Grow in God's Love each Morning!

Word Of God:

“Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.”
- Ephesians 4:15

Daily Devotion:

Slander a Blunder!

"Backbiters are worthy of death" (Rom 1:30-32)

Speaking ill of another person in his absence is called slander or backbiting. We don't help anyone by this act. God has commanded in the Law, "You shall not go as a talebearer among your people" (Lev 19:16). The reason He gives is, "I am the Lord!" In other words, God hates backbiting.

We may justify ourselves saying, "After all, I am telling the truth only." Imagine God revealing our sins to others! It was true that Noah was lying naked in his tent because of drunkenness. Ham his son, instead of covering his dad, told the matter to his brothers. The result was that Ham inherited only curse! (Gen 9:20-27). "Love covers multitude of sins!" (1 Pet 4:8).

Lovelessness is the root cause of backbiting. Love rejoices not in evil (1 Cor 13:6). We don't realize that it is God who first hears what we speak when we slander against anyone. Backbiting grieves the Holy Spirit because it is against His nature (Eph 4:30,31). Those who find pleasure in slandering hardly make any progress in their spiritual life. Apostle Peter pointedly said, "Laying aside all evil speaking…desire the pure milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby" (1 Pet 2:1,2). Backbiting hinders the growth of the Church also (2 Cor 12:20,21).

Backbiting is not an isolated sin. It's a companion to many other evils. The Bible speaks against backbiting and flattery (Prov 20:19), backbiting and hypocrisy (Psa 41:6; Jer 9:4,8), backbiting and power-monging (3 Jn 9,10), and backbiting and idling (1 Tim 5:13; 2 Thess 3:11). Finally it leads to backsliding (Jer 6:27-30).

An Old Testament example stands out as a stern warning from God against backbiting. The story is in Numbers 12. Miriam and Aaron led a campaign against Moses. Here are some striking observations: Not Moses but the Lord heard it (v2). The anger of the Lord was kindled (v9). The glory of God departed from the Camp (v10). Miriam was struck with leprosy (v10). This indicates loss of spiritual sensitivity. She was shut out of the fellowship of God's people (v15). The journey of God's people got delayed (v15). Miriam and Aaron gave a spiritual colour to their malignant work against Moses (v2).

When you are tempted to backbite, ask yourself these questions: (a) Is it true? (b) Is it necessary? (c) Is it kind? When a backbiter comes to you, ask him these questions: (a) Will it do me any good? (b) Will it do you any good? (c) Will it do that person any good? If you are backbitten or slandered against, (a) Don't defend! (b) Don't offend! (c) But bless!

Prayer:

O God,
whose love restores
the brokenhearted of this world:
pour out your love,
we beseech you,
upon those who feel
lonely, abandoned, or unloved.
Strengthen their hope
to meet the days ahead;
give them the courage
to form life-giving friendships;
and bless them with the joy
of your eternal peace.
Amen.

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Word Of God:

“I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.”

- Job 19:25

Daily Devotion:

Too packed to Pray?

"You must be ready all the time.For the Son of Man will come when least expected" (Mt 24:44)


In His discourses on the endtime Jesus emphasised watchfulness in prayer over anything else. "Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is" (Mk 13:33; Mt 25:13). Jesus might have known that in these days there would be a slump in prayertime.

The world is busier than ever. In spite of so many modern gadgets to do things faster, we don't have so much spare time as our forebears. Everyday it's hectic. The casualty is always the prayertime. In the Bible, watching and praying are often mentioned together (Lk 21:36; Eph 6:18; Col 4:2).

The saying goes, "He who prays sins not; He who sins prays not!" In these days when sin abounds, prayer is the only way of escape. Martin Luther (1483-1546) testified, "If I fail to spend two hours in prayer each morning, the devil gets the victory through the day." As our work increases so should our prayertime. Because, more prayer means more power, more strength and more wisdom. It is unwise to sacrifice prayer for work, secular or sacred. Until we set aside definite times for prayer we will never make it. Who was busier than King David in his time? Yet he had definite prayer times daily (Psa 55:17). Daniel never missed his three times-a-day prayer, whatever the situation might be (Dan 6:10). Let us also cultivate such prayer habits. The devil shudders not so much at a preacher as at a prayer warrior!

