Losing Streak Ends Here!

Now the boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli. The word of the Lord was rare and precious in those days; there was no frequent or widely spread vision. (I Samuel:3:1)

It was a time in Israel where the Word of the Lord had become rare and there were no frequent visions as it used to be before. We can say that getting to hear from the Lord was on the vane. It's like Israel is on a "losing streak" until Samuel appeared on the scene.

Suddenly one night, with the Word of the Lord very rare and no clear visions from the Lord, the losing streak was broken when the Lord called and visited Samuel. (I Samuel:3:10) Why would the Lord suddenly decide to end the losing streak that Israel was going through? It's because of one man - Samuel. What's so special about Samuel? We read in I Samuel:2:35 "And I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest (Priest), who shall do according to what is in My heart and mind. And I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before My anointed (Anointed) forever." The Lord was looking for some one who would do what's in His heart and mind. When Samuel's heart attained that stage, the losing streak was broken with the Lord appearing personally to him instead of Eli who had more experience of serving the Lord but yet his heart wasn't what the Lord wanted it to be.

Even today, are you going through a "losing streak"? Maybe, you have stopped hearing from the Lord for a while, your sickness wouldn't go away, your finances are on a decline, in general your life isn't going the way you have planned and you feel like giving up. The Lord wants to end that losing streak today. Yes, He really wants to. All that He asks for us is to have a heart like Samuel. Let's prepare our hearts by letting the Word of GOD dwell in it and take it to a level where it would be willing to do what's in GOD's mind and heart. That's when you'll see the losing streak end.

Blessings!

Man's hand or GOD's?

The Lord Almighty will lash them with a whip, as when he struck down Midian at the rock of Oreb; and he will raise his staff over the waters, as he did in Egypt. (Isaiah:10:26)

The prophet Isaiah reminds us about two incidents where the Lord Himself became the hands of men. He used Gideon and the few men he had at his disposal to stuck down the Midianites and brought about a deliverance for the people of Israel at Oreb. The other incident mentioned by Isaiah in the above verse is from Exodus chapter 14. Lets look into that incident from Exodus.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. (Exodus:14:15&16) The Israelites have been pressed into the corner and they were bugging Moses to do something. When Moses takes the matter into GOD, He says to him "Why are you crying out to me?". Sounds strange, isn't it? What the Lord was really saying to Moses was, "Come on Moses, you have been in this situation before many times. Have you forgotten how you performed those miracles in front of Pharaoh by raising your staff? Do the same again!". The Lord was expecting Moses to act based on His previous history with GOD. Just because it's Red Sea, Moses wasn't need to worry. Whatever the size of the problem is, the solution is the same - JESUS! We read here that it was Moses who lifted the staff over the waters, but in reality it was the hand of the Lord as we see in Isaiah:10:26. The hand of man became the hand of GOD! What a privilege. Sometimes, we maybe praying for a deliverance for a while without seeing victory. The reality maybe is the Lord is waiting on us to use our own history from our past and act based on that. When we do that just like Moses did, our hands will become His hands and we will see the breakthrough that we have been waiting for.

Blessings!

Know Him as You Ought to

Jesus answered her, If you had only known and had recognized God’s gift and Who this is that is saying to you, Give Me a drink, you would have asked Him [instead] and He would have given you living water. (John:4:10)

Do you really know the One that you call yourself as your GOD? Do you really know the One that you approach in your prayers? Let's just take a moment and think about it. Many times when the going gets tough or when it feels like the end of world, we start to doubt GOD. When you find yourself in such a situation, take a moment and think who the Lord you call as your Father really is. If you had really known Him as you would have ought to, you wouldn't worry about a thing no matter how hopeless you find yourself in.

Talking about hopeless situations, Job comes to my mind. He had lost everything and was suffering from a disease that was yet to be named, still this is what He had to say. Job:13:15 says "Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him;" Job knew His GOD and that's what made Him to make a statement like this. It's easy to say that we are trusting GOD when things are going well for our liking. But would we say the same thing that Job said during our difficult times? We will, only when we know Him the way we ought to.

Jesus knew His Father the way He ought to and that's way He didn't even flinch under any circumstances. How to know GOD better? It begins with us spending time in His word. John:4:42 "And they told the woman, Now we no longer believe (trust, have faith) just because of what you said; for we have heard Him ourselves [personally], and we know that He truly is the Savior of the world, the Christ." The people of Samaria were introduced to Jesus because of the women's testimony. But it's their personal encounter with Jesus, (hearing His word) that made them believe. It applies to us. We may be introduced to Jesus by someone or we maybe hearing about Him every Sunday at church. That is just not enough to know Him the way we ought to. It all begins when we start reading His word and asking the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth about Him.

Blessings!

Twice to Reassure

Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. (John:21:7)

Every appearance made by the resurrected Savior Jesus Christ to His disciples were significant. Every time He appeared to them it served as a reassurance to them that they were not alone all of a sudden. This above incident from John chapter 20 is very significant especially to the few fishermen who formed the core group of His disciples. That's because Jesus had just been crucified and has come back to life. Though He appeared to them after His resurrection, the condition of the disciples were not the same as before when Jesus was with them in flesh 24x7.

I am sure there was an air of uncertainty running through the minds of the disciples about their future, now that Jesus is not with them all the time. Does the resurrected Jesus has the same power when He was with them? That's one of the questions they would have asked themselves. To prove to them, that indeed He is the same even after resurrection, Jesus appeared to Peter and the other (fishermen) disciples just the same way He did it before. In Luke chapter 5 we read about how Peter and his men had toiled all night only to return empty handed. Jesus asked them to go back and cast their nets at the other side of the boat resulting in a catch of their life time. Jesus performed an exact replica of the miracle He did three and half years ago after His resurrection to remove any lingering doubts that the disciples might have regarding His ability and power.

Today, you may be someone who have encountered the miracle working power of the Lord in your past but for some reason haven't been experiencing it lately. This message is for you. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. If He had done it once before, He will do it again. You can be rest assured of that. Keep trusting Him.

Blessings!

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