Flee From Evil!!

Consider you are an youth, you got a job at MNC, you have a handsome salary and you have access to many new things in the world. You are getting such a freedom. Now there are 2 ways before you!! Obviously the good one and the other evil one. What would you choose? What does the Bible say about it? Here comes our Psalm 1 to our aid.

Today’s media portrays life with Vulgarity/Violence/Addiction/Unwanted Relations to be Fair/Good/even best. And most of our  people are going crazy after these. People who are simple are dragged away with them due to peer pressure. But what they don’t know is that all these ways lead us to peaceless situations and wrong endings. It is so hard to say “No” for the wrong things.  The Bible says in 2 Timothy 2:2  “Flee the evil desires..” We have to run away like a lighting from evil things. Then we can be blessed by God.

Psalm 1:1

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.

(Hindi) क्या ही धन्य है वह पुरूष जो दुष्टोंकी युक्ति पर नहीं चलता, और न पापियोंके मार्ग में खड़ा होता? और न ठट्ठा करनेवालोंकी मण्डली में बैठता है!

(KanKJV)  ಭಕ್ತಿಹೀನರ ಆಲೋಚನೆಯಂತೆ ನಡೆಯದೆ ಪಾಪಿಗಳ ಮಾರ್ಗದಲ್ಲಿ ನಿಲ್ಲದೆ ಕುಚೋದ್ಯಗಾರರು ಕೂತುಕೊಳ್ಳುವಲ್ಲಿ ಕೂತುಕೊಳ್ಳದೆ

(Tamil OV)  துன்மார்க்கருடைய ஆலோசனையில் நடவாமலும், பாவிகளுடைய வழியில் நில்லாமலும், பரியாசக்காரர் உட்காரும் இடத்தில் உட்காராமலும்,

Lets’ Try Some Psalms !!!

Lets’ Try Some Psalms !!!

In our last mail we saw various occasions and ways in which we could read a Psalm. In the coming weeks we shall see a few examples and try to understand them.

Today I have shared the 1^st Psalm of the Bible. It is a Psalm that provides guidance on how to lead our life.  Pray and Read it. We shall study this Psalm this week J

Psalm 1

God blesses those people who refuse evil advice and won't follow sinners or join in sneering at God.

2  Instead, the Law of the LORD makes them happy, and they think about it day and night.

3  They are like trees growing beside a stream, trees that produce fruit in season and always have leaves.

Those people succeed in everything they do.

4  That isn't true of those who are evil, because they are like straw blown by the wind.

5  Sinners won't have an excuse on the day of judgment, and they won't have a place with the people of God.

6  The LORD protects everyone who follows him, but the wicked follow a road that leads to ruin.

Psalms an Overview!

Psalms is one of the most powerful books of the Bible.

There are 150 Psalms and each chapter has its own specialty

There are a lot of ways that you can use a Psalm for, yet all of them do not fail to refresh our souls in Christ.

Here are few ways you can read a Psalm.

Read it as a Prayer:

Whenever you feel you wish to tell something to God.

Something that’s deep inside your heart but you don’t have the right words to speak it out.

You can use the Psalms as your prayer.

Just take a Psalm and read it as though you pray with it.

I bet you feel great relived and revived of whatever situation you are.

 

     Sing it as a Song:

You might be in a happy mood and you wish to make a joyful shout  to the Lord.

You can use the tune of any known songs to sing the Psalms or you most welcome to  compose new tunes tooJ

 For Guidance/Counseling  /Support:

At times when we need the Lord to guide us in a particular situation, we can pray and read a Psalm.                                                       

Trust me the Lord comforts/guides beautifully through His word.

                                                                       

                                                                       

                                                                                                                            

                                                                                Try New Ways:

                                                                                                                                      Well you can always try new ways to use the Psalm.

                        Please share with us your ways of using the Psalm.

Here are 2 links in which that has categorized the Psalm into various groups.

You can use them to read it at specific times.

http://www.psalmsandaffirmations.com/psalms-categories.html

http://www.psalmsandaffirmations.com/psalms-special-purposes-occasions.html

Are we Ready to Accept anything From the Lord?

Are we Ready to Accept anything From the Lord?

