#christiandevotional Archives -

Strike the Wolves!

The One thing that I hate THE MOST is people who deceive and draw others away from God for their selfish reasons. Any other kind of deceptions will not cost eternity for anyone. But this kind of deception makes people believe that they are on the way to heaven, only to find out that they weren’t, because they weren’t watchful of the ways of the people that they were following. I get furious when I come across such situations.

Adam and Eve sinned. God promised redemption through Jesus. Jesus, since the time He entered into this world, He had only one purpose – to die for the sins of mankind so that we can be restored from the condemnation of hell. Imagine someone who got a medical report and was given only a small amount of time to live, how would life be for them? Imagine someone who got a death sentence, how would their wait be till the sentence gets executed? Wouldn’t their lives be nothing but misery? Awaiting a miserable death, yet Jesus preached about His Kingdom, He warned the people about the savage wolves that would come in sheep’s clothing to deceive even the chosen ones, healed the sick, and lived a sinless life, in preparation for the Sacrifice that He was meant to be. Jesus did everything that He was supposed to do, obeying His Father, all along while awaiting the Cross of Calvary.

Jesus intends to save us all from hell and keep us eternally with Him in heaven. The devil’s intention, on the other hand, is to keep people from following Jesus and take them to hell and to the lake of fire with him. So, the people who deceive others by showing the signboard as “Follow me to follow Jesus”, do they work for Jesus or the devil? My biggest concern is for the ones who choose to follow Jesus and believe that they are following Jesus and convince themselves that they are on the right path, how would it be if they found out at the point of no return that they had been on the wrong path?

These wolves in sheep’s clothing, as if it is not bad enough to work for the devil, pretend that they work for God. Since I was around 8 years old, as I read the gospels, the things that are engraved so strongly in my mind are the warnings that Jesus gave about the deceptions in the last days. Since then, I have set it in my heart to be alert about deceptions because I cannot let anything cost my eternity with Jesus.

Blasphemy is bringing reproach to God’s name, character, work, or attributes. A man in Leviticus who blasphemed God’s name was stoned to death. Isaiah 36 tells the story of Sennacherib the king of Assyria who blasphemed Jehovah God by comparing Him with the idols of the pagan nations and God put Him to death. Followers of God are responsible for making sure that their behavior doesn’t incite others to blaspheme God. Romans 2:17-24 talks about the ones who boast about following the law and yet breaking it. They say to others, “Do not commit adultery?” and they themselves do it. They claim to abhor idols, but they rob the temples.

This is why I strongly react against false teachers and false teachings. Be it Jesus, or be it Paul and the apostles, they all warned greatly about the savage wolves that would surely be lurking around near the flock of Jesus.

Acts 20:28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He bought with His own blood. 29. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock, 30. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. 31. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.

How much wrath these wolves are heaping up on them by blaspheming God? There are blind and blinded sheep. Then there are also the ignorant sheep. My concern is for the blind and blinded sheep because I once was that. The ignorant ones choose to sleep keeping the snake on their bed and so they can gladly pay the price for it.

Today I come to the Lord with a bold prayer, out of the burden of my heart. “Strike these wolves, O Lord! Open the eyes of the blind and the blinded sheep just as You opened my eyes? Have mercy on them O Lord! If You give them in to follow what pleases their itching ears, they will be doomed. Have mercy, O Lord! Give them a chance, open their eyes to see Your path, O Lord! The blind ones who forfeit their sight and Your light and choose to trust these wolves, I pray, have mercy one more time, O Lord. Strike the wolves, O Lord. Aren’t You our good Shepherd, O Lord? Please protect Your sheep. In the Name of Jesus, I ask. Amen”.

Now, this is not a prayer for my prosperity and wealth. This is for the perishing ones to find Jesus’ path. So, let’s say – if God in His mercy chooses to grant ‘Amen’ to my prayer and strikes the wolves, Would you be a stricken wolf or a saved sheep? Because the wolf can pretend to be a sheep, but God knows very well who is who.

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Quite a flight!

