At Jesus' Feet, For His Words...
I'm Sandeep, a medical doctor, Psychiatrist by specialization, now practicing at "Jyothis", West to HS Jn, Karunagappally, Kollam, Kerala. By the way, the most remarkable thing I want to share with you from my life, is about the tremendous joy and peace that fills my heart as a result of my encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ. You can read the story of my transformation from a traditional Hindu into an ardent follower of Christ here: http://sandeeppsychiatry.blogspot.com/2007/06/about-me.html
Tuesday, July 14, 2020
Friday, March 27, 2020
കൊറോണക്കാലത്ത് ഒരു സ്വർഗ്ഗീയ കാഴ്ചപ്പാട് (A Heavenly Viewpoint In This Corona Pandemic)-A Video Message
Click on the link above for viewing the message
Thursday, March 26, 2020
Perfect love casts out fear (of Corona)
Perfect love casts out
fear (of Corona)
We live in
times where people “faint from fear and the expectation of the things which
are coming upon the world” as
the Lord Jesus prophesied in Luke 21: 26. Of course, as responsible citizens, we need to take all the precautions
against this pestilence with all caution, care, carefulness and concern.
But unhealthy fear and panic would only weaken our immunity and thereby deteriorate
our mental and physical health.
The Word of
God says in 1John
4: 18 that “Perfect love casts
out fear”. A simple example of a cup can be used
to explain this verse even to little children. When you say a cup is empty, you
know there is air in it. That air is like the fears, anxieties, worry and
timidity in our hearts when our heart is empty. Lord Jesus warns in Matthew 12: 43-45 against our heart
being unoccupied or empty.
How can we simply dispel all the air
from the cup? Just pour water into the cup till it overflows. Like that, when
the love of God floods our hearts through the Holy Spirit (Romans 5: 5),
love is perfected (filled) in us (1John
4: 16, 17), and that perfect love
casts out not only fear (1John 4: 18), but also all other negative
feelings and thoughts of anxiety, worry, low self esteem, low confidence,
bitterness or unforgiveness, anger, impurity, dishonesty, jealousy, laziness,
complacency, indiscipline and every other sin.
But
the question now is: how can the HOLY Spirit fill our impure hearts? Just like we clean a cup before we pour some
drinking water into it, our hearts need to be cleansed by the precious blood
which our Lord Jesus has shed on the Cross, taking the punishment of eternal hell
fire for our many sins. And only if we truly repent of (turn away from) all our
sins, the blood of Christ can cleanse our hearts.
Even
after being cleansed, the cup has to be yielded to be filled. Like that we need
to yield ourselves and surrender and open up every area of our whole being (like
our relationships, possessions, self-love, reputation, career, future etc –
what we are and what we have) to the Lord Jesus in simple, childlike faith and
thirst for His love to flood us (John 7: 37, 38). Then He will definitely fill every part of our whole
being with His heavenly, indescribable love, joy and peace through the
Holy Spirit! (Gal. 5: 22, 23). And that perfect love of the Lord
casts out all the anxiety and fears from our hearts in these uncertain times…
When
our hearts are filled with His love, we will be able to love Him with all our
heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12: 30), which indeed is His
greatest commandment, or in other words, His greatest longing for us. And
that love for the Lord through the Holy Spirit will empower us to keep His commandments
(John 14: 15, 23).
“The yoke (or bondage or trap) will be destroyed because of the
anointing oil” (Isaiah 10: 27b NKJV) of the Holy Spirit! And the trap and chains of the
fear of any kind will be broken off and we will be exalted (or safely set on
high - as we see in Proverbs 29:25). That means, we will fly high like
an eagle in the heavenlies with our Beloved Lord! (Isaiah 40: 31; Song of
Songs 4: 8).
And
that Holy Spirit will make us well aware of a loving Abba Father (Romans
8: 15; Matthew 6: 25-
34) in heaven, Who
is the sovereign, blessed Controller of this whole universe!! The Holy
Spirit will witness in our hearts that nothing can happen in our lives without
His knowledge and permission. He will reassure us that the Lord has made a
hedge around our life, our family members and our property (Job 1: 10), and
that without His knowledge and permission, no Corona virus can break that
hedge! Nothing and no one can take our life until “our hour has come” (John
8: 20), if we live surrendering our own will to Him daily.
