EL ROI - "The Lord Who Sees"

GOD made me ponder over this word “El Roi” and the story of Hagar past 1 week. Here I sit to write about it just as I try to see the situation thru her eyes and cant help the tears profuse…

At the wilderness, Hagar the Egyptian slave woman an outcast names the lord “El Roi” - The Lord who sees. THE LORD WHO SEES !!! – How powerful? What are the emotions running thru her mind when she called out the GOD Almighty (El Shaddai) with that name?

  

It’s a story that everybody knows…it is the story that everyone has read. Every time I read, my heart weighs heavy for that poor Egyptian woman.

Brought by Sarai from her native land leaving her family and friends to serve her,

Ordered by her mistress to bear a child for her Master Abram,

Fled into the desert with an unborn child unable to handle the harshful treatment of her mistress Sarai,

Came back to bear a child and be mistreated again,

Silent spectator to see her beloved son denied heir rights and place,  

Banished from the land into the desert by her Master Abraham, father of her son who should stand up for her.

Desolate and with no help, or food, or water left to see her only son die….My heart moves in compassion for this woman. I cant help thinking of such women in this world right now,.. at this moment suffering one or all of the above feelings

Powerless, Penniless, Angry, Afraid, No hope for future with her world falling apart she makes a plea to the lord. To the lord of the Abraham, to the maker of heaven and earth when she runs away the "first time" from her masters unable to handle the harshful treatment.

Her spirit is crushed, her soul aches, her tears pours directly from her heart in agony, she cries a river.

She hears the Angel. The Angel of GOD gives her the promise of GOD to the fleeing Pregnant Hagar to go back to Abram & Sarai (Later called Abraham & Sarah).

Genesis 16

¹³ She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the GOD who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen^[c] the One who sees me.”

Things did not change in a minute. Things are not rose and red around there. Yet, with the hope she walks back only to be banished. El Roi didn’t come just once to her. He comes again restores her hope and he keeps his promise to her and make a nation out of her Son.

Yes,…We serve a Lord “WHO SEES”,.. Who SEES thru our situations, trials and tribulations! Our afflictions he know. In all circumstance, his WILL alone be done.

As I think deeper, I wonder if Hagar hoped “Unlike me, my son will grow into a free man”  - when she agrees to bear a son for her Master.

Yes, Hagar and Ishmael are freed by Abraham their master,..but into the wilderness. Like we are Free. But we are in wilderness of this tempting world.

“Ishmael” – God Listens” when we walk thru the wilderness.

But its thru “Immanuel – God is with us” who died on the cross for our sins, our life is restored for eternity.

Let us all revere El Shaddai, El Roi ! Let the Heaven Praise the king of kings, lord of the lords! GOD BLESS!!!

PRAYER

Its been few days since GOD had put this word in my heart to write. It took all this time to get this on draft. Distraction,..busyness of the daily life,..got ruminant of  past, its poignant reminders, some kind of sudden hopelessness of this life filled me to the point that I was alarmed in spirit that I should get this online as soon as possible.

The word as you know is PRAYER.

Lets see…

HOW?

Jesus Christ in the book of  Matthew 6:5–15 has already given a prayer template.

Would this small passage be just enough? Really…???

Actually YES! All it has to be is “heartfelt”. That’s the key – “Heart Felt”. The same prayer can be made to the King of Kings, Lord of Lords petitioning with bitter tears oozing out of a broken heart, yearning for his grace and mercy, pleading for forgiveness and comfort

OR

 the prayer can be done rejoicing his love and wonders of his amazing grace, exalting his majesty in a thankful tone.

OR

Stoic..,? drained out? still keep the prayer in the lip…at the least. It helps. God is awake and he listens.

HOW OFTEN?

Do you know our Muslim brothers sisters by law need to pray to GOD  5 times. FIVE TIMES! And they are thankful its FIVE times. The legend says if its not for MOSES (Prophet Musa), it would be Fifty Five times.

Do you know Judaism ask for 3 time prayers? Old testament talks about praying Three times in the Book of Daniel and Psalms.

Daniel 6:10 (NIV), “Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before

Psalm 55:17 ‘Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice.”

How many times we pray? Once in the morning?

Let me be honest, I hardly made a good one prayer in the morning. But then I changed I made it a point to make a prayer in the morning and one in the night along with Bible reading. I see a big difference.

However I have noticed most of my Catholic friends praying “GRACE” before their meals. Muslims have this too.

