Tuesday 29 January 2013

A SRI LANKAN MEMOIR

This article has been long overdue! Ever since i returned from Sri Lanka, I've been up to my eyeballs in work! I guess those are the blessings that I'm enjoying as a result of sowing into 'good works'.

Exactly three years ago Dilrukshi (Sister Dilu) had expressed a desire to have an orphanage of her own in Sri Lanka. She belongs to our prayer group in Dubai and has been instrumental in taking Bro. Johnson to Colombo. It has been three years now since JCILM was established there and today, hundreds have offered their lives to Jesus!

Ever since God instilled the desire in Dilu's heart, land for the orphanage has been gifted to her free of cost. She is already looking after about 30 children from the slums, providing them free meals every day. She continues to work in Dubai but supports her friends who have dedicated their lives to this service in Sri Lanka. 

Just a couple of months ago, i recommitted my services to designing the orphanage. At that time, Dilu told us by faith to get ready to go there around the 10th of Jan 2013. Of course i said yes not knowing what was in store for me regarding my job!Even though i lost my job, I offered this trip up to the Lord and before i left for Sri Lanka on the 14th, i had the license of our firm DIASQUARE JLT in my hand! By this time, my brother Antonio had also consented to come along with me to Sri Lanka.

Ever since we landed at Bandarinaike International Airport in Colombo to now, the blessings have never stopped pouring into our lives! Before we left Dubai, the Lord had given me the following message through Psalm 3: 5,6:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight.


Just a few things worth mentioning:

- When we visited the various government authorities in Sri Lanka to get the project going, we saw the mighty hand of the Lord as we were accorded a rare welcome, with government servants actually rising from their seats and running around doing all the paperwork for us. They even helped fill our application forms! (Believe me ... if it was in Goa, what we achieved in 2 days would have taken us a month!)

- Antonio and i wanted to visit the survey department but for some strange reason, the 'Trishaw ( Rickshaw, in India :-) took us to Child Protection Authority! Nevertheless, trusting in God that it was not a mistake, we decided to go in and meet the Chairperson. We had no appointment with her but we sat in the waiting hall and prayed. I told the others to get ready to go in any moment and it actually happened! The Chairperson saw us and asked several questions regarding the orphanage. I was silently praying in the spirit. Dilu was heartbroken to hear that the government had stopped giving licenses to orphanages due to the abuses happening there! But God turned her despair into great joy the very next moment when the Chairperson suggested that the building be called a SAFE HOME for abused children. She even said that it would be the first of many such homes in the country and that she had absolutely no issues with the home being run on Christian principles! She even agreed to keep young pregnant girls until their delivery, in the same home and said that Dilu could raise those children as a foster parent! All assistance to get the plans approved would be granted by the ministry. They even volunteered to provide operational assistance for the home!

- Fr. Sanjeeva Vas, a professor in the seminary (Ampitiya) teaching 'Christology' said mass in Dilu's house. People from the ward were also invited and the service turned out to be an amazing one. The sermon was absolutely soul stirring and the young priest's passion to unite the people of his parish through weekly masses celebrated in people's houses was a great way of building the 'body of Christ'. It also happened to be the feast of Blessed Joseph Vaz (Missionary from Goa to Ceylon) who the Sri Lankans revere to this day!

- We visited Pastor Roshan's church and were touched to hear the story of a growing church. His prayers were also answered through our visit to Sri Lanka as he needed Architects to advise how he could extend the hall and other facilities.

-During a dinner invitation from Bro. Paul, who leads worship at Bro. Johnson's meetings, we came to know that he too was praying for Christian architects to help him in realising a long standing dream to own his own apartment block in an opulent zone in Colombo. We were introduced to several such buildings just to have an idea of the type of apartments which were on offer so that we could design accordingly. It appears that God has great plans for us in Sri Lanka!

- The tour of Pollonnarwa, Dambulla, Kandy, Srigiriya, Kelany Temple, Colombo and Negombo broadened our thinking as we were transported 2000 years back into history into the very lives of the early Kings and Monks who lived there. We couldn't stop marvelling at their art,  engineering and Architectural genius!

- We were also blessed to hear Bro. Trewin's testimony of how the Lord had delivered him from Cancer! It is a long story and i will leave it for another time!

Friends, if you ever wanted to go someplace real nice for a vacation, consider Sri Lanka. And please do not book a hotel in one place but rather do a 'point-to-point' stay along the entire site seeing circuit of Anuradhapura (Ancient City and first capital), Pollonarua (2nd Capital), Dambulla and Kandy etc. It is an affordable place (1 Indian Rupee = 2.3 Sri Lankan Rupees). The people are friendly and the food is excellent!

Sunday 6 January 2013

YOU ARE A MIRACLE WORKING PEOPLE!


My family (All four of us!) has been down with some viral cold/fever for the past few days and has been battling it with a lot of prayer and believing. We all want our healing to come instantaneously but most times it comes and some even lose their hope in that waiting period!

