Be still and know that I am God

                 One of my favorite sermons, in which Joyce Meyer tells us about what we need - to be blessed by God. 

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What do we need to do ? - message title itself says it all. The title comes from the Bible verse  

“Be still, and know that I am God ; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”  Psalm 46:10

  A really great Joyce Meyer message to learn how to do it by Faith. Her mind blowing revelations from God in her straight forward and humorous presentation style gives hope to even the hopeless.

The Revelations

       I believe, "since we are his children and are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God's glory"Romans 8:17, we don't have to cry for our blessings. Though, I feel sad about people who out of their desperation in life whine to God all the time and believe that prayers with tears have higher priority in God's heart. I wouldn't have refuted the argument, 'God answers the prayer of whiners too'.

          But in this message Joyce Meyer reveals the revelation of how & why  prayers of tears does not move God at all, rather prayers of faith like, "The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want" Psalm 23:1, are those that do. 

          She quotes, "Prayers like, 'Oh! please God I can't be without it Lord. If you don't do it now God, Oh pleeeese Lord!, Help  me out of my misery in life', just won't move God."

          That sounded rude - even for me. But its the truth I guess. Bible should be drowning in tears if its not, because Bible has the history of men who had the most successful relationship with God. On the contrary it turns out Bible is a place of  Joy & Faith. What more proof do we need to understand crying to God won't work.

       There can be two main reasons for our miserable crying prayers. Lets solve it one by one.

1. Prosperity

         God loves us and so don't worry about your prosperity- He wants us to prosper more than we want us to prosper. He doesn't want us to represent Him in a way that makes people think He is broke.

2. Guilt 

         The mistakes committed in past, present and, believe it or not, for the sins they think they might do in future make people cry. What they don't know is that God had justified their sins- past, present and future on the Cross our redeemer was crucified. God vindicates, never condemns those who are in Christ.

        "God through Christ has forgiven you." Ephesians 4:32

        So technically we can't be a sinner - ever. Well, now what Paul said in Romans 6:2 will probably make sense to you after all these years wondering 'what is he referring to !'.

     "By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?" Romans 6:2.

   "The key to overcoming sin is not by crying effort, but fellowshipping with God. If we say that we spend lot of time with God and we are still living this messy sinful life we are lying. Because, nobody can do that."

Keys to Increase God's Favor

             “You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’ If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you” Exodus 33:12,13

    As a Christian who is Newly Born Again. I had no notion, how to ‘continue to find favour with God ?’, just like Moses above and many other Christians. For anyone who can fathom God’s favour is not attainable with nothing less than God’s righteousness itself, the solution must be nothing less than JESUS CHRIST himself, a capstone indeed !

The more you become aware, how much God has been merciful to you and how important the work of Jesus is in your life, the more you will be beholden to show your gratitude to the Lord. “Forgiven much, loved much and forgiven little, loves little. Luke7:47”, obviously. As long as, “as he(Jesus) is, so are we in this world. 1 John 4:17”, there is nothing we can do to please God by trying to be holy, because “God made him(Jesus) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21”. All I can do is just stay in peace at His feet, thanking His love and enjoying His Goodness, which Jesus refers as, “only one thing is needed. Luke 10:42”

            When the desire to make our Maker proud haunts us, we are not left with much to go on except enjoy His goodness through FAITH, a much admired topic in the Bible, right from Genesis to Revelations.

What is Faith ?

How did two gentiles, the centurion and the Canaanite woman, who could've never had anyone to teach how to please God in their life, I presume, impressed and received compliments from Jesus as having “great faith. Matthew 8:10,15:28” , while His own disciples received reprimand again and again.

Were they closer to Jesus than Jesus’s disciples?             - No, they didn’t sleep in Jesus’s bosom.

Did they sacrifice more than Jesus’s disciples?            - No, they didn’t sacrifice everything and follow Jesus.

Did they perform great miracles than Jesus’s disciples?  - No, they didn’t cast away devils. Jesus’s disciples did all these.

What did they have in common ?

The centurion says, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed Matthew 8:8.”, he humbles himself by saying he is not worthy enough to receive Jesus and also he chooses to enjoy the authority of God over everything, “a word is more than enough”, he says.

When Jesus says to the Canaanite women, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs” she says, “Yes it is, Lord, Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table Matthew 15:26,27”. She humbles herself in front of Jesus and chooses to enjoy the abundance in God’s table.

       When a kid sees chocolate in Daddy's hand, his face lightens up, because he knows it is for him. Similarly, they saw God's authority and abundance and they presumed that it is for them.
        Faith is pleasing God not by justifying ourselves, but by enjoying God’s Goodness.

