Power of Suffering Podcast

I have added 2 new episodes to Podcast - Power of Suffering 1 & 2
This is one of my favorite topics. In this I have tried to share about things like:

• Why we suffer
• Source of suffering
• Reasons for suffering
• Purpose of suffering

What should be our reaction when we go through suffering etc
I hope this study will be helpful for all my brothers & sisters in Christ who are going through some sort of suffering in their life.

The Links are:-
Part 1 MP3 :- http://www.gospel-link.com/podcast/GLMEpisode11.mp3
Part 2 MP3 :- http://www.gospel-link.com/podcast/GLMEpisode12.mp3
Pdf :- http://www.gospel-link.com/uploads/Power_of_Suffering.pdf
PPS :- http://www.gospel-link.com/uploads/Power_of_Suffering.pps
PPT :- http://www.gospel-link.com/uploads/Power_of_Suffering.ppt

May God Bless You!

Challenges with Gifts of Holy Spirit 2

Last Friday I took the 2nd part Challenges with Gifts of Holy Spirit in my Church. Towards the end God Challenged us through the Like of Priscilla and Aquila. Some people asked me for the power point so that they can take printout. So here is the link to all files. Use PDF files for taking print out.
If you want the pps and pdf of part 1 then you can read my previous blog entry regarding it at http://gospel-link.com/blog/?p=37

The PDF file of the Presentation for you to take print out is at http://www.gospel-link.com/uploads/CM-Gifts_of_Holy_Spirit_2.pdf

The Power Point Show(pps) is at http://www.gospel-link.com/uploads/CM-Gifts_of_Holy_Spirit_2.pps

And Power Point Presentation is at http://www.gospel-link.com/uploads/CM-Gifts_of_Holy_Spirit_2.ppt

I will give you the audio link for this Bible study very soon. The MP3 audio Link for Part 1 is http://media.blcmn.org/audio/70928F.mp3

Feel free to to use these materials for your personal study as well as th teach others.

May God Bless You!

Godly Generation 10 - They will manifest God’s Power in this World

We have reached the 10th message in this series. In this I want to share with you something very important and it is so much missing today in the churches. Before that let me tell you about a person.

By profession he was a fisherman. He had lot of failures in his life. He also did some blunders which no one else has done. He would speak out and jump to something without thinking much. He became a disciple of Jesus. He was the first person to confess Jesus as messiah. He boasted and said he will never fall away. Once he even walked on water along with Jesus. He was one of the disciples in the inner circle of Jesus. But on the night in which Jesus was arrested he denied him three times. Yes I am talking about Peter.

Now let me tell you of one more people. Can you think of Paul? He wanted to destroy church. He did lot of harm to church. But ultimately he also came to Jesus and accepted him. Now Peter and Paul were ordinary people. But the things they did in this world were extra ordinary. That’s what I want to share with you.

After receiving the anointing of Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost Peter did certain things. Lets me list it he:-

• Peter Preached and 3000 people were added to church (Acts 2)
• Peter Healed the Crippled Beggar (Acts 3)
• Peter and John were delivered from Jail by an angel (Acts 4)
• “..People brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits, and all of them were healed. (Act.5:15-16)
• The Paralytic Aeneas was healed
• Resurrects Dorcas-Tabitha from dead.
• Causes the death of Ananias and Sapphira
• Again escaped from Prison and Angel came to rescue him.
• Holy Spirit came upon people when he was preaching they spoke in tongues and prophesied.

Those were few things which Peter did. Now let’s see about Paul.

• Struck Elymas (Bar-Jesus) with blindness, Acts 13
• Healed a cripple, Acts 14
• Casted out an evil spirit, Acts 16
• Paul and Silas were delivered from jail, Acts 16
• Paul cured sick people, even touching his handkerchiefs healed people, Acts 19
• Paul Raised Eutychius to life from death, Acts 20
• Paul Shook a viper off his hand and was unharmed, Acts 28
• Paul healed the father of Publius of Dysentery, Acts 28
• Paul healed the sick of Malta, Acts 28
• Paul wrote about 13-14 Epistles of New Testament
• Established churches in many places

If I keep on writing the list will go on. But what was the difference. They had the anointing and power of God in their life. The supernatural gifts of God were operational in their life. Holy Spirit was working in their life. God’s power was manifested in their life.

