- Oct 13, 2009
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Dear friends, greetings in the blessed Name of our Lord Jesus 
. I trust that the Holy Spirit is keeping and prospering you. Being blessed by the Lord is a wonderful thing and we can all be thankful for Gods goodness. But we shouldnt let that cloud our first love a passion and thirst for God (Rev 2:4). Sometimes God in His Providence allows for things to happen that shake the very ground under our feet. Tragedy and not triumph reveals who and what we truly hold dear. When were truly abandoned to God to become Disciples of Christ, we do count the cost (Matthew 16:24, Luke 14:28), but will not be deterred by it (Matthew 19:27).
Id like for us to turn to Jeremiah 45:5. The life of the Prophet Jeremiah is probably one of the saddest and most tragic stories in the Bible. Jeremiah had been countering the false prophets who had been preaching prosperity and peace, when God had in fact decreed judgment against Israel for its apostasy and idolatry (Jeremiah Chap. 2). In verse 45:5, Jeremiah rebukes Baruch his scribe for wanting peace and stability. God warns him that He was about to destroy that which He planted. The silver lining in that rebuke was this but wherever you go, Ill let you escape with your life. That is all that God promises us: to save our souls (or self). Our property, possessions and even loved ones can be gone in a second. If we start mourning our losses, we become bitter towards God. This was exactly how Job was tested by Satan (Job Chaps. 1-3). Job was indeed sinless as affirmed by none other than Almighty God (Job 42:7 ..you have not spoken of Me what was right as my servant Job has.), but he had a lurking fear of losing Gods blessing (Job 3:25). God had to purify Jobs faith and condition him to let go off things that had him chained to this world.
All of you are probably aware of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He was a Lutheran pastor in Nazi Germany and was incarcerated by Adolf Hitler for his staunch anti-Nazi stance. Bonhoeffer later died in the Flossenburg concentration camp on April 9, 1945, just two weeks before Allied forces liberated Germany. In his Christian classic The Cost of Discipleship, Bonhoeffer recounts his harrowing experience in the concentration camp. One night while praying for freedom, Bonhoeffer noticed that the Bible pages rustled by the wind turned to Jeremiah 45:5 ( .but wherever you go, Ill let you escape with your life.). In other words God told Bonhoeffer to brace himself for martyrdom and enter true life in Gods Presence.
We are all familiar with hurricanes and storms (Katrina ring any bells?). I got used to category 4-5 hurricanes routinely slamming the Virginia and North Carolina coast when I was a graduate student at Virginia Tech from 1991-97. Even so, the feeling of emptiness and desperation is more pronounced when such a storm pummels your hometown. Cyclone Hudhud recently rammed Indias eastern port city of Visakhapatnam (or popularly known as Vizag). Its a bustling industrial city with a naturally occurring deep sea harbor, long beaches (a little dirty though), and is also home to Indias eastern naval command. The losses are pegged at $12 billion and itd cost about twice that to restore the city to its former beauty. Events such as these remind us who we are and what we treasure (Matthew 6:21).
A life abandoned to God is prepared for any eventuality (2 Corinthians 11:25) and is ablaze for His glory (Romans 8:18). Our property, possessions, friends and even family members are sometimes under Satans control (Jobs 1:12). If we become too attached to them, we risk marring our oneness with God (Matthew 13:22). Past few weeks bled almost $3 trillion (and maybe more) out of the American stock markets (Ive lost 15% of my portfolio). I wonder how many investors lost their money (I hope none). The latest outbreak of the Ebola virus seems to have the world on its edge. But being Christians we shouldn't be unsettled by these calamities, because the Lord Jesus had already warned us about these (Matthew 24:6). On the contrary, these are the very signs and symptoms of a decaying world that herald the imminent return of our Lord. Our responsibility is to forsake the world and be abandoned to God, and stand firm in our faith (Matthew 24:13). Amen.
Never give in to despair friends. After the painful test comes the blessing. God restored to Job twice as much as he had lost (Job 42:12), and the Lord promised blessing for those of who are abandoned to Him (Luke 18:29-30). Weeping may remain for a night but rejoicing will come in the morning (Psalm 30:5). On a personal note none of my family suffered any permanent damage in the latest cyclone. In fact, Vizag is back to its happy go lucky ways!
Dear friends, Im quite certain that all of you are sanctified, Holy Ghost baptized saints. Should there be any amongst you that dont know the Lord yet, I pray that the Lord of the Universe will set you free from sin and disobedience into His glorious light and freedom. Amen.
PS: Thanks for taking the time to read my scribble saints. If you find a lot of similarities between this writing and those of Rev. Oswald Chambers, thats because the late Rev. Chambers is my mentor. Dear friends, please forgive me if I dont respond to your mails and debates. Im a full time college professor and havent the time to debate (that and Im not very good at it.) I know whom I have believed and Im persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed (2 Timothy 1:12) . Amen.
