A few days ago, I was meditating on Psalm 147 and just like many other Psalms, this one truly inspired me. When I read it for the first time, it seemed nothing more than a Psalm of praise to me. But then, the Spirit of the Lord told me that there was something deeper in it. I prayed and the Lord opened my eyes of understanding. I read the Psalm over again. This time the Holy Spirit drew my attention to statements like, ‘the Lord builds’, ‘He gathers’, ‘He binds’, ‘He determines’, ‘He calls’, ‘the Lord sustains’, ‘He covers’, ‘He supplies’, ‘He makes’, ‘He provides’, ‘He strengthens’, ‘He blesses’, ‘He satisfies’, ‘He sends’, ‘He spreads’, ‘He scatters’ and ‘He hurls’ (NIV). I asked the Holy Spirit what these mean. He said, ‘Our God is Alive and Active!”

Often when we are faced with tough times, we humanly tend to think if God is alive and aware of what we are going through. We might even spend hours praying and by the end of it feel heaven’s not answered our cry. But dear friend, these are times when we need to be still and know He is God. It is usually during these darkest moments in life, the Lord is actively working out a surprise for us. Friend, remember, the darkest hour is often before the day!

You are probably going through difficult circumstances not knowing where your life is heading. This is exactly how Joseph would have felt when he was in the pit, in Potiphar’s house and in the prison. Little did He know that his Creator was actively preparing him to be the next President of Egypt. If human pity could have rescued him from the sad part of his life, the glorious part that followed would have been lost.

The same God of Joseph is still Alive and Active in your life too. He hasn’t forgotten you. You mean a lot to your Maker. Over the past months, He has been preparing you for a big surprise through the circumstances He made you go through. So, Cheer up! A miracle is on its way this month!

It causes my heart to rejoice thanking God for all His goodness. It is His love that carried us through. It is His hand that clothed us each day. It is with His eyes He guided us. It is His word that preserved us. It is from His riches in glory He supplied all our needs. It is His blood that protected us from many dangers. Oh! Its all because of Him we are what we are today.

How privileged should we be to have a God who does everything that He can just to keep us happy! Even if we thank Him for eternity it would not be sufficient for all that He has done for us. But when this big God does so much to keep us happy, shouldn't we do something to make Him happy in return?

But wait! What can make "God" happy? The world and everything that is in it is His and what can we mortals offer Him?

Let's turn the pages of our Bible to Psalm 147:10,11...

His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his delight in the legs of a man; the LORD delights in those who fear him,
who put their hope in his unfailing love.

All that this big God delights in is those who fear Him and put their hope in His unfailing love. Shouldn't it be our desire and duty to let the God who died for us delight?

Let's say this small prayer with all our hearts,

O help me, Lord, to show respect,
To always honor You;
And may I bring You highest praise
In everything I do.

Amen!

What is the picture you've got of heaven? A wonderful place, filled with glory and grace, Joy and peace unlimited, A city with mansions and streets of gold, The river of life flowing on its either sides... Oh! I wish I was able to elaborate more on how awesome heaven would really be. But do you know, people can actually worry in heaven?!!! Sounds strange? Strange yet true...

People in heaven do worry...
...They worry about missed opportunities!

My friend, today, (For example) the 28^th of December, wouldn't come your way again... The phone calls you are going to get today... The people whom you are going to meet... The places you might go... The things you might do today... Nothing of today is going to be the same tomorrow. Do not take this day for granted. Don't live like you are never going to die and die like you've never lived. Live this life to its max!

# Tell your loved ones how much they mean to you... You may not get paid in return for this act... But you'll be adding cheer to a faint heart!

# If you've hurt someone or if someone has hurt you... You take the first move to patch up your relationship... We've just got a few more days or years ahead of us... So lets live and let others live in peace!

# Share the love of Christ to as many as possible today... Because some wouldn't be there tomorrow.

# Never give room to worry or depression today... It jus eats up ur precious time and makes you feel useless... Remember, We have been called to peace... Its God's will that we should rejoice... "Worry" isn’t God's will... So if you worry, remember, you have fulfilled the Devil's will!

