Christian Devotionals Archives -

God sent me a gift

In January of 2019, I started to take piano lessons. I never thought that I could take piano lessons in my 40s. I was talking to my son’s piano teacher about how even though my mom wanted me to take piano lessons when I was young, I did not get to take lessons. She immediately replied that she had adult students and if I was interested in taking lessons. By God’s grace, I said yes. By September 2019, I had started to learn my first worship song – ‘10000 reasons’. I was going through some tough times at work. It took a couple of months for me to finish that song. I loved to play this song which gave me unexplainable peace in my job situation.

One day when I went for my piano lessons, my teacher took me to the traditional piano in the recital room and asked me to play ‘10000 Reasons’ on it. I loved the sound of that piano as I had never played a traditional piano before that. I immediately had a desire to buy a used traditional piano. I came across used pianos in the Facebook marketplace with so many of them given away for free. In my mind, I did not want to go to someone’s home and take this piano for ‘free’. I was willing to pay a very small amount for it. I reached out to so many people who had listed their pianos and they all replied that someone else was taking it. I left it to God saying, “Jesus, You lead me towards that piano which You have in store for me”. By then my biggest need was a job and piano had become ‘nice to have’.

One day casually I was checking the Facebook marketplace for pianos and I saw a seller who had 4 friends in common with me, listed the piano for $50. And I realized that all 4 of them go to our church. I asked the seller two questions – “Is the Piano still available? Do you go to Calvary church?”. He replied, “Yes to both questions”. He also added that he was the principal of Calvary Christian School. In my mind, I thought that I could convince him to hold the piano for me as we went to the same church after all. At the same time, I heard these words spoken in my mind, “This piano is yours”. I know this voice that speaks because whatever I “hear” in this manner, it always comes true. But, the seller added, “Someone else is coming to see the piano. If they don’t take it, you can come and check it out”. My mind voice replied, “They won’t take it. This piano is MINE”. Before I heard back from him, we got the shocking news that my mother-in-law passed away and so my husband immediately traveled to India. I was so shaken by this unexpected situation of losing my mother-in-law and watching the funeral online. In the meantime, the seller contacted me saying that the other party had found a means to take the piano so he had to be fair and give the piano to them. The funeral was on Thursday. On Saturday evening, as I was folding the laundry, I was asking God, “God, was it You who told me about the piano or not? Because I heard in the same manner about a job too! And if ‘that voice’ was not Yours, I am doomed for the job thing too”.

The next day after attending the English church service, I was sitting at our Indian church and I got a message from the seller saying that the other party could not take the piano and asked if I still wanted it. I replied, “Praise the LORD! I knew this piano is mine!”

I took some guys from the Indian church and brought the piano home. I had prepared a spot for the piano. My husband was in doubt that the piano would be too big to fit in that spot. But guess what? The piano fit in that spot so perfectly that I believe with all my heart that God prepared that spot for my piano, though this house was built around 10 years before we even bought it.

My God sent me a gift for my birthday which is still the most valuable birthday gift that I have received thus far. And I am still taking piano lessons, doing worship every day even with all my inadequacies in skills and understanding. I have done 5 recitals so far – all of them with worship songs, twice on grand piano. The first time I ever got to play on a grand piano, I played “You raise me up” which was the song that inspired me to learn a musical instrument in the first place. Isn’t God so faithful and keen on the details?

Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD, And He will give you the desires of your heart.

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Call her Blessed

Proverbs 31:28 Her children arise and call her blessed.

Today is Amma’s third anniversary. For the past few days, the above verse repeatedly came to my mind. Amma was no Proverbs 31 woman. For a long time, she was one person I did not want to end up like. In the world’s eyes, she was a failure, who lived a life of misery. But now, when I look back, I see her as a blessed woman because she finished her race with the words, “Naan Yesappava paaaka poren (I am going to see Jesus)”. Life can be a failure or it can even be a success in the world’s eyes but unless one finishes the race in Christ, it is a failure for sure.

But now when I look back, God has been so faithful towards her. All through her life, without wavering for one bit, Amma held on to God. Though her life did not seem to get any better, she held on to God. Though probably she did not realize it, I now understand very well that she truly was a blessed woman because I can see now that God has answered ALL her prayers. She always prayed that she would not suffer from sickness. Though she was diagnosed with cancer at its terminal stage, she suffered no pain from it. Amma would always quote the entire of Psalm 91 and Psalm 128 every time she prayed. And even through the times of the pandemic, God protected her from the virus. Though she was a very shy person, she had even gone to some neighbors and shared the gospel with them. I went through a bunch of her journals in which she had prayed for so many people whose situations I had shared with her. Every time she would ask me to spell their name and the place they live, and I read in her journals that she prayed for them. She did all these things with no bells and whistles.

