BE FREED OF YOUR SUFFERING, BE HEALED! - MONTHLY BLESSING MSG BY BRO. MOHAN C LAZARUS (TAKEN FROM A MONTHLY SPIRITUAL MAGAZINE)

SITUATIONS MIGHT SEEM DIFFERENT BUT YET GOD'S PROMISES WILL SURELY GET FULFILLED IN YOUR LIFE

“And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favoured one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” - Luke 1:28

An angel named Gabriel was sent by God to a girl named Mary and Gabriel greeted her with a wonderful promise. The angel addresses Mary as highly favoured and blessed among all women. The simple reason is that the Lord was with her and she was chosen by God for a Holy purpose.

Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end." - Luke 1:30-33  

Then the angel describes about the miraculous things that is going to happen through her. It was told by God to her that Jesus Christ will enter into this world through her and He will be great and His kingdom will never end.

What a promise she got! It was a wonderful promise given by God to Mary. She might have thought that great things will happen thereafter in her life because she got God’s promise through His angel. 

But actually what happened next? When she was expecting something good but a worst thing happened. Joseph to whom she was engaged decided to put her away secretly because he could not understand the way she got conceived. If he who got engaged with Mary thought that way, how much more the other people around her would have thought about her. 

Everyone around her might have thought about her badly. She might have gone through pain and shame. Days passed. As she was about to deliver the promised Child, it happened that she has to travel from Galilee to Judea with her husband Joseph but yet they could not find a room in the inn. 

As she gave birth to the promised Child and laid him in a manger. Here is a women who was called as highly favoured by the God sent angel is giving birth to her child in a cattle shed and laid the promised Child in a manger.

Her situation and God’s promise given by her through an angel doesn’t match at all. Both were in contrast with each other. But does it ended that way? Never. As God promised to Mary through the angel, Jesus Christ was called as the Son of God and even today His kingdom exists and it will exist forever. Similarly even after so many centuries, Mary is considered blessed among all the women. 

Even today in your life things might be happening against God’s promise. You might have thought that everything will be fine as God has promised you good things. But yet things happen in a different way. You might be going through pain and shame today. 

Jesus Christ is promising you that it will not end in the way it goes now. Jesus Christ will be revealed through your life and your life will change for good. Jesus Christ is promising you that all He has spoken regarding your life will be fulfilled in His time and you will not be put to shame. 

Situations might seem different. People around you might speak different. You might think that you will not see goodness.  But yet Holy Spirit says to you that God’s promises will surely get fulfilled in your life. 

One day God promised my elder brother that he will get a government job and through that he will be raised. My brother waited for more than five years but yet situations were worse. People around him behaved differently. He lost all his hope. But one day as God promised he got a government job and through that God has blessed him abundantly and my brother is living happily now.

My dear young friends, you will surely see God’s goodness. You are highly favoured. Lord is with you and so you will be blessed among all others. God bless you.

STRAIGHTFORWARD - 1 (ONE THING THOU LACKEST YET) - TAKEN FROM A BOOK "THE LIFE THAT WINS" WRITTEN BY BRO. WATCHMAN NEE

In Luke 18.27 the Lord Jesus is recorded as saying: “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” We all know the context in which the Lord said this word. A young man had come to Him and asked, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (v.18) Since he asked what he should do, the Lord answered, “Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor thy father and mother” (v.20). Our Lord mentioned these five commandments to show that there were things to do and things not to do if anyone thought of inheriting eternal life (the uncreated life of God) by works. The young man regarded himself as having observed all these commandments from his youth up. But the Lord reminded him, “One thing thou lackest yet” (v.22a).

There is a principle to be learned from this passage. When the young man asked the Lord what he should do to inherit eternal life, our Lord told him only five of the commandments. Why not tell him all? Why, after having mentioned but five of them, did the Lord add, “One thing thou lackest yet”? The only reason was to let him know his inability. Eternal life is a gift; it is God’s grace; it cannot be earned by man’s works. But the young man did not understand; he even boasted that he had observed all five of these commandments from his youth. The Lord knew, however, that there was one thing this young man could not do; so He added, “One thing thou lackest yet?” And we know the end of the story: the young man failed to inherit by works.

