Prayer by Mathew Jayadeep | 08-Oct-13

Prayer:

Loving Lord Jesus,

I resolve to live for You. I cast all my cares at your feet. Please help me to turn my eyes away from the cares of this world and fix my eyes on You. Speak to me through your Word and reveal your will concerning my life. Give me the grace to follow your path and fulfill your will. Grant me the reward of everlasting life.

Your matchless name I pray. 

Amen.

Occasionally - devotion by Sis. Bala Samson | PCR, Suresh | 08-Oct-2013

1 Thessalonians 5:23 “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

I heard someone say, ‘I drink occasionally’, then he went on to say more that were almost like a knife twisted inside my heart; he said, “may be during parties and important days like Easter and Christmas!”  Does this mean anything to you?  This person has heard sermons of mine not once but for eight long years! I read about a ‘debased mind’ mentioned in the Bible: Romans 1:28”And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting;29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy,…..”  These Church-going Christians think that they are doing the right things, but the Bible says, ‘God has given them over to do things that are not fitting because of their disobedience.’  Are you listening?

Please hear me today!  You may justify your wickedness by saying: I drink only during weekends, I stick to only Beer, I visit temples but think of only Jesus, I just smoke 10 cigarettes a day, I am physically involved with the girl that I am engaged to, I get very angry and nasty but God understands, I am into this illicit relationship but I still go to church and read the Bible… 

Read the above scripture carefully, Apostle Paul says that we need ‘complete sanctification’ and ‘our whole spirit, soul and body has to be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ You cannot look at God and say, ‘I have just been an occasional drinker and gambler; nevertheless, I don’t miss church services.’ I am sure the devil would guffaw over this statement!  Just want to add the caveat that God expects a higher standard of holiness from us!  After my salvation experience, I stopped watching secular movies, TV soaps, I broke movie VCDs, I tore all unwanted books and frantically went about closing all the doors that were open to satan one by one, people called me a religious fanatic but that didn’t affect me one bit. We cannot be occasional sinners but we got to be whole-hearted followers of Jesus Christ!

After experiencing Jesus in his life, this is what CBN Director Pat Robertson did, let me put it in his own words: “I didn’t say a word.  I just reached up in the cabinet and began taking down the bottles of whiskey we had stored there.  One by one I uncapped them and began pouring the whiskey down the sink. Glub….glub….glub…glub…….My wife screamed, ‘have you completely lost your mind?’ I replied, ‘I’m not going to drink anymore, I am a new man now, no more of that old stuff.’

Leave Foolishness Behind | PCR, Suresh | 07-Oct-2013

"Evil pursueth sinners: but to the righteous good shall be repayed." (Proverbs 13:21)

Satan has had us in a poverty mentality so long that it's tough for us to grasp just how intensely God really does desire to prosper us—even though He's demonstrated that desire again and again.

Take Abraham, for example. God made him an extremely wealthy man. Genesis 13:2 says he was rich in cattle, in silver and in gold. Then, of course, there was Solomon. The Bible says he surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. 

God's servant Job possessed such great wealth that he was called the greatest of all the men of the East. That was before Satan put him through the wringer. Afterward, God blessed him with more than twice what Satan had stolen. The problem is, just the thought of the kind of wealth  God gave to those men scares most believers today. They're afraid it would destroy them.

God has said that "the prosperity of fools shall destroy them" (Prov. 1:32). But that doesn't mean you should avoid being prosperous. It means you
should avoid being a fool!

I challenge you, this week, to go to Proverbs and find out for yourself what God says about the characteristics of a fool. Let the Holy Spirit search your heart. If you see ways in which you've been a fool, repent and make a firm decision not to be caught in that trap again.

Let the Word of God inspire you to leave foolishness behind and stir within you the faith to reach out and receive what you, as a redeemed child of the living God, have a divine right to--not the curse of poverty, but the blessing of prosperity!

Kenneth Copeland

SCRIPTURE READING:  Genesis 15:1-6

Prayer by Mathew Jayadeep | 07-Oct-13

Prayer:

Loving Lord Jesus,

I love You and honour You with all my heart. I seek your forgiveness and shed tears of repentance. Please grant me your forgiveness through your precious blood. Transform me into a new creation and give me the grace to lead a blameless life.

In Your matchless name I pray. 

Amen.

Prayer by Mathew Jayadeep | 05-Oct-13

Prayer:

Loving Lord Jesus,

I thank You with a grateful heart. You have granted me forgiveness through your powerful blood. Pour out your divine love into my heart. Help to forgive others' shortcomings and pray for them. Bless me with divine health and perfect peace.

In Your matchless name I pray. 

Amen.