In her last two weeks, as she was in the hospital, every time I went out in an autorickshaw, I always sang this song, “En Koodave Irum, O Yesuve (Be always with me, Jesus)”. As this was in 2021 in the middle of the pandemic, I would wear the mask so no one could see or hear me sing, but every time I sang just the chorus of the song because that’s all the lyrics I knew in this song. But on that day, a Wednesday, early morning, I saw this song being posted in one of the church groups which was sung by my friend’s family. That is when I heard the stanzas and my mind immediately registered the second stanza for some reason. I kept singing this song’s second stanza in Amma’s room that day. The second stanza talks about how God will be my father and mother in my tears and sorrows. That was the last time she heard me sing. How faithful God is to tell me of what was coming!

I believe another thing God honored was her desire for me to learn to play the piano. I am just glad that I could play these chords and sing this song. God redeemed us and restored our relationships!

So many people helped my parents with everything and I pray for God’s blessings over each one of them! May God richly reward then for their kindness!

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Why this offer?

Today I had a completely new insight that I never had before. Esther is one of my favorite characters in the Bible. I love the part when she stands before the King and the King says, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be given you”. I always saw this as God-given favor for Esther in the king’s eyes.

Today I had a completely different insight. Why did Esther get this kind of offer on that important day? When Mordecai asked her to do something about the danger that had happened to the entire Jews, Esther explained why she could not put her life at risk. After Mordecai reminded her of why God might have given her the privilege of being in the palace at a time like that, she asked everyone to fast and pray for her. And she went to the King, putting her life at risk. “If I perish, I perish”, she said.

As she stood before the king, without invitation, wondering if it was the sword that was going to come to her head, the king stretched out the scepter and asked her the question, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be given you”. Is this also not a temptation to take the easy way out to protect her own life? Because if half the king’s kingdom was given to Esther, was her life in any more danger? Would she not be equal in position to the king and thus save her own life?

A lot of times, when God has a huge task before us, the devil would show some shortcuts and easy ways out to keep us from doing the difficult task that God had asked us to do. The devil did the same to Jesus too. He tempted Jesus by offering the kingdoms of the world if Jesus would bow down and worship him. The task in front of Jesus was the Cross of Calvary. The devil tempted Jesus to take the shortcut which he offered by not having to go to the cross.

Know the voice of God. Know the task He has set before you. Know the shortcuts that show up in front of you that lure you away from your calling and your purpose. Stay away from the shortcuts and stick to the task God has given you.

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The signet ring

Two men. Slaves in pagan nations. The kings of these nations took off their signet rings and gave them to these men – Joseph and Mordecai as if they were spellbound by the command of the Almighty God.

Any law that was sealed with the King’s signet ring could not be revoked. Whoever had the signet ring held the authority to pass any law or command anything they pleased. So it would seem that these men held higher authority than the king himself.

What made them special enough to receive this privilege? The reason was that neither of these men bowed down before any human authority. They feared Almighty God more than they feared their circumstances or the authority that demanded them to disobey God. Joseph did not yield to the wicked desires of his master’s wife. Mordecai did not bow down before Haman, the second in command of the nation. Their devotion to God made their living itself a question mark and yet they did not budge. And God rewarded them in due time with the King’s signet ring.

If these men had done just what everyone else was doing, they would have stayed one among everyone else. Their names made it in the Bible because they chose to obey God. Without obedience to God, there is no reward.

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Obedient donkey is better than ….

One fine day, Saul’s father’s donkeys went missing. His father asked Saul to take a servant with him to find the donkeys. It was like the donkeys went invisible or disappeared from the face of the earth. Saul searched through the hill country of Ephraim, the area around Shalisha, the district of Shaalim, the territory of Benjamin, and then reached the district of Zuph. By then, Saul had lost hope that they would find the donkeys and wanted to return home.

Just then, his servant suggested to go to the prophet in that town who was Samuel. Though Samuel was known throughout the nation of Israel, Saul wasn’t aware of him. Saul didn’t seem to have much to do with the man of God. As a prophet, Samuel would have had a certain way of dressing which would distinguish him as a prophet, and yet Saul could not recognize Samuel.

But Samuel had received a word from God the previous day, “About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him ruler over My people Israel;” When Samuel caught sight of Saul, the LORD said to him, “This is the man I spoke to you about; he will govern My people”. Samuel asked Saul and his servant to join the feast and gave Saul the special meat which was prepared for him.

The next day morning, Samuel took the flask of olive oil, poured it on Saul’s head, and anointed him as the ruler over Israel. He also told him about a few signs that would happen on Saul’s way home, which happened exactly as Samuel had prophesied. And the donkeys were also found. All through the Bible, the donkeys have been so obedient and useful part in God’s plan. Being an obedient donkey is better than being disobedient people!

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Just One Friend

Who knew today happens to be National Best Friend Day?!

