Satan can sift you like wheat, but do you know what the lover of your soul does? He keeps your faith from failing.

John 22:31-34, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”  But he said to Him, “Lord, with You I am ready to go both to prison and to death!” And He said, “I say to you, Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know Me.”

Peter, get ready to be sifted by Satan, but I am praying your faith may not fail, though you may fail

Jesus said to his main quarterback disciple, Peter, that Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat. But Jesus also said He has prayed for Peter that his faith may not fail when Satan tries to sift him.
Jesus didn’t say He will protect Peter from the trial and fail. But Jesus promised his interceding support so that his faith in Christ may not fail in the midst of his personal severe trial and subsequent failure.
Satan wanted to destroy Peter fully and completely that Peter won’t preach sermons that will convert three thousand and five thousand people to Christ. Satan wanted to destroy Peter’s faith that He won’t become an apostle to Jews, a pillar of Jerusalem church. Don’t you know Peter later wrote two marvelous epistles and those became the part of the Word of God- the Bible? Satan wanted to sift and destroy Peter’s faith so that he will not be used by God anymore in the above manners.

My friend, Jesus knew all about you and your future. He understands Satan ask permission to sift you also like wheat. Remember what happened to Peter could happen to you. Jesus knows all this in advance. So He warned Peter and reminded him that He is interceding and praying for him so that his faith in Him won’t fail though he may fail in near future.
Look at the past and count how many times Satan wanted to have you and destroy your faith in Christ. Apart from the interceding support of Christ, none of us will be able to continue in our faith. This is true especially at the time of severe testings and trials. Bible says in Hebrews 7:25, “Therefore He (Christ) is able to save completely those who come to God through Him because He always lives to intercede for them.”
Secondly, Jesus said to Peter after you have turned again, he will strengthen his brothers. He will have a new assignment. Out of his failure, Peter will have a commission to strengthen his brothers. Peter is going to strengthen his brothers once he turned back.

Not me Jesus

To this Peter responded and said I am even ready for prison or face death with you Lord. Peter didn’t have any clue what was waiting for him in the next few hours and days. But Jesus saw this ahead of time and warned him. Peter was saying no Lord, I am your main disciple. I won’t fail you. You can count on me Jesus, I will be with you no matter what. Oh, how small Peter’s knowledge and understanding was. He never imagined he will fail God. But that is exactly what happened. Do you think you are immune to failures? Bible reminds us to beware. Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10:12, “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” There is not a single person who is bulletproof and won’t fail. If Peter failed, you will also fail the expectation of God in your life. But the promise of Christ is amazing. I am going to keep your faith from failing. You may fail but He is going to keep your faith in him from failing. This is the promise.
Jesus said to Peter clearly what is going to happen. Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know Me. It is going to happen Peter. The rooster will crow only after your failure. It is determined ahead of time that even the rooster cannot even crow in the morning until Peter denies Christ three times. You are going to deny me, Peter. What a sad situation that Peter is going to enter.

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In the Crucible

Bible says they seized Jesus Christ and led him away. They brought Jesus to high priest’s house. Peter followed him at a distance. There was a charcoal fire in the middle of the courtyard and people sat down together. Peter went and sat down with them. As Peter sat in the light, there was a servant girl saw him and she looked closely at him and said: “this man also was with him (Christ).” But Peter denied it and said, “Woman, I do not know him.”
A little bit later someone else saw him and said, “you also are one of them.” At that time Peter said, “Man, I am not.”
After one more hour still, another insisted and said, “Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean.” Peter began to call down curses and he swore to them, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” Immediately a rooster crowed.
Something horrible happened when the rooster crowed. Bible says, “And the Lord turned and looked at Peter.” Peter remembered what Jesus said ahead of time that he will deny him three times. Peter went out and wept bitterly. (Refer Mark 14:66-72, Luke 22:54-62 and Matthew 26:69-75).
Oh, a catastrophic failure! Peter locked eyes with Jesus whom he denied three times. Something in that look of Jesus said Peter I told you this is going to happen. Christ’s iron man, the super disciple failed in an epic size failure.
Peter went out and wept bitterly. But we won’t see Peter anywhere with Jesus after that. Peter just left and he doesn’t want to be anywhere near Christ anymore. He decided to quit and walk away. John was there at the feet of the cross. Mary and few other sisters were there. But we don’t see Peter anywhere near the cross. We don’t even see him at the time of burial. He just left.

Failure can cause you to quit and disappear

You see this is what failure does to us. When you and I fail, we don’t want to be anywhere near to believers. We are tempted to run away from their presence. Why? Peter is ashamed to look at Jesus and he felt dirty. He believed he failed Christ and how can he face him again? He decided to go back to his old trade of fishing. On the other side of the coin, do you know, there are even Pharisee type so-called super spiritual Christian denominations in this world who will start condemning and stoning a person who just failed. They will put you out of their fellowship. They will disown you. Believe me, there are Christian groups like that even today in our world. I sometimes wonder whether they ever understood the heart and love of Jesus? Most probably not. If they did understand who Jesus is they can not keep the condemning spirit instead they would be filled with compassion knowing how vulnerable people are to Satan’s tricks and how loving and compassionate Christ is.
But not the darling our loving Lord. Christ will never succumb to condemnation trap on His own children. If you are faced with condemnation and if they put you out of the congregation, may I say an apology to you for their sake. Jesus will never condemn you. He loves you and He has big plans in store for you. Please don’t allow yourself to be a victim of their condemnation tricks. Jesus had still big plan and assignment for Peter. Christ is going to keep Peter’s faith in Him though he failed. Because Christ’s plan and purpose in Peter will be fulfilled and no schemes of the devil can ever overthrow His plans.
My friend, did you fail in your Christian life? Maybe your failure was caused and initiated by another person. Or it may be self-caused and self-inflicted. You see, as believers, we still live in flesh and body. We don’t have the glorified body yet. Chances are we may fail God’s expectation in our lifetime. Bible is full of examples of men of God who failed God but reconciled back to God. You can read this from the life history of Adam to Abraham to David to Peter. It is all over in the Bible. Bible also examples of people about whom no bad remarks were ever made. They are Joseph and Daniel. But God wants to tell you this important message -He has not finished with you or done with you yet. He called you with an everlasting call and He assigned your spiritual gifts (which are not irrevocable) to use for His glory until you are called home. God will never disown you though people may. God loves you and wants to restore you again and again.