Our
Lord has not just counted, but has given a number to each one of our hairs! (Luke
12: 7). Such is His care for even the minutest detail of each one of our
lives, because he who touches us, touches the apple of His very eye (Zechariah
2: 8)…
Lord Jesus Christ says: “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love” (John 15: 9).
“These
things I have spoken to you so that My
joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full” (John 15: 11).
“Peace
I leave with you; My peace I give to
you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be
troubled, nor let it be fearful” (John 14: 27).
“Are not two
sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart
from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do
not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows” (Matthew 10: 29-31).
“Come
to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest”
(Matthew 11: 28).
“Cast
your burdens unto Me, because I care for you” (1Peter 5: 7).
“My grace (My power) is sufficient for you (for every situation you can ever face)” (2 Cor. 12: 9).
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer
and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to Me.
And the peace of
God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds
in Me” (Philippians 4: 6,7).
“For I have not given you a spirit of timidity, but of power
and love and discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7).
“I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you. So you can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper, I
will not be afraid. What will man do to me?”” (Hebrews 13: 5, 6).
“For I am the LORD your God, Who upholds your right hand, Who
says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you’” (Isaiah
41:13).
“But now, thus says the LORD, your Creator, O
Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel, “Do not fear, for I have
redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk
through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame
burn you... You are precious in My sight; you are honoured and I love you (Isaiah
43: 1,2, 4).
“Can a woman forget her nursing child and have no
compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not
forget you. Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls
are continually before Me” (Isaiah 49: 15, 16).
“Behold, I extend peace to her like a river,
and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; and you will be
nursed, you will be carried on the hip and fondled on the knees. As one whom
his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; and you will be comforted in
Jerusalem (the true Church) (Isaiah 66: 12, 13).
I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness
(Jeremiah 31: 3).
For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD,
'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a
hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen
to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart
(Jeremiah 29: 11- 13).
And
the Holy Spirit, the blessed Helper would remind us all that Jesus has taught
us (John 14: 26): “And
we know that God causes ALL things to work together FOR GOOD to those who love
God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8: 28).
“No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to
man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond
what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape
also, so that you will be able to endure it” (1 Corinthians 10: 13).
Even after being filled, we can
lose the fullness of the Spirit with our own carelessness and pride, which are
like holes in a vessel. We need to repent and plug those holes daily and ask
the Lord to fill us with His Spirit again and again. That is the exhortation in
Ephesians 5: 18 in the original language – to be being (continually) filled with the Spirit.
So,
let us look to the Lord Jesus like this continually (Hebrews 12: 1, 2),
so that we can hear His voice (like the sound of many waters – Rev. 1: 15)-
which will fill our hearts again and again with His tender love beyond measure (John
3: 34) …
And the more we humble and yield ourselves and die to our own reputation, name, ambitions and choices, the mightier would be the in-filling and the out-flowing of the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives to dispel the fears and anxieties not only from our hearts, but also from the trembling hearts around us through our words and lives which impart His grace to others (Eph. 4: 29).
And the more we humble and yield ourselves and die to our own reputation, name, ambitions and choices, the mightier would be the in-filling and the out-flowing of the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives to dispel the fears and anxieties not only from our hearts, but also from the trembling hearts around us through our words and lives which impart His grace to others (Eph. 4: 29).
“You have anointed my head with oil; my cup overflows
(to bless others) (Psalm 23: 5). Let it be so.
Wednesday, June 5, 2019
Judge, but don’t Judge!
Judge, but don’t
Judge!
The same Lord Jesus Who said “Do not judge” in Matthew 7:1,
said in John 7: 24: “Do not judge
according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment”.
Judging
(critically looking down upon others with contempt) as in Matthew 7: 1,
and discernment (righteous judgment) as in John 7: 24 (where the Lord
Jesus Himself says to “judge with righteous judgement”) is totally different as
hell and heaven.
In John
8: 15, 16, Jesus said: “You judge according to the flesh; I am not judging anyone. But even if I do
judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father
who sent Me”. From this we
can understand that discernment is part of the wisdom the Lord gives us in different situations, as we
helplessly cling on to Him as a branch to the vine (John 15: 5) – in order
to distinguish the true from the counterfeit. And the Lord gives us discernment
not to condemn anyone, but to intercede for the deceived and/or to warn others about
the counterfeit.
