TRACTS - ARMOR OF GOD

LIVE RELAXED IN GOD'S GRACE - A DEVOTIONAL BY RICK WARREN

"As a father is kind to his children, so the Lord is kind to those who honor Him. He knows what we are made of; He remembers that we are dust." (Psalm 103:13-14 GN)

God understands you completely. He's fully aware of your humanity. He knows your faults, fears, failures, and frustrations. He doesn't expect you to be Superman or Superwoman. 

If you’re a parent, do you love your children at every stage of their development, or are you waiting until they're mature to love them? 

The point is, God loves you at every stage of your development, so you don't have to have unresolved guilt and unrealistic expectations. Listen:

·         There is nothing you will ever do that will make God love you more than he does right now.

·         There is nothing you will ever do that will make God love you less than he does right now.

God’s love is unconditional. It's not based on what you do or don't do.

I like to think of it like this: I have three kids. All of them had to learn to walk, and all three of them went through the same process: They'd take a step; they'd stumble. They’d get up, take two steps, and then stumble. They’d get up and take a couple steps and fall again.

As their father, what was my reaction? Did I scold them? "What are you doing stumbling? You're a Warren. Warrens don't stumble! You can do better than that." Of course not! How silly! But a lot of us think that's how God treats us. We think that every time we stumble, God says, “Get up! What are you doing, you dummy?”

The Bible teaches us that, “There is no condemnation now for those who live in union with Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1 TEV). What does that mean? Let's say I take a card and write every single thing I've ever done wrong on it — all my sins, faults, mistakes, all the skeletons in my closet, all the shameful acts and thoughts and memories and temptations. Then I put the card in a book and close it. You can’t see the card anymore; you can only see the book. That’s the way God sees us when Jesus is in our lives. He no longer sees our sin; he sees Jesus at work in our lives.

When you come to Christ and say, “God, here’s my life. Everything I’ve ever done wrong, every time I've ever made a mistake, all those stupid things I've done. I want to put my life in Jesus Christ,” Jesus wraps you with his love. God looks at Jesus and sees that Jesus is perfect; he doesn't see your sin. That's what it means to relax in God's grace. 

This devotional ©2012 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

LIKED THESE ONES A LOT

CAST OUT THE NET - AUTHOR UNKNOWN

Very early in life (almost from birth) we are trained to be successful according to the world's definition of success. We are driven by goals and accomplishments from the day we take our first steps and ride our first bike. As we grow older, we are pressured to accumulate knowledge and "things" in order to prove our success.

In our Christian walk, Jesus calls us to a new definition of success – one determined not by what we accomplish, but by our obedience. The disciples walked and talked with Jesus, but they still faced many challenges with faith and obedience. One morning after fishing all night without a catch, Jesus called from the shore. John 21:6 "He said, 'Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some {fish}.' When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish." 

The disciples were successful that morning. But we must understand that the large number of fish did not define their success. They would have been successful even if the nets remained empty. They were successful the moment they were obedient and threw out the net. One thousand years earlier, King Saul was told to "attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them," (1 Samuel 15:3). But Saul allowed the Amalekite king and the best livestock to survive. He tried to cover His disobedience by saying the calves and lambs were for a sacrifice to God. "But Samuel replied: 'Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.'" (1 Samuel 15:22).

In any task we undertake for God, it's easy to become discouraged by our apparent lack of success. We often feel inadequate - and those feelings increase when our goals seem to be elusive. But we must remember, the outcome of the task is secondary to our obedience. God doesn't need our "fish" - He wants our devotion and trust. He desires that we love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Let's take our eyes off the accomplishment of the "catch" and what we can produce. Rather, let's focus on walking each step according to His leading. Let's concentrate all our effort on obeying His call to cast out the net. Amen! 

TO MY PRECIOUS DAUGHTER WHO WILL COME TO THIS EARTH IN THE UPCOMING YEAR

NOTE: Few days back I strongly felt in my Spirit that I have to write a letter to my daughter who is in her mother’s womb. Till date I am sure my wife is not pregnant but my faith in Him assures me that I will see my daughter soon. I just want you to know that this article is written with the help of Holy Spirit purely on the basis of faith.

My Precious Princess,

            A pair of mighty hands will soon put you into a darkest place which is usually referred to as the “Mother’s womb”.

            Get hold of those hands and never leave them. It is the hands of your Heavenly Father who is the Almighty God. If you get hold of those hands all your desires and hopes will be taken care of. Those Gracious hands will provide you everything you need. During your troublesome moments those hands will carry you, sustain you and protect you.

            As these hands of Almighty God places you in your mother’s womb do not forget to look at the face of your Heavenly Father-Jesus Christ. You will see Him looking at you with so much of love which you can’t see in any other face.

            As you look at your Heavenly Father’s face, remember that you have to look back at the same face each and every moment of your life till you lose your breath.

            As God’s loving hands places you in your mother’s womb you will feel that you are incomplete and you will see darkness everywhere. Don’t worry. The hands that you had hold will enable you to grow day by day and also it will be the light to you.