But Christ was thinking about Peter though he failed Him and did all to restore His fallen dear disciple

Do you know Christ’s heart was on His fallen main disciple after this bad incident occurred to Peter? Jesus said to the women who visited Him in the tomb early in the morning, immediately after his resurrection, “But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’” You see Jesus said to tell His disciples and emphasized the name, Peter. Jesus loves Peter so much that He wants Peter to know that His love is not taken away from him though he denied him three times. Jesus had Peter in His mind and was looking for an opportunity to reinstate His fallen and ran way disciple to His love again. He wanted Peter to know that He has risen from the dead still loves him and wanted to visit Him.

In fact, Jesus did visit with him personally one o one in another time. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:6 that Jesus appeared to Peter before he appeared to twelve disciples. This must be the second appearance to Peter after Christ’s resurrection. But Scripture informs a third and serious encounter with Peter was needed to restore him to his original calling of feeding the sheep. This is illustrated in John 21. His personal failure was so severe and He was so ashamed to continue in his calling of the Lord that he decided to go back to his original trade of fishing. But Jesus pursued him to the Sea of Galilee. All nights they tried to catch fish but didn’t catch anything and now very tired in the morning after the hard toil. Jesus from the beach called and asked them, “Children, you do not have any fish, do you?” Jesus asked them to cast the net on the right-hand side of the boat and you will find a catch. As of they haven’t cast the net on the right side yet. They tried all sides but got nothing so far. You see, Jesus is God. He can bring all the fish to the right side of the boat. When He commands, even the fish obey Him. They got a big catch of fish and they could not drag all of the fish because it was too many. Another boat came near and had to help them to drag the big catch of fish.
When they came to the land, they saw a charcoal fire and fish on it and bread ready for them to eat. Jesus said to them “Come and have breakfast”. Did you notice this restoration meeting was in front of a charcoal fire? What was the last time Peter sat among others in the charcoal fire? That was the time Peter denied Jesus in front of a girl. This is very significant. Jesus calling Peters heart to the place where he has fallen.
Jesus always wants us to do come in grip of the reality of our sinful action before the restoration of His fellowship. You and I cannot ignore how we failed the Lord. We need to accept the fact that we are fallen short. We need to accept and confess our sins. Then and then only restoration to His sweet fellowship is possible. But Jesus took all the necessary steps to restore His fallen man back to fellowship.
He will do the same thing to you. He will restore you back to His loving fellowship when you acknowledge and confess your sins to Him. In fact, God is so eager and willing like Christ was eager and willing to restore Peter back to His fellowship. Bible says in John 1:8-10, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.”
Lord will help you. How? Because he intercedes for your failure and He wants to restore you to His loving relationship and fellowship.
You see, Peter denied Jesus Christ three times. Here in John 21:15-17 after they finished eating breakfast, Jesus asked Him three times the same question in different ways. Listen to the conversation between Jesus and Peter.
When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”

“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.”
You see how Jesus encountered Peter head-on by asking three questions. Basically same question but in different forms. When Peter answered the question each time, Jesus said to ‘feed my sheep.”
In other words, Christ was restoring his fallen disciples back to his original assignment. Going to fish from the sea of Galilee is not your calling, Peter. This is not why I asked you to follow Me. Your calling is to ‘feed my sheep’ and by feeding my sheep you are going to strengthen your brothers. What were you doing in the sea of Galilee?
From here onwards, Peter will never, never disown the Lord Jesus Christ. His timidity and fear are gone forever. He boldly preached to the Jews on the day of Pentecost and three thousand people repented of their sin and accepted Christ as their savior. In another occasion, five thousand people accepted Christ as their savior. God used him again to write two epistles in the Bible. God used him perform many miracles in the first century.

Peter would not deny Christ anymore in future even in the midst of future horrible death waiting for him

He would never disown the Lord again. The manner in which Peter would die was also foretold by Jesus in John 21:18-19 (immediately after the restoration of Peter). Jesus said, “‘Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.’ Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me!”

John said this to Peter to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then Jesus said to him, “Follow Me!”

The tradition says when they got him to kill him by crucifixion, Peter requested them not to crucify him like they crucified Jesus. But he requested them to crucify him upside down because he was thinking that he is not even worthy to die like Jesus died.
What a transformation happened to this fallen disciple? How God groomed him and used him again mightly for His glory with His loving and compassionate approach. Dear friend, Lord will never condemn you nor leave you. Only you may make up your mind to leave him and walk away from him. It will be your decision. In other words, only you can harm your faith by walking away and not coming back. But God won’t walk away from you in the midst of your failures.

But God wants to keep your faith from failing. He is not the guarantying the absence of trails, testing, and sufferings. But His promise is He will keep you through it. He will keep your faith from falling. When you turn back, you will strengthen your brothers and will be re-assigned with your original assignment. He did this to Peter. Not only, Peter, God did this to many faith heroes in the Bible. He will do this to you as well.

Don’t listen to the condemnation tricks of the hypocrites. They leave the sheep to wolfs and they don’t care a bit. But not my Jesus!

