Showing posts with label Inspirational Messages. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Inspirational Messages. Show all posts

A LIVING SACRIFICE TO GOD



By Paul Dinakaran

Dearly beloved,

During the time of the Old Testament, animals and birds were offered as sacrifices to God, and through that, the sins of the one who offered the sacrifice were forgiven.

But after Lord Jesus Christ offered His body as a living sacrifice on the cross, the animal sacrifice became null and void. His holy blood cleanses you and you become holy.

Even today, the Lord wants you to offer yourself as a living sacrifice for Him so that you can have life in your body (Romans 12:1).

Offering yourself as a living sacrifice is nothing but leading a holy life in this evil world which is full of lust, treachery and sorrow. When you live for the Lord and reflect His love in your life, you are offering yourself as a living sacrifice for Him. When you do that, the Lord will certainly reward you and you shall talk with Him face to face. Your life will become very pleasant.

Although Job had to go through so many afflictions and losses in life, he did not sin. He just said, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised” (Job 1:21). He clung on to God saying, “I myself will see Him with my own eyes – I, and not another” (Job 19:27).

Hence the Lord Himself came in search of him and spoke to him face to face. He healed him completely and restored all that he had lost. He made everyone come in search of him and honoured him. The Lord gave him twice as much he had before (Job 42:10-17).

Apostle Paul says, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship" (Romans 12:1). Accordingly, submit yourself completely to the will of God. Then He will fulfill His will in your life. He will also bless you doublefold.

Source: http://www.prayertoweronline.org

GROW IN HOLINESS

By Paul Dhinakaran

Dearly beloved,

In the Bible, we read that God chose a young man called Joshua to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land after the death of Moses.

When the Israelites Crossed the Jordan River, they camped at a place called Gilgal. This was the place where Joshua sanctified himself along with all the armies of Israel.

In Joshua Chapter 10, we read that God gave Joshua and his men a great victory over their enemies. Yet he did not stay behind to celebrate the victory that the Lord gave him, but came back to Gilgal, the place of sanctification. The Bible says, “Then Joshua returned with all Israel to the camp at Gilgal” (Joshua 10:15). He and his men marched all night long to that place of sanctification to pray again; they honoured the Lord. Desiring sanctification, they returned to the place that was pleasing to the Lord.

Thus should you guard yourself holy.

We read in Revelation 22:11,12: “Let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy. "Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.” The Lord Jesus says, Behold, I am coming quickly. He who is holy, let him be holy still. I want to command still more blessings…” Today, open your heart to the Lord and return to holiness.

In Joshua 3:5, Joshua tells the Israelites, "Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you." Holiness is turning to God, waiting at His feet and obeying His Word, and this is what I have learnt. I obey the Lord when He speaks to me. The Holy Spirit gives me the grace to do this. We need to leave the worldly desires, wait at His feet and be truthful and faithful in our deeds, words and thoughts in order to obey Him. The Holy Spirit will help us in our weakness (Romans 8:26).

The Lord says, "Be holy, because I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16). He is holy in nature and expects us to be holy since we are His children and belong to Him. When we fear Him and walk in the path of holiness, He will be our strong refuge; we shall have everlasting protection under His mighty hand.

Battle of the Gods


By Greg Laurie

And Elisha prayed, and said, "Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see." Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.  —2 Kings 6:17

I think we would all agree there is a battle going on in the United States today. It's a battle for our very souls, a battle for right and wrong, a battle over the Bible, a battle over the family. Really, it is a battle over worldviews. And if you want to simplify it even further, it is a battle of the gods.

In the Bible there is only one God; it isn't multiple choice. God says, "I am the Lord, and there is no other" (Isaiah 45:5). There is the true and living God who is the God of Scripture and the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is the God who loved us so much that He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross.

Then there are all the other gods. So the battle rages today—the battle of the gods and the battle of the worldviews.

Sometimes as followers of Jesus Christ and believers in the Bible, it feels like we are losing ground everywhere we turn. In some ways, you might feel as though there is no hope.

I'm reminded of the story of Elisha and his servant when they were surrounded by enemy forces. Elisha was so confident in the Lord that he took a nap. But his servant woke him, alarmed as the enemy forces were closing in. So Elisha prayed, "Lord, open his eyes." The Bible tells us, "Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha" (2 Kings 6:17).

In the same way, there are more on our side than there are on the enemy's side. And we need to remember that as the battle rages on every day.

Rod and Joni Parsley - Modern family vintage values


We have lost many values in our families because of the world we live in. This heart-to-heart message is filled with wisdom from Pastor Rod and Joni's life, and it will help you as a parent to build a home that is built on the Word of God, and train your children the way they should go.

The God Who Suffers



By Greg Laurie

He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief . . . Surely He has borne our grief and carried our sorrows.

—Isaiah 53:3–4

When we think of God, we usually consider that fact that He is righteous, holy, loving, and good. But here is something else to consider about God: He is the God who has suffered. We don't tend to think that a perfect Creator would experience such a human trait as human pain and suffering. After all, why would you suffer if you did not have to?

But God has suffered, and more deeply than any of us could ever imagine. In his book The Cross of Christ, John Stott said, "Our God is a suffering God." And I think he is right.

Listen to Isaiah's description of what Jesus (who was God) went through at Calvary:

"He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief . . . Surely He has borne our grief and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed." (Isaiah 53:3-5)

"A man of suffering." That was Jesus. But why did God suffer? Because He loved and loves. That means He also enters into our suffering as well.