Last night, the HS explained it all through Pastor 'D' ...
Choosing Jesus as our model for the study, Pastor made the following observations:

Jesus very clearly states  in Luke 4:18, the purpose of His ministry :

The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,[a]
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;

Again in Matthew 4:23,24

And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.  
 
24 Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.

And in Mark 1:14,15...
Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom[a] of God,
and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel!

It is clear from the above scripture verses that Jesus was fulfilling the will of His father to establish HIS KINGDOM here on earth. Interestingly, the way He was doing it was with POWER and GLORY and the Apostles, disciples and the early church

When Jesus healed Simon Peter's mother-in-law (See Luke 4:38-41), he 'REBUKED' the fever and it left her body! It is clear from the word 'rebuked' that Jesus was treating all sickness as being caused by the evil one! His ministry had a lot of 'Deliverance Cases'! He 'laid hands' on each sick person and He healed them!

Did Jesus say the following words in John 14:12 or not?
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.
Again, in Mat 10:1...
And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.
So, friends, if you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, you are a MIRACLE WORKING PEOPLE! YOU ARE CARRYING GOD"S GLORY! PREACH THE GOSPEL AND SIGNS AND WONDERS WILL SURELY FOLLOW YOU!
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NOTE:

For those of you who are trying to 'walk the path' but are not 'getting the same results' as Jesus and the early Church did, here's some encouragement for you!

There are 4 possible answers to your 'healing prayer' requests:

YES! - You will see an instant miracle right after you have prayed over someone!

YES, BUT NOT NOW!- The person may need a proper 'deliverance' before the healing can come.
YES, WHEN YOU MEET GOD"S CONDITIONS - The person will need to release forgiveness, change sinful attitudes etc.

NO! - You will not see an immediate manifestation of what you prayed for. (Remember Paul in 2 Cor 12:7-9? He prayed to God to remove a particular 'affliction' from his body but he had to be content with 'My grace is sufficient for you' as an answer!))


If you have any questions, i will forward them to Pastor 'D' for you and he will surely respond!

Thursday 3 January 2013

HOW TO RECEIVE A 'DOUBLE PORTION' in 2013!

Pastor 'D' (Grace Covenant church) has announced that the year 2013 would be a year when one can avail of a 'double portion' from the Lord. Here's how!

It is common knowledge that most Christians find the Book of JOB very depressing! However, to the ones who reflect on it will find it very interesting! Let's learn how to get a 'double portion' from JOB's testimony:

In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. He had seven sons and three daughters, and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East. - JOB 1:1-3

His sons used to hold feasts in their homes on their birthdays, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would make arrangements for them to be purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular custom. - JOB 1:4-5

JOB was a blameless and upright man yet he lived in fear of losing all that he had! His children were sinners and he offered sacrifices to atone for their sins lest God punished them! He was in love with the Lord but he had FEAR inside of him! We all know that FEAR and FAITH cannot coexist in our spirit. Fear CANCELS Faith!

When God allows Satan to test JOB's faithfulness, Satan uses the very weakness of JOB against him - The fear of losing his children and all that he had! 

But Romans 14:23 reminds us that whatever is not of faith is SIN!

Thus JOB stops being 'blameless and upright' the moment he is in fear! He has sinned!

When JOB still remains faithful to the Lord, Satan attacks his body and covers his body with sickness and pain! Yet JOB does not curse God!

What I feared has come upon me;
    what I dreaded has happened to me. - JOB 3:25


A very interesting turn of events happens here when his own three friends (who have been envious of him all along!) appear on the scene. Instead of encouraging him with words of comfort, they  condemn JOB as a sinner!

In JOB 19:25, he at last reaches his 'zero point' and depends completely on God: 
I know that my redeemer[c] lives,
    and that in the end he will stand on the earth.[d]
26 And after my skin has been destroyed,
    yet[e] in[f] my flesh I will see God;

As soon as JOB completely and truly begins to depend on God and surrenders to God completely, believing and trusting ONLY in His ability to save him, does God intervene! JOB realises  and is convicted of his unworthiness!

After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. JOB 42:10

God  restores him ONLY WHEN HE FORGIVES HIS 'FRIENDS'!




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A SIDE NOTE:

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—John 1:12

Here's where we make the mistake in our lives and fall short of tasting the glory of God - If we are the 'Children of God', HE is our PERFECT FATHER. If we trust God to be our father, there should be no fear and therefore perfect peace should be our lot! The words DO NOT FEAR have been repeated 365 times in the Bible!

ALAS!  IF ONLY WE COULD BELIEVE THIS!









Tuesday 1 January 2013

AARON'S BLESSING

During Mass today, one of the readings was taken from the Book of Numbers. The following extract is what jumped out at me!

The Lord bless you and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord lift up his countenance[a] upon you and give you peace - Num. 6:24-26


 The above is an instruction to Aaron through Moses as to how he was to bless His people. Since through Christ, we are the 'seed' of Abraham, we can boldly say that Aaron's blessings hold good for all those in Christ even to this day! What better way to start the New Year than to know of our inheritance through Abraham!


13 For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,
14 Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.
15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
16 For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. - Heb 6:13-16

The blessing given to Abraham continues to affect his 'seed' to this day