Don’t ever believe the lie of the hypocrites or their condemnation. They are all over. This is what Jesus said to the people like them, “You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside, you appear to people as righteous but on the inside, you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. They are whitewashed.” (Matthew 23:27-28).
When I think about such condemning hypocrites, I remember what Jesus said in John 10:11-15. Please read slowly and let the words of Jesus sink deep down into your heart.
“I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep.  I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father, and I lay down My life for the sheep.”
Do you know why they point out to you at the time of your failure? Why they condemn you and try to put you out of their group writing down on their face ‘you don’t belong here’? They are not true shepherds, they are hired people, they are not the owner of the sheep and they don’t care about the sheep. You know what they do? They see the wolf coming to destroy and they still keep the sheep outside of their group and flee away. The wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flies away because he is only a hired hand and not at all concerned about the well-being of the sheep. In contrast, Christ is the good shepherd. He knows you as His own and He is the one who laid down His life for you.

If you are one of such a hypocritical person, maybe it is time to repent even at this last hour. May the good Lord help.

If you are a backslider due to failures, Jesus with His love and compassion calling you to come home today. He is sending for you personally to come Home to Him. You are not a failure, period! He is the darling lover of you. He has all beautiful and secure future laid out for you. Please come home to Christ and be used by Him again. Jesus asks you the same question He asked Peter, “Do you love me?” If so, ‘feed my sheep’, He says to you. I don’t know what is God’s assignment for you. When you are restored, He will inform you His assignment for you.

Are you a person who never believed in Christ as your savior? Do you know Jesus Christ loves you? He gave His life on the cross just because He loved you that much. He did this to save you from all of your sin-past, present, and future. Bible says once you accept Christ as your savior, you will be complete in Him. (Colossians 2:10) You will be made complete and perfect in the sight of God. Only the blood of Christ can cleanse and make you perfect and clean all your sins and transgressions. God so loved you, my friend, that He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, that if you call upon His name by believing in Him, you will be saved and will never be perished. Instead the moment you call the name of Christ and accept Him as your savior, you will be granted eternal life in heaven. (John 3:16). One day when you die, at the moment of your death, you will be taken to heaven to live with God eternally. Do not delay. Tomorrow and even next hour do not belong to you and I. Come Home now and pray with me. Make that decision to come to Christ right now.

Prayer time: God, I come to you in prayer. I understand fully now that your love for me is so deep and wide and your compassion toward me is deeper than the deepest sea. I want your love and compassion. I admit I am a sinner and accept Jesus Christ as my Savior today. I believe Jesus Christ died, buried and risen for my sins. I accept God’s gift of salvation and restoration now. Please save me. Amen.
If you prayed this prayer, please visit www.teachbible.org and go to contact/prayer tab and send me a note. I will be thrilled to hear from you.
Please find a Bible teaching and preaching church in your area and start growing in the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you.

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9).

Commemoration of Birthdays in history becomes colorful and meaningful only if we ponder what they have achieved.

October 2, 1869, is Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday and the nation of India is commemorating and celebrating October 2nd as one of the public holidays in India. But when people of India celebrate his birthday on every October 2nd, they don’t think about him as an infant in his parent’s hands, do they? People of India remember what He did for the nation to free India from foreign rule. This is the same with any other birthdays nations are celebrating as public holidays.
We celebrate George Washington’s birthday as president day on the third Monday of the month of February. We don’t typically remember him as an infant with his parents. We honor the day to remember the great work he has done to form this great nation called the USA.
My point is this -Christmas is a day people celebrate as Christ’s birthday- the incarnation of the eternal Son of God into this world. However, our remembrance and celebration of His birthday becomes colorful and meaningful only when we remember and honor what Christ has done for the lost and helpless people. People are lost and helpless to come to the holy presence of God because of their sin nature. But Bible says God gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him (Christ) should (never, never )perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:16.
You see the incarnation or the birth of Christ also becomes meaningful only when we understand what Christ has accomplished for us.

The extent of Christ’s poverty to make us rich was indescribable

Bible says about Christ, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9).
The passage reminds the readers the Lord Jesus Christ was so rich. But for your sake, He became poor by coming into this sin-bound world. Why He became poor? The passage says ‘that you through His poverty might become rich.’

You see, While Christ was in heaven all through the eternity past and He was so rich “being existed as in the form of God and being in equal with God. But it also says there -But He emptied himself, taking the form of a bond-servant and he made Himself in the likeness of man. He Humbles Himself by being obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Phillippians 2:6-8).
John, one of the closest disciples of Jesus Christ says about Christ in this way, “And the Word (Christ) became flesh, and lived among us; and we [actually] saw His glory, glory as belongs to the [One and] only begotten Son of the Father, [the Son who is truly unique, the only One of His kind, who is] full of grace and truth (absolutely free of deception). John testified [repeatedly] about Him and has cried out [testifying officially for the record, with validity and relevance], “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a higher rank than I and has priority over me, for He existed before me.’” For out of His fullness [the superabundance of His grace and truth] we have all received grace upon grace [spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing, favor upon favor, and gift heaped upon gift]. (Amplified Bible).

Christ is the eternal Word (eternal Son of God). He became flesh like you and me to become like one of us so that he can pay for our sins and iniquities. By paying for our sins with His blood on the cross, He re-established our fellowship and friendship with the Holy God. John says he, other disciples and people saw Christ’s glory as the only begotten Son of the Father God. He was full of grace and truth. For out of Christ we have received grace upon grace, spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessings, favor upon favor from God. Christ is God’s gift heaped upon gift.
John testified in his epistle his letter 1 John 1: 1 that he and others heard Christ, have seen Him with their own eyes, touched with their own hands.