. I trust that the Holy Spirit is keeping and prospering you. Being blessed by the Lord is a wonderful thing and we can all be thankful for Gods goodness. But we shouldnt let that cloud our first love a passion and thirst for God (Rev 2:4). Sometimes God in His Providence allows for things to happen that shake the very ground under our feet. Tragedy and not triumph reveals who and what we truly hold dear. When were truly abandoned to God to become Disciples of Christ, we do count the cost (Matthew 16:24, Luke 14:28), but will not be deterred by it (Matthew 19:27).Id like for us to turn to Jeremiah 45:5. The life of the Prophet Jeremiah is probably one of the saddest and most tragic stories in the Bible. Jeremiah had been countering the false prophets who had been preaching prosperity and peace, when God had in fact decreed judgment against Israel for its apostasy and idolatry (Jeremiah Chap. 2). In verse 45:5, Jeremiah rebukes Baruch his scribe for wanting peace and stability. God warns him that He was about to destroy that which He planted. The silver lining in that rebuke was this but wherever you go, Ill let you escape with your life. That is all that God promises us: to save our souls (or self). Our property, possessions and even loved ones can be gone in a second. If we start mourning our losses, we become bitter towards God. This was exactly how Job was tested by Satan (Job Chaps. 1-3). Job was indeed sinless as affirmed by none other than Almighty God (Job 42:7 ..you have not spoken of Me what was right as my servant Job has.), but he had a lurking fear of losing Gods blessing (Job 3:25). God had to purify Jobs faith and condition him to let go off things that had him chained to this world.
All of you are probably aware of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He was a Lutheran pastor in Nazi Germany and was incarcerated by Adolf Hitler for his staunch anti-Nazi stance. Bonhoeffer later died in the Flossenburg concentration camp on April 9, 1945, just two weeks before Allied forces liberated Germany. In his Christian classic The Cost of Discipleship, Bonhoeffer recounts his harrowing experience in the concentration camp. One night while praying for freedom, Bonhoeffer noticed that the Bible pages rustled by the wind turned to Jeremiah 45:5 ( .but wherever you go, Ill let you escape with your life.). In other words God told Bonhoeffer to brace himself for martyrdom and enter true life in Gods Presence.
We are all familiar with hurricanes and storms (Katrina ring any bells?). I got used to category 4-5 hurricanes routinely slamming the Virginia and North Carolina coast when I was a graduate student at Virginia Tech from 1991-97. Even so, the feeling of emptiness and desperation is more pronounced when such a storm pummels your hometown. Cyclone Hudhud recently rammed Indias eastern port city of Visakhapatnam (or popularly known as Vizag). Its a bustling industrial city with a naturally occurring deep sea harbor, long beaches (a little dirty though), and is also home to Indias eastern naval command. The losses are pegged at $12 billion and itd cost about twice that to restore the city to its former beauty. Events such as these remind us who we are and what we treasure (Matthew 6:21).
A life abandoned to God is prepared for any eventuality (2 Corinthians 11:25) and is ablaze for His glory (Romans 8:18). Our property, possessions, friends and even family members are sometimes under Satans control (Jobs 1:12). If we become too attached to them, we risk marring our oneness with God (Matthew 13:22). Past few weeks bled almost $3 trillion (and maybe more) out of the American stock markets (Ive lost 15% of my portfolio). I wonder how many investors lost their money (I hope none). The latest outbreak of the Ebola virus seems to have the world on its edge. But being Christians we shouldn't be unsettled by these calamities, because the Lord Jesus had already warned us about these (Matthew 24:6). On the contrary, these are the very signs and symptoms of a decaying world that herald the imminent return of our Lord. Our responsibility is to forsake the world and be abandoned to God, and stand firm in our faith (Matthew 24:13). Amen.
Never give in to despair friends. After the painful test comes the blessing. God restored to Job twice as much as he had lost (Job 42:12), and the Lord promised blessing for those of who are abandoned to Him (Luke 18:29-30). Weeping may remain for a night but rejoicing will come in the morning (Psalm 30:5). On a personal note none of my family suffered any permanent damage in the latest cyclone. In fact, Vizag is back to its happy go lucky ways!
Dear friends, Im quite certain that all of you are sanctified, Holy Ghost baptized saints. Should there be any amongst you that dont know the Lord yet, I pray that the Lord of the Universe will set you free from sin and disobedience into His glorious light and freedom. Amen.
PS: Thanks for taking the time to read my scribble saints. If you find a lot of similarities between this writing and those of Rev. Oswald Chambers, thats because the late Rev. Chambers is my mentor. Dear friends, please forgive me if I dont respond to your mails and debates. Im a full time college professor and havent the time to debate (that and Im not very good at it.) I know whom I have believed and Im persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed (2 Timothy 1:12) . Amen.