In 20 years of flying we had quite an experience this time as we traveled to India. Our destination airport is Trivandrum and as the pilot tried to land in midst of heavy rain and a passing storm, he couldn’t land it. He circled around for 45 minutes and then headed to Cochin airport. The scariest part was that we experienced the flight dropping, wasn’t like turbulence but like rollercoaster drops – 4 times. He did that to bring it down around 8000 feet altitude it seems, ofcourse we poor passengers wouldn’t know that. It was scary and people started to scream because it felt like airplane was going to fall. I screamed “Yesuve(Jesus)” the first two times . That’s a very valuable lesson Amma had taught me as I used to scream “amma” in sudden frights. But Amma would always scream “Yesuve(Jesus)”. She told me not to call her as she can’t do anything even if I called her but told me to call Jesus as Only He can help me no matter the situation. After screaming Yesuve twice, I held my family’s hands and I started to pray in my heart. I said Lord I am still waiting on things You have said and this cannot be our end. The plane landed fine in Cochin but the fear of landing came into me and others too. After about an hour they took us back to Trivandrum as weather was better with light rain. And from around 7000 feet the pilot again started to take it upwards and imagine our thoughts!
I started to sing “in heavenly armor we’ll enter the land, the battle belongs to the Lord”. This song has been my deliverance song in multiple situations. And truly, I started to feel such peace and deliverance happening and the flight landed safely. This time the pilot had to take it up because of not getting signal to land but ofcourse, we poor passengers didn’t know that. Truly reminded me of the hundreds of times we take the flights and the take offs and the landing experiences for granted. I remember the times I had been sleeping peacefully during take offs and landings. Thanking God for His unfailing protection. See the runway picture from the screen in front of me as we were landing. I was truly amazed. I have never seen the runway lit up like a cross. The battle belongs to the LORD. Amen!

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What if?

Pondering on the transformation of Peter from John chapter 21 to Acts chapter 2. One profound insight that I received in my discipleship class is to read the Bible with fresh eyes as if I am reading it for the first time. We who grew up in churches hear the story first and then read it in the Bible and that robs us of the attention to the details. To me, it feels like the fruit has been waiting to ripen all this time and now suddenly it did.

“What if?” – these 2 words could entirely change our faith and our lives. Jesus was with the disciples for more than three years. Provisions met. Food needs met. Attention in the eyes of the public as decorated servants. They did not need to think of their old professions for a livelihood. That could be why, when Jesus talked about His awaited suffering and death, Peter rebuked Jesus saying that it should not happen to Him. Though Jesus had been foretelling them repeatedly about His crucifixion and death, as their time of understanding and revelation had not come yet, they were blinded and deaf. Before they could process what was happening, Jesus was crucified and buried in the tomb. Imagine the devastation that the disciples must have felt! Their lives changed upside down when their good shepherd was slaughtered. What now? Forget being the royal servants, now the tables have turned and they were afraid to even go out of their houses.

Peter thought that there was no point in wasting any more time. It is best to become practical and go dust up the fishing nets and go back to the fishing profession. In a way that would put some security on his life as the chief priests and others would not consider the disciples as a threat anymore. As in Zechariah 13:7, the shepherd was struck and the sheep fled for their lives.

John chapter 21 – When the calling was to catch men for Jesus, the attempt to catch fish was futile. Jesus gave them a repeat of their first “Follow Me” call. This time He awaited them with a prepared meal. I truly have no words about the heart of Jesus in this place. After the meal, Jesus restores Peter by asking the question, “Simon son of John, do you love Me?” indicating that if You are not aligned with My calling, you are a simple Simon, and not Peter. Jesus asks Peter to feed His lamb and sheep. Could it be because Jesus being the good shepherd, passed on the rod and the staff to take care of the lamb and the sheep? Jesus did not forget the littlest lamb either. Isaiah 40:11 He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart; He gently leads those that have young. As Peter and the disciples experienced how it felt to be like scattered sheep, Jesus gave them the responsibility of taking care of His other sheep and lamb so they are not scattered by the wolves.

Jesus predicted to Peter about the kind of life he would live for the cost of the gospel and the kind of death by which He will glorify God. Then Acts chapter 2 happens and Peter stood up with the disciples, raised his voice, and addressed the crowd.

See, if Peter had not quoted these verses from the Old Testament and connected them with what had happened, about the death and resurrection of Jesus, and the betrayal that Judas did, and also the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, would we have understood just by reading those verses in the Old Testament?

Joel 2:28-38 In the last days. God says, I will pour out My Spirit on all people.

Psalm 16:10 You will not abandon Me to the realm of the dead, You will not let Your holy one see decay.