            You might feel lonely over there but don’t be discouraged. You are not alone. You are in the bosom of your Heavenly Father. His eyes are upon you and He watches over you day and night. You will be safe in His bosom. Whatever you want to ask, you can ask to your Heavenly Father for He will be your provider.

            Your Heavenly Father has so many angels with Him. He will order an angel to be with you to protect you, to sing to you and to take care of you. You will hear the sweet voice of your angel singing to you at all times. No harm will touch you for you are under the protection of your Heavenly Father.

            Outside your world there is another world in which your worldly papa and mama are eagerly waiting to see you.

            Even if you desire to come soon to this world, you will be brought safely to this world by those Gracious hands of your Heavenly Father at His own time. At His time you will come to this world safely.

            This world is filled with hatred and jealousy. Don’t be afraid. Your Heavenly Father will teach your worldly papa and mama how to take care of you.

            Once you reach here there is no need for you to turn your face from your Heavenly Father to your worldly papa and mama. As one family we together will continue to look at the face of our Heavenly Father.

            Through the grace of God, we will teach you how to dress, how to brush, how to learn, how to pray and so on. You will be very close to my heart and I will guard and protect you as far as I can. I will try my level best to be with you and to take care of you.

            We might forget you at some moments but your Heavenly Father will never forget you for you have been engraved in the palm of His hands. His presence will always be with you and it will go before you.

            If God willing, I will be with you till you grow young and get settled in your life. Even if your papa goes to Heavenly home early and fail to be with you, do not cry for your Heavenly Father is the Everlasting God and He will take care of you all through your life. But I assure you that you can meet your papa in heaven when you come there.

            Looking forward to the day when God will give you in our hands. Your papa’s love will always be there for you.

With loving kisses and prayers,

Your loving papa.

             

WINDOW THROUGH WHICH WE LOOK - AN INSPIRATIONAL ARTICLE TAKEN FROM WEB

A young couple moved into a new neighbourhood. The next morning while they were eating breakfast, the young woman watched her neighbour hanging was outside. “That laundry is not clean,” she said, “she doesn’t know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap.”

Her husband looked on, but remained silent.

Every time her neighbour would hang her wash to dry, the young woman would make the same comments.

About one month later, the woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband, “Look, she has learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her this.”

The husband said, “I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows.”

And so it is with life. What we see when watching others may depend on the purity of the window through which we look.

GUEST ARTICLE - 2 (WHY GOD CREATED US?)

Why GOD created us and what is the reason behind it? Many of you would have heard this in either a Christian convention or a charismatic church or in some youth revival camp. But I am sure as a Christian you would have come across this question in your life.  Do I know the answer? Do any of my friends know the answer or does my Pastor know the answer? Is GOD the only person I can get the answer from or is there an answer at all? Well we can be pretty sure about one thing though. Our GOD is an orderly GOD (1 Corinthians 14:33), He is not someone who creates something, for example the human kind without a reason or a purpose. I am writing below the different answers I received for this question in different times and seasons of my life. May be you too are going through one these moments in your life.

I was born in a Christian Family. So reading the bible, going to church, sitting for family prayers was a natural thing to do. As a kid I just thought this was normal. I had to memorize my bible verses to get my food, yes my mother was strict. Telling your problems to GOD, thanking him for everything He did in your life was an everyday affair. I just thought that GOD was a great person to have by your side. I mean, common everybody said He is big, He is great. Why not have Him by you. The question that time was what I can give Him to ask Him to stay by my side. My family participated a great deal in the church activities I was also encouraged to participate in the church choir. So I would say I was a bit more exposed to preaching in the church than my peers. Being in the church and choir when confronted with this question, I came to the conclusion that I was created to praise GOD. GOD created us, loved us and died for us. As a teenager this was what I thought the answer was. The reason for my creation was to praise GOD.

In the mean time GOD blessed me a lot in my school; I also had an opportunity to study my bachelors in an Engineering college. GOD raised me up among my family, friends. Where ever I went people treated me with special care, I knew this was because I was a child of GOD and I continued in my reasoning that the purpose of my creation was to praise GOD. Later in the final years of my University as GOD lifted me up, people began to see GOD in me. Slowly my thoughts shifted, I began to think that I was created to stand up for GOD, shine for GOD as a testimony for GOD. My Christian friends were also going through the same deliberation. As I was getting near to the finishing stages of my studies, it was very important to get a job before the end of my studies, that is what I thought or atleast everybody thought at that time. My friends said it is an absolute pity if we don’t get a job before we finish. GOD blessed and gave many of my friends’ jobs before they completed their studies. We believed this was why GOD created us; to shine His light and stand as a testimony for Him.