Gentleness - devotion by Sis. Bala Samson | PCR, Suresh | 04-Oct-2013

Gentleness…

Acts 11:2’And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision contended with him…’

It is sad that many are skeptical about fasting!  Let us not do fasting as a ritual or a religious custom like many do these days without any change in them.  Are you listening?  A group of ladies walked out of a Saturday fasting prayer meeting from the church carrying a big fat Bible with them and boarded the bus, they spoke boisterously, argued with the conductor and refused to adjust with the people in the bus. Did not Apostle Paul say ‘Let your gentleness be known to all men?’ (Philippians 4:5)

Well, there is a brighter and positive side of fasting too, let me explain to you guys…….Did you know fasting, prayer and close relationship with God can change your character and attitude?  It does. Look at fasting as a ‘tool’ that would help you to live a successful life for Christ.  How many of you have made1000 resolutions to hold your tongue and temper only to fail the next moment?  Be honest.  This is why precisely Jesus said, ‘without Me you can do nothing.’ (John 15:5)

I must say this, today there is a sadistic and egoistic pleasure in being snobby, overbearing, rude and curt? We have just forgotten to be kind, gentle and pleasant! Let me share a beautiful incident from the Bible: after a great revival at the house of Cornelius, where even the gentile people were filled with the Holy Spirit and while Peter was floating with joy, there comes his own people charging against him for having mixed with the ‘wrong crowd’. Imagine! I certainly enjoyed this portion of reading, struck by Peter’s gentleness and impressed by his style, I got to write this devotion. Peter who is known for his impulsive behavior and tongue, has truly undergone a wonderful transformation after the day of Pentecost!  Watch this!

Instead of asking his people to ‘ take a walk’ or say the most famous statement of all Christians, ‘God understands me so  I don’t care what you guys think of me’; he said neither of these things, but look what he does: verse 4’But Peter explained it to them in order from the beginning.’  Gorgeous! Peter patiently gave them the entire account in order; when you get time later during the day, open your Bible and read this incident for yourself.  It would bring healing in your life as well.  Further, Peter quotes the words of Christ during his conversation which further adds flavor to his words.  He says,16’Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, 'John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' We should learn to quote scriptures which people can never refute! After his gentle and articulate speech, do you want to know the response of the crowd? ! ; “When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God!” Praise God!

Let your gentleness be known to all!  Man, that’s a powerful statement!  If there is a misunderstanding, don’t scream and yell to argue your point, neither should you prove your skills by having to say the last word on the matter.  Learn to say nothing.  I repeat, learn to stay silent, when the furnace is seven times heated. That’s the mark of a true Christian! 

Scripture Reading - Philippians 4: 1-19 

Nourish the soul - devotion by Sis. Bala Samson | PCR, Suresh | 03-Oct-2013

Soul!

Mathew 10:28”And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

We have plethora of websites to talk about nourishment of the hair, nails, eyes, skin, body and you also have nourishment hand cream and what not!  
Not many care of nourishment of soul, though! Are you there?  No wonder, because of our sick soul which is undernourished we drift away from God, church becomes a bore, Bible is shelved and good preachers are shunned.  Not enough people neglect God and His Word, but compounding the folly, they fill their mind and soul with junk food!  

‘Stay home and earn million dollars’ becomes more attractive than ‘obey God and be blessed.’  I just read in the newspapers that some colleges are literally selling MBA certificates by luring the students with delicious offers like, ‘no attendance, no exams, come and take the certificates.’  How do you like it?  If a church announces, ‘you don’t have to pray, fast  or read the Bible, come to Him who will give you abundant blessings, I bet that church would be 
flooded.’  

This is the scenario today!No more do we have ‘good substance’ and solid ‘meat’ in the newspapers, but much of the space is occupied with entrepreneurs sharing their ‘victory’ stories and we have youngsters reading it with open jaws and drooling.  

Success, making money is good, alright; but not at the risk of forsaking God and your soul!  Are you listening? Read what Jesus says:  

• Mathew 16: 26”For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

• For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.”

Friend, if you have never heard of the ‘Son of Man’ coming back to earth again to reward each one of us according to our works, then hear it today and set 
right your life; after all you cannot carry your car and palatial apartment to heaven or hell. Are you there?

Listen!  Jesus said, ‘fear Him who is able to destroy the soul!’ When you stubbornly continue to sin and ignore Him, then your soul would be destroyed and you would go to hell.   If you do not take care of the soul, then it would die!  Have you heard of this news before? 

Hear it today.  This is more important that uploading photos on your facebook; satan had masterminded and shrewdly introduced the facility of camera in mobiles, they are used for catastrophic purposes.  

Nourish your soul today!  David prayed, Psalm 116:8 ”For You have delivered my soul from death..”  Someone said: ”The soul is placed in the body like a rough diamond; and must be polished, or the lustre of it will never appear.”

Scripture Reading – Psalms 116