# Find out what God's will is for each day and the months ahead.

Be very careful, then, how you live-
Not as unwise but as wise,
Making the most of every opportunity,
Because the days are evil.
Therefore do not be foolish,
But understand what the Lord's will is.
Ephesians 5: 15,16,17

Never loose heart when you are faced with a challenge or a problem or an examination. Our God is bigger than every challenge or circumstance you are going to face. He specializes in things impossible! Often He lets us face impossible challenges just to let us and the world know what a mighty God He is. It was God who permitted a flood in Noah's life, a Goliath in David's life, a Red sea in Moses’ life and deadly lions in Daniel's life. In all these circumstances, God's hand performed miracles beyond our comprehension and the world said, "Their God is God!". Hence you as Children of the King of kings and the Lord of lords have all reasons to rejoice and be glad no matter what trials or tribulations you are going through!

Spend much time at his feet, praying and meditating on His word. His word shall guide you and guard you. Long for a closer walk with your Creator. Make Him your best friend. The Lord of all creation who spoke with little Samuel will reveal divine secrets to you. As your relationship with God starts getting stronger and stronger, blessings will start poring in your life and you shall become a channel of blessing!

"No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him"

1 Corinthians 2:9

Start loving the Lord with all your heart and claim the above promise. The Lord shall bless you with great unseen and unheard things in your life!

In the recent past, I was wondering about the great men of God in the Old Testament and their close walk with
God. For example, the Creator of Heaven and Earth spending the evening with Adam and Eve, Enoch and Noah
walking with the King of Kings, Moses speaking face to face with the Great I Am… and Oh the list of glorious
experiences goes on. Often when we go through these portions in the Bible we just consider it as a very
interesting incident that took place in the ancient times. But the Lord told me in my heart that He still longs to be
that close with each one of us. Our God is the same yesterday, today and forever. People keep changing, the
world has changed so much over the centuries, but our God hasn’t!  

We might be living in a day and age where science and technology has advanced like never before and the very
existence of God sounds weird to many. And those of us who know God consider Him as a very powerful
being, a billion light years away up there in heaven, an excellent Problem Solver, a Great Physician and a
Generous Giver. No doubt He is all-powerful for He is the Creator of the whole universe, the Master of all
sciences, the Great I am and there’s none like Him. But yet… This Almighty God longs to walk with you, talk
with you, dine with you and be your closest friend. That’s the very purpose behind Him creating you. 

You might ask me, “How is it possible to know ‘God’ so personally in this 21st century?”. It is possible, my
beloved friend. All it requires is your earnest desire to know Him.  Pray that prayer Moses prayed in
Exodus 33:13 with all your heart: Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me
now thy way, that I may know thee. 

Expect great surprises from the Lord in the days to come because He is going to reveal himself to you in ways
you wouldn’t have dreamt before. Words can’t express His love for you and how much you mean to Him.
Taste and see that God is good and that He has never changed!

I have no clue what you are going through in life. But the Holy Spirit strongly urges me to share with you the following promise:

Be not afraid, O land;
be glad and rejoice.
Surely the LORD has done great things.

Joel 2:21

Many a time, FEAR can be our worst enemy. Fear concerning our protection, fear of our future, fear of enemies, fear of challenges and fear of death are just a few kinds of fear. The wicked one often uses this fear as his tool to steal our Joy, Peace and Happiness and thus eventually he separates us from the love of God.

The Bible tells us of a young man who was his father’s favorite. His future seemed bright. He had great dreams. All was well until one day when he went is search of his brothers. His heartless brothers threw him into pit and later sold his to some foreign merchants. What seemed like a bright and prosperous future suddenly grew dark and hopeless. I can barely imagine the fear that would have gripped his young heart.

Years went by. He was moved from the pit to Potiphar’s house and then to the prison. Life would have definitely seemed unfair for the righteous stands that he had taken in the past. He had all reasons to get disappointed with God and give up living for Him. But as we all know, He didn’t! I can’t help wondering what kept Joseph going until the very end. For sure it was the Faith he had on His Creator!

When everything around him was falling apart, Joseph knew in his heart His God was in control of his life. When his own brothers turned against him, Joseph knew God was for him. When fear gripped him, He chose to put his faith on the One who created him!

Friend, what kind of fear is tormenting you? Are you on the verge of giving up? Please hold on. God is working out a great plan for your life. If Joseph had given up in the prison, he would have never been the Prime Minister of Egypt. If David had given up while Saul was hunting for his life, he would have never been the king of Israel. If our Lord Jesus Christ had given up in the Garden of Gethsemane, we would have never been saved.

Just like Joseph, whenever fear grips your heart ask the Holy Spirit to replace the fear with His faith. Never forget how powerful and loving our God is. He says in Matthew 6:25 – 27, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”

Yes, dear friend, you are very valuable to God. Therefore, Be glad and rejoice! Blessed days are ahead of you!