Get clues from how Christ is commemorated, celebrated and worshipped in heaven.

The Book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible gives us a picture of the celebration and worship of Christ in heaven.

Christ is commemorated, celebrated and worshipped in heaven. This is shown in Revelation 5. Christ is celebrated as the ‘Lion that is from the tribe of Judah’. It says the ‘Lion from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals. Here the picture of Christ is not even as a human being. He is portrayed as the Lion- with the awesome power and strength that can conquer others. Lion is the king in the animal world. There is not other king in the forest. I am sure you remember one of the best movies for children that came out of Walt Disney. The majesty, authority and kingship of the Lion. Of course, the ‘Lion from the tribe of Judah’ is a fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies about the coming ruler and king of the world. (refer Genesis 49:10). It says there, “The scepter shall not depart from Judah. Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet until Shiloh comes (this means to whom it belongs). And to him (personal pronoun) shall be the obedience of the peoples.”
Jesus Christ is the promised ruler and king of the people of the world who was prophesied several hundreds of year before His first advent. But He is also the Messiah and savior of the whole world. To Him (Christ) shall be the obedience of all people.
But the promised ruler and king of the whole world came as the Messiah,lamb and savior of the world in his first advent. This is also portrayed in Revelation 5 as a lamb that was slain. The lamb is the most humble animal. It won’t fight back like other animals. Bible says in Isaiah 53:7, “He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth.” Christ came as the lamb on his first coming on the first Christmas day. The picture of a lamb brings to our mind the old testament sacrificial system where lambs are sacrificed for the sins of the people until the true God’s lamb came into this world. There is no need for sacrificing lamb now for the remission of our sins. Why? Because John introduced Jesus Christ to this world in this was in John 1:29, “The next day he (John the Baptist) saw Jesus coming to him, and said, “Behold (look attentively), the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of ceremonial law. No more lamb or any other sacrifice need now for the remission of people’s sins.
In Christ’s first coming, He came into this world as Lamb of God who takes away our sin issue and problem and reconciles with the holy God. In His second coming of Christ in near future, He will be Lion from the tribe of Judah. The lion who is strong, horrible to stand next to, with all His power and authority.

My friend, the true Christmas message is not just about the infant in Bethelem. But it reminds us the big picture of what He has done for you and me. You can come to Christ today because He is the Lamb of God. He gave his life and blood to pay for all your sins. You don’t need to carry the burden of your sins and transgressions anymore. Christ the Lamb of God paid all in full for you. You can be saved eternally if you would understand this truth and call upon the name of Jesus Christ today.

Do you know you can become rich much beyond your imagination and comprehension?

Now, if you neglect what He has done for you, his poverty, His cruel death, and bloodshed for your sins and to make you right with holy God, then one day pretty soon, you will have to stand in front of a fearful, the most powerful, authoritative Lion from the tribe of Judah and give account of all your sins in front of a holy God. You need a savior and Christ is the only savior and there is none out there like Jesus who shed His blood to save you from sin’s penalties and punishment.  Please come to the Lamb of God, Christ and get saved before it gets late.
Because Christ became poor in coming down to this world and gave Himself as a ransom for your sins by even shedding his holy and precious blood, you and me can become rich much beyond our imagination and comprehension-with things that are not available to purchase anywhere else- the full and complete forgiveness of all your sins- past, present and future, don’t need to face condemnation and judgment from a holy God for your wrong doings, eternal life in heaven with the holy God at the moment of your death. All these blessings make you richer than the most richest billionaire of the world. Bible says in Ephesian 1:3 that “God and Father our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly place in and through Jesus Christ.”
Prayer time.
Please pray after me. “God I come to you in prayer. I know and admit that I am a sinner and I need a savior. I believe Jesus Christ was the Lamb of God who was sacrificed for my sins and wrongdoings. I am sorry for my sins. I accept Jesus Christ as my savior today. Please save me. Amen.”

If you prayed this prayer, please visit www.teachbible.org and go to contact/prayer tab and send me a note. I will be thrilled to hear from you. Please locate a Bible teaching and preaching church in your area and start learning Bible. May the good and loving Lord richly bless you.

Delight yourself in the Lord;
And He will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4).

In our previous weekly Bible insights, we talked in our valley experiences of life, we have a choice to fret and jealous because of evildoers and wrongdoers or to trust the character of God, do good, dwell in the land and feed on God’s faithfulness. There is no need to fret and feel jealousy about evildoers and wrongdoers. Why? Verse 2 says, “they will wither quickly like the grass, and fade like the green herb.” They may look like winning for a short period of time, but they won’t Bible asserts. Bible says in Psalm 73:18, “Surely you (God) place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin”. So don’t fret about people who do wrong to you or even feel jealous of them. Instead, we have discussed four things to do in the previous weekly Bible insights- Trust in the character of God, do good, dwell in the land and feed on His faithfulness.

Fourth point:

Now this week we will discuss the fourth point and that is “Delight in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”
Now, the valley is a time you feel like not delighted much about anything let alone God, right? You may be thinking how can I delight in the Lord when I feel totally bad in my emotions? I am hurt and deeply painful and you are asking me to delight in the Lord? I have trouble and difficulties around me, don’t you understand?
My friend, if you think about many Christian hymns and songs that we sing today came from the deep valley experiences of people’s life. David wrote many lamentation songs but in the midst of lamentations He praised and worshipped the Lord right in the midst of his sufferings. He expressed His hope in the Lord in the valleys. He expressed his faith in the Lord for deliverance.