Do you have a desire to be an instrument in the hands of God for him to manifest his power in this world? Have you ever prayed that God should give you the anointing to cast out demons, heal the sick and to do miracles in the name of Jesus? Jesus said that anyone who has faith in Him will do what He has been doing and He will do even greater things than these, because He was going to the Father (John 14:12). Do you simply believe this? Can you pray for greater things from God?

Remember that People who belong to a Godly Generation will manifest God’s power in this world through their life. They will sit in God’s presence and receive from God and go out. They will preach the Gospel, heal the sick, cast out demons, do miracles and move in the anointing and the power of the Holy Spirit.

May God Bless You!

Godly Generation 9 - There Life will be an Example for Others to Follow

We have come to one of the most important message for the series. Before writing anything let me put few verses here. Let see what Paul, when writing to his spiritual son Timothy had to say to him.

1 Tim. 4:12-16 “Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity. Until I get there, focus on reading the Scriptures to the church, encouraging the believers, and teaching them. Do not neglect the spiritual gift you received through the prophecy spoken over you when the elders of the church laid their hands on you. Give your complete attention to these matters. Throw yourself into your tasks so that everyone will see your progress. Keep a close watch on how you live and on your teaching. Stay true to what is right for the sake of your own salvation and the salvation of those who hear you.”

Paul had something really serious to tell Timothy. Timothy has to set an example to all believers in

• What he say
• The way he live
• In love
• In Faith
• In purity

Also he was asked to keep close watch on his life and his doctrine or teaching.

One of the biggest needs of the church today is people who will set an example for others to follow. One thing I always see is that people who are leaders or who do anything in the church or who are seen in front always influence other people. Sometimes it’s positive and some times its negative. I have seen people who when they came to the church for the first time are different. They look at people around them. But after 2-3 weeks I have seen that they become like others. The danger with this is that sometimes people also leave the good things they have and sometimes they take up bad things from others. If people are influenced for better then that’s really good. We should always make sure that we are influenced by the good things of other people and not by anything that is not beneficial.

That’s gives a call for us to move from what is permissible to what is beneficial. We have to take off things from our life that may badly influence others. We have to add on things to our life that with influence others in a positive manner.

We have to examine our life every day and ask God to show things that He wants us to add as well as delete from our life. Then only we can become an example for others to follow. Let no one despise our youth. Set an example before others. In 1 Cor. 11:1 Paul says, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” I few have to say to anybody to follow our example then we will have to follow the example of Christ.

So we will have a set an example before others in everything we do. To do this we will have to follow the example of Jesus Christ.

Remember that People who belong to a Godly Generation set an example for others to follow. They will set an example to all believers in what they say, in the way they live, in love, faith and purity. They will closely watch how they live and watch their teaching or doctrine so that others can follow and being influenced in a positive manner.

May God Bless You!

Godly Generation 8 - They will maintain Integrity & will bring Glory to their God in foreign Land

Most of the people for whom I am writing this message live in a foreign country. Hence I am excited to write this message more than any other because we can relate with this message very easily. Even if you are living in your own country then still you are foreigners in this world. It says in Philippians 3:20 that Our Citizenship is in heaven and we are waiting a savior- Jesus Christ. We all have to go from here.

I want to share few things from the life of Daniel and his friends. Since most of you know the story I don’t want to write too much details but few lessons we learn from them. Daniel and his friends where taken to Babylon as captives. At that time they were very young. They could have easily adopted the culture prevailing in Babylon at that time. Sometimes this is what we see when young people go to a foreign country. But that was not the case with Daniel and his friends. They were given new names there.

They decided that they would not defile themselves with eating anything other than what was permitted according to the law of God. They were offered but they refused to eat. They were bold enough to use the spiritual gifts they had in a foreign land. They were confident about their God. That’s the reason why Daniel was bold enough to say to the king what God reveled to them. Many times God revels things to us but we are not bold enough to say it. The reason is that either we are not sure or are not confident about God.

