jeremiah7

DBB-143 3 portions of Scripture........ 1. When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. (Luke 7:37,38) 2. While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table. (Matthew 26:6, 7) 3. Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. (John 12:3) 3 women, 3 acts of love, reverence and worship. There were people who were not pleased with what they were doing, yet they did not hesitate in doing what they intended to do. All three did their acts of worship in different ways. One wet his feet with tears, wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. Another poured the perfume on his head and Mary, Lazarus' sister poured the pure nard on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. Jesus was supportive in his attitude towards these women amidst the criticisms from people and responded by showing mercy. Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." (Luke 7:48) When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. (Matthew 26:12) "Leave her alone," Jesus replied. "It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. (John 12:7) A merciful Savior is who we have, understanding our situations and responding with mercy and kindness. Jesus says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30) Blessed are they who find their rest in Jesus.

Feb. 1 "The Lord has done this for me," she said. "In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people."(Luke 1:25) That's Elizabeth, wife of Zechariah, proclaiming the Lord's goodness. They were a couple who lived a life pleasing to God. The Author Luke writes, Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commandments and regulations blamelessly. But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years. (Luke 1:6, 7) For long, Elizabeth was suffering.....in her own words........she was suffering disgrace among her people. But now it was time for her to enjoy the Lord's favor...she was pregnant. In the fullness of God's time, she gave birth to a son and her joy was complete. Despite being a child of God, if you have been suffering disgrace for a while, God's time of favor will come to you soon; at a time that you do not expect. Perhaps you have lost hope, but let me tell you that Jesus loves you and he will answer your prayer. They were upright in the sight of God.....is what we read regarding Zechariah and Elizabeth in Luke 1:6... The ones who are upright in the sight of God have blessings prophesied in the Bible for them.... Consider the blameless, observe the upright; there is a future for the man of peace. (Psalm 37:37) Light is shed upon the righteous and joy on the upright in heart.(Psalm 97:11) His children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. (Psalm 112:2) Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for the gracious and compassionate and righteous man. (Psalm 112:4) He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless.. (Proverbs 2:7) A good future, light & joy, blessings for children, victory....all in store for the upright...Receive it with faith this day and glorify God. Praise the Lord.

Jan 18 Taking my vehicle for an auto-wash the other day really tested my level of patience . There were a couple of vehicles ahead and then the machine took over after I put my vehicle in neutral. I was out soon after, but then the owner of the first vehicle was not satisfied with the mopping and suction work of his vehicle and got into a prolonged argument with the supervisor. The guy after him and me kept waiting for our turns and with the look on the arguing guy's face, we didn't venture to speak to him to get going. The guy finally moved out and we heaved a sigh of relief. Patience.......it's so vital in our Christian life. Talking about the qualities that we must have as believers in Jesus Christ, the Apostle Peter says, "And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness...." (2 Peter 1:5, 6) But why patience? James, the epistle writer gives us the answer... But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. (James 1:4) Paul, the Apostle, writing to the believers in Thessalonica said, "Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men." (1 Thessalonians 5:14) When we pass through troubles, often we get jittery and impatient, but we must remember that the Lord will work on our behalf if we wait patiently. Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. (James 5:11) Yes, the Lord Jesus Christ is merciful. He will answer our prayers. Let us wait patiently in his presence and see the deliverance come true. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31)