Delight in the Lord is an act of your will,  not a product of your feelings or emotions

You see, giving thanks and praises to God in the midst of your severe valley experiences is not certainly easy. Do you know what? Praising God is an act of your will. I remember my college days when I was a graduate student. I spend many sleepless nights to prepare for tests and finishing up projects. My feelings said you are tired and it is ok, you don’t need to work hard etc. But I didn’t allow my feelings to take control of me. Do you know you don’t have to follow your feelings? If you exercise your will eventually your feelings will follow your decisions. I can look back and testify whenever I allowed my feeling to control my decision, those were my times of failure. Whenever I allowed my will to delight in the Lord and let feelings follow my decisions, those were pretty much successful times. You can exercise your will to delight in the Lord when you are in the valley times. God will honor your decision to delight in Him.
You see, Daniel was one of the three Hebrew boys who was exiled to Babylon by king Nebuchadnezzar. Bible says in Daniel 1:8-9 says, “But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s choice food or with the wine which he drank; so he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself. Now God granted Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the commander of the officials.”
Daniel was away from his own country, his own land and temple were destroyed. They were taken to a foreign land as slaves. He could have thought where is the God of Israel? I am not going to follow this God anymore. Why did all these tragedies happen to God’s chosen people? But instead of allowing his feelings to control him, he exercised his will by making up his mind to delight in the Lord in obeying Him. Instead of giving importance to his feelings, he gave first place to God. In other words, he exercised his will to delight in the Lord although his circumstances were not good for him or his family.

Delight in the Lord is a learned behavior like all other habits.

Secondly, do you know delighting in God in the midst of trials, loneliness, and sufferings is a learned behavior? If you think about it, all our habits are learned. Becoming an alcoholic is not easy as you may imagine. One of my friends said to me he hated the taste and smell of alcohol, but he wanted to show his friends that he is cool and strong. Even though he didn’t like the taste of it, he patiently tried again and again and became an addict to alcohol. I know a young person needs to try again and again to smoke the cigarettes because it is not easy to learn this habit in the initial stages. Afer several attempts, he becomes an expert smoker. You see, all good and bad are learned behaviors.

We can learn the habit of delighting in the Lord as well. Once you learned this habit of praising and delighting God in the midst of your difficulties, it becomes a good and God-honoring habit in you.
Ephesians 5: 20 says, “always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father.” Did you notice it says “always giving thanks for all things?” We can learn the habit of giving thanks for all things always. Bible says in Romans 8:28, “God causes all things to work together for God to those who love and to those who are called according to His purpose.” Because God causes all things (including bad things happened to us) to work together eventually for our good, we can give thanks confidently for all things- good or bad.
Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Do you know what is the will of God for your life? God’s will for you in Christ Jesus is this – in everything give thanks. Not just for good things only but in everything – good and bad.
If this is the will of God, why don’t we put our will to practice this behavior of giving thanks to the Lord and delight in Him right in the midst of our painful circumstances? Many other things we put our effort to practice anyway. Why don’t we put our effort into this good God-honoring habit?

Delight in the Lord becomes a sacrifice of praise.

Bible says in Hebrews 13: 5 says, “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise–the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.”

We are asked to offer to God a sacrifice of praise. You see, when everything is going alright in your life, it is easy to praise God, right? But when everything going bad it is not easy. You cannot follow your feelings and offer a sacrifice of praise to God in these difficult times. Because your feeling may not allow you to praise God. But you will need to activate your will to praise God and then your praise becomes a sacrifice to God. When the dear one is taken away from you, when your child is terminally ill when you lose your job and not have money to pay the bills, then praising God becomes a sacrifice of offering to the God. When we don’t understand things happening to us and there is no human way to explain, can you still praise God and delight in Him? That decision, will and action to praise God then become a sacrifice of praise to God. Though we don’t understand all, we declare that God is still good and faithful and He will make a way and deliver. Why? Because God is a loving and kind God and He is a faithful God. Bible says in Psalm 30:11 what God did to David in his painful circumstances. David says, “You ( the Lord) have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy.” Though we don’t understand and don’t see any lights at the end of the tunnel, we know God is good and He is faithful and powerful to turn around our circumstances for our good and His glory. God did this innumerable times for His dear ones. He will do that for you as well. Therefore you can delight in Him in your valley experiences.

Result – He will give you the desires of your heart.

The second part of our verse says when you delight in the Lord in the midst of your painful circumstances, He will honor you and ‘give you the desires of your heart.’
My friend when you make up your mind to delight in the Lord, Bible promises in this verse that He will give you the desires of your heart.

Wow! Your desires become His desires

You see, when you delight in the Lord, then your desires become His desires and it is easy for Him to approve and give you all the desires of your heart. Why? Your desire is His will and desire any way. As you delight in the Lord, the desire of your heart is what God put it there for you. Your heart’s desire will be gripped by His desire and you are going to walk in the desire and will of God. The loving Lord sanctifies your desires and He starts filling in you those wonderful Godly desires. You will experience a transformation in your desires and your desire becomes His desire and He will give you the desires of your heart.

Praise God for the valley experiences. You don’t need to fret wrongdoers or evildoers. You don’t need to be jealous of these evil people. They will come out of bushes when you decide to delight in God and do His desires. They may start ridiculing and even threaten you because Satan is terrified when he sees a child of God delights in God. Remember Hebrews 4:13, “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” But when you make up your mind to delight in the Lord and His ways in your valleys, He transforms you to a divine and higher grounds and appoints you for His tasks in the days ahead.

Prayer time: In your valley time make God your best friend. Bible says He is a ‘friend who sticks closer than a brother’ (Proverbs 18:24). God loves you and committed to you that He gave only begotten son – Jesus Christ- to save you and take you to heaven. You can spend eternity in heaven with God. God will save you from all your problems and will give you abundant and most satisfied life. Bible says in Psalm 55:22, “Give your burdens to the LORD, and he will take care of you.”

Will you pray after me now to come to God for His salvation?