In general I guess we need to make sure we make atleast 2 – 3 prayers a day. With morning prayer Surrendering the day to GOD, Thanking GOD during the course of the day and Thanks giving prayer before bed.

Don’t forget the wear the ARMOR OF GOD as you make your morning prayer.

PRAYER FORMAT:

 Matthew 6:

9 Pray then like this:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our daily bread,
12 and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.

As you see Jesus teaches us to seek and pray for GOD’s kingdom in the first half and later talks about OUR needs.

WHO NEEDS PRAYERS?

Prayer is not meant only for needy Christians. It is meant for every Christian and it is needed every day. That’s why Jesus said in Mathew 6: 5 “And when you pray” not If you pray.

Prayer is the communication, conversation between you and GOD. A Family, A Corporation, A School/University, A Friendship excels only with better communication. For our better spiritual enlightenment and blessed life PRAYER is the only remedy. C’mon, Lets keep it going!!!

Man without the Voice - Zechariah

My son has been reading his Kid's bible and he came across the story of Zechariah, who lost his voice for doubting GOD's promise.

My son had so many questions:

1.Why Zechariah was Scared seeing the angel? Angel is from GOD, why he has to be scared to be of? It is an Angel. Not a Monster.

2.Why did he question the Angel's message, even after Angel said he is from GOD?

3.Last but not the least How did he pray to GOD or do his priestly service with NO VOICE until his promised son John was born. My son wondered if he used "Sign Language" for praying. LOL :-D :))

Now, this made me wonder.

So, Why would a priest like Zechariah be scared of the Angel? Was he not prepared? Did he think such divine intervention would not happen to him ? Did he think of himself LOW of god's grace?

I dont blame him. I have felt that way too. BUT Lucky for us, we have JESUS. Every time, I feel unworthy of the blessings. I think of the forgiveness bought by Christ blood. I immediately thank and praise GOD for we shouldnt let the enemy steal our blessings with condemnation.

Why did he question the Angel?

God has a plan for us. We know it thru our spirit or prophetic preachers. As much as we think as undeserving we are we do DOUBT God's plan for us. We question it. We rationalize and comprehend with our worldly gained knowledge. At times, we are preplexed waiting. When we do we lose our voice for sometime to praise and talk of his greatness. How great would have been Zechariah's sorrow. How heart broken he would have been?

Every line of the scripture drives a message, if we see keenly. I am so glad that I understood them thru a kid's inquisitve encounter of the subject.

Zechariah story had a happy ending. He had his promise and his voice. We all have a happy ending...If we only BELIEVE!

Holy spirit..! – Di’s account

Today Lord urged me to write about HOLY SPIRIT.

Google or Web definition of “HOLY SPIRIT” says

the third person in the Trinity; Jesus promised the Apostles that he would send the HOLY SPIRIT after his Crucifixion and Resurrection

Point to note here is “he would send the HOLY SPIRIT after his Crucifixion and Resurrection”

I pray that this post will let you ponder.

I  love Jesus and am already Saved, Then why do I need HOLY SPIRIT?

Being saved by Christ alone would not let you be a child of Christ. A proper heir of Christ should walk in the path ordained by the lord with the Word of GOD as the staff and HOLY SPIRIT as the guide.

·         Accepting Christ is the first step.

It is letting the merciful GOD to wash away the sins and purify as clean as the snow. However, for the further journey as a Christian we need his HOLY SPIRIT.

If our faith is the Spiritual Vehicle:

Learning to Drive – Accepting Christ as the Salvation, Getting the branded Car  – the Water baptism

But if we do not know where are we going, what can we do with that, how can this help our life?

·         Either we can drive in circles for the fun of it.

·         Just drive randomly to some place which we don’t want to be there.

·         Find ourselves at cross roads and make wrong choices.

Yes, We need something more now. We need a guide. HOLY SPIRIT is  the GPS. He direct you, speak wisdom to you and take you to the place you want.

Water baptism is mark of accepting Christ as your savior. It is the public acceptance of what has already transpired in the heart of the one who has received the salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 Being baptized in HOLY SPIRIT is the mark and our covenant with our Lord. At that point, there is no medium between us. There is DIRECT relationship with GOD.

 Without HOLY SPIRIT you will be stranded, stunted.  You would be a Christian yet a baby in your faith.

GOD want us to mature in our faith and in our love for him. So we can enjoy the fruits of his Mercy at its full.