Because it is usually quite difficult to find an unhurried hour for prayer during daytime in these busy days, it is advisable to set aside early hours of the day for the same. This was the practice of Jesus since folks were flocking Him from dawn to dusk (Mk 1:35).

The enemy keeps devising new strategies to draw us from faith and drown us in filth. Prayer is the antidote. Failure on knees makes us succumb to his every assault. Jesus taught us to pray, "Deliver us from evil." A willing spirit is not enough to overcome temptation unless the weak body is strengthened by watchful prayer (Mt 26:41). According to Pastor Paul Yangi Cho of South Korea, "One who does not pray for atleast an hour each day is not a believer; one who does not pray for atleast two hours is not a Servant of God!"

Sweet hour of Prayer, Sweet hour of Prayer,
That calls me from a world of care,
And oft escaped the tempter's snare
By thy return, Sweet hour of prayer !
(William W. Walford, 1772-1850)

Courtesy : http://www.stanleyonbible.com/

Prayer:

Refresh and Gladden My Spirit

O God! Refresh and gladden my spirit. Purify my heart. Illumine my powers.
I lay all my affairs in Thy hand. Thou art my Guide and my Refuge.
I will no longer be sorrowful and grieved; I will be a happy and joyful being.
O God! I will no longer be full of anxiety, nor will I let trouble harass me.
I will not dwell on the unpleasant things of life.
O God! Thou art more friend to me than I am to myself.
I dedicate myself to Thee, O Lord.
Amen!

Grow in God's Love Each Morning!

Word Of God:

"Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all." -Matthew 6:31-34

Daily Devotion:

Freedom for Doom?


"I don't seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me"(Jn 5:30)

Man considers self-willed life as freedom. But wisdom cries out, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death" (Prov 14:12). Therefore, "Do not depend on your own understanding. Seek God's will in all you do, and He will direct your paths" (Prov 3:5).

More often than we think what we seek in prayer is God's endorsement of our own plans. We think that once we mention our plans and desires in prayer, they are automatically sanctioned by the Almighty. We then go about launching our programmes boastfully. The Bible condemns this kind of life in the strongest possible terms: "Your life is like the morning fog—it's here a little while, then it's gone. What you ought to say is: If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that" (Js 4:13-16). We should speak thus with a godly fear.

We are at times so obsessed with our dreams and pursuits that we idolize them. We feel that our life is meaningless unless we get them. But we must realise that we will miss the perfect will of God and settle down for His permissive will only. God will allow us, like He let Balaam, to go our own way and face the consequences. The very first question of Paul after his conversion was, "Lord, what do You want me to do?" (Acts 9:6). We will miss God's will all through our life if we don't deal with our spirit of independence quite early.

Blessed are those who understand even the wink of the Lord and walk accordingly in faith (Psa 32:8b). Unless we come to a state where there's no need for bit and bridle to control and guide us, we cannot fully appropriate the blessings of God's promise in Psalm 32:8, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go!" Though Christ had the power and authority to act on His own He stripped Himself off them and committed Himself to the will of the Father, saying, "Behold I have come to do Your will, O God." So He never deviated from what His Father had designed for Him.

A.W. Tozer (1897-1963) declared, "Let a man set his heart only on doing the will of God, and he is instantly free!" How true! Fleeing from self-rule and falling into the reign of God is true freedom! It is under the authority of Christ we can enjoy perfect liberty. That's what Jesus meant when He said, "If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed!" (Jn 8:36).

I was not ever thus, nor prayed that
Thou shouldst lead me on;
I loved to choose and see my path;
But now lead Thou me on!
(John H. Newman, 1801-1890, written while sailing)

Courtesy : http://www.stanleyonbible.com/

Prayer:

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
forever in the next.
Amen.