If you don’t discern the preachers whom you listen to, you will be
thoroughly deceived by many things that happen around us in the name of Christ!
That is why 1John 4: 1 says: “Beloved, do not
believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God,
because many false prophets have gone out into the world”.
In Matthew 7: 15, Jesus
Himself tells us to be beware of false prophets and in verses 16 and 20, to
know them by their FRUITS (of the Holy Spirit) – that is, love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control (Galatians
5: 22, 23).
Jesus said in Matthew 10:16:
"Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be SHREWD AS
SERPENTS and innocent as doves”.
The apostle Paul says in Philippians
1:9: “And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real
knowledge and all DISCERNMENT”.
We need to see how much a preacher
reflects our Lord Jesus Christ in his humility as well as in his integrity to
the Lord, especially in money matters. Only such ones are worth to be listened.
May the Lord help us to judge righteously in everything!
True and Counterfeit Experiences of the Holy Spirit
Beware of the
Counterfeit Fullness of the Spirit
One of
the parts of fruit of the Holy Spirit is self control (Gal.5: 22, 23).
1
Cor.14:32, 33, 40 reads like this: “ and
the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets; for God is not a God of
confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints... But all things
must be done properly and in an orderly manner”.
From
the above verses, it is crystal clear that if somebody loses control over himself
or herself, that can never be because of the Holy Spirit. Because Holy Spirit
helps us rather to control ourselves better – like controlling our thoughts,
tongue, eyes etc and makes us more like Christ Jesus.
Like
Br Zac Poonen says Holy Spirit fills
people, but demons possess people.
The difference is that the Holy Spirit gives us more control over ourselves,
whereas the evil spirit takes away the control we have over our lives. That’s
why demon possessed people sometimes mutilate themselves (Mark 5: 5), for they
don’t have any control over what they think or do.
Demon
can push somebody down. But Jesus and the Holy Spirit always lift people up
(See Luke 9: 42). “Jesus Christ is the
same yesterday, and today, yes and forever” (Hebrews 13: 8). Today soulish
“Christian” leaders push people down and call it the Holy Spirit! That is
really tragic! But actually when they do opposite to what Jesus did, know that
it is the spirit of antichrist! Beware of being part of all those Babylonian
tricks of the devil!
Sudden
shaking and shouting can also be a conscious attention-seeking behaviour, or it
can be a dissociative trance.
Whatever
that is, do not look down upon anybody, but rather discern what is of the Lord
and not of the Lord. Compare Matthew 7: 1 and John 7: 24. The same Lord who
said “Do not judge” in Matthew 7:1,
said in John 7: 24: “Do not judge
according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment”.
1
John 4:1 clearly warns us: “Beloved, do
not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from
God, because many false prophets
have gone out into the world”. If many false prophets were there in the
first century itself, how many more would there be in this 21st
century, which is so close to the second coming of the Lord.
The
first sign of the last days that the Lord told in Matthew 24:4 is: “See to it that no one misleads you”. He
further warns us of the same thing in verses 11 and 24. If you read verse 5
without the inverted comas as in the original language, you will understand
that the many false prophets will say that Jesus Himself is the Christ, and
holding the Bible in their hands they will deceive people (as given in 2 Cor.
11: 4) with
i) another Jesus (who does not say anything about
overcoming sin by the power of the Holy Spirit),
ii) another spirit (which pushes people down and induces
all kinds of “holy laughter, barking, vomiting etc.)
iii) another gospel (which is a health- wealth- prosperity
counterfeit, and begs for your money to build the preacher’s kingdom rather
than that of the Lord)!
See Matthew 7:15- 23: "Beware of
the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are
ravenous wolves.
You
will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not
gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?
So every good tree bears good fruit,
but the bad tree bears bad fruit.
A good tree cannot produce bad fruit,
nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.
Every tree that does not bear good fruit
is cut down and thrown into the fire.
So then, you will know them by their fruits.
Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord,
Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father
who is in heaven will enter.
Many
will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and
in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?'