Hebrews 2:17-18 tells us:

"Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people. Since he himself has gone through suffering and temptation, he is able to help us when we are being tempted" (NLT).

You are not alone in your suffering today. Jesus has been there and walked in your shoes and He is here for you right now. Call out to Him.

The "Crown Jewel" of Scriptures


By Greg Laurie

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." —John 3:16

One of the greatest verses in all of the Bible is John 3:16. It gives us the gospel in a nutshell. Let's break it down:

"For God so loved . . ."

Many picture God as some kind of "cosmic killjoy" out to ruin our lives. But the reality is that God loves you! He misses you. He wants a relationship with you. Look at the Lord in the garden after Adam's fall, calling, "Adam, where are you?" (Genesis 3:9).

". . . the world . . ."

The world? That includes dictators and criminals. It includes adulterers, cheats, liars, even murderers.

The thief on the cross was probably a murderer or terrorist, but Jesus extended His loving forgiveness to him.

". . . He gave . . ."

We can talk about love all day long, but God demonstrated His love for us in a tangible way. Romans 5:8 says," But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us," and Romans 6:23 tells us that "the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Jesus came to this world not to come down on people, but to reach out to people. While religion tells us what we must do to reach up to heaven, God reaches down from heaven in sending Jesus and pulling us out of quicksand.

". . . His only begotten Son . . ."

This does not mean "one of many," as in "So-and-so begat So-and-so." A better translation is "His one and only Son" or "the only Son of His kind or class, unique in kind."

". . . that whosoever believes . . ."

To "believe" does not merely mean you intellectually accept something to be true. The Bible says, "Even the demons believe—and tremble!" (James 2:19 NKJV). To believe is to "adhere to, commit to, have faith in, rely upon, trust in." The choice is ours as to what we will do with this wonderful gift of God. We can gladly accept it, or reject it. If someone offers you a gift, you either take it or you don't. You can't say, "I'm neutral on this. I can't decide."

". . . should not perish . . ."

Revelation 20:15 says, "Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire" (KJV). If you are included in the "whosoever" of John 3:16, you won't be included in the "whosoever" of Revelation 20:15.

". . . but have everlasting life."

Not "hope to have," but "have." It becomes the immediate possession of the child of God. 1 John 5:13 says, "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God" (NKJV).

Jesus will receive and reveal Himself to any person who will come to Him honestly, heart to heart. Jesus said, "He that comes to me I will in no way cast out" (see John 6:37).

Zika Foretold in 2011 by Dr. Paul Dhinakaran


Zika Virus - "The physical structure of the children that are going to be born will see some significant changes in the days to come". Prophecy given by Dr. Paul Dhinakaran fulfilled.

The Power of a Godly Life


By Greg Laurie

At this time Aramean raiders had invaded the land of Israel, and among their captives was a young girl who had been given to Naaman's wife as a maid. —2 Kings 5:2

In 2 Kings 5 we read of a young Israelite girl, whose name we don't even know, that had been kidnapped and carried away to Syria. How easily she could have been bitter against God for allowing this to happen. And certainly she could have been angry with the people she was working for as a slave.

So when her master Naaman was stricken with leprosy, she could have thought, He deserves it. But that isn't the way she felt at all. She was concerned for him. Her heart went out to him. And she saw the opportunity to tell Naaman about a prophet in Israel named Elisha who could pray for him. Elisha was Elijah's successor. God was working through him and had used him to raise someone from the dead. Like Elijah, he had miracle-working power.

This girl had somehow heard about Elisha. So she said to Naaman's wife, "I wish my master would go to see the prophet in Samaria. He would heal him of his leprosy" (2 Kings 5:3).

It reminds me of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, young Israelites who also were taken captive. They were brought to Babylon, where the king changed their names. But he couldn't change their hearts. They walked closely with God, as did this young woman.

Imagine how she felt when she heard how God had healed Naaman. I wonder if she ever thought God would use someone like her to reach someone as significant as Naaman. It's a wonderful thing when you have lived such a godly life that when you speak to someone, they listen. This girl earned the right to bring the message she did probably because she was such a great person and a hard worker. She held fast to her faith, even in a foreign land.

Respect His Name


By Greg Laurie

"You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain." —Exodus 20:7

Do you care about your name? Do you like it when people slander you or say things that aren't true about you? Have you ever had that happen? I have. No one enjoys that. We want to protect our name. The Bible says that "a good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, loving favor rather than silver and gold" (Proverbs 22:1).

God cares about His name, too. And He tells us, "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain" (Exodus 20:7). The words in vain literally could be translated "in an empty, idle, insincere, frivolous way."

So how do people take the Lord's name in vain? One obvious way is profanity. Isn't it interesting how people use the name of Jesus Christ so often? Even nonbelievers, in their spiritually deadened state, know there is something different about the name of Jesus. We don't hear people exclaiming, "Buddha!" or "Hare Krishna!" In a backhanded way, nonbelievers acknowledge the power of Jesus even when they're misusing His name.

Another way people take His name in vain is by saying "I swear to God." Jesus said, "But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No.' For whatever is more than these is from the evil one" (Matthew 5:37). Your word should be enough.

Let me add another way that people take God's name in vain that's important for us to be aware of: Saying "Oh my God" a lot. That seems to be a popular phrase now. But it's taking God's name in vain. The same goes for texting OMG. Don't do that. Don't use God's name in an empty way.

God cares about His name, and so should we.