THE LORD GUIDES YOU

By Paul Dhinakaran

I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron.    (Isaiah 45:2)

Dearly beloved,

The angel of God will come with you till you reach the place which the Lord has prepared for you. The Lord says, “See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared” (Exodus 23:20).

He has prepared a place for you not only in heaven, but also in this world. A particular version of the Bible says, “He will elevate you to the place which He has prepared for you.” That’s why He makes your feet like deer’s feet and makes you walk on high places.

We read in Habakkuk 3:19, “The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, and He will make me walk on my high hills.”

According to this Bible verse, the Lord is going to elevate you in a special way from this month. You will jump like deer and go up to the high hills, the high place that He has prepared for you. The Lord Himself will go before you and bring you to the place which He has prepared for you.

Several years back, while narrating his first experience of traveling by Jumbo Jet, my father said like this: “When the Jumbo Jet landed on the airport, a small vehicle went before it. The words ‘Follow me’ were written on it. The double-decked big Jumbo followed it slowly. This small vehicle brought the Jet to the place where it had to be stationed.”

Like that small vehicle, we are like nothing before the Lord. Our Lord who is the greatest of all goes before us and takes us to the place which He has prepared for us. What a privilege!

Sometimes, when I happen to go to new cities, security guards dressed in black would accompany me, holding guns in their hands till they take me to the place where I have to stay. But here the Lord tells you, “I am going to guide you in a special way. I am not going to send guards for you. I Myself will guide you. I am the Almighty Lord. I will protect you. I will take you to the high and glorious place which I have prepared for you.” This privilege is for you, the beloved child of the Lord. So be happy. The Lord Jesus loves you. He will bring you to the high place which He has prepared for you.

The Lord says, “I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron” (Isaiah 45:2). The Lord will go ahead of you and remove all the hindrances in your life. He will lead you to the right place where treasures of blessing are stored for you.

THE LORD GOES BEFORE YOU

By Paul Dhinakaran

For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways    (Psalm 91:11)

Dearly beloved,

First of all, in Exodus 23:20, the Lord says, "See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.” The Lord Jesus said, "See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of My Father in heaven” (Matthew 18:10).

According to the above Scriptures, first of all, God sends an angel to go before you. The angels of the little ones who have committed themselves to God always see the face of the Father in heaven. Not only the little children, but all those who accept the Lord Jesus like a child become part of heaven. So when you give your life to Him and accept Him as your Father, you become a little child in His sight and become a partaker of heaven. The Lord said, in Isaiah 45:2-5, “I will go before you and will level the mountains…I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places.”

When the Lord sends His angels before you, He first says, “I will guard you in all the things you do, in all your ways and all through your life. You shall be protected by Me.” The ark of the Lord was kept in the house of Obed-Edom. Because of the ark of the Lord, He blessed him and his entire household and protected them. The Bible says, “The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite three months. And the Lord blessed Obed-Edom and all his household” (II Samuel 6:11,12).

David came to know about the Lord blessing Obed-Edom. So he went and brought the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with gladness. Because of that, the Lord blessed him and his entire household. When he passed through the enemies’ camp, He caused a deep sleep to fall on all the men of war in the enemy camp (I Samuel 26:12). Nobody was aware that he had passed by them. The Lord protected him. Dear one, the Lord will go before you and protect you and everything that belongs to you. You need not fear. You need not fear thinking, “Will I fall into sin? Will my family fall into sin? Will I lose my job? Will I become weak and die?’ The angel of God will go before you and take care of everything. He will protect you.

David the Psalmist says, “…He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways” (Psalm 91:11). The eyes of the Lord are always watching His beloved children and His ears are attentive to their cry for help. He will never allow your foot to slip for His angels are always beside you to preserve you.

A VESSEL OF GOD’S LOVE

By Paul Dhinkaran

Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.    (1 John 4:11)

Dearly beloved,

The Lord says, “I will go before you and will level the mountains” (Isaiah 45:2).

My precious friend, the Lord has chosen you as His vessel for the blessing of millions of people.

For the first time in 1962, when the Lord spoke to my father face to face, He said, “My son, I fill you with My love and compassion. When you hear the misery of people and when they share their problems with you, your heart will melt. Love and compassion will flow from your heart and you will cry out for them. Seeing your tears, I, Jesus, will wipe away their tears. For this purpose, I have anointed you today.”

Yes, truly the Lord loves the people. He loves those who are filled with His love and who love Him.

Dear one, you too love the people, being filled with the love of Christ. To wipe away the tears of the millions, you have united with the Lord Jesus. You have been called and chosen to be a channel of God’s blessing to others.

The Lord Jesus has called me and my entire family too just as how He called my father. The same Lord has called you too and has chosen you to be vessel of comfort to brokenhearted people. Today we are loved by the Lord Jesus and He is with us; our family is blessed. As a family, you are going to receive the same blessing.

The Bible says, “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:11). God is love; when you have a close fellowship with Him, you will be able to know the magnitude of His love. Then you will be able to love others just as He loved them.

Learning from Trials

By Greg Laurie

² Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,^[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1: 2-4)

But the fact is, we don't have that option. Trials will come into the lives of every believer. Notice that James says, "Count it all joy when you fall into various trials." The phrase various trials could also be translated "many-colored trials" or "trials of many kinds." In other words, no two trials or experiences are necessarily alike.

You will be tested. The question is, will you pass or fail?

We must remember that God never tests us without a reason. God's ultimate purpose is to conform us into the image of Jesus Christ. God wants to produce a family likeness in us. This means that some difficulties and testings will show us immediate results, while others will produce long-term ones.

There are times when I can emerge from a trial, look back, and say, "I learned this when I went through that experience." But there will be other times when I come through a difficulty, and all I will be able to do is shake my head and say, "What was that all about?" I may not be able to tell you (at that moment) what I have learned.

But what has happened, maybe unnoticed by me, is that I have become a little bit more like Jesus. He has worked in my life to mold me and shape me into His own image. It may be hard or impossible to point to definitive results in our lives after a time of pressure, setbacks, or testing. Even so, we can know that God is in control. And we can know that His ultimate purpose is to conform us into the image of His own dear Son.