Psalm 15- Characteristics of the Godly.

Psalm 15

1 God, who gets invited to dinner at your place? How do we get on your guest list?

² “Walk straight,  act right, tell the truth.

^3-4 “Don’t hurt your friend,  don’t blame your neighbor; despise the   

     despicable.

⁵ “Keep your word even when it costs you, make an honest living,
     never take a bribe.

“You’ll never get blacklisted if you live like this.”

The above is from the message translation. Now let us look at the King James version.

¹ Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain?

² The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the        
   truth from their heart;
³ whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur    on others;
⁴ who despises a vile person  but honors those who fear the Lord;
who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind;
⁵ who lends money to the poor without interest; who does not accept a bribe against the innocent.  Whoever does these things will never be shaken.

As I was reading this portion of the Bible yesterday. I realised that this is a very simple instruction set being given to us by David to follow. My Open Bible describes  Psalm 15 as Characteristics of the Godly.

 I was at a cross roads of thinking about the past life and the new future in store and how to improve myself when I just got this very SIMPLE INSTRUCTION from God.

 Many a time it is DIFFICULT to follow the simple things, while we enjoy and get around doing the COMPLEX things. Think about it. The simple things we generally tend to keep aside but work hard on the complex things. Look back into our life and this is what we generally do. 

Let us learn to do simple things.

What does this portion of the scripture tell us to do?

Vs. 2 “Walk straight, act right, tell the truth.

 A   Walk straight –Many references in the bible leads us to the path of the ungodly. The places we go to should be leading us toward Christ. Are our Socialising friends leading us to a sinful life? Are our Habits leading us to a sinful life? 

  B    Act Right. Always do the correct things only. Many a story tells us of standing up for our values and truths. We see a lot of acts of injustice around us do we stand up for it or we also be part of the crowd of onlookers?

  C    Tell the Truth.  When I was small I always used to hide a lot of things and tell lies. But invariably I would get caught in my lies. That uncanny feeling of telling a lie and getting away does not help. Today we are in a world full of lies. Everyone around us lies to some extent. How do we as a Christian differentiate ourselves from this?

Vs. 3-4  Don’t hurt your friend,  don’t blame your neighbor; despise the despicable.

D  Don’t hurt your friend

   Your neighbour is referred here, I would classify it as a friend, relative, anyone whom we have been in touch with. How do we hurt them- through our words and actions? We should follow the example of Christ in this. Today’s world is talking about revenge at all stages. Right from School, we even prod our children to do it. That is why our society is becoming so violent and full of vengeance. Any small altercation and people are ready to kill each other.

Vs. 5  Keep your word even when it costs you, make an honest living,
never take a bribe

 E  Keeping our word and Honesty

 The Bible tells us to keep our commitments. Do not do anything dishonest. Today the world is full of corrupt people. I recently met a young man of around 35 years who quit a high paying government job because the job process that he was in was not a clean environment. Bribery was the rule. Today he is a successful entrepreneur. Money gained through dishonest means will also go away very rapidly.

These are five simple things to follow. How many of us can do this from today. Small corrections can help us to achieve great milestones.

God bless you.

Abba Father, Help us to live our lives worthy and pleasing to you. Keep us Father safe in your loving care. Give us the strength needed to follow these simple instructions you have given us .Help us when we feel let down by others, Guide our paths in your ways. We look forward to your blessing in to our lives this day.

We ask all this in the mighty name of our Lord Jesus Christ. AMEN

What should we do to Possess the Promised land?

What should we do to Possess the Promised land?

Deuteronomy 10:11-13 And the Lord said unto me, Arise, take thy journey before the people, that they may go in and possess the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give unto them.   12 And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, 13 To keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?

The Book of Deuteronomy is a very interesting book that I love to read. In it I find a lot of promises which are very practical and relevant today also. The book is the 5^th book of the Torah and is the more of teaching given by Moses to the Israelites before they enter the Promised Land.

Are we ready to enter our Promised Land? What is our Promised Land? These are the questions that will be in your mind. I urge you to pray to God to reveal His purposes and plans for your life.  But there are some basic guidelines before we do it.

In Chapter 9 Moses talks about the Sin of the people and why they should not depend on their own righteousness.  This is highlighted a number of times in chapter 9. In chapter 10 Moses talks about how God has reconciled to the people in the wilderness. Now he is talking about five basic things that the people must do before they enter the Promised Land. What does the Lord require of thee, is how vs 12 starts.

