The past is gone, the future waits; What will that future be?—Dixon, alt.
Yet another year has passed, and we are entering a New Year with lots of hopes.
During such times, it’s good to take stock of the past.
Generally as Christians we do this through different activities at the end and beginning of the new year.
It is always good to think about the past.
We can think about how God has blessed us, and, perhaps, what He has in store for us this year.
But there is something else we have to ponder as we enter this new year.
Will we produce good fruits for the Gardener who placed us in this big garden?
In Isaiah 5:1-7, we read the Song of the Vineyard.
A man had some fertile land, so he decided to create a vineyard. He fenced it in; he made sure there weren’t any stones in it.
When he was satisfied that the land was ready for planting, he planted choice, heirloom vines in his vineyard.
He also built a tower and a winepress in the vineyard.
Because of all his preparation, he thought that his vineyard would produce the best grapes, but to his surprise, the vineyard produced something else–wild grapes.
He laments in verse four, “What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done it? Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes and it produce worthless one?”
This gardener had a great expectation about his seedling he planted, but unfortunately it produced bitter (wild grapes KJV) fruits (worthless-NASB).
In verses 5 and 6 we read about the bitter reaction of the gardener towards his worthless vineyard.
He says, “I will remove its hedge and it will be consumed; I will break down its wall and it will become trampled ground and I will lay it waste; it will not be pruned, nor digged, but briers and thorns will come up. I will also charge the clouds to rain no rain on it.”
How sad! That vineyard was completely uprooted. The gardener had no mercy towards it.
Are you like the garden in this song? Are you producing bitter fruit for the one who tends us–God?
If you are, take note of the fate of the vines which produced bitter fruits. The gardener destroyed them; he removed its hedges and consumed it.
He trampled it to the ground and laid it waste.
If you are like the vine in the Song of the Vineyard, there is hope.
In John 15 we read of another vine–Jesus.
In verses one and two, Jesus says, “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vine dresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit.”
Unlike the vine that was trampled in Isaiah 5:1-7, this vine actually produces good fruit, so the vine dresser or gardener is pleased with it.
As Jesus says in this verse, He is the true vine and we, those who believe in him, are the branches. This shows our dependence on and relationship with Christ, with whom God is well pleased.
Also take note of the fact that the gardener, instead of destroying the good vine, does remove the branches that are not fruitful.
But those that produce fruit are pruned.
As branches or members of Christ, sometimes we need pruning to produce better fruit.
Pruning is a painful process, but the result is better than the process… the end is better than the beginning.
This year, let us be under His hands and accept His pruning in our life to produce much fruits for His glory.
May God Bless.
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I believe it to be worth reading writing to ponder over to this New Year.
He said,“The last two decades have shown how much the world needs the salt and light of Christians.”
“I was born in the 1940s and remember fondly the innocence of my youth. The 1950s was perhaps the more carefree decade in modern history. I spend my boyhood in that decade.
How things have changed in my lifetime! Instead of preserving life, some doctors have discovered a lucrative gold mine in killing children in the womb. Kids aren’t taking Bibles to school anymore; they are taking guns. Metal detectors used to be a novelty; now they are as common as an exit door.
Our society is disintegrating before our eyes. We act more like animal than animals do. Only a fool thinks that increased technology, leisure and education have done anything but produce well-educated, high-tech thugs with time on their hands.
Perhaps it’s time we reevaluated one aspect of Christ’s call to His followers. Maybe we should see the seasoning of our society as a missionary calling, just as much as taking the Gospel to a pagan society. After all, most “pagan” societies aren’t as pagan as we Westerners have become.”
As someone from the east, Dr. Kroll’s statements about the state of affairs in the west ring true because we are experiencing the same problems in the east.
A kind of fear and chaos prevails among the people irrespective of their position money or power.
Look at the political situation in our Andhra Pradesh, India. In that region, people lived in peace and harmony. Now they are divided into two groups and are warring against each other for separate states within their boundaries.
Sadly, this is a common phenomenon prevailing in India.
In all such situations, if we closely look we can see clear-cut evidence of avarice, jealousy and selfishness.
No doubt the desire for inordinate wealth is also a major reason behind such incidents.
As we, the believers in Christ, live among such people, we can play a major role here.
That role is of “the salt and light of this world.”
When Christ said this to His disciples, I believe He meant it in a literal sense.
One of the characteristics of salt is that it can preserve things from decaying, so we are to be the preservative in this decaying world.
Jesus also said that we are the light of the world. Our light indicates our true knowledge of God. We received this light by accepting Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior.
And as the carriers of the wonderful light, we are to let this light shine through us so that people come in touch with us also will enjoy the true knowledge of God.
As our Lord said and desired, Let us be the salt and light to this decaying world.
May God bless.
]]>Those who were astonished by the courage of Peter and John when they preached the gospel were not ordinary men, but rulers, elders and teachers of the Law.
By contrast, Acts 4:13 (NKJV) says, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.”
Can the same be said of us who are redeemed by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ? If not, it is good to examine ourselves in the light of these words.
Are our lives and actions like those who had been with Jesus? If not, then others might see us as the enemies of God or as those under Satan. Let’s not forget that “friendship with the world is hatred toward God(James 4:4).”