And then I will declare to them, 'I
never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'”
So
discern a person by the fruit of the Holy Spirit, that is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control”(Galatians 5: 22, 23). See how humble,
approachable and Christlike he is. See what his attitude towards money, women,
honour, the poor and the rich. Compare that with the attitude Jesus had towards
all these categories. Then you will understand whether he is a leader worthy to
be followed. Otherwise “if a blind man
leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit” (Matthew 15: 14).
The strong
commandment of the Lord in 2 Timothy 3: 5, especially for those living in the
last days (see verse 1), is to avoid
those who have a form of godliness (sheep’s clothing) but have denied its power.
Instead, follow the Lord along with those
who call upon the Lord from a pure heart (2 Timothy 2: 22).
Receiving
the True Fullness of the Spirit
When
we surrender everything to the Lord as a burnt offering and a living sacrifice
(Romans 12: 1), the fire of the Holy Spirit will come and consume every part of
our being. And we will be flooded with the love, joy and peace of heaven!
(Romans 5: 5; Gal. 5: 22, 23). We will be endued
with power from on high to be a witness of the Lord by our life and by our
words! (Luke 24: 49; Acts 1: 8; 4: 31). That is the true filling of the Holy
Spirit.
Even
after being filled, we can lose the fullness of the Spirit with our own
carelessness and pride, which are like holes in a vessel. We need to repent and
plug those holes daily and ask the Lord to fill us with His Spirit again and
again. That is the exhortation in Eph 5: 18 in the original language – to be being (continually) filled with the
Spirit.
The
Lord, in His sovereignty, will give us the gifts of the Holy Spirit as He chooses (1 Cor. 12: 7, 11). Gifts
of the Spirit can be compared to vessels with which we can pour out the living
waters of the Holy Spirit and bless others. We are commanded to desire
earnestly for the gifts of the Holy Spirit, especially the gift of prophesying (that
is, edifying and exhorting and consoling
others through the specific Word from the Lord from the Scriptures, that is
needed for the people at that particular point of time– 1Cor. 14: 3).
May
the Lord help us to strike the right balance in the experience and emphasis of
the fruit as well as of the gifts of the Holy Spirit!
May
the Good Shepherd Himself guide us into true springs of living water of the
Holy Spirit (Isaiah 49: 10; Rev. 7: 17)!
Beware of the Counterfeit
This
is a modified version of the reply I gave to a person who needed some
clarification on how we can keep ourselves safe from being not deceived by
those who pretend to be the Lord’s workers:
I’ve
seen through these years after I have come to faith that many of those who take
Christ’s name are counterfeit! So, we have to be ‘shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves’ (Matthew 10: 16).
I
have heard of a book circulated by apostles in the early centuries mentioning
as to how to discern a false teacher! What they say is that whoever comes to
you and asks you for money for themselves in Jesus’ name would be a false
teacher, whatever else he says! In those times when there was no printing, and
written manuscripts of the Bibles were not so much available as we have today,
that principle was very useful to those early Christians! But I’ve to say that
it is equally or rather more beneficial to today’s Christians also as they can
write off vast majority of so-called ‘pastors’ today with this single test!!
So,
if some money-loving counterfeit preacher approaches me for money, I do not
want to give him even a single paise! As somebody said: “What these people are
doing in Jesus’ name, is what Jesus Himself would never have done!” We are
accountable for each rupee God has entrusted us! So we need to ask Him before
we “help” others! I also have made many mistakes in the past in helping others
without discernment!
Lord Jesus said in Luke 16:13: “No
servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the
other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot
serve God and wealth.”
True gospel frees you from the love
of money. Lord Jesus is with a whip today too, against those who are cheating
people and extracting their money in His name!
The
Lord has called only a few people to full-time Christian work and has given
them the faith to trust Him for their daily needs! But the tragedy is that so
many have ventured to do His work as a means of gain! (1 Timothy 6: 5).
The Word of God clearly commands us to “avoid
those who hold to form of godliness and deny its power” (2 Timothy 3:5). I
never wish to be part of a church which is led by such covetous persons,
because otherwise I’ll be disobeying His Word! Jesus told many things to people
IN LOVE (Ephesians 4: 15) without caring whether they would get offended
and leave Him. We have to follow His example.
The
commandment in the Scripture is: “Do not participate in the unfruitful
deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them” (Ephesians 5: 11).