1 Fear the Lord thy God. – By fear it is now like we talk about fear today. In this context it means acknowledging the power of God in your Life. Accept the authority of God. Accept his majesty in our life. Dread his wrath. In our day to day works can we be in the Fear of God.

2 Walk in all His ways. -  Walk in the ways he has appointed us. Live like God would have lived.  I recently heard about an incident. A murderer who had finished his jail term comes to a Preacher and asks is he could be part of his Church. The preacher welcomed him whole heartedly. Then the murderer confessed that he was the one who has killed the Preacher’s son. The preacher lovingly replied, I had forgiven you long back. Now you are welcome to attend my church.  This is an extreme case but even then the preacher lived like Jesus would have.  In each of our transactions can we live like this? Walk in ways that Jesus has shown us.

3 Love the Lord - Do we love our Lord to the core or are we namesake followers of Christ.  Can we love Him more than we love our earthly father/ mother? He will encompass us with His abundant love.

4 Serve the Lord with all thy might and soul - We must devote ourselves to His honour. We must live our lives to enhance His kingdom. Be it in our workplaces, our homes, our conversations in short in all our deeds and actions. 

5 Keep the Commandments - The Old Testament commandments were to make the people know that without His grace we cannot live by the law. Once Jesus came to the earth and was beaten, crucified, buried and resurrected for our sins, this Mosaic Law of the Ten Commandments is over. Now we need to be under the new Covenant. 

The above are very easy to follow. In our daily walks of life we need to be walking talking living Christ like lives in this earth. Be a blessing for the family, Community around us and to the people that come into touch with us.

        

               May the grace of the Lord and the love of Jesus Christ bless you and your family. May He grant you knowledge and wisdom to understand His purpose in your life. May Jesus guide you to your promised land. Amen

The Lord will make PERFECT that which concerns me.

         Psalm 138 : 8   The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.

     Psalm 138 is mainly a song of thanksgiving. Whatever it is that David went through, he has come out of it and now wants to Praise and Worship God. “With my whole heart I will sing praise to thee” is how he starts this song. Before the “gods”. Before all the people of the world.

   How many times in our life do we thank God, or Praise God? In this world today we are hearing only about a lot of negative things, be in the gun culture of USA, or the natural calamities that occur around the globe. Closer home in India, we see violence and strife on a daily basis. I dread to open the 2^nd page of the newspaper now a days, as many a time it talks of horrific murders. The alarming fact is that the age of the masterminds who plan this is coming down and it is not only men today women also are equally in the race.

  Inspite of all this we are safe in God’s Arms, He will answer when we cry out and He will strengthen our soul. (vs 3).  We also need to learn to praise God similarly. He regards even the lowly too. In the time of crisis God has helped David and now he is Praising God from the bottom of his heart.

  Verse 8 talks that God will perfect all that concerns me. He has put us in this world for a beautiful purpose to be accomplished and He will Perfect it. Only we need to wait on the Lord with patience.

  Perfect. - How can you describe this? I remember a story of a sculptor carving an image on a stone. Right next to him was a finished piece of the deity that he was carving. A passer-by who was observing this asked the sculptor what happened to the first one, there does not seem to be any defect in it. To which he replied saying that there is a line on the nose. The passer-by asked him where this is going to be placed. The Sculptor pointed out a high tower on which this was going to be placed at the top. This intrigued the passer-by and he said so what no one will see it. The answer from the sculptor was, yes no one will see it but I know that there is a defect in it and it will hurt me.

Our God makes us PERFECT, Be it in the place we are in, the work we are doing, our relationships, our family, it will all be PERFECT.  He will not Forsake the work of HIS Hands, 

 He will not forsake us. What a beautiful promise. Can we praise God each moment of our lives, even for the very small things in our life that might seem insignificant but in His plans it is all big. As vs 7 says though we walk in the middle of difficulties He will Revive us. What a joy. What a blessing for this promise.

Thank God for whatever we have, Thank God for our family. Thank God for our Job or Professions. Thank God for the food we have. 

Oh give thanks to the Lord for His Love will never end

What is your purpose in life?

What is your purpose in life?

Psalms 139: 13   For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb. 14 I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Why are we made in this world?

What is our purpose in life?