     Through faith we can enjoy privileges we never would have thought we can. Enjoying every day prayer with spiritual intimacy will empower you to lead the day in Faith. Following are a few ways to enjoy God's goodness through faith or Keys to increase God’s favour in life.

I.              Enjoy Jesus and his finished work by confessing “I am the righteousness of God in Christ” every day, especially when sin affects. 
The more you enjoy it, the more easily you can carry  someone else's cross -  help people who are in stress, worries and suffering, both physically and mentally.

II.            John’s secret is, he referred himself as the “Disciple whom Jesus loved, John 13:23”. He was not conceited, but was enjoying the Love Jesus had for him. Among the 12 disciples Jesus had only John, James and Peter accompanied Him wherever he went and among them John ended up being the “Disciple whom Jesus Loved, John 19:26”, just because he realized this simple fact better. Realize and refer yourself as the, “God’s Favoured one”, especially when you feel you are unworthy.

III.      Paul said , “Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. Philippians 4:4” - not when he brought Eutychus back from the dead mightily, but when he was chained in the sewage filled dungeon.

 David said, “This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24” - not when he won against Goliath gloriously, but while he was herding his sheep.

They chose to enjoy God irrespective of their circumstances, because they knew God’s love never fluctuates. I wonder even though they lived in two different era & covenant, how they wrote very similar verses? Perhaps because they had the same coach - Holy Spirit!

IV.      Through Christ, “we are God's children. Romans 8:16”, which makes us Royal. The privileges of being  Royal are, you don’t have a boss and there is no one you need to serve. Even money is no more your boss, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might be rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9”.

V.      JEHOVAH NISSI - The lord is my banner, who fights for me. 

David collected the smooth stones, the kind that stack neatly in a shepherd’s pouch, its purpose is to knock down the head of a lion, or a bear that tries to hurt his sheep. When his king offered heavy weapons and defensive shields, he politely declined the offer. ‘C’mon it’s not my style!’, he must have thought. He was neither afraid of losing nor lusting for glory.  At the sight of this odd happening atleast one of the soldiers gathered there would have whisphered, "He goes forward as if it’s just another fun filled day to work!". 
Although today David is fighting a warrior, who had challenged the whole Israel army for forty days, but not even a single volunteer turned up to stand against him, until today.
 We can relate it in a smaller scale to the days we go out filled with the Grace of God. We enjoy the day worry free and victory is always a bonus that is added to us.

In the impromptu speech before the encounter with his challenger, David never had to highlight the features in his resume instead he had God as his banner. He says, “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.1 Samuel 17:37". If I had quoted my version to my mum, on the day before my exam, she would have definitely scolded, “Don’t give excuses. Go study”. But today his king Saul is out of options, all he could say is, “Go, and the LORD be with you 1 Samuel 17:34”, with a 'sigh' ofcourse.

 But David saw something that others didn’t see, which he disclosed to Goliath, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 1 Samuel 17:45” and he remembered something that others, even God's annointed man Saul, forgot, “The LORD is our strength and our shield. Psalm 28:8”, “our refuge and our fortress. Psalm 91:2".
         I guess if I can remember I am backed by a Mighty Commander and His army, I too will go to war wearing casuals.

VI.      Don’t let the devil trick you with the words, 'You are not worthy for the blessing you are praying for', because you are not only worthy, you already have it in Christ, “whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. Mark 11:24”. Jesus says, “You may ask (Jesus)me for anything in (His)my name, and (He)I will do it. John 14:14” So whenever you see someone else enjoying the blessing you wish for, confess, 'I have it in Christ too!', revelling. 
  We should ask for showers of blessings not because we desperately need it, but because God is more than willing to bless us with the abundance He has.

VII.    JEHOVAH JIRAH - God provides what is good for us.

 Live a care free life. God loves people who depend on Him and lead a carefree life. “Abram believed the LORD, and He credited it to him as righteousness. Genesis 15:6”. 
God literally meant it because He never accused Abram of wrong doings, even though he did quite a few. In fact he depended in God to the extend when the question of where is the lamb to sacrifice been put to him directly by his son unaware of God’s command to replace him for the lamb. Abram answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son. Genesis 22:8". That is cool ! Is it not ? 
Guess what God promised Abraham’s lineage - “I will make you a great nation. Genesis 12”, which later He revises - “I have made you a father of  many nations. "I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. Genesis 17”, and that is Super cool !!

         VIII.            Pray for others, because in addition to your life and anything related to you, God’s favour can shine in the life of whom you pray for also. 
      Before you Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:44, please remember - praying for your enemies is only possible when you have the confidence that God is on your side, which is the promise of God to us through CHRIST.
                 God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? Hebrews 13:5,6.”