Jan 10 Not many would know what Boanthropy means unless they google it or look it up in the dictionary. But there is a man mentioned in the Bible who suffered from this or a similar illness for 7 long years. He was the King of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar. In Boanthropy, the sufferer believes himself/herself to be an ox or cow and they prefer to eat and drink what an ox or bull does- grass and water. Nebuchadnezzar's illness was a punishment from God for his arrogance and wickedness. Actually God had warned him of the same in a dream...a dream which only the prophet Daniel could interpret. Here's how Daniel interpreted the king's dream...... "This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree the Most High has issued against my lord the king: You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes. The command to leave the stump of the tree with its roots means that your kingdom will be restored to you when you acknowledge that Heaven rules. Therefore, O king, be pleased to accept my advice: Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed. It may be that then your prosperity will continue." (Daniel 4:24-27) The king did not repent of his sins and wickedness, so what the prophet had said came to pass in 12 months time........He was driven away from people and ate grass like cattle. His body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird. (Daniel 4:33) The king later testified....At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored......All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: "What have you done?" At the same time that my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne and became even greater than before. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble. (Daniel 4:34-37) The bottom line being.............those who walk in pride, God is able to humble.....even now.

Jan 9 For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect ; if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time. So if anyone tells you, 'There he is, out in the desert,' do not go out; or, 'Here he is, in the inner rooms,' do not believe it." (Matthew 24:24-26) And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve. (2 Corinthians 11:14,15) Careful then to what crusade you have packed your bags to! It's imperative that every believer in Jesus Christ prays for discernment these last days, for there are many false Christs and false prophets out there waiting to deceive the gullible. Jesus warned his disciples long back and the warnings are for us too, that we may not be deceived. As the Apostle Paul writes, Satan's servants will masquerade as servants of righteousness. They would be using the name of Jesus, but the power will be of the devil. And every person, (even believers) who goes to get prayed by such servants of Satan will be inviting a bondage in to their life. Paul had the gift of discerning of spirits as we read in Acts Ch.16.... Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune telling. This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved." She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" At that moment the spirit left her. (Acts 16:16-18) Mind you, the spirit was not saying lies...."These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved." But Paul discerned in his spirit that it was an evil spirit, so he commanded it to come out of her and it left her. False Christs....False Prophets......Servants of Satan......They are all out there.....masquerading as angels of light........Let's pray for discernment in these end days, so that we may not fall in to traps set by the enemy.

Jan 8 In 1995, a middle aged woman walked in to a meeting that I held on Wednesdays, suffering from after effects of a snake bite that she had a year ago. God did a miracle in her life and she was healed, she accepted Jesus as her savior and was baptized. Her husband who was a chronic alcoholic, chronic smoker and chronic asthmatic caused her much misery, but she prayed for him for 18 years. He accepted Jesus as savior last month (Dec.2013) and was baptized in water. When he was baptized, she testified with tears that she serves a living God, who answers prayers. David, the psalmist sings, Praise awaits you, O God, in Zion; to you our vows will be fulfilled. O you who hear prayer, to you all men will come. When we were overwhelmed by sins, you forgave our transgressions. Blessed are those you choose and bring near to live in your courts! We are filled with the good things of your house, of your holy temple. (Psalm 65:1-4) For them (us) who believe in the only way, the truth and the life-Jesus Christ, answers to most prayers are only a matter of time. As the psalmist sings....... You answer us with awesome deeds of righteousness, O God our Savior, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas... (Psalm 65:5) Approach the throne of grace with confidence, believing that God will answer your prayers that you pray in the name of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world. Jesus said, " And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly....................(Luke 18:7, 8) Pray, believe and receive!

No problems; if actually there's need for a debate....

Random Thoughts- 40 Most of us have fire extinguishers at homes. At least that's the norm in the place that I stay in the Middle East now. Looking at the fire extinguisher attached to the kitchen wall this morning, I wondered how the thing worked, so I took a closer look. There were instructions for using it; they were simple. In case of a fire, remove the pin at the top, point the nozzle at the base of the fire and press the lever to release the gas to extinguish the flames.The thought that crossed my mind was that the thing had been there for a long time but I had cared not to read how it could be used. Why wait for an emergency and then read the instructions and then there may be very little time. It's the same with some Christians. They have their Bibles at home, kept neatly somewhere, but they care not to open it, nor read or meditate on it. Of course they give it some importance on Sundays; a few don't bother about it then too. But for them who read, meditate and live it, it is life giving and much more; even an extinguisher of fires started by the enemy of their souls.