Why are we facing problems in our life? 

Have we found the reason for our lives?

Why is my life like this? Others seems to be better off?

Are these the questions that are running in your mind?

These were running through my mind too until I stumbled on the above verse. The above verse gives us proof that GOD knew us before we were born.  We have been woven together. Intricately designed.  We were woven together in our mothers womb. Even before that God knew us and knew why He wanted us to be in this world.

Have we really thought about this – being intricately designed?  When we see a beautiful art work, or paper craft, or any craft we say WOW that is beautiful. But we do not say that to ourselves.

He knows us so beautifully. We were created with a purpose. God has chosen the best for us. We need to acknowledge that every day and say thank you to God our father and proceed with the day.

Once we are able to do this faithfully from the bottom of our heart, we will see that we have wonderful day every day.

We are fearfully and wonderfully made. We need to have reverence to the God who so wonderfully made us. We should not compare ourselves to anyone else. Each of us are unique .Each of us have a mission to accomplish.Each of us were brought to this world for a beautiful life. 

Thanks to technology today we can see how we are formed in our mother's womb.If you can see some Youtube videos, we will reliaze how an egg and a sperm together form and then we are Woven. In 25 days our heart chamber forms, In 32 days our hands and legs start developing. Look through this video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqpmzEefWrk.  Enjoy the process of Creation.

I remember a real incident. There was a bachelor boy of marriageable age. He did not want to get married due to a certain health challenge. His parents finally convinced him. After his wedding he did not want to have a child. They agreed but unfortunately she became pregnant. Just two days after his son was born his condition became very critical and he passed away. His purpose in life was to help bring that son to the earth. Even if we try to stop, we cannot stop God’s Wonderful plan for us.

Let us reflect into our lives and understand our purpose in life. Look to Jesus and he will help you to find our way forward. He is Master , Saviour and our King. Let Him be the king in our lives.

Dear Loving Father Thank you Lord for making us who we are. We thank you that you will help us to know our purpose in life... We thank you because you have a great and wonderful plan for us. Help us to make our goals in line with your purpose in our lives. Amen

How do we fall into Sin?

                                                 How do we fall into Sin?

Genesis 3: 6     And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

 This is the story of the first Sin committed by Man in the Garden of Eden. The sequence of these events is very critical in our day to day life.

1. The woman saw that the tree was good… And it was pleasant to the eyes.

      The world around us is showing us things which will tempt us to fall to sin. Lustful posters on the walls, Magazines, why even the advertisements, internet. It need not only be this. For some it could be greed of money, power. All this is being glorified through the media that we can SEE around us. 

       B   She took of the fruit thereof

      The second thing that happened is she took it or she touched it.  When we see something or we desire it we tend to touch it. A small child is a beautiful example of this. Consider taking you child who is around 4-5 years old to a mall or big shop. The child will like a nice colorful toy.  At this stage we can take the child and move to another area of the shop.   But in case we do not do that then the child will either walk towards what he/ she likes and will initially just look but slowly the hand would like to touch it. Some children are funny when they do this. They touch and immediately take their hands off and then touch it back again slowly. Then they just pick it up and come to the parents. Many of us parents easily know that it is very difficult to take this out of the child’s hand once they have it.

What I am trying to tell you is also similar.  Many of us who fall for lust for the opposite sex continue to do so after the touch portion.

     C. And did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

The third thing that happened is she ate it or she consumed it.  The final trap of sin is when we get to enjoy the sin part. It could be stealing money and then buying things that we desire. A thief get a high when he is enjoying the fruit of what he has stolen. (Till the point he is caught at it). 

     Life outside the Christ centered world is like this. We have all studied about plants that are carnivorus.The Venus fly trap is a classic example. It is beautiful to see from afar. Once an insect is attracted to its beautiful colour and come near and probably sits on the edge of it. It is tempted to go it and once inside then the trap doors shut on the insect. 

      Sin is similar. Once we are attracted to it by the sight and touch then we are trapped in it for ever. Only by His Abounding Grave are we saved.  Submit yourself to the LORD. Ask HIM to help you because he was tempted also in every way while on the earth. But He did not SIN. Only He can set us free my friend. God has a beautiful plan for each of us. Only we need to submit to Him and allow Him to enter our lives. 

 May HIS GRACE fill your heart today and May His Love be around you to help you in your fellowship with our Loving God.