At
the same time, we need to be sensitive and generous to the needs of those who
are sacrificially and selflessly serving the Lord and those who are really
poor! Only the Lord can give us wisdom concerning these! So, though we have to
be strict against sin and hypocrisy, we have to be loving and compassionate as
well, because that’s the balance we see in our Lord Jesus.
Wednesday, May 22, 2019
Does the Word of God permit Sisters to Pray and to Share from the Word in the Church?
I am constrained by the love of the Lord to write this,
after having recently interacted with some dear brothers who deny the privilege
which the Word of God gives to sisters to pray and to share from the Word of
God in the church.
Even though it is crystal clear from 1 Corinthians 11: 5
that sisters can pray and prophesy with their heads covered, some argue that
the first 16 verses of the chapter is not an instruction for the church
meeting, but a common instruction. Then we will have to say that even the
commandment for sisters to cover the heads in the same passage also is not a
commandment to be obeyed during the church meetings! If so, will the brothers
with this argument teach that the sisters need not cover their heads in the
church meetings? No. Then, even a small child will be able to understand the hypocrisy
in this!
[Let me just mention at this point what prophesying in the
New Testament is. It is speaking to others for edification, exhortation and
consolation (1 Corinthians 14: 3) based on the Word of God, according to the
heart of God and according to the need of the people of God. And it is not some
kind of fortune telling as in many pentecostal and charismatic circles (like
one would go to the Gulf countries or to the United States, or that so and so
has done some black magic etc!)].
Another amazing, but hollow argument is that during the time
a sister is praying in the church, she is like leading the church, which is not
permissible! Then, brothers with such an argument will have to restrict sisters
from praying even in their family prayers, because woman is not permitted to
exercise authority over man at any point of time!! (1 Timothy 2: 12). Thus that
argument also fails!
We read in 1 Corinthians 14: 24, 31 that Apostle Paul is
encouraging everyone (including sisters) to prophesy one by one even in the
church meeting. Peter quotes from Joel’s prophecy in Acts 2: 17, 18 unambiguously
that both sons and daughters as well as male and female bond-slaves would
prophesy.
Then the next natural, relevant question is why it is
written in 1 Corinthians 14: 34, 35 that women are to keep silent in the churches and that they are not permitted to speak in the churches. Anyhow, there
is no doubt that the Apostle who is writing inspired by the Holy Spirit (2
Timothy 3: 16) would not contradict himself in 14: 34, 35 what he had already
written in 11: 5 of the same letter.
Then let us examine a similar verse in 1Timothy 2: 12 about
women having to be quiet: “But I do not
allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet”.
From this we can understand that the instruction for sisters to be silent
in 1 Corinthians 14: 34, 35 is just to clarify that the Lord has not entrusted
the sisters the ministry of teaching doctrinal matters in the church or to take
up the leadership of the church. 1 Corinthians 14: 26 which just comes before
these verses, mentions about teaching (and not about prophesying – that is,
sharing from the Word of God). That also supports this interpretation.
Many people ask how sharing from the Word and teaching differs. Sharing
from the Word refers to sharing what the Lord has spoken to us through the Word
and during different life situations. Teaching refers to teaching the doctrines
of the Word like water baptism, Holy Spirit baptism etc. Women can teach women
(Titus 2: 3-5) and children, though not men. But as we saw, they can share from
the Word and testify and pray even in church meetings with their heads covered
(1 Corinthians 11: 5).
The same Apostle Paul,
whom many allege to be against women’s ministry, is the one who unhesitatingly acknowledges
in his epistles the names of many sisters like Phoebe, Prisca (Romans 16: 1-4),
Tryphaena, Tryphosa, Persis (Romans 16: 12), Euodia and Syntyche (Philippians
4: 2, 3), who were active in the ministry of the Lord! Although the Lord has
not given sisters the role of leading the church in terms of position (1
Corinthians 11: 3), gender is immaterial to the Lord when it comes to one’s worth,
value, usefulness as well as eternal reward before the Lord! “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave
nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ
Jesus” (Galatians 3: 28).
Suppose, a whole family
with parents and children are gathered together in the house. And the father
says to the girl children: “You are not supposed to utter a word”. How painful it would be! Exactly same is the situation where sisters are restricted from
praying or sharing from the Word of God in the church! A real church is a
family. May the Lord use us to build in all parts of our land such churches
where sisters are not suppressed from fulfilling their call and ministry!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)