           More than once to his disciples, Jesus says, “O you of little faith? Matthew 8:26, 16:8, 14:31”, meaning, ‘How little you are enjoying God’s Goodness?’. When Jesus is on our boat there is no need to dread and cry, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown! Matthew 8:25". Amen

IT'S NOT FAIR !!

We say It's  Not Fair when we come across injustice in life. Such words couldn't possibly bring happiness in our life. But there are a few exceptions, where it is a delight, which couldn't be possible except for Our Father's ! Our Lord's ! FAVOR.

After a day's work for nothing when Peter saw a net breaking, boat sinking load of fishes. He realized that God's favor was on him, it was not what he was expecting and he must have had hard time taking it in, mainly because until that day he must have been accustomed to say "It's not fair" with frustration rather than delight. So, "When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord." Luke 5:8.

But I was on the other side of the river.

Sam, a friend of mine from college, always dazzled in the class, just like all the pastor's children I have ever met. Well! Just like everyone else I had also worked hard to please God, so that I can also shine.

One day during our final exams me and my friend Prabin were working hard on how to tame the question paper.

Prabin stopped his aggressive reading and said, "Do you know, Sam always studies only selected questions from each unit and they always appear in the question paper!"

"Is it true?", I asked annoyed in the middle of my rigorous scanning.

"Yeah", he said with a lot of respect for Sam, "He has lot of faith in God, If you ask him 'How come you are so confident that only the questions you have studied are going to be in the question paper?', he would confidently say 'Only these questions'"

I couldn't  say anything, for my mind couldn't reason, 'IT'S NOT FAIR', "How could God give the questions to him just because he is a pastor's son? It is already too late for my Dad to become a pastor and I can't be nearly as good as his dad at this young age.", I thought.

   "Only if I could outperform his dad, the questions I study might also appear in the question paper!", I sighed in frustration.

God's favor is something worth envying.

When Joseph was sold as a slave by his own brothers, the bible says he had only God's favour on his side and nothing else. The next time Joseph's family met him, God had raised him way above they could possibly imagine. He went on to become, in pharaoh's kingdom, the authority who sanctions the provisions for his brothers' survival. Anyone can guess the murmur they would have had in their minds, "IT IS NOT FAIR".

Abraham had issues, the Kings were coming after his wife one after another. He has to tell the Pharaohs that this is my wife so you cannot have her, but he knew better. To tell the Pharaoh you cannot have her might be construed, by pharaoh's servants, as an open invitation to kill him. So he says she is my sister! God appears to the king, Abimelech, in his dream and tells him, "You are a dead man", definitely a scary thing to hear from God, just because of the simple fact that, God means everything he says and never exaggerates . In the conversation that follows, Abimelech's cry, "It's is not fair, how could you favour him even though it's him who made the mistake ?", is obvious.

But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, "Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man's wife." But Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, "Lord, will You slay a righteous nation also? Did he not say to me, 'She is my sister'? And she, even she herself said, 'He is my brother.' In the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this." Genesis 20:5.

Never mess with God's favored ones

A recent incident made me realize the mightiness of God's favor and the kindness behind Jesus' prayer, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." Luke 23:34

The cab provided by our company, takes two men and a girl to office. As summer neared the girl who sits in the front seat couldn't take the heat, so she offered her seat to me. Even though I was wary of the reason for her new found generosity, which she later revealed to me herself, I accepted her offer mainly because I didn't mind. After six months of travelling in the back seat, I didn't have to sit in the front seat for more than one week to find that the new girl who joined us that week has already started crowding the back seat and is causing unease to those who sit in the back seat.

One thing common in the lives of all the God's favored ones is that whatever bad might be intended to them, God turns it into something surprisingly good. Joseph tells his brothers, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. Genesis 50:20".

How could I not mention the words of the shepherd boy David, who went on to become the shepherd of God's people by bringing down the giant Goliath, who sang in his psalms, "The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvellous in our eyes" Psalm 118: 22,23. In fact the word DAVID itself literally means, "GOD'S BELOVED", no wonder he won against the giant.

When asked about the power through which they were doing miracles, John and Peter refer, "It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. He is "'the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone. Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."

God's favour through CHRIST

I don't envy Sam anymore, I feel happy for him.

 Just because I realized the favor of God is not something you get through 'Your Pastor Dad', it is through Jesus Christ. It's just that their 'Pastor Dads' had taught them from their childhood how to receive God's favor. And they had personalized it, by enjoying it in their everyday life.

When the wayside beggar asked for money, Peter told him, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." Acts 3:9.   Similarly, I had only God's favor when I started, and it's my most valuable asset until today, which I intend to use to help the crippled walk. Amen.