“God, I come to you and bring you my pain, sufferings, and problems that I face. I know you care about me and loves me. I believe Christ died, buried and risen for my sins and I accept Him as my savior and Lord. Please help and save me. Amen.”

If you prayed this prayer, please go to contact/prayer tab and send me a note. I will be thrilled to hear from you.

Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.

Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. (Psalm 37:3).

 

Are you currently experiencing deep valley period in your life?
In the last two weekly Bible insights, we have seen two points to remember while you are in the valley – trust the character of God. Has He ever leave you in the past? No! He will sustain and deliver you this time as well as He did in the past. Even if nobody is there to understand and help you, He will because of His heart and character.
Secondly, we have seen valley is a time we try to makes ourselves hide or shrink to our own bedrooms and solitude. But this is a time you can think and do good to others. You can help others by praying and doing good things for those who are in need. Bible says in Job 42:10, “When Job prayed for his friends, the LORD restored his fortunes. In fact, the LORD gave him twice as much as before!” His friends talked mean about him though they came to comfort them in his struggles. But in the midst of the hurt and their accusations, he prayed for them. Bible says very clearly when Job prayed for them Lord restored his fortunes. God gave him twice as much as before. Think about this. Valley is a time to do good to others by praying for others and helping others in many different ways. God watches and abundantly blesses right there in the midst of the valley.

Third point – Dwell in the land and feed on His faithfulness.

Now we come to the third point to remember when you are in a valley and that is “dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.”
We see God told patriarchs to dwell in the land. Why? Because God knew if they don’t dwell in their promised land, they will face dangers and issues outside of it. The Lord appeared to Isaac specifically instructed him, ” “Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you.”(Genesis 42:10).
Of course, David and God meant the promised land when they said, “dwell in the land”. We can apply this principle to our promised land. The Lord said to Abraham, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. (Genesis 15:13). Whenever God’s people goes down from the promised land the results would be these – strangers in a country, not their own, enslavement, and mistreatment. Keep this in mind. God’s people are supposed to leave in the promised land and when they step out of the promised land the results can be very dangerous crucial.
What is our application from this phrase “dwell in the land”? For patriarchs, the promised land was the Canaan where God brought them with His out-stretched arms, wonders, and powers. You see, our promised land is Jesus Christ and His Word – Bible. This is where God brought us by His wonderful work of the Holy Spirit in us when we were born again by believing in Christ as our savior. Jesus Christ is the incarnate Word of God (John 1:1) and the Bible is the written word of God (2 Timothy 3:16). We need both in our valleys and this is our promised land. When Abraham went down to Egypt he had to say lie about his wife Sarah and faced with the severe danger of losing her. When God’s people leave the promised land, it is referred as “going down” in the Bible and never described as “going up”. Going down to estrangement, enslavement, and mistreatment. Due to famine Bible says Elimelech, his wife, and two sons left the promised land and went to Moab. What a severe consequences they had to pay? Not only Elimelech died, but both of his sons also died there. Noami had to return with Ruth (her daughter in law) weeping and crying to the promised land.

Bible records what Boaz said to Ruth when she reached the promised land along with her mother in law. He said, “You will listen, my daughter, will you not? Do not go to glean in another field, nor go from here, but stay close with my young women. Let your eyes be on the field which they reap, and go after them. Have I not commanded the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn.” Ruth 2:8-9. Did you notice he said to Ruth, “do not go to glean in another field, nor go from here?” Naomi and Ruth are back to safety now in the promised land in Bethlehem, when they returned back to the promised land!
I have seen many times this sad event-believers leaving their loving Lord, His church and God’s people when some serious valley experiences struck their life. They won’t go to church or associate with God’s people anymore. They say that is enough. I don’t need Christ and church anymore. Dear one, the valley experiences should never allow us to leave our loving Lord, stop going to church and fellowshipping with other God’s children. In fact, instead of valleys driving us out of church and Christ, it should drive us closer and nearer to Christ and make us attending church more frequently than ever before. This is what David is saying here in this psalm- Dwell in the land and never leave your promised land of blessing – Jesus Christ, Word of God and Church in your valleys.

Feed on His faithfulness

As you stay in the promised land, David advises all of us to feed on God’s faithfulness. In the valley, David thought about God’s faithfulness to him many times in the past. This is what we would do as well. Feed on the manifold faithfulness God did in your life in the past. The times in the past God came through and delivered you out from your tough times. In Isaiah 46:9, God says, “Remember the things I have done in the past, For I am God; I am God and there is none like Me.” God gets your attention in valley times. You think why this happened to me? Why not others? etc. Valley is supposed to be a time for deep pondering. Valley is time for reading the Bible and praying more. Let you be alone with God and His eternal word – the Bible. Let God talk to you and you listen to Him patiently regarding what route He is going to take you next. The detours are not always bad. Ponder, think and remember God has done for you in the past. Feed on His faithfulness. There are several incidents to feed.
As humans, we think about food and drink every day at least two or three times. But God has his own heavenly food and drinks to feed us, especially in our valleys. Jesus said to the Samaritan women, “but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” She had an unstable and dangerous life experiences with five men. Those relationships made her more thirsty only and never satisfied her. But she can get the heavenly drink in the midst of her miserable life. Jesus offered to her so that she would never thirst again for worldly happiness in wrong relationships.
Jesus said this to Devil when He was tempted by Devil, “it is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”
My friend, do you know you can live by the heavenly bread in your valley times? Deuteronomy 8:3 Bible says, “He (God) humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.”
We will learn this wonderful truth only in our valley times. Bible says God humbles you, cause you to hunger and then He will feed you with supernatural bread that you or your ancestors had not known. Why? To teach you that man does not live by bread alone. A valuable lesson that we will not learn anywhere else. Jesus quoted this verse from Deuteronomy when He was tempted by the Devil to distrust God’s provisions.
In valley time, make sure you feed on God’s faithfulness- the drink and heavenly bread that He provides. See, in your valley times, there are several attractive worldly feeding places that offer you help and comfort. Don’t be deceived! Such places will only take you to destruction and despair. Make a strong commitment and discipline that you will not go to worldly feeding places to fill the gas for your daily strength and happiness. Makes sure you feed on God’s faithfulness, provisions, drink and heavenly bread. Where will you get this? In the Bible, in and through the indwelling Holy Spirit inside you and from the counsel of God’s children. The Lord will feed you and you make sure you are fed properly. Stay focused on Bible, Christ and true God’s people during your trail times. You will be tempted to leave Christ and Church. Remember if you do, it is only a path of going down to enslavement and danger always. It will never be a path of going up. Going down, down and down again will be the ultimate result. Avoid a trip to Egypt like Abraham and avoid a journey to Moab like Elimelech did.
Stay in the promised land which is Jesus Christ, Bible, and Church. Secondly, feed continuously on God’s faithfulness and allow yourself to be fed by the Bible, Christ, Holy Spirit and God’s true children. This is our promised land and feed on these sources.