Another thing we see is that they were asked to bow down before an idol and they didn’t do it. The result was 3 young men were put in burning furnace. But they came out victorious out of it. Daniel was put in lions den but he came out of it unharmed. He didn’t stop his prayer or style of prayer when he could have easily done it and escaped. They maintained their integrity in every situation.

So what was the result of all this. King gave new title to the three men-Servants of Most High God. King said, “They were willing to die rather than serve or worship any other God.” Daniel’s enemies tried their best to find a fault with him. But they couldn’t find anything in regard to his conduct and in the way he was doing his job. They could only catch him in regard to his Integrity in serving God. But there also Daniel came out victorious and afterwards King issued a decree that all people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel.

So what happened with Daniel and his friends? Let me summarize it here.

• Their Language was changed but their Loyalty didn’t change.
• Their Names were changed but their Nature didn’t change.
• Their Food was changed but their Faith didn’t change.
• Their Culture & Country were changed but their Convictions didn’t change.
• Their Societies Lifestyle changed but their Godly Lifestyle didn’t change

So what was the benefit of these young men following God? They were blessed and they got promotion in their job. They became big officials in that land. But more than all these what encourages me most is the fact that they maintained their integrity and the King issued a decree that all people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel. What a blessed thing it is to revel God’s glory through your life in a foreign land.

Remember that People who belong to a Godly Generation will maintain Integrity and will bring Glory to their God in foreign Land. They will disobey everyone who asks them to disobey their God. They will stand firm in their decisions and by faith will see things against the law of nature happening. They will not have any spiritual pride or spiritual head weight. They will not compromise but will follow their God in all circumstances. They will use spiritual Gifts and bring glory to their God.

May God Bless You!

Godly Generation 7 -They will Reject Wickedness and hear God’s voice

Samuel was an answer to a mother’s cry for years. Hannah cried in God’s presence for a child and Samuel was an answer to her cry. He was dedicated for God’s service by his mother. At a very young age he was left with the priest Eli in the temple of God. Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli the priest.

Eli’s sons were wicked men; they had no regard for the LORD. Now it was the practice of the priests with the people that whenever anyone offered a sacrifice and while the meat was being boiled, the servant of the priest would come with a three-pronged fork in his hand. He would plunge it into the pan or kettle or caldron or pot, and the priest would take for himself whatever the fork brought up. This is how they treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh. But even before the fat was burned, the servant of the priest would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give the priest some meat to roast; he won’t accept boiled meat from you, but only raw.”

If the man said to him, “Let the fat be burned up first, and then take whatever you want,” the servant would then answer, “No, hand it over now; if you don’t, I’ll take it by force.” This sin of the young men was very great in the LORD’s sight, for they were treating the LORD’s offering with contempt. Also they committed adultery with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

But Samuel was ministering before the LORD -a boy wearing a linen ephod. In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions. Now we see that Samuel heard God’s voice.

Now this is what challenges me. Samuel and Eli’s sons were ministering in the same temple. I am sure that Samuel might have seen what they were doing. Samuel could have followed them because they were sons of Eli the priest. If I put in today’s term then they were Pastor’s sons. But Samuel’s decision was something else. He followed God rather than the sons of Eli.

See you will always have the challenge to follow the wickedness of so called spiritual people. But remember that you are called to follow Jesus and not any man. Bible should be your standard.

So then what happened afterwards? The LORD was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the LORD. The LORD continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word.

Other side the Philistines fought, and the Israelites were defeated and every man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great; Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers. The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

Remember that People who belong to a Godly Generation will hate wickedness and hear God’s voice. You have a choice to make. Whom will you follow? If you have your eyes fixed up on Jesus then you will hear God’s voice !

May God Bless You!

Godly Generation 5 -They will walk by Faith

The next lesson we will learn from the life of Abraham. There are too many things we can learn from his life. But I want to focus only on one area today.

Abraham is the father of all who believe or who have Faith. (Rom.4: 16)

Heb.11: 8-9 – “It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in tents.”

Heb.11: 17-19- “It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham, who had received God’s promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, even though God had told him, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.” Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again. And in a sense, Abraham did receive his son back from the dead.”