A baby looks cute, precious but can only wiggle, crawl around  in a confined and comfortable place. A grown up man alone can ford, climb, explore and enjoy the beauty of the creator and enjoy his blessings. Without HOLY SPIRIT and word of GOD, the GOD’s will for you would not be fulfilled to its completeness.

Here are some references from bible on Holy Spirit:

John’s account:

John answered them all, “I baptize you with[a] water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with[b] the Holy Spirit and fire.( Luke 3:16)

**Mark 1:8, Matthew 3:11 These are parallel references to Luke 3:16

The same is confirmed by Peter in Acts 11:16.

21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:21, 22)

Lord Jesus says:

16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be[a] in you. (John 14:16-17)

On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 

For John baptized with^[a] water, but in a few days you will be baptized with^[b] the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 1:4-5)

Lord Jesus explains the ministry of the Holy spirit:

 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.  He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.( John 16:7-14) references:

1. John 16:7 : Jn 14:16, 26; 15:26
2. John 16:7 : Jn 7:39; 14:26
3. John 16:9 : Jn 15:22
4. John 16:10 : Ac 3:14; 7:52; Ro 1:17; 3:21, 22; 1Pe 3:18
5. John 16:10 : S ver 5
6. John 16:11 : S Jn 12:31
7. John 16:12 : Mk 4:33; 1Co 3:2
8. John 16:13 : S Jn 14:17
9. John 16:13 : Ps 25:5; Jn 14:26

First Church Of Christ:

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.( Acts 2:38)

Acts 10 – Read about Cornelius & Peter.

While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. 45 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. 46 For they heard them speaking in tongues[b] and praising God. ( Acts 44:46)

 “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:13)

For more please read Acts 19:1-7, Acts 11:20, Acts 19:9-10.

Please pray for the outpouring of the HOLY SPIRIT, Today. We need him to excel in our spiritual and worldly life!

He is our counselor; he will convict us of our sins; He is the interpreter, he will enlighten the scriptures for us; He is our compass, GPS to guide us in this wilderness journey of Life.

GOD bless!

P.S. Kindly share your view points on various aspects of leading a good Christian life! Amen!

A Remarkable Testimony - Yamini's account

Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Psalm 127: 1

Praise the Lord. We have been trying to close on a new house for quite some time. The loan approval process was getting delayed due to various reasons. First the closing was planned on June 29. Then it was July 20. Then it was July 31 and thereafter it could be any day! The bank drilled us with so many questions and needed so many additional documents from us. I along with family and friends began to seek the Lord earnestly.

On Aug 9th, I miraculously stumbled upon a message in YouTube and the speaker spoke from Phil 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” He continued to say that the Lord who started to build your house will see to its completion. That line sparked my faith. The next day (Aug 10th) at 3.30 pm we got notice from the closing attorney that we can come for closing within an hour! We closed the same day at 6 pm and got our keys to the house.

We serve a faithful God who hears our prayers and answers them at His time for His glory!

Prayer…

Jesus in Luke 11 has taught us to pray. Tonight, I was again taught by a kid who knows just a bit of Bible & Christ. My son!

We have been praying  together on and off. But last three nights we were praying regularly holding hands, every time he prays I am filled in tears coz the prayer he makes is so unselfish and so pure. Divinely pure.

Last night he thanked god for sending a new kid to his class.

Tonight was special...

·         He thanked god for Bible

·         He thanked god for Jesus washing away the sins

·         He thanked god for helping people who are hurting

·         He thanked god for the Helmet of Salvation. (This is part he understands better in The Armor Of God)

I prayed before his prayer a long one. But his few minute prayer made me humble and low coz it was so selfless and focused on GOD. This moment, I learnt to pray like Jesus and also to pray like a Child.

Thank you so much lord for teaching me in every aspect of my life to stick to you.

Friends, I am sure you have some to share. Please do, I am wanting to hear.

"He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak."

Mark 7 :37

³⁷ People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

Please watch this Video which is in Tamizh by Bro.John Prabhaharan, how GOD heals a believer, A confident/passionate Asker, Persistent door knocker, A vigilant seeker. Yes, a TOTAL receiver of his wonderful blessings.

Thanks to Brother for putting this message in a most humorous ,interesting, encouraging and inspiring way. God bless the Pastor and JIL ministry. For further details, visit http://www.jesusthelord.asia

http://youtu.be/Ea3AqtqmcgU

Be on Track with lord!