Although I didn’t get a job, GOD blessed me in a different way. GOD by His grace enabled me to continue my post graduate studies in a foreign land. Now the case takes a turn. Living in foreign country is considered equal to living in a paradise. But actually it is the opposite. There won’t be anybody to take care; you have to do your own shopping, cooking, cleaning, washing etc.  There is no mess or canteen who will cook all three meals of your day. Worse part is if you get sick, you have to deal with it alone. Your mum is 10000 miles away perhaps to make you a hot cup of kashayam(herbal drink). The loneliness will kill you.  When someone goes through situations in life like this they are bound to have a different perspective in every aspect of life, leave alone GOD. You are exposed to a new dimension in life. As a Christian I began to trust GOD more for everything in life. Yes friends can help you but only up to an extent, the boundaries of friendship would change a lot with people from different countries. In my loneliness GOD helped me to understand Him more. He thought me more and every time when I walked through a tough situation, He helped me and carried me.

I came to understand GOD created us to have a relationship with us; to love us and to be loved by us. I learned, nothing else mattered in life. Did I have good parents? Did I go to a good school or was I able to get a good education. Did I get a job before everybody or before I finish College? Would I be able to find a good life partner? Would anybody love me? Would I be single and lonely all my life? I learnt, none of these things mattered. Now I understand the reason GOD created me was to love Him in my life on earth. Am I doing that right or am I getting distracted by the things of this world? Parents, education, Job, spouse, kids: none of these matter.  

Every second of our lives we have to spend worshiping, praising GOD for His love. Asking for something and testifying is only a part of the Christian life. Answering our prayers is an easy task for GOD, in Ephesians 3:20 Paul says, “God is able to do far more than we could ever ask for or imagine. He does everything by His power that is working in us”. In Mathews 6:8 Jesus says GOD knows our wants even before we ask. Part of being a loving Father is to care for his children. What I learnt was the other things or blessings will come automatically. But do we love Him enough to sacrifice anything in our lives. I would say it is easier said than done. Jesus said, “Love your GOD with all your heart, with all your love and with your entire mind, this is the first and the greatest commandment”.

As we move on in our lives, we have to praise God for what all He has done and going to do in our lives. We should seek Him daily and we should walk according to His counsel. We should know Him more and grow in Him. Above all, we should love our God who created us. Do you really love Jesus Christ or do you run behind Him simply for worldly blessings?

Love God and Love your neighbour as you love yourself, because nothing else matters in this world as we live together. May God give you His grace to love Him more than anyone and anything. God bless you.

(Note: My dear young friends, The author who wrote this article does not want to reveal the identity and henceforth the name and the email id of the author was not published. Guest authors are always welcome in this blog and if you want to share your testimony or any article of yours, kindly send it to me at goldenhandsofgrace@gmail.com)

YOUR LIFE SHALL BE FILLED WITH BLESSINGS

 “For thus says the LORD: you shall not see wind, nor shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, so that you ...... may drink.” - 2 KINGS 3:17

My dear young friends, God is going to do wonders in your life. He is going to do things that you have not imagined in your life. Jesus Christ wants to bless you abundantly and He will bless you.

You might have waited so long for a particular blessing in your life. Holy Spirit is promising you that you will get that long awaited blessing. 

You asked God for a particular blessing long back. You didn’t get an answer at that time. Then you just left that. But Jesus Christ has not forgotten your desire and your prayers. Very soon you will get that blessing and you will glorify God.

There might be no sign of wind in your life; there might be no sign of rain in your life; yet your valley will be filled with waters. 

Right now there might be no sign of any blessing that you have desired. But God can change your life in a single moment.

If you read Exodus 16, we can understand that the people of Israel long to eat meat in the wilderness. They were in the wilderness and there was no chance of any blessings of meat. But in that evening their camp was covered with meat. God did that for them. He can do the same for you too. God can bless you even in your path of wilderness. 

Few years back, my father came to know about a young girl. Her family was well settled. She had three sisters and they were married to those who were unsaved. She began to love Jesus Christ and she longed to get married to a person who knows and loves Jesus Christ a lot. Her father was a politician and he showed much interest in politics than finding a saved groom for his daughter. Years passed by but she could not get married. I met her few months before and found out her age was 34. I came to know that God has promised her that she will get married soon. I was wondering how God will do a miracle at this point of her life and make her happy. When I met her she was in frustration and disappointment. 

Previous week I went to my brother’s home and as I entered his home I found a marriage invitation. When I opened it, I was so surprised to know that God gave her a husband who has a good job and who is also a firm believer of Christ. My dad told me that she too was so surprised by the way God has done a miracle in her life. Few days back she happily got married by the grace of Jesus Christ.

God can do that to you also. You have to put your faith in Jesus Christ. He is a faithful God. He will never disappoint you.

Are you waiting to get a good job? Are you waiting to get married? Are you waiting for your promotion? Are you waiting for God to bless you with a child? Are you waiting for blessing in your studies? Are you waiting for God to lift you up from the sinful pit? Are you waiting to be delivered from your sickness and sins?

Jesus Christ will put an end to the days of your mourning. Your days of longing and waiting will be put to an end by Jesus Christ. Your life will be soon filled by His joy and His blessings.

Do not get discouraged. For surely there is a hereafter and your hope will not be cut off. (Proverbs 23:18)

PROMISE FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER

THOUGHT - 15 (GOD KNOWS YOUR SITUATION)