Abraham was born in Ur of the Chaldeans and Terah was his father. Their family was settled in Ur. He got married to Sarai (who later become Sarah) but they didn’t have any children. One day Terah told Abraham that we are going to the land of Canaan. His nephew Lot was also taken with them. But they stopped at Haran and got settled there. Terah died at Haran. Afterwards God asked Abraham to leave his native country, his relatives, and his father’s family, and go to the land that God will show him. Abraham departed as Lord instructed him. We know that later he inherited the land of Canaan.

One thing to be noted here is that even before God spoke to Abraham, Terah was going to Canaan. But he stopped at Haran. Why? May be he felt comfortable there or may be he got tired. When Terah started from Ur, I think his vision was to reach Canaan. But on the way he stopped and got settled in Haran.

One Lesson- do not stop before reaching where you are supposed to reach. Don’t get settled on the way. If you do then you will die on the way. Terah didn’t reach Canaan but died at Haran.

Now about Abraham we see that after God spoke to him he left Haran. Are we holding on to some Haran when God wants us to go to Canaan? It was a step of faith from Abraham. What step- leave his native country, his relatives, and his father’s family, and go to the land that God will show him. Do we have the faith to do same thing if God will ask us. That’s bringing a mission challenge. If God asks us to leave everything in this country and go to a land, which he tells then what will our response be? What if he asks us to leave everything and go back to our own country as a native missionary? Let’s answer this question to God. About Abraham it is said that “And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in tents.” Do we have a heart to do anything, which God will ask us to do, or are we trying to settle in Haran?

Now lets come to another incident in Abraham’s life. Many years later God gave him a son and later asked to sacrifice his son. Even though Isaac was not scarified but in Hebrews it says that “it was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him.” Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again.

I think like this- Abraham might have thought like this- “ Even if Isaac becomes ashes, I have faith that God will raise up my promises from ashes. Since God promised that “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” So I have faith that what God told me He would do.

I don’t want to write more. Let’s ask a question to ourselves- Do we have unconditional faith in God? Faith which is not based on our circumstances but which is based on the sovereignty of God.

Remember that People who belong to a Godly Generation will have unconditional Faith in their God. They will be willing to move, willing to leave things, willing to sacrifice & willing to obey God. They will have FAITH in God!

May God Bless You!

Godly Generation 4 -They will Please God & Walk in close Fellowship with God

Here we have another Person who can be called a person who belongs to a Godly generation. His name is Enoch.

Heb.11:5 - “By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.”

Gen.5:21-24 - “When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. And after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Enoch lived 365 years. Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.” (NIV)

In NLT its says – “When Enoch was 65 years old, he became the father of Methuselah. After the birth of Methuselah, Enoch lived in close fellowship with God for another 300 years, and he had other sons and daughters. Enoch lived 365 years, walking in close fellowship with God. Then one day he disappeared, because God took him.”

Now Enoch had an experience which no one else had in the history of mankind. Two things stand out in his account- He Pleased God & walked in close fellowship with God. He did not die but God took him away. I think that one day Enoch & God’s fellowship reached a point where God might have said to Enoch like this –“Come and stay with me. Let’s go to my house. I really enjoy the fellowship we have. Let me take you away from this world and we can talk and have fellowship whole day. So come up with me”. That’s my imagination but still I think that something similar to this might have happened.

Pleasing God and walking in close fellowship with him are two things which God always wanted from man. What was happening at Eden Garden? Every day God will come and have a time of fellowship with Adam & Eve. Then later God made friendship with Abraham. He used to share everything with Abraham. Jesus invited as to a close fellowship with him. In John 15:14-15, Jesus says that “You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”

Are we serious about it? What a friend we have in Jesus. Still we run after the friends of this world and try to please them at the expense of our friendship with Jesus. Ask yourself a sincere question right now- Who is your best and closest friend in life? If the answer is Jesus then great. If it’s someone else in this world then review your priorities. Never give space and place in your life to anyone more than what you have given to God. Friends of this world may forsake you but Jesus will never leave you. In times of weakness, sickness, pain, loss etc friends may forsake us but during these times friendship of Jesus becomes more real in our life.

Let’s lead a life completely pleasing in God’s site and in close fellowship with God.