Do you have friends who would open the roofs of heaven to bring down a deliverance for you, like the friends of the paralytic man in Luke chapter 5? Well, you are blessed.

The house where Jesus was preaching was overflowing with people. So the friends of a paralytic man tore down the roof of the house and brought down the paralyzed man and laid him before Jesus. Luke 5:20 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to him, “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house”. Immediately he rose up before them, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.

Sadly, not everyone is blessed with such friends, like the man at the pool of Bethesda (John chapter 5). A great multitude of people with various kinds of diseases stayed by the pool of Bethesda, because it was considered a miracle pool. At an unknown time, an angel would go into the pool and stir up the water. When the water got stirred, whoever got into the pool first was healed from whatever disease he had. As expected, a multitude of sick people stayed beside the pool, with their eyes on the water so that they could get into the pool when the water got stirred by the angel.

Beside this pool, a man who had an infirmity waited for 38 years to receive his healing. Not a year or two, but 38 very long years!

Unimaginable, as for most of us, that would make the most part of our life till now. He had no friends or family who longed for him to receive a healing so he was there all by himself at the mercy of others to carry him to the pool when the water got stirred. His 38 years of wait says that there was no one there to help him out because everyone needed their own healing first. And once healed, they just left.

Into the hopelessness of his situation, the hope of all hopes walked in – JESUS! No one told Jesus about this man. The Son of God knew that this man was stuck in his situation for a very long time. And yet Jesus asked him, “Do you want to be made well?”. The man replied, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool”. Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. 38 years of being stuck became history the moment Jesus walked into his situation.

Just as the man who had loving, caring friends, the man who had nobody also was healed by Jesus.

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The Bigger, The Better!

The bigger the enemy’s army, the better God’s children’s victory! Contrary to the world’s belief. As Joshua led the Israelites towards victory over many kings, the king of Hazor gathered a huge number of other kings and came against Joshua. Their armies were as the sand that is on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots. But the LORD said to Joshua, ” Do not be afraid because of them, for tomorrow about this time, I will deliver all of them slain before Israel. You shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire. “ Joshua 11:6.

Joshua and all the people of war with him came against these enemies and attacked them. Joshua 11:8 says “And the LORD delivered them into the hand of Israel. they attacked them until they left none of them remaining. Isn’t it as simple as that? No logic is needed when God is involved. Joshua did to them just as the LORD had told him; he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire.

Obviously, Israelites who were captives in Egypt, crossed the Red Sea and witnessed Pharaoh’s chariots drown and then wandered for forty years in the wilderness, owning no chariots or horses. They probably had only some hand weapons, like swords, javelins, etc, whatever they could make by themselves. And yet, God particularly instructed them not to take the chariots to use them in the upcoming wars because Israel’s help does not come from the chariots or horses, but from the LORD Himself.

Psalm 20:7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the LORD our God. 8. They have bowed down and fallen; But we have risen and stand upright.

Psalm 27:3 Though an army may encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; Though war may rise against me, in this I will be confident.

Psalm 44:3 For they did not gain possession of the land by their own sword, nor did their own arm save them; But it was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your countenance, because You favored them.

Compared to the world’s standards, don’t we have what it takes to win? Perfect! God’s right hand on our side is more than enough!

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He hears us

1 John 5:14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

15. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

Exodus 2:24 So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.

James 5:16 b The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

In order to receive answers to our prayers, we should learn to pray according to God’s will. To know God’s will, we need to know God’s character through God’s word.

In Deut 32:10, when God told Moses that He will make him a great nation, Moses pleaded with God to turn from His fierce wrath against the Israelites. Moses did not want the Egyptians and the other pagan nations to disgrace the God of the Israelites for destroying them in the wilderness. Deuteronomy 9:19 says, “But the LORD listened to me at that time also”. Rather than the blessing that God offered him to be a great nation, Moses desired God’s name to be lifted high.

Though Hannah went through the unbearable agony of barrenness, she prayed that if God would give her a son, she will give that child back to God. When Hannah prayed this prayer, God opened her womb and gave her a son who served as a great prophet. And God also gave her three sons and two daughters.

When Esther realized that God had appointed her as the queen so that she can stand in the gap to protect His chosen people, she called for a prayer pleading for her own life and the life of God’s chosen people. God protected Esther and His people.

When Solomon became the King, God appeared to him in a dream and asked him what he wanted. Solomon asked for wisdom to lead the Israelites. God was pleased with Solomon’s request. God granted him wisdom like no other. He also gave him riches and honor.

Mathew 6:33 Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.

May we learn to turn our prayer requests into God’s Kingdom purposes. Then we can be sure that our prayers will be answered.