Friends, actually my thread is about thoughts looking at things from a Biblical point of view. Can we keep it that way?????

I was invited to speak at a convention in Tiruvananthapuram in Kerala, India. The message that the Lord had given me to preach was the following: "We are doomed to die!" he said to his wife. "We have seen God!" But his wife answered, "If the Lord had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and grain offering from our hands, nor shown us all these things or now told us this." (Judges 13:22,23) This is a happening in the Old Testament of the Bible where a childless couple meet an angel of the Lord who gives them the message that they are going to be blessed with a child. When Manoah, the man realizes that they had seen the angel of the Lord, he felt they were going to die, but his wife corrected him saying that,"If the Lord had meant to kill us, he would not have ......... shown us all these things or now told us this." My message that day was about dreams and visions that the Lord gives his children. I said, "If the Lord shows a blessing coming to you, pray that it may come to pass, whereas if the Lord showed something calamitous was going to happen, pray fervently that it may not happen and the Lord will hear your prayer and the disaster will be averted." I stressed the point that....."If the Lord had meant to kill, he would not have shown......" and when I repeated it, a man in the crowd raised his hand and shouted, "Praise the Lord." Later, after the meeting was over, the same young man approached me, shook my hand and said, "Thank you, that message was definitely for me. I had seen a couple of dreams last week, in which I saw my wife die. I have been very sad and depressed because of the same since almost a week. I believe the Lord has spoken to me and heard my prayer and will bless my wife with a long life. I prayed with him briefly. Travelling back, that evening, I marvelled at how much the Lord cares for each of his children. The Holy Spirit had chosen just the perfect verses to speak to one of his, who was burdened and feeling low. God is good, all the time. Praise his Holy Name.

I have a friend from India at work that is all the way into Hinduism.Are you of Hindu religion or are you a Christian? Born again Christian since 1984....

Random Thoughts-39 The other day I was surprised when I read the name of one of my new patients. The nurse had brought his file and the name read "Yamraj", which means "God of Death" in Hinduism. As I waited for him to come in, I wondered why his parents must have named him so. Surely he wouldn't have looked like one when he was born. Perhaps they were worshippers of Yamraj. Or perhaps it was just a mistake on their part; they didn't realize the meaning of the name. As he entered my room, I saw that he was thin and pale, tense and nervous, as if he himself had just seen "Yamraj" on the way to the clinic. I asked him whether he knew the meaning of his name. He smiled but didn't reply. Well, there you are; the peculiarities of human life. One of the things that most people have no control over is their own names. They are stuck with whatever their parents or guardians thought was good for them and by the time they realize that something else would have been better, their names are already in their school certificates and passports and changing to some other preferred name would mean "an uphill task", which most avoid. But there's another side to this matter. We read in the book of Proverbs, Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favour and a good name in the sight of God and man. (Proverbs 3:3, 4) Inference: We can win a good name in the sight of God and man, no matter what name we have.

Great posts, Jeremiah! You are truly gifted in your ability to communicate your thoughts. Thanks MorningGlory. God Bless You.

Random Thoughts-38 We have been living in the Middle East for more than 2 years now (June 2013) and today was pest control day at our flat. Too many cockroaches this summer. These are very small and intrusive. Not like the big ones seen back home in Kerala, India. Those would make my wife and daughters run and take cover. Some of them creepy roaches would take the aerial route too. Irritating creatures. Pest control...Good Riddance...at least for some time. Something like temptations that comes to Christians. Creepy things; irritating; sometimes believers fall for the tempters (satan) tricks and sin; then work hard with prayer and application of the Word and overcome. But they can be back (tendency to sin) after a while, like roaches, if there is slackness in keeping one's house clean. Bottom line: Be diligent in keeping the house clean whether it be the home that you live in or your spiritual life.