If you have never accepted Christ as your savior, Please read this. Christ died for all your sins on the cross and He paid for all your sins so that you can re-establish your friendship and fellowship with God now with a small prayer. Pray after me.

Prayer time: “God, I come to you in prayer. I believe Jesus Christ died for my sins, buried and risen from the dead for saving me. I understand I am in a severe valley time. I need your help. I admit I am a sinner and repent about my sins and turn to you now. I accept Jesus Christ as my savior. Thank you for saving me. Amen.”

If you prayed this prayer, I say on the authority of the Bible that your sins are forgiven and you are now a child of God. Dwell in the promised land of God and His love. Feed on the Bible and you will see how in the coming days how God will turn around your lives for your good and His glory. Please start attending a Bible teaching and preaching church soon. They are there to help you.

Please go to contact/prayer menu and send me a note. Thank you.

How to turn your valley experiences into brand new mountaintop visions?

“Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass”. Psalms 37:3-5

Everyone will face valley experiences and it may or may not last long.

This is one of my favorite chapter in the Bible. David says in verse 25 “I was young and now I am old.” There is a lot of wisdom in this psalm to apply in our spiritual lives. He reflects his valley and bitter experiences of life. There were quite a lot of them in David’s life.  He learned very good lessons out of his valley experience and he is sharing this wisdom with us in this Psalm. You see, nobody like valley experiences. But you can’t escape from valley experiences and few of them could be really darkest valleys.
Now, David’s life experience teaches us one lesson more clearly if nothing else and that is this -there is no exception for God’s children because they will also go through the same valley experiences like other people.
But David’s life experience and his writings and many other Bible accounts also shows another valuable lesson – valley and bitter experiences may not last long for a child of God because God is at work when his children go through the valley and bitter experiences. In David’s and Joseph’s life, valley was there for a pretty long time. Some other God’s children’s life that I am aware of  valley and bad experiences were there for an extended period of time.
He says, “Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong. For like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away.” Didn’t David face with evil and envious people in his life? Oh sure, he faced many of them. However, the most important among them was King Saul and his armies.

Valley experiences offer critical choices.

For a person who does not sincerely seek God in the valley experience, it is a dangerous place to be in. Even many good people, who are faced with bitter valley experiences got stuck there in the valley never to come out. Unfortunately, they make a permanent dwelling place right there in the valley. Instead of running toward God, they run away from God. Many lost visions, discouraged and depressed because they lost sight right in their valleys. They think their life is gone because someone betrayed them, cheated them or make them fall down. I can talk about it because I have been there, done it and bought my t-shirt.  On the other side, the Christians who are supposed to be the hands and feets of the Christ seems lacking the grace of the Lord to come along and help the one who is bleeding through the valley experiences. Remember the good Samaritan story Jesus said in Luke 10:25-37. Immature and Pharisee minded Christians can make the whole situation worse to make the afflicted person ran away from Church and God. The time of affliction or the severe valley time is when we should run toward God and church and church should be ready for the task of good Samaritan work. This is the high calling of God on the New Testament church.
Child of God, be assured of this fact, you may be facing evil and envious people in your life. You may be going through the most stressful valley experience currently in your life. Your valley and bitter experience may have been caused by other people or self-inflicted. David had both in his life. It doesn’t matter other people caused or self-caused, your response in your valley experience makes all the difference for you. Why? Remember God is in control and He is there to help you to get out of valley. However, you can sit in agony and pity over the past and continue brooding over the wounds and get depressed and stay away from God and Church, fearing the judgment of people. Or you can go to church more, read Bible and pray more and get closer to God and trust His character and and move with Him. You determine what you would do in your valley.

Valley experiences can prepare you for a brand new mountaintop vision and assignment.

I will bring to your attention seven points from the above passage so that you can face your valley experiences and come out of it victoriously with a brand vision and assignment for the Lord. I will touch base with only one point in this article.