Remember that People who belong to a Godly Generation will not please themselves and run after friends of this world but will Please God and walk in close fellowship with God. They will have a day to day experience of walking, talking, laughing, crying & sharing their heart with God!

May God Bless You!

Godly Generation 6 -They will refuse comforts and pleasure of this world to suffer for the sake of Christ

Another Person from Bible who teaches us some important principles is Moses. There are lots of things to learn from his life but here I would like to focus on one fact, which is important for people who belong to a Godly Generation.

Heb.11: 24-27- “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible.”

Moses was born at a time when all boys born in any Israeli families were killed or thrown in to Nile River. He survived when all other boys were killed. He was adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter and grew up in the palace. See God’s provision here. In the house of enemy (Pharaoh) who wanted to kill God prepared place for Moses. But things changed after Moses grew up. He had two options before him. First was to live like an Egyptian in Pharaoh’s palace and become a Pharaoh. He had all chance to become one. This reminds of people who go to foreign countries and try to act or become like people there. I have seen people who have forgotten their mother tongue after being in USA for 1-2 years. People who came from a village in India completely forget about it and try to behave and act as if they were born here. But Moses was not like that. The second option he had was to forsake everything and go out and suffer along with his Hebrew brothers. Because he selected the second option he had to run away from Egypt and stay away for about 40yrs.

It is written that by faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. One thing, which is strange in Moses case, is that he took a big risk and also a big decision.

He realized the call of his life and went ahead with it.

What was the end of Moses story? Let me write it in simple language. Moses had the burning bush experience where God spoke to him when he was about 80yrs old. Moses came back to Egypt. Took a big assignment upon himself. He did wonders and miracles in Egypt i.e. the land from where he had to run away many years ago. He led Israelites out of Egypt. He spoke with God face to face. He was the person through whom the 10 commandments came to this world. He got the privilege of leading God’s people for almost 40 yrs. He has some testimonies with no one else have in the history of mankind.

Now if Moses had chosen the first option then his story would have ended something like this- “Moses stayed in Pharaoh’s palace and later became a Pharaoh. Afterwards he died.”

God’s people always have to take a decision and chose something in their lives. Their end and their history will be on the basis of their choice or selection. Now the question is what will you choose?

There are lots of ways that you can choose. Some will lead to comforts and some will lead to hardship. Some will lead you to abundance and some to scarcity. Some will be easy but some will be tough.

Remember that People who belong to a Godly Generation will refuse comforts and pleasure of this world to suffer for the sake of Christ. They will chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. They will regard disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of this world, because they will be looking ahead to their reward. By faith they will leave the things of this world and persevere because they have seen him who is invisible.

May God Bless You!

Godly Generation 3 - They will Offer Best Sacrifice

Let me remind you another person in the Bible whom I think can be added in the list of people belonging to Godly Generation.

Heb. 11:4 –“By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.”

Now Abel was the second son born to Adam & Eve. By profession he was a shepherd. Cain was his brother. His life was short. Let’s examine what he did in his life. At harvest time both the brothers brought gifts to the Lord. Let’s see what Bible says about their sacrifices.

Gen.4:3-5 - “When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. Abel also brought a gift—the best of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift, but he did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected.”

People have different ideas about why God accepted Abel’s gift and rejected Cain’s. But I can see a very valid reason in those verses itself i.e. the best of the firstborn. Cain gave some of his crops but Abel gave the best of the firstborn.

Later we see that Cain took Abel to a field and attacked and killed him. The reason being that God accepted Abel’s sacrifice and rejected Cain’s. But we see that in Mathew 23:35 Jesus address it as the blood of righteous Abel. Also in Hebrews it says that “By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings.”

Are we giving the best to the Lord? What about our time, prayer, love, money, energy, gift etc. Are we giving Lord the Leftover or the best of the firstborn?

Remember People who belong to a Godly Generation will not give leftover things to God but will give the best. They will have God as the priority in their life. They will offer the best sacrifice.

May God Bless You!