Moses stated that a prophet will rise from among you and you must listen to everything that He says.

In my little wisdom, I wouldn’t have made any of these connections if Peter had not spoken in Acts chapter 2. And how did Peter suddenly make all these connections from the Old Testament? Luke 12:12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say. It was the work of the Holy Spirit whom they explicitly received just then.

Now, back to my “what if?” question. If Jesus had not resurrected from the dead and had not appeared to these disciples for 40 days and showed them signs and miracles throughout that time thus proving Himself as resurrected, what would have happened? The disciples would have gone back to their fishing and whatever professions and there would not have been anything called the Christian faith. If this Jesus had not made Himself so real to them after He was crucified by resurrecting back to life, why would these disciples, instead of going back to their safe profession, take a U-turn and go about spreading the gospel of Christ and up to the point of being martyred for the sake of their faith in Christ. Just as Jesus predicted to Peter in John chapter 21, Peter gave himself to be crucified upside down as he did not consider himself worthy to be crucified in the same manner as Christ. If something profound had not happened, like the resurrection of Christ, would anyone in their right mind choose a path like this?

What makes me still ponder on the restoration of Peter? Because I can relate to Peter a lot. My common statement is, “Lord, You are worth my everything, my breath, and my life”. I understand that Peter also said the same in the strength of his flesh, which could not sustain him. But the outpouring of the Holy Spirit accomplished everything that Jesus had purposed with Peter’s life. So I commit my desire unto the nail-pierced hands of Jesus. May He equip me to accomplish whatever He has purposed through me, by pouring out His anointing upon me. Amen!

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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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If not for..

Isaiah 43:2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you.

At times, when God leads us through troubled waters, our frequent question is, “Why is this happening? I don’t understand this!” If we are following God in the path that He leads, some of these troubled paths might even be for others to see that Yahweh alone is God. If not for the Red Sea on the Isralites’ route which God Himself told them to take, the Egyptians who taunted them and even all the other nations would not have known the might and power of our Almighty God. If not for Daniel being thrown into the lion’s den, King Darius and all of his kingdoms wouldn’t have known that Daniel’s God was able to keep him safe even in the midst of the hungry lions – which was meant to be a punishment strategy of that nation. If not for the fiery furnace that was raised seven times more than usual, for Daniel’s friends to be thrown in, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon would not have known the God who truly holds the thrones of the nations. If not for the waters of Jordan being parted, the people of the surrounding nations’ hearts wouldn’t have melted in fear in regard to the Israelites.

So, keep heart, some of the situations that we go through might be just for our God to reveal Himself as sovereign. Rather than being tossed and turned by the waves, may we learn to rest in Him and keep His ways and He will come through mightily as a warrior. Amen!

Psalm 91:1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

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What’s in the nook and corner?

This is the corner of my crafts pile. This is the corner between my dressing table and my computer desk in our bedroom. No one can see my crafts pile unless they take a peak at this corner. It sure is a messy corner. I am the kind who never can have enough yarn to crochet or frames for the watercolor arts or enough beads to make pieces of jewelry, and so on and so forth. This results in a messy crafts corner in the room.

In the same way, how is the nooks and corners of our hearts? Are there any hidden closets in our hearts where we deny access to God Himself? What skeletons are hidden in those closets?

In Psalm 51:10, David prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

The devil tricks us into believing that there is a middle ground between good and evil, heaven and hell. Every decision in this world is like the two sides of a coin – either we are for God or we are against God. This is a hard thing for even believers to agree with because there are a lot of things in the world that take a piece of our hearts and we desire to be entertained by them.

The sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross of Calvary has raised the expectations of our standard of holy living. Though we cannot be utmost holy and blameless till we are on this side of eternity, we ought to strive for holiness. We cannot take the blood of Jesus for granted. In every humanly possible way, we should strive to please God. And whenever we fail, let us not allow the devil to beat us up with guilt. Let us rise up immediately and go to the cross(Jesus), repent, turn around from the sin, and keep striving towards holiness. Let us not take any sin lightly by sizing it. May we not settle down with “just enough salvation, just enough Christianity” which we would hope to take us to heaven. May we not deceive ourselves because it is the Son of God who died on the cross for our sins. It is the Son of God! Can “just enough Christianity” take us to heaven? We have chances to fix our ways only till we breathe!

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