Today there is a great temptation to love the world and the things of the world. It is obvious that many Christians have a superficial brotherly love.
Have we not become selfish, boasters, self-willed, not displaying unity of heart and mind? Satan takes advantage of such tendencies. The main reason for our failure is that we have forgotten that “…your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).
If we kept this thought in mind, we would be more alert in our lives, Satan would have less success.
We must remember that the devil wants to create havoc in the lives of born again Christians who desire to serve the Lord.
He is on the lookout for our weak areas. Many of God’s servants have fallen for Satan’s tactics and have ruined their testimony.
Their failure should be a warning to us. If we seriously consider this and take care, we will be better able to “stand against the devil’s schemes” (Ephesians 6:11), the one who even tried to deceive our Lord (Matthew 4:1-11).
If we live lives that are pleasing to the Lord, others will notice and testify that these men and women were with Jesus.
As we see increasing evidence for the soon-coming of our Lord, may we live lives which are pleasing to our LORD.
]]>One godly man had described it as an introduction to Psalms, which he called God’s hymnbook.
Whenever we hear the word “blessed,” the thought that comes immediately to our mind is of a “person who is perfect and self sufficient, having all things and is in need of nothing.”
But in the Holy writ, this word is used in an entirely different context. It is used in relation to the word of God.
Many Old Testament saints are called “blessed” in the Holy Scriptures.
In the Psalms and the gospels the word “blessed” is recorded several times. It is further clarified in Revelation 1:3.
But we, the believers, are a congregation of blessed men and women, who are elevated to the height and pinnacle of it.
We are a blessed people.
This truth was made clear by the apostle Paul, while writing to the Ephesians (1:3; 2:7). A picture of our highly exalted position today can be viewed there.
The entire joy of the blessed man in Psalm 1 is centered in the law of the Lord.
He rejoices in God’s word as a man who happened to find a great booty (Psalm 119:162).
It is a matter of great importance for us to know what the source and object of our joy is. Is it in the pleasures of the world? If so, it is only momentary.
It is a joyful experience to find delight in God and His Word day and night. People who do so are compared to “a tree by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth its fruit in the right season; its leaf also shall not wither.”
Just as trees render selfless service by providing carbon dioxide and fuel, men blessed by God are obliged also to serve selflessly.
Let us labor without any desire for benefits; God is the rewarder. The root of such shall be established in the word of God. They receive nourishment from it for growth and maturity.
That will also cause blessings to many.
]]>These days everything seems unsafe.
People are being caught in the merciless radar of terrorism.People are being attacked and killed in the name of politics and religion. Recent incidents show many fall victims to this evil.
On the other, big and small business establishments lace their products (food stuffs, medicines etc…) with spurious materials which lead innocent people to different kinds of ailments to a slow process of death.
Lastly the recent outbreak of bird flu which hit the country made people panic all over the nation.
In every sphere a certain kind of uncertainty and panic prevails.
People don’t want to believe each other. Trust is lost among all spheres. Everywhere a kind of fear and unbelief is taking place.
Even in such situation God’s people need not fear because we are under the great control and cover of the creator of the universe.
We are safe and secure under the wings of the almighty one.
Yes, we are under the protection of the mighty and unchanging God. He never changes nor forsakes those who put trust in Him.
When we are on this earth we too have to undergo such panic situation or to face trails and persecutions and even death. But believers need not get panic in such situation, because we are in the palms of the Lord almighty.
We have a blessed hope in Christ. When we finish our course on this earth we will meet our Savior and we will be with him forever and ever.
What a blessed hope we believers have in Jesus Christ. Whereas, others (those who are without Christ) should get panic that they do not know where they are going.
We are a blessed people Eph.1:3; 2:6 makes it very clear that we are rich in Christ, we are raised up together with him and made us sit down together giving us joint seating with Him in heavenly sphere in Christ Jesus, the Messiah, the Anointed one.
The Scripture is filled with comforting words for the believers, if we trust Him fully; we need not fear anything or anybody on this earth. Circumstances may frighten us, things may go against us, rulers and leaders may rise up against us, but you need not worry, you are in the safe hands of the Lord Almighty.
The recent incidents proclaim that our Lord’s coming is very close. Dearly beloved of God, we are so blessed people, as mentioned in Ephesians, we are rich in Christ.
What are you going to do with these riches?
Or what are you going to do with the other fellow brethren who are perishing without these riches?
Are you making any efforts to share this richness to them? Let us make note that these blessed privileges and positions He has given us not to keep it for ourselves but to share with others. Many a times we hold these blessings for ourselves for our selfish interests.
Abraham is a good example. Lord Jehovah brought him from the clutches of idol making and idolatry and blessed him abundantly.
He became a leader and the father of the nation. Even after obtaining huge blessings he did not hold back the blessings for himself. Instead he shared it with others. Let us emulate his nature, let us be in his category, so that Lord will bless us with much more blessings.
Let us be a blessing to many around us, let us share the greatness of this God which we are enjoying today to others, then they too will be blessed and through them others also may be blessed.
Dearly beloved in the Lord, we do not have much time on this earth.
Let us not hold this blessings for our own selfish interest, instead let us do something to bring the perishing souls to His fold with all the heavenly riches. Let us share it for the glory of our Lord. May God help us.
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