Godly Generation 2 - They will not Compromise but Resist

Today I want to bring to your attention a person from Bible who can be added as a person in Godly Generation. He is one of my favorite character in Bible because of many reasons. Mostly we remember him as the person who kept moral integrity. But when we study his Life we can learn lot of things from his life. He is Joseph. Now let me add few verses here about Joseph. Its from NLT

1. Gen. 37:2- “……When Joseph was seventeen years old, he often tended his father’s flocks. He worked for his half brothers, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah. But Joseph reported to his father some of the bad things his brothers were doing .”
2. Gen.37:4- “But his brothers hated Joseph because their father loved him more than the rest of them. They couldn’t say a kind word to him.”
3. Gen.37:5-”One night Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him more than ever.”
4. Gen.37:8- “And they hated him all the more because of his dreams and the way he talked about them.”
5. Gen.37:10-”This time he told the dream to his father as well as to his brothers, but his father scolded him.”
6. Gen.37:11-”But while his brothers were jealous of Joseph, his father wondered what the dreams meant.”
7. Gen.37:18-20-”When Joseph’s brothers saw him coming, they recognized him in the distance. As he approached, they made plans to kill him.19 “Here comes the dreamer!” they said. 20 “Come on, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns. We can tell our father, ‘A wild animal has eaten him.’ Then we’ll see what becomes of his dreams!”
8. Gen.37:23-24- “So when Joseph arrived, his brothers ripped off the beautiful robe he was wearing. 24 Then they grabbed him and threw him into the cistern . Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it.”
9. Gen.37:28- “So when the Ishmaelites, who were Midianite traders, came by, Joseph’s brothers pulled him out of the cistern and sold him to them for twenty pieces of silver. And the traders took him to Egypt.”
10. Gen.39:7-9-”..Joseph was a very handsome and well-built young man, 7 and Potiphar’s wife soon began to look at him lustfully. “Come and sleep with me,” she demanded. 8 But Joseph refused. “Look,” he told her, “my master trusts me with everything in his entire household. 9 No one here has more authority than I do. He has held back nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How could I do such a wicked thing? It would be a great sin against God.”
11. Gen.39:20-”So he took Joseph and threw him into the prison where the king’s prisoners were held, and there he remained.”

These verses just reflect the first part of Joseph’s story. Let me put few things in plain words about Joseph which I can conclude out of the above verses.

“Joseph was a young man who had a strong faith in the existence of God and firm decision not to do anything to defile himself or sin against God. When he was with his brothers, he never did bad things and whenever his brothers did anything wrong then he will report it to his father. Now he was a man who used to see dreams. His brothers used to hate him because of his righteous attitude. Because of his dream he was scolded by his loving father. But tragedy stuck him when his own brothers threw him to a cistern and later sold him as a slave for 20 pieces of silver. He was taken to a foreign land and was sold again to another person. God blessed him there and he was made in charge in that house. But a big problem came. His master’s wife wanted to commit adultery with him. He had 2 options-

• Compromise and enjoy the blessing or Resist and go to jail.
• Compromise and disobey God or Resist and obey God.
• Compromise and defile himself or Resist and maintain his holiness.

I can add more. Lets think for some time that Joseph opted for first option. Then conclusion of this message could be like this:-

“Joseph compromised and had a great time at Pothipar’s house. He started leading a wicked life. Pothipar’s wife praised Joseph in front of her husband and Joseph got more promotions in his Job. He got a hike in his salary. Pothipar got him a car and later build him a small house also. When Joseph was old he died. ”

But I am glad that Joseph selected second option. So the Conclusion is like this:-

“Joseph was in jail for more than 2yrs. God blessed him there and gave him ability to interpret dreams. Once Pharaoh the king of Egypt had a dream and God used Joseph to explain it and hence Pharaoh made him Prime Minister of Egypt. Later his brothers came to Egypt and bowed in front of him as fulfilment to the dream God gave him many years ago. He was joined by his father who loved him so much. In the middle of all this Joseph also got married and had his own family. Joseph named his older son Manasseh,for he said, “God has made me forget all my troubles and everyone in my father’s family.” Joseph named his second son Ephraim, for he said, “God has made me fruitful in this land of my grief.” His brothers and their families also joined him.So Joseph and his brothers and their families continued to live in Egypt. Joseph lived to the age of 110. He lived to see three generations of descendants of his son Ephraim, and he lived to see the birth of the children of Manasseh’s son Makir, whom he claimed as his own. ”

Now the question is- What conclusion you want?