On another day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before Him. And the Lord said to Satan, "Have you seen My servant, Job? There is no one on earth like him. He has a good relationship with Me and he always does what is right. And he still has not cursed Me, even after you had all his animals stolen and all his sons and daughters killed." Satan replied. "Job is good because You protect him. Hurt his body and he will surely curse You to Your face." The Lord said to Satan, "Very well, then, he is in your hands. You can hurt him, but you can’t kill him.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and made Job’s skin break out with painful sores all over his body. Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes. Job’s wife said to him, " Curse God and die!" Job replied “If we accept blessings from God, we must accept trouble as well." ." In all this, Job did not sin by saying that God had done something wrong to him. When Job's three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon Job, they came and sat on the ground with him for 7 days and nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how sad he was. Job was so sad about everything that had happened – about all of his animals being stolen and all his children dying and all the painful sores all over his body – that he suddenly cried out to God and to his friends saying he shouldn’t have born to go through all this” Job’s friends said, “Job, God must be punishing you for your sin.” Then a great storm started to form in the sky and God’s voice came out of the storm. “You are right, Job. Good things happen to everyone and bad things happen to everyone. You have done very well to keep your faith and not curse Me, even through everything that has happened to you. Now I will reward you .”And over the next few years, God gave Job twice as many animals as he had before and He gave Job seven more sons and three more daughters and He let Job live  140 years.

Lesson to be Learnt:

1.      “If we accept blessings from God, we must accept trouble as well." There are times when we feel God has permitted some problems in our life. But this statement made by Job is very correct. There are times when God has blessed us immensely, then we praised Him for His goodness. But when things go wrong do we still praise Him as Job did?

2.      When trouble comes everyone around us may think that we have sinned and God is punishing us.  But if we have truly repented for our sins and asked for His forgiveness, then there is no way possible that He punishes us. God loves us. He allows such trails to mould us and shape us to transform us like Him. We cannot always learn greater lessons from the Lord if we are not willing to surrender to whatever He does. But once when we have totally emptied us and surrendered to Him, We will surely have peace beyond understanding.

Job 2:10

(CEV)  Job replied, "Don't talk like a fool! If we accept blessings from God, we must accept trouble as well." In all that happened, Job never once said anything against God.

(Hindi) उस ने उस से कहा, तू एक मूढ़ स्त्री की सी बातें करती है, क्या हम जो परमेश्वर के हाथ से सुख लेते हैं, दु:ख न लें? इन सब बातोंमें भी अय्यूब ने अपके मुंह से कोई पाप नहीं किया।

(Kan) ಆದರೆ ಅವನು ಅವಳಿಗೆ--ಮೂರ್ಖ ಹೆಂಗಸರಲ್ಲಿ ಒಬ್ಬಳು ಮಾತನಾಡುವ ಪ್ರಕಾರ ನೀನೂ ಮಾತನಾಡುವಿಯಾ? ದೇವರ ಕೈಯಿಂದ ಒಳ್ಳೇದನ್ನು ಹೊಂದುತ್ತೇವಲ್ಲಾ? ಕೆಟ್ಟದ್ದನ್ನು ಹೊಂದುವದು ಬೇಡವೋ ಅಂದನು. ಇವೆಲ್ಲವುಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಯೋಬನು ತನ್ನ ತುಟಿಗಳಿಂದ ಪಾಪಮಾಡಲಿಲ್ಲ.

(Mal) അവന്‍ അവളോടുഒരു പൊട്ടി സംസാരിക്കുന്നതുപോലെ നീ സംസാരിക്കുന്നു; നാം ദൈവത്തിന്റെ കയ്യില്‍നിന്നു നന്മ കൈക്കൊള്ളുന്നു; തിന്മയും കൈക്കൊള്ളരുതോ എന്നു പറഞ്ഞു. ഇതില്‍ ഒന്നിലും ഇയ്യോബ് അധരങ്ങളാല്‍ പാപം ചെയ്തില്ല.

 (Tamil OV)  அதற்கு அவன்: நீ பயித்தியக்காரி பேசுகிறதுபோலப் பேசுகிறாய்; தேவன் கையிலே நன்மையைப் பெற்ற நாம் தீமையையும் பெறவேண்டாமோ என்றான்; இவைகள் எல்லாவற்றிலும் யோபு தன் உதடுகளினால் பாவஞ்செய்யவில்லை.

(Telugu)  అందుకతడుమూర్ఖురాలు మాటలాడునట్లు నీవు మాటలాడుచున్నావు; మనము దేవునివలన మేలు అనుభవించుదుమా, కీడును మనము అనుభవింప తగదా అనెను. ఈ సంగతులలో ఏ విషయ మందును యోబునోటి మాటతోనైనను పాపము చేయలేదు.

Can I(God) Bet on you?

Can I(God) Bet on you?

