Make me more like Jesus

Ephesians 4:24 says, "put on new self, created to be like God...."

What a calling in Christ. He wants us to be like Him....... wow......

As I was reading this chapter this morning, I was reminded of a chorus I used to sing (now we don't hear these songs anymore in churches)

"Make me more like thee
Lord Jesus make me more like thee
Give me a heart that's filled with love
And make me more like thee"

Tamil translation of the song:

உம்மை போல் ஆக்கும்
ஏசுவே உம்மை போல் ஆக்கும்
உள்ளத்தை அன்பால் நிரப்பி என்னை
உம்மை போல் ஆக்கும்


This is my prayer for me this morning and also for each one of you my friends, that you too should become LIKE JESUS............

God bless you

AFGHAN CONVERT SAID MUSA IS FREE!

AFGHAN CONVERT SAID MUSA IS FREE!

Said Musa is now free

Afghan convert to Christianity Said Musa has been released from prison, where he was under threat of execution for apostasy, after months of vigorous campaigning.
Barnabas Fund has been engaged with others in high-level international diplomacy on Said's behalf, and earlier this month launched a public campaign to intensify pressure for his release. Over 8,000 people signed our online petition.
Yesterday, we received reports that Said was released from prison last week and is now safely out of Afghanistan. Before his freedom was finally secured Said had reportedly refused an offer of release if he would write a statement regretting his conversion to Christianity. He said:

I laughed and replied, "I can't deny my Saviour's name". Because my life is just service to Jesus Christ and my death is going to heaven [where] Jesus Christ is. I am a hundred percent ready to die. They pushed me much and much. I refused their demands.

Said was arrested last May as part of a crackdown on Afghan converts to Christianity. He was tortured and abused in prison but remained steadfast in his faith.

Source:
http://barnabasfund.org/

How should we pray for ourselves and our loved ones???

Dear friends,

I have been reading the book of Ephesians and doing some studies on it. One thing which impressed me the most in the book was the prayer of Paul to the Ephesians. we see them in 2 places in the book.

Ephesians 1:15-19 and Ephesians 3:14-19.

The prayer of Paul to the Ephesians is so different from the prayers we pray for ourselves and for our loved ones. We normally pray asking God to bless us, provide for us, make us rich, make us healthy, make us wealthy, make us popular, make us better......... this is the same prayer we pray for our loved ones too. Our prayers are so "self centered" and we see only the physical and financial needs and 70-90% of our prayers are in this way.

However see the prayer Paul prays for the Ephesians. I have given the prayer in pint form.

Chap. 1:

1. We may know Him better
2. Our eyes may be enlightened
3. We may know the hope of His calling
4. Have the riches of His glorious inheritance - Christ is our inheritance... wow...
5. Know the great incomparable power for us.

Chap.3

1. God may strengthen you with His power through the Holy Spirit
2. God may strengthen your inner being
3. Christ may dwell in your hearts
4. You may be rooted and established in love
5. May have the power together with all the saints
6. You may grasp the depth, width, and height of Christ's love
7. You may be filled with the measures of the fullness of God.

Isn't this prayer so different from the normal prayer we all pray? This prayer focuses on the Spiritual aspect of our life which is the most important thing in life. So, What is God telling us? Let the model prayer in Ephesians become our daily prayer for ourselves and our loved ones.

Paul in Chap 3: 20-21 finishes the prayer with this;

God is able to do immeasurably MORE than we ask or even imagine......... that means God can give us all things in the physical realm, beyond our imagination, however the priority has to be the areas where Paul has prayed. Isn't it what Jesus taught in Matt. 6:33, seek first the kingdom of God......... Our life in the Spirit is more important than our physical life.

Most of us tent to live as though the worldly life is the only life we ever live. we seem to forget that we are just pilgrims on this earth. we need to "grow up" in our inner man more than our outer man. We need to care for our inner man and our spiritual well being more than all other things in life.....

Thanks God for these beautiful lessons I learned.

The prayer above is my prayer for all my friends this morning even as I remember you this morning.

God bless you all

Shepherd of my soul

This morning I woke up humming the song, Shepherd of my soul.....
Do you know this song? It is a beautiful song of commitment and dedication to the Lord, who is our Shepherd. Here is the song... you can even download the song from u tube. What a beautiful song of commitment.. This is my prayer of commitment to the Lord today............ i hope the same with each one of you...

Enjoy the song:

Shepherd of my soul I give you full control,
Wherever You may lead I will foll-ow.
I have made the choice to listen for Your vo-vo-ice,
Wherever You may lead I will go.

Be it in a quiet pasture or by a gentle stream,
The Shepherd of my soul is by my side.
Should I face a mighty mountain or a valley dark and deep,
The Shepherd of my soul will be my guide.

Shepherd of my soul Oh You have made me whole,
Where’er I hear You call how my tea-ars flow.
How I feel your love how I want to se-rve
I gladly give my heart to You O – Lord.

