in your planning instead of GOD’s planning. Although GOD had done amazing things in my life and done wonders, I was in way not letting GOD take control of my life.  I later learnt that the Christian life is a learning life. We should always be open to learn about GOD and his relationship with us.

After looking at the email, I was so confused and I didn’t want to go to Germany anymore. Life almost stopped. I didn’t have a job like my friends. When I told my parents that I didn’t want to go to Germany. They were calming me down and said not to worry and asked me not to think about money but asked to do my higher studies as planned.  In a way that was very supportive of them. To be honest I didn’t expect this.  I couldn’t convince myself to go, but neither did I have a choice as there was nothing else I could do in India.

Reluctantly I started preparing for my studies. E.g. admission confirmation, hostel availability, Visa and flight tickets.  The most painful part was to see my parents struggle to get the money (nearly 8 Lakhs) for my Visa.  GOD made a way for my family and me. And I was on my way to Germany again. During my entire journey in the flight I had mixed feelings about going there and starting over again. I realized that it was God's plan from the start. Sometimes He works in mysteries ways. One thing I did was not be stubborn but gave into the will of GOD.

It was hard to settle in, GOD provided everything what I needed, whether it was a room, nice class mates, good surroundings, great place to continue my studies. It took me some time to accept my situation and go ahead with my life.  GOD again provided all the support for this, good Christian friends and opportunity to continue in the ministry of GOD at an English-speaking church, although it took 1.5hour to reach the church every Sunday it was totally worth that time spending for GOD.

Soon I could get a part time Job at the University Laboratory as a programmer. In the summer break I got an internship as a communication engineer at Orange Telecom in Poland and after that I could get a job at a Software development company.  During my second year of Master Studies, I was employed by these companies and I didn’t need money to pay for my education, stay and food. When I think about it now, maybe I wouldn’t have tried to find a student job and end up with so much industrial exposure and experience, if I had a scholarship. My dream was to do my final year project in Procter and Gamble and by God's amazing grace I was also able to get this. I had to work extremely hard to do all the jobs along with my studies. A lot of time was lost in travelling between all the places. But GOD blessed me with such good friends to sometimes carry me through this session and He gave the heart and strength to really put in the effort.

In many occasions I really felt God's favor on me through different people, when they helped me out, when I was doing my project at Procter and Gamble. I was reflecting on what if I was stubborn and stayed in India, perhaps I would have missed all these great experiences. I understood and learnt about how God's ways would be different from our plans and all things will work together for good to those who love GOD. By God's amazing grace I successfully finished my final project with high grades and completed my subjects on time. Praise GOD

GOD’S AMAZING WAYS WITH MY BACHELOR EDUCATION - TESTIMONY OF MR. GEORGE ESLI (PART TWO)

I was born in a city called Madurai, in the state of Tamil Nadu. Being the first born in my family I was always loved by everyone. Growing up, our family was involved in the music ministry at church. I was already in the choir when I was like 13 and started to play the violin at church and many of my cousins were instrumentalists, pastors and singers. I am just happy that GOD gifted me and my family with these talents and we used it only for His glory. GOD blessed me with favor in the eyes of all the people around, I was treated with so much love among my family, relatives, at school and at church. GOD also blessed me with some great people to grow up with. Church was becoming my second home as I was increasingly involved with the choir, sometimes I also played the Organ at church besides playing the violin. Apart from school and family. It was always Choir practice or doing something at church.

To talk about my school life, I am big history buff and I thank the Lord Almighty, for enabling me to secure the highest marks in social sciences in all of India in ICSE 10^th.And since I had a desire to join the Indian Air Force, I moved to KV school for my High School. Here again God helped me to take part in many scientific co-curricular activities and win many awards and by GODs grace I won a President’s award titled ‘Young Scientist Award’ all glory to GOD.By GODs grace I had a very good school education. When I compare myself with my friends and cousins, GOD had been very gracious to place me in the best situations for learning. But after I finished school I didn’t have an answer to the next step. Especially when I failed my physical examination to join the National Defense Academy. I was at home and was very depressed. I was praying and crying for GODs help but was in a state of hopelessness. I wanted to have a successful life, without knowing what it was. I was afraid that I would turn into a failure. I was just simply staying at home and wondering what will happen to me.