Many years ago, a man named Job lived in the land of Uz. He was man who respected God and refused evil. Job had 7 sons and 3 daughters. He owned a lot of sheep,camels,oxen,  donkeys, and servants. He was the richest person in the land. Job's sons took turns having feasts in their homes, and they always invited their three sisters to join in the eating and drinking. After each feast, Job would send for his children and perform a ceremony, as a way of asking God to forgive them of any wrongs they may have done. He would get up early the next morning and offer a sacrifice for each of them. One day, when the angels had gathered around the LORD, and Satan was there with them, the LORD asked, "Satan, where have you been?" Satan replied, "I have been going all over the earth." Then the LORD asked, "What do you think of my servant Job? No one on earth is like him--he is a truly good person, who respects me and refuses to do evil." "Why shouldn't he respect You?" Satan remarked. "You are like a wall protecting not only him, but his entire family and all his property. You make him successful in whatever he does, and his flocks and herds are everywhere. Try taking away everything he owns, and he will curse you to your face." The LORD replied, "All right, Satan, do what you want with anything that belongs to him, but don't harm Job." Then Satan left. Job's sons and daughters were having a feast in the home of his oldest son, when 3 of his servants rushed up to Job and said that all his cattle were killed. That servant was still speaking, when a fourth one dashed up and said, "Your children were having a feast, when suddenly a windstorm from the desert blew the house down, crushing all of your children " When Job heard this, he tore his clothes and shaved his head because of his great sorrow. He knelt on the ground, then worshiped God and said: "We bring nothing at birth; we take nothing with us at death. The LORD alone gives and takes. Praise the name of the LORD!" In spite of everything, Job did not sin or accuse God of doing wrong.

Lesson to be Learnt:

            This is a wonderful passage where God challenges the devil to test the credibility of a man. I wonder if God could bet so confidently on us. A small mosquito bite with power failure could turn us wild and make us complain. But look at Job , he lost everything he had. He must have been terribly upset yet he spoke nothing against the Lord. This is called spiritual maturity. I remember a statement  a preacher made once “God does only good things for us”. You might be sick/suffering/lost job/depressed etc whatever your condition, praise God for it. For He is in control and He will do only good for us. Yes, it’s a tough lesson. But how long can we stay in Kindergarten level, we need to grow more and more in the Lord and not be stagnant. You may fail many times in being strong in the Lord. But trust again and again, vow not to speak against the Lord or complain at times of trouble. That’s when God can bet on us J. Don’t you want God to trust you like that?

Job 1:8

(CEV)  Then the LORD asked, "What do you think of my servant Job? No one on earth is like him--he is a truly good person, who respects me and refuses to do evil."

(Hindi) यहोवा ने शैतान से पूछा, क्या तू ने मेरे दास अय्यूब पर ध्यान दिया है? क्योंकि उसके तुल्य खरा और सीधा और मेरा भय माननेवाला और बुराई से दूर रहनेवाला मनुष्य और कोई नहीं है।

(Kan) ಕರ್ತನು ಸೈತಾನನಿಗೆ--ನನ್ನ ಸೇವಕನಾದ ಯೋಬನ ಮೇಲೆ ನೀನು ಗಮನವಿಟ್ಟೆಯಾ? ಅವನು ಸಂಪೂರ್ಣನೂ ಯಥಾರ್ಥನೂ ದೇವರಿಗೆ ಭಯಪಡುವವನೂ ಕೇಡನ್ನು ಬಿಟ್ಟು ತೊಲಗುವವನೂ ಆಗಿದ್ದಾನೆ ಅವನ ಹಾಗೆ ಭೂಮಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಒಬ್ಬನೂ ಇಲ್ಲ ಅಂದನು.

(Mal) യഹോവ സാത്താനോടുഎന്റെ ദാസനായ ഇയ്യോബിന്മേല്‍ നീ ദൃഷ്ടിവെച്ചുവോ? അവനെപ്പോലെ നിഷ്കളങ്കനും നേരുള്ളവനും ദൈവഭക്തനും ദോഷം വിട്ടകലുന്നവനും ഭൂമിയില്‍ ആരും ഇല്ലല്ലോ എന്നു അരുളിച്ചെയ്തു.

 (Tamil OV)  கர்த்தர் சாத்தானை நோக்கி: என் தாசனாகிய யோபின்மேல் கவனம் வைத்தாயோ? உத்தமனும் சன்மார்க்கனும், தேவனுக்குப் பயந்து, பொல்லாப்புக்கு விலகுகிறவனுமாகிய அவனைப்போலப் பூமியில் ஒருவனும் இல்லை என்றார்.

(Telugu)  అందుకు యెహోవానీవు నా సేవకుడైన యోబు సంగతి ఆలో చించితివా? అతడు యథార్థవర్తనుడును న్యాయవంతుడునై దేవునియందు భయభక్తులు కలిగి చెడుతనము విసర్జించిన వాడు, భూమిమీద అతని వంటివాడెవడును లేడు.