1. Trust in the Lord.

You see, you are called by God and you are His child if you already accepted Christ as your savior. Remember the song ‘blessed assurance Jesus is mine’! In your valley experience trust in the character of God. Did God leave you anytime in the past? No. He never did. Did you leave Him in the past? Probably yes. Remind this truth -God’s character is not like people’s character. People say something and change their words and attitudes. But not God. You can fully trust the character of God. He will be right there in the midst of your problems and mess and will help you through it. God’s character is your fortress and strength. No matter what, the Lord assured you in Hebrews 13:5, “For He has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you.” The CJB (Complete Jewish Bible) says, “I will never fail you or abandon you. There, you can with confidence, “Adonai is my helper; I will not be afraid —what can a human being do to me?”.
Isaiah 41:9-10, “I took you from the ends of the earth,
from its farthest corners I called you.
I said, ‘You are my servant’;
I have chosen you and have not rejected you.
So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Listen! who called you? The Lord says He called you. He is your owner. He owns you. Bible says in 1 Corinthians 6:19 that God owns you. “You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies.” Who chose you? The Lord says He chose you. Romans 8:28-29 says God predestined you, chose you and called you and he is committed to justify you and glorify you. God promised He will complete the work he started in you. He will carry on His work in you until the day of Jesus. (Philippians 1:6). Then He says, do not fear. Why? “For I am with you”. Did you read the beautiful and loving verse at the end of passage? “I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” No matter what you are going through- Mark it- The Lord will uphold you with His righteous right hand.
Jesus said,” And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20). Did you notice the small word “surely”? So the first thing you will need to remember when you go through the valley and bitter experience is this- Trust the character of God. In your valley time, you are already bruised and broken. Do you know what Bible says about the character of God in Isaiah 42:3? It says, “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.”

Valley experiences are preparation time for a new vision from God.

Remember valley time is the preparation time. There you will learn very valuable lessons you won’t learn otherwise. God allows you to go through such valley experiences so that when you come out of it you will be stronger, efficient and the Lord will have a brand new vision for His future ministry and work. Psalm 119:71 says, “It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.” In other words, when you come out of your valley experience, you would say it was good for me to be in the valley because I learned a lot about His words and decrees. You would say, It was not my hand and it was His hand who carried me through. Valley coaches us and prepares us for the next big task God has in store for you. Reflect, it was from the valley experiences that David was able to write the Psalms that touch and heals the hearts of multitudes of people today. It was the valley experiences of Moses that groomed him into a meek leader and visionary for the nation Israel. It was valley experiences of Joseph that helped him see God’s hand all over his life (Genesis 50:20). He didn’t know his life purpose when he was in the valley. But when he came out of it He understood God’s purpose for his life. He says to his brothers, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”
Bible asks this question who or what shall separate us from the love of Christ? Romans 8:24(b). You see, nothing can separate you from the love of Christ. You love and my love would change over the time. But the passage affirms nothing will separate us from the love of Christ. Jesus love is that strong. Then Romans 8:39 says who or what will separate us from the love of God? You see, the Father and Son are fully committed to their unconditional love toward you. The third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit also loves you. How do I know? He is my comforter, advocate, counselor. He is my guide and He never leaves me- the permanent indwelling work of the Holy Spirit. He is the caretaker and custodian who will sanctify me on an ongoing basis until I reach heaven. The triune God loves you. You can fully trust in the His character with no doubt anymore.
Do you know it was the valley experience of Peter that made him stronger and courageous later to stand in front of a multitude of people to preach courageously and strengthen his brothers (Acts 2)? In fact, Jesus foretold him about Peter’s valley experience and what would be the result of it in Luke 22:31-33.
“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” But he replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.” Though Peter said he would go with Jesus to prison and to death, he couldn’t even stand in front of servant girls and other men when they testified about him as one of Christ’s disciples. Bible says in Matthew 26:74, “Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!”Oh, this was a definitely a very tragic and heart-breaking valley in Peter’s life.
What is the character of Jesus who called and chose Peter? There was a purpose for Peter’s severe valley experiences. What was that? Jesus said, “when you turned back, strengthen your brothers”. Peter’s valley experience was really painful and hurtful to him. He felt severely bad about it. He couldn’t face Jesus any more humanly speaking. He went outside and wept bitterly. In his hopeless condition, he wanted to go back to his old fishing career. But Jesus love won’t let him go back to his old trade. Jesus pursued him to the beach where he was catching fish and reminded and restored him to a new assignment and empowered him to strengthen his brothers. This was Peter’s calling – strengthening his own brothers and feeding Christ’s sheeps . He ministered mainly to Jewish believers while Paul reached out to the Gentiles with his unique calling for that mission.
Don’t say loving Lord doesn’t have nothing in store in your valley and bitter experiences. Your valley experiences are the precious time and season God would use for His purpose in the near future if you would allow Him and trust His good heart. You will be uniquely coined and stamped for new vision and assignment.
Trust in the character of the Lord when you go through valley experiences. Bible says in Psalms 23 says, “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”
Are you walking through the darkest valley? Trust the character of God. Focus your attention on Him. Fix your eyes on Christ. People may leave you, say bad things about you. Don’t trust in the character of people. But trust fully the character of the Lord. He is with you, he comforts you. He will prepare a table right before your enemies who talked and rumored against you, He will anoint you with oil again. Your cup will overflow again and finally, you will dwell in His house forever and ever. Amen.

My friend, if you are facing a deep valley experience, understand you can turn your valley in to a mountaintop experience with the help of the living God. If you never connected to God who loves you and deeply committed for your good and safe future, you must know God gave His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ,  for the forgivness of your sins so that you can become a child of God and live with Him eternally in heaven. Christ died for you, he was buried and resurrected by the power of God to pay for you sins.

In a simple prayer, you can become a child of God now. Turn to God now. He will deliver and give you a brand new vision and purpose for your life. Pray after me like this.

God, I know I cannot handle the issue I am  facing now. I need your help and I trust in your character and promise. I want to get connected to you. I believe Christ died for my sins, buried and risen from the death for me. Please come to my life and save me. In Jesus Christ’s name I pray.

If you prayed this prayer, I have the privilege to welcome you first to God’s family. I am excited to hear from you. Please go to contact/prayer tab and send me a note. Thankyou for doing this.

 

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