Tag: life

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Testimony

Faith that does the impossible…

This week we started with a tremendous burden and challenge to our faith in a particular situation of our dear Uncle Albert, father of Albert Arun Rachpudi. Uncle was unwell for a while and suddenly he collapsed and was rushed to the hospital in Hyderabad. Brother Arun got news of his father’s condition that he is serious and the doctors gave him no hope of survival. As the time passed, we kept hearing the negative reports from the doctors. Finally, the doctors decided to put ventilators (life supporting unit) as his kidneys, lungs and heart were not functioning. It was a grave situation as the doctors informed Arun’s family that they want to remove the ventilators as the pulse rate almost nil. They advised the family to call the near and dear before they remove the ventilators. The doctors have declared him clinically dead.

We received this message from his relatives and made necessary travel arrangements for both Arun and his wife Verita. In the meantime we called some of brothers and sisters who were available at that time with the family’s consent and spent time asking our Father for his mercy and healing. The Servant of God declared the faithful works of our Lord Jesus, he assured Brother Arun to claim his father’s life in prayer. Everyone with great burden cried out to our God to release the power, healing and life on our dear Uncle.

Both Arun and Verita travelled to India on Tuesday and reached on Wednesday morning. As soon as they reached Bangalore( as they travelled via Bangalore to Hyderabad) they received a call from Dr Sony (sister of Verita) who informed them that uncle Albert is recovering amazingly and doctors at the Oxygen Hospital marvelled as they don’t have any clue of why these things were happening with him. They simply said that it is impossible and witnessed that they haven’t seen any one rising from dead. They tested his lungs, heart and kidneys and declared that all are functioning perfectly well. Today they have removed the ventilators and Uncle Albert rejoicing with his son and daughter in law.

The latest information is that uncle is drinking milk and requested his family that he wants to walk around the hospital. I fall short of words to explain our Lords works, except remembering once again the loud shout of our Lord Jesus saying “ Lazarus come out” .This situation has rekindled our failth and I say with boldness that the righteous prayer availeth much. Our Lord is Healer and all things are possible for those who believe him. We will rejoice with the family and declare that our God is prayer answering God. Brother Arun and Verita sent greetings from India and thanked the Nazarene prayer Fellowship for their burden and compassionate heart in uplifting Uncle in their prayers. With humility and humbleness I thank everyone who supported this ministry and sent encouragement letters (please see letters on our website). May God Bless you and you Bless God.

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Message

In God’s Eyes – Greg Laurie

I was with my granddaughter Stella (age 6) the other day and she said the cutest thing. She looked deeply in my eyes, then pushed her little nose right up to mine and said, “Papa, I can see myself in your eyes!”

What Stella was saying was that she saw her reflection in my eyes. I responded, “Stella, you are always in my eyes, and in my heart too!”

Do you ever wonder how God sees you?

I think you might be surprised. We may think that God looks askance at us or with anger or disappointment—or that He may, as my friends in Hawaii like to say, be “giving you the stink eye!”

The fact of the matter is God looks at you with love.

We read in Scripture of that rich young ruler who came to Jesus. He was brash and proud and demanded to know what he needed to do to enter God’s kingdom. Before Jesus would reveal the answer, we read, “Jesus felt genuine love for this man as he looked at him” (Mark 10:21 nlt).

That is also the way He looks at you. With love. He sees you for what you can become, not just what you are.

Jesus gave to Simon the fishermen the new name of Peter. The name Peter means “Rock.” If there was anything Simon was not, at this point, it was a rock. He was legendary for his hot-headedness, impulsiveness, and willingness to speak his mind on pretty much everything. But Jesus saw that Simon would grow into that new name of Peter.

In the same way, we look at our own lives and see a lump of clay. God sees a beautiful vase.

We see a blank canvas. God sees a finished work of art.

We see coal. God sees a refined diamond.

We see problems. God sees solutions.

We see failures. God sees potential.

We see an end. God sees a new beginning.

Yes, you can see yourself in His eyes, just like Stella saw herself in mine. But to do so, you need to get really close.

“Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you” (James 4:8 nlt).

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Meditation

Treating a living God as an idol?

Are we treating our ‘living’ God as an idol? It can be a question or a disappointing truth for many of our brothers and sisters in Christ. We all are well aware of the commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3). But what if we are treating the living God himself as an idol? Now you might ask, how can ‘one’, treat a living God as an idol? Well, lets look at our ‘morning prayers’. Most of us tend to thank God for all that he is doing in our lives, submit our petitions before him for the day, and we are off to work or to do something else. Now lets take a look at the ‘non-believers’ who worship the idols. They get up, pray to their idol gods, thank them for what the idol gods have ‘supposedly’ done in their lives and head off to work. Sounds similar?

The point I am trying to make is, many of us tend to treat our living God as some kind of idol who doesn’t respond to our petitions and thanks giving. Many of us don’t give our living God, a chance to have that ‘deep’ love relationship. It is ‘crucial’, if I could use that term, to pause and listen (psalms 27:14) to what God has to say to us each day. It with great regret and heavy heart, that I admit that this was the story in my life too, until God by his grace, took that blind screen off my eyes. So, I encourage you brothers & sisters, start regarding our wonderful savior, the God eternal as indeed a ‘living’ God. He cares for you, loves you and desires for you to be completely his.

“Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed – not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence – continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12).

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Message

Testimonies

And they overcame him [the devil] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.” (Revelation 12:11).

Our testimony is about what we have experienced – what we have seen and heard. A real Christian can talk about their experiences with God through Jesus Christ. We as Christians are called to a relationship of real communication with the Son of God. God comes to live inside of us. Things change. God deals with every person in a different way. The more Christians that come forward and talk about how God has intervened in their life, the more people will begin to realize that God is for real, miracles do happen, and prayer works.

This will inspire others to seek God and turn from their sins so that they too can know the peace and satisfaction that comes to a person who truly gives their life over to God. Acts 1:8 says, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” To be a witness to Jesus is to speak and communicate the things that you have seen and heard in your life that happened because of Jesus. It’s the Holy Spirit who makes Jesus real to us, and makes Jesus real through us.

God’s plan is for people to hear the good news that Jesus Christ paid for their sins, and conquered death for us through rising from the dead. After believing, people should go on to receive the power of the Holy Spirit, and then testify to others what God has done for them.

Our testimony does not have to be super dramatic or unusual to be effective. Not everyone can relate personally to a sensational testimony. If on the other hand your testimony is weak because you can’t point to a change in your life, could it be that you have not really consecrated your life to God properly?Are you trying to living with one foot in God’s Kingdom, and the other in Satan’s?

Is your heart still in love with this present age, this world system? If so, it would be a great time to decide to live for God and to get serious about it, because none of us are guaranteed a tomorrow. Perhaps your testimony is weak because you have not given attention to the wonderful truths concerning the Holy Spirit and overcoming Satan that can be found in God’s Word. God wants our testimony to be strong, so we can live unashamed before God and men, and give honor and glory to God. He wants our life to show forth His power – what He can do. And God has done absolutely amazing things for people in all kinds of trouble, who were messed up and without natural hope. Some testimonies of how God helped such people heard last Friday. It was amazing to know the marvelous works of God reveled in our dear ones lives.Sister Shoba Charles, Bro Peter Ravela, Bro Sudeep, Bro Sudeer, Bro Ravi, Bro Prabhakar and Jonah’s son testified the greatness of our God in their lives, it was heart touching and surely challenged everyone to trust in God in all situations.

If God has worked powerfully in your life, please share it so others can benefit. It will remind you of how God has worked and it will encourage others to believe in God. It may be the means by which another precious person comes to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus. So do it. Begin to write down your story and share it on every last Friday of the month at the fellowship.

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All Message

Living A Sanctified Life – Bob Gass

For this is the will of God, even your sanctification… 1 Thessalonians 4:3

The word ‘sanctified’ means to be ‘set apart’ for a special purpose. Let’s look at the Old Testament tabernacle: ‘The Lord said… ‘”Make a bronze washbasin… Aaron and his sons will wash their hands and feet there… whenever they… appear before the Lord… ”’ (Exodus 30:18-20 NLT). Why wash their hands and feet? Because our hands speak of our actions and our feet speak of our walk, and both must be cleansed daily. The Psalmist writes, ‘Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle?… He who walks uprightly, and works righteousness’ (Psalm 15:1-2 NKJV).

Paul points out: ‘In a large house there are utensils… some for special use, some for ordinary’ (2 Timothy 2:20 NRS). This is not about salvation; as a Christian you’re already in the house. No, it’s about cleaning up our act so God can use us in positions of honour! If you’ve been walking with God for a long time He demands a higher level of commitment! AW Tozer writes: ‘Think about people who find themselves in religious ruts.

They discover a number of things about themselves. They find that they are getting older but not getting any holier. Time is their enemy, not their friend… they were not any better last year than they had been the year before.’ Oswald Chambers writes: ‘Am I becoming more and more in love with God as a Holy God, or with the conception of an amicable being who says, “Oh, well, sin doesn’t matter much?’ Yes, it’s true, God’s grace is greater than our sin. But: ‘As the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him’

(2 Corinthians 3:18 TLB)

The Word for Today with Bob Gass – Tuesday, 8th June 2010

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Joyful Toons – Bread of Life | Grace Cafe & Radio

1) Bread of Life – 2 Corinthians 2:14

Jesus said in John 6:35 “I am the bread of life”. It is up to the believers to take the Bread of Life (Jesus) out of the Bakery (the church building), to where the hungry people are. After eating “Satan’s Garbage”, the aroma of the Bread of Life will certainly smell good.

2) Grace Cafe – 2 Corinthians 1:20

All of God’s promises throughout the Bible are fulfilled in Jesus. The grace of God has been made freely available to us through the blood of Jesus.

3) Grace Radio – Ephesians 2:8

Just as we cannot hear radio waves without a radio receiver, so we cannot receive God’s grace without faith, and that faith itself is a gift to us from God.

These Toons are created and made by Michael Waters. More toons can be viewed on his website.

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