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EL Roi

Hagar, who was a slave of Sarai, had no entitlement to opinion when Sarai decided to give her as Abram’s wife. And Abram also did not bother reminding Sarai about the promise which God had given about their offspring. And Hagar conceived with Abram’s child. When Hagar saw that she had conceived, she despised her mistress, Sarai. And Sarai nagged Abram blaming him for this situation, though she was the one who had given Hagar as his wife. Isn’t it amazing how desperation and impatience lead to wrong decisions in the life of people? Abram and Sarai were not ordinary people but the ones who heard directly from God Himself and yet they gave in to their own wisdom and made the wrong choices.

Neither Sarai nor Abram took ownership of their choices. Abram left the decision to Sarai and Sarai treated Hagar harshly. This led Hagar to flee from Sarai.

The Angel of the LORD, who is Jesus Himself, met Hagar by a spring of water in the wilderness. He asked Hagar where she was going. Hagar replied to Him with all honesty that she was fleeing from Sarai. He told her to return to Sarai and to submit to her. He promised that He will multiply Hagar’s descendants. He gave the name for her child then and there and that was Ishmael meaning “The LORD has heard your afflictions”. Hagar called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, “You Are the God Who Sees”. In due time, Hagar bore Ishmael for Abram when he was 86 years old.

Abram was 100 years old when Isaac was born to Sarah, just as God had promised. During a feast of celebration for Isaac, Sarah ordered Hagar and Ishmael to be sent away from them. God also confirmed to Abraham to do as Sarah said. The next morning, Abraham took bread and a skin of water, gave it to Hagar, and sent her away with her son Ishmael.

Hagar and Ishmael wandered in the wilderness and the water in the skin ran out. They were on the verge of death due to thirst for water. She could not watch her son die of thirst so she put him under a shrub and stepped away at a distance and she wept loudly. And God heard the voice of Ishmael. The angel of God spoke to Hagar, “Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation”.

Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. She filled the skin with water. Just as God promised, He made Ishmael’s descendants into a nation.

The first time when Hagar ran away from Sarai, God sent her back to Sarai. The second time, when Hagar was thrown away by Sarah, God took Hagar away to a new place and established her there. God has a purpose for us wherever He has planted us. When the right time comes, He will take our hand and lead us toward the destination.

No matter how difficult a place can be, we are to humble ourselves and be under the shadow of the wings of Almighty God.

Isaiah 40:28 The everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. 29. He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. 30. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, 31. But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary; They shall walk and not faint.

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Handmade for a mission

As an answer to my prayer, our church hosted an artisan fair to sell our handmade crafts.

By God’s grace, my booth had a great sale. As always, God came through! This opportunity itself was an answer to my prayer from last year when I asked God to give me a greater purpose. Since the day pastor announced this, I had been staying up late every night to make at least one art each day. I felt super excited and very hopeful about raising a good amount which I wanted to give entirely for the missions. God’s faithfulness is beyond what I can fathom. Every now and then, I do spend time and money at the craft store and never worried about the bills that would add up because I always enjoyed doing these handicrafts. God is not a debtor to anyone and the way He compensated me for the expenses even before I hosted the booth – one of my managers recommended me for recognition at work and I got reward points which I could redeem and I received it this week.

As we started to set up our booth, the disappointments started. It was windy and my idea to display the arts didn’t work. My spirit had gone completely down and I had no hope left that I could sell anything. My kids and I held hands and we prayed giving it all into God’s hands. Within 5 minutes, Kavitha stopped by at our booth and she suggested putting up the bookmarks to display which would hold up better against the wind. It worked! We quickly got a hang of how to greet the people who stopped by and start the conversation. By the end of the day, our CIC friends also stopped by and contributed generously and we finished well.

Some of the miracles from this event are

A missionary who is supported by Calvary and serves in Japan stopped by my booth and I felt so happy to talk to her. In my opinion, missionaries are the ones whose life holds much value before God. While this sale is being done to support missions and for a missionary to stop by – it is like a confirmation.
I had made some pieces of jewelry in the past years which I had listed on so many craft sites and they never sold. I had given up on their selling but at this fair, I sold almost every one of those.
At the end of the day, I had sold 16 pieces of art.
Today the miracles continued. After the church service, I bumped into a lady who had bought a bookmark and she started talking to me and so amazingly she started to share a couple of prayer requests. Even she kept wondering how she was saying all these things to me as we had never met before.
When I was disappointed about being unable to display the arts, my husband came up with the amazing idea of displaying them in a creative way. If not for that idea, we could not have displayed the art which I had worked hard on for a month. Jayden got great compliments from a school teacher for his marketing skills.

The reason I wanted to support missions is that it is an easier way of storing our treasures in heaven. There are lots of parts in the world where even a small dollar amount would add up to a big amount. Life is short and eternity is forever. We tend to spend our time making our life in this world comfortable and yet not knowing how long we would be here. Rather it is wise to focus on storing our treasures in heaven to make our eternity comfortable.

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