My dad was a prayer warrior at Jesus Calls and he asked if I would be interested to study in Karunya University which was situated in Coimbatore, TamilNadu. I shut him off saying that we wouldn’t be able to afford the fees. It is during these trouble times that our faith shouldn’t waiver in GOD, but I guess I was yet to learn about trusting in GOD rather than in my own abilities and money. Eventually I had to accept my Dad’s suggestion and by GODs amazing grace I could start my college education at Karunya University. It all happened so fast that it almost was unbelievable. GOD will make a way where there seems to be no way.

         

In a matter of days, I had moved out of the house and started to live life as an engineering student. I was so happy to have studied in a reputed university. I thanked GOD for such a wonderful blessing. Just a few months back I felt that my life was destroyed but GOD gave a fresh start within days. That day I really felt the faithfulness of GOD.  GOD has said in Hebrews 13 He will never leave us and never forsake us. And I told myself that I would be faithful to Him throughout my life.

During my University days, by GODs amazing grace I was able to serve Him. I really feel this is big blessing to anybody. And I would encourage everybody to find an opportunity to somehow to be a part in the LORDs work as I feel this is such a great blessing. I learnt a lot spiritually, but many times I needed help in many things and GOD was more than a provider in those times. I did fall into temptations, felt lonely many times, felt guilty, felt stressed and lost. Although those times were very difficult, GOD always brought support through many people and lifted me up and gave me such amazing mentors and unforgettable relationships. I praise GOD for that.

During my final year in college I was feeling a little bad that I wasn’t able to accomplish much in co-curricular activities but again GOD provided ways to achieve more than I asked for. One of the opportunities which GOD gave changed my life forever. I was selected to do an internship in Germany as my final year project. I was both excited and anxious at the same time. By GODs grace I was able to clear all the interviews and received the contract for my internship. It was the most stressful time of my life so far that I had to talk to different authorities at various levels to get a green signal.

There was always an uncertainty if I would still be able to go to Germany. I was feeling sick and had a fear that I’ll fail to get the opportunity. What I completely forgot was that I had a GOD who had yet to give up on me but I wasn’t ready to trust Him. And that was a time one of my mentor and professor sat me down and encouraged and brought GODs word to me saying that GOD is going to lift me up and that I shouldn’t fear.

Soon things started to fall in place and I was on my way to Germany. It was my first time in a flight and I have to say it was an adventurous experience. My flight was delayed because of a bomb scare and I was a bit nervous, because of this it turned out that I missed my connecting fight and I was stuck in Dubai. I was praying, GOD why did this have to happen to me and also in the exact time when I fly. But in Dubai I was housed in a 5 start hotel included with food and transport. I was awestruck with the riches of the city so in a way it was fun time.

It was such a mixed feeling when I landed for the first time in different country and where I didn’t speak their language. It was a bit scary in the beginning then again GOD provided the right people to help me out in various situations. Many times it was strangers who came out and helped me, new friends at the place I lived, at my work place. GOD also blessed me with a beautiful English speaking church. I realized, GOD is in control regardless of the place we are. He will never let us be lost, this is what I felt the entire time when I was in Germany.

After I returned back from Germany, I could finish all the remaining subjects and final project review by GODs amazing grace. He gave me favor in the eyes of friends and  professors. I received a lot of help and guidance from my mentor spiritually and also career wise, I really felt that He was like a guardian angel to me and I successfully finished my Studies.

It’s such a blessing to be able to know that we have a Heavenly Father who loves us so much that He let His only son die for us so we might live. He loves us all and cares for us all. It is such an amazing love. I would encourage everybody to pray so that we can feel the Fathers love and not be blinded by the situations around us. Amen

(To be Continued)

#GHG Testimonies