Remember People who belong to a Godly Generation will not Compromise but Resist. They will have high moral standards. They may go through difficulties and pain in beginning but their end will be good. Their name will be remembered for generations as a testimony.

May God Bless You!

Godly Generation 1 - Intro & Crying in God’s Presence

This weekend we will be going to Wilderness for Godly Generation Retreat. I am excited about it and I am looking forward to it.

We are about 12 people who will be going to spend some quality time before God. Some of us are fasting and praying this week. We all will be fasting during retreat. What I expect to see is that on Friday when we all will get together then we will not need any time to prepare but will be prepared. Normally we see a trend in camps and retreats that people reach and then the worship team has to bring people to a level. Since we all are matured people I expect that it will not be like that in our case.

Now this is the first email out of few emails I will be sending out this week in preparation for the retreat. I will try to write few things so that by the time we get together we all will have an idea as to what it is.

Four of us were in wilderness few weeks ago for a time of fasting & prayer. God spoke lot of things to each one us and this was one of the many things God asked us to do. Now on the basis of the vision I have about this retreat let me tell you few things. It will be a retreat where we will seek God to receive a clear vision about our life. It will be a time when we will understand God’s call for our life in this generation and understand how we can fulfill that through our life.

We all have this cry somewhere deep inside to do something for God and be used by him. But many times we are unable to rise above the level in which we are right now to press on for greater things. I hope this retreat will provide us an opportunity when God will deal with us and show us the areas in our life where we need to become radical. Yes I mean radical for Jesus.

Since its the introduction message I don’t want to write much but let me share one of my testimony. I got saved in 1997 and took water baptism. It was in 1999 that I received the Baptism of Holy Spirit with evidence of tongues. Life was good and I was involved in God’s work. But in 2001 something happened. I went to a CEM(Christian Evangelical Movement) Camp in Delhi. Its the youth wing of our church. That was a turning point in my life.I can say that it was an encounter with God which transformed my vision about life. If you ask what happened then I don’t have much more to say than one thing- It was a time when I cried a lot. Even during message and after that also. It was the move of Holy Spirit. I don’t remember worshiping a lot or any super natural experience. But I remember that I cried a lot because of the burden which Holy Spirit was placing upon my heart. I have never cried like that before or after that in the presence of God. Afterwards also many times I had an encounter. What happened everytime is a change and new vision. I expect this weekend to be another encounter with God.

One of the signs most of the time I had when I felt the presence of God is Crying. Sometimes it may be because of the burden which Holy Spirit places on your heart and at other times it may be out of Joy which you experience in the presence of God. Every time before I minister, if I am able to shed few tears then I am sure that it will be fire that day. If you ask me what is the most important thing I need before I preach then it is few moments of crying in God’s presence either due to burden for people or out of joy remembering how God has bought me this far.

Jeremiah was a weeping prophet. He was different in his Generation. Do we have the habit of shedding tears before God? I can admit that it is something which I would like to develop as a habit in my life and not something which I do on occasions.

I pray that this weekend will be a time when God will give us the grace to cry because People belonging to a Godly Generation will cry in God’s presence.

Can we spent some time today crying in God’s presence?

May God Bless You!

Challenges People face with Gifts of Holy Spirit

Last week I took a class on Challenges People face with Gifts of Holy Spirit in our church. We had a time of group discussion in the end and it was a blessing. Many questions were asked by people afterwards and I will like to answer them here in coming days. Also I will be tring to answer few questions which were asked to me by different people in last days.

Now if you need the Powerpoint Show of the class then the link is:-

http://www.gospel-link.com/uploads/CM-Gifts_of_Holy_Spirit.pps

The Powerpoint (PPT) of the class is available at:-

http://www.gospel-link.com/uploads/CM-Gifts of Holy Spirit.ppt

Also if you want it in pdf format then the link is :-

http://www.gospel-link.com/uploads/CM-Gifts_of_Holy_Spirit.pdf

Feel free to use it in whatever way you want.

May God Bless You!