Be it in the flowing river or in the quiet night,
The Shepherd of my soul is by my side.
Should I face the stormy weather or the dangers of this world.
The Shepherd of my soul will be my guide.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOi4eRlFjpM&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSTZ1rKZtZk&NR=1

God bless you

Questions to ponder on during this holidays....

Question no. 1:
Why are you a Christian - follower of Jesus Christ?
Question No. 2:
Why do I live in this country?
Question no. 3:
What is the purpose of my life on earth?
Question no. 4:
Do I know the plan of God in my life?
Question no. 5:
How can I fulfill the plan of God in my life?

Hope we all can answer these questions in honesty and get answers for them.
God bless you all.

Purpose statement of Jesus, Paul and Every Christian

Luke 4:18-19 (New International Version)

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind,to set the oppressed free,to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Isaiah 61:1-2

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn.

Acts 26:18-20
To open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

“So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds.

Christmas

What is Christmas?
I have been pondering and discussing with friends on this topic. Christmas is Salvation of God brought to mankind. If that is the truth, then we all have a great responsibility of sharing this good news of salvation plan of God with all those who do not know Him yet.
How do we do it?
Firstly, list names of all friends and family members who do not Know this salvation plan of God. Say about 10 names... start praying for them daily. Then ask God to open new doors of Opportunities to share this good news with them. This will make our Christmas celebration a meaningful one.
God bless you all as you celebrate this Christmas in a very meaningful way.

Be in the perfect plan of God - Lesson from Zerubbabel

It is so important to be in the perfect plan of God. There are many things we want to do and we can do with our won strength and will power. But the question is, is it in the perfect plan of God? For example, we want to construct a new church building or purchase a property for the ministry or start a new ministry in a new place. These are indeed good and noble task. But the question is, is it the will of God?
Many Christian leaders fail to seek the will of God in their lives and in their ministry. We want to do what we feel is good for our lives and our ministry.
Recently I have been challenged by the life of Zerubbabel. Most of us might not even remember who he is. He is mentioned in the book of Ezra and Nehemiah. He was the governor of Judah during the Persian exilic period. He is one who led about 42360 Jews back to Jerusalem when the king of Persia allowed them to resettle in Jerusalem. He stood with Ezra and Nehemiah and helped in the rebuilding of the second temple in Jerusalem.
What interests me is, there is a prophecy on Zerubbabel in the book of Haggai. In Haggai 3:23, God promises that Zerubbael will be a signet ring in the hands of God. What does this mean? He will be exalted and remembered……….. a promise by God. That is amazing!
We see this promise being fulfilled in Mathew 1:12-13, when the genealogy of Jesus is written, God remembers Zerubbabel and gives him a place in the Messianic promise. Wow, what a great fulfillment of promise by God. What a great honor to be in the Genealogy of Jesus Christ. God not only exalted Zerubbabel, but also remembered and fulfilled His promises made in Haggai.
What a challenge to all of us to be in the perfect plan of God. The greatest thing that you and I can have is, being remembered by God ………….. and to do that we need to be in the perfect will of God in everything we do in our personal lives, ministry lives, children’s lives etc.
May we all be found to be in the perfect will of God and see God daily that we will be in His perfect plans in our lives and in our ministries.
God bless
Rajah

Pray for God's intervention............

Pakistani Taliban Kills Three Foreign Christian Aid Workers


Authorities on Wednesday (Aug. 25) recovered the bodies of three Christian relief workers who had been kidnapped and killed by members of the Pakistani Taliban in the flood-ravaged country, area officials said. Kidnapped relief workers had come to provide aid to victims of massive flooding.

Clay Balls

Clay Balls

A man was exploring caves by the Seashore. In one of the caves he found a canvas bag with a bunch of hardened clay balls. It was like someone had rolled clay balls and left them out in the sun to bake. They didn't look like much, but they intrigued the man, so he took the bag out of the cave with him. As he strolled along the beach, he would throw the clay balls one at a time out into the ocean as far as he could.

He thought little about it, until he dropped one of the clay balls and it cracked open on a rock . Inside was a beautiful, precious stone!

Excited, the man started breaking open the remaining clay balls. Each contained a similar treasure. He found thousands of dollars worth of jewels in the 20 or so clay balls he had left.

Then it struck him. He had been on the beach a long time. He had thrown maybe 50 or 60 of the clay balls with their hidden treasure into the ocean waves. Instead of thousands of dollars in treasure, he could have taken home tens of thousands, but he had just thrown it away!

It's like that with people. We look at someone, maybe even ourselves, and we see the external clay vessel. It doesn't look like much from the outside. It isn't always beautiful or sparkling, so we discount it.

We see that person as less important than someone more beautiful or stylish or well known or wealthy. But we have not taken the time to find the treasure hidden inside that person.

There is a treasure in each and every one of us. If we take the time to get to know that person, , then the clay begins to peel away and the brilliant gem begins to shine forth.

May we not come to the end of our lives and find out that we have thrown away a fortune in friendships because the gems were hidden in bits of clay.

I am so blessed by the gems of friendship I have with you. Thank you for looking beyond my clay vessel.