Now concerning this matter of victory, it runs along the same principle. Some of you may claim that you are not as proud or jealous or hard as many other people. In fact, you may be better in many areas of life than are others. Yet God knows there is one area in your life which you cannot overcome. He leaves this thing in you to cause you to see that with man this is impossible. You deduce you can do all things because you have not committed adultery, murdered, stolen, or borne false witness and have honored your parents. Were anyone to ask you if you have overcome, you would probably answer that you have overcome in this thing and that thing. And you would thus reckon that all is well. However, the question today is not how many things you have overcome, but is there one particular thing you cannot overcome? God allows this thing to remain in your life so as to convince you of your inability.

We have already seen that God’s verdict for us is that we deserve to be crucified. For He knows us through and through. He knows we cannot overcome sin, nor can we even do good. He has seen us through clearly but we see ourselves dimly. So that when God declares we are worthless and useless, we still consider ourselves to be somewhat good and useful. Notwithstanding our claim to be good, however, God declares to each of us: “One thing thou lackest yet.” Some people are troubled by their hot temper; others, by their hardness. One may not be proud or jealous, but his hardness always follows him: “One thing thou lackest yet” There must be one area which he has not overcome, one sin that he has no power to conquer. Someone may not be proud or jealous or hard or hot-tempered, but his mouth operates incessantly. He cannot live without talking. He may proclaim that he has committed neither this nor that nor the other sin, but the Lord will say to him, “One thing thou lackest yet.” Or someone else is tight with money. Throughout his life he has not committed any gross sin; nonetheless, he commits the sin of greediness. The love of money is the basic ingredient of his conduct. Hence God says to him: “One thing thou lackest yet.” And this one thing proves his inability. People long to have a perfect life manifested in them, but they have one thing which testifies against them. Thus the first condition is to confess this one thing. With some, it is pride; with others, it is jealousy; with some, it is talkativeness; with others, it is unclean thoughts. And with many, it is even more than one thing.

What was the Lord trying to say? Salvation is impossible with men; life eternal is impossible with men; victory is impossible with men; abundant life is impossible with men. Yet the young man refused to believe he was unable. How bold, strong and confident were the phrases that passed from his lips: “from my youth up,” “all these things,” “I have observed.” What a majestic-sounding answer! How elated he must have felt! He thought he had all in his life under control. But the Lord responded with: “One thing thou lackest yet” You may argue that you do not have the sins of pride, jealousy, hardness, impure thoughts, or talkativeness that I have mentioned. But let me echo our Lord Jesus: “One thing thou lackest yet.” Go alone to God’s presence and ponder what thing it is that you lack.

JOY FILLED PARENTING - COMING SOON

LORD, YOUR GRACE IS SO AMAZING. THANK YOU SO MUCH LORD FOR YOUR BLESSING.

As I look at my God given daughter,

My heart is getting filled with so much laughter.

Little I asked Jesus Christ for my own needs,

But He always does so many incomparable deeds.

The baby girl He gave is one such blessing,

For which my heart will be always praising.

I had never thought that I will be blessed,

For my life is worthy to be killed.

How could God love me so much more?

Even when I betrayed Him to the core?

God’s mercy upon my life makes me feel so nice,

But am I worthy for God’s abundant grace?

He is an unchanging God, who is so faithful,

All I can do is to be grateful.

Thank You Lord for your grace,

To you belong all the glory, honor and praise.

LOOKING BACK (WITH THANKS) - 4 (BEING A SON TO A DAD)

"Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is His reward." - Psalm 127:3

Being a son to my parents is a blessing given by Jesus Christ to me. They were good in all the aspects. For the past thirty years I had never found any character lacking in their life and also I had never thought that they should be like someone’s parents. To this day I was so comfortable with them.

There were some ups and downs in our lives. In the initial days of my parents’ marriage they faced some tough times. My dad was jobless for few months after my two elder brothers were born. Later my dad got a skin disease and again he faced some false accusations in his work place. Because of so many problems they had faced, my parents struggled to raise us but yet they clinged onto the hands of Jesus Christ. They never showed their frustration to us and whenever they faced a problem they just asked us to pray. 

I thank God for my loving parents and being a son to them is really a blessing. They never expected anything from me except to study well and lead a holy life. My mother used to force me to sit and study but yet many times I disobeyed her and ran out to play with neighbours. By God’s grace I finished my PG engineering degree and my parents were happy about it. 

There were times I failed to fulfil their expectations but yet they tried their level best to encourage me and support me whenever I needed their help. They prayed a lot for me and most importantly they were patient with me. They prayed and believed that Jesus Christ will use their son for His glory and indeed God answered their prayers and He is using me for His glory. 

When I got married my parents were so happy and blessed me a lot. Their advises were so precious to me for it had helped me a lot in so many situations. I always prayed to God to give them good health and long life and I am so happy that they are still with us in this world. 

Few days back Jesus Christ has blessed us with a baby girl through normal delivery. Because of His grace my wife and God given child both were safe. Throughout the pregnancy period, Jesus Christ carried my wife and the child and even today He is carrying them. I am so grateful to God for taking me to another level to be a dad to His daughter He gave us. 

I do not know how I am going to be a good dad to God’s child but yet I know He will give His grace to me to be the best dad to the child He gave us. When there are so many in this world who long to have a child, I thank Jesus Christ for blessing us by giving us a child.

When I look back at my life being a son to this day where I am a father one thing I understood is ‘not by might, not by power but by Lord’s Spirit’ everything will be possible.

THE GLORY OF THE LORD WILL BE REVEALED IN YOUR LIFE AND EVERYONE WILL SEE IT

The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” - Isaiah 40:5

Few days back a person whom I know years before called me and asked me to pray for a particular thing. He had spoken to me nearly after two years and so I can very well understand that he is in a problem.

Nearly 3 years before he got married and few months after that they were separated and got divorce. He knows that he was doing something against God’s will but yet he got separated from his wife. After a year or so, he saw a non-Christian girl and fell in love with her.

They got engaged and soon they got married. All the family members of that girl were non-Christians and his wife plays a major role in most of the temple festivals in her place. Everything went well in their life till she got some serious issues during the later stages of her pregnancy.

Some problem had happened and so doctors advised for cesarean. The family members agreed as both mother and child was in dangerous condition. But before the doctors could take out the girl child, she drank the fluid in her mother’s womb. So once the cesarean got over, the child went into a dangerous state and was kept in children ICU.

Doctors told that there is not much chance of survival for the girl child. At that moment when everyone was crying his father in law told him that if Jesus Christ is a loving God let Him save the child’s life. On that day only he called me to pray for his child.

He was so upset when his father in law openly told that statement challenging the power of Jesus Christ. He told me that he admitted his sins to Jesus Christ and had begged for His forgiveness. Also he wanted God to save his child so that God’s name will not be put down by his father in law.

He wished that God will reveal His glory. He told me like on that particular day he spoke to nearly hundred of Christian believers and requested everyone to pray. I was so surprised to hear that and so I requested him to give me the updates about the child’s status.

Miraculously within a week the child got completely healed and doctors discharged the baby and now the baby and her mother both were safe by God’s grace.

He sinned against God and his father in law challenged the power of God but yet when he humbled himself at the feet of the God, Jesus Christ revealed His glory upon his life and healed his child. As the glory of God was revealed it was seen by all his wife’s relatives and everyone was amazed.

My dear young people, do you have a troubled marriage life? Are you worried about your future? Are you depressed thinking about your family situation? Are you hopeless?

Do not worry. Wipe away your tears. Pray to Jesus Christ. His glory will be revealed in your life and all the flesh around you will see God’s glory getting operated in your life. It will surely happen because the verse says that the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. Your heads will be lifted high. You also will see God’s glory surrounding your life in the coming days. May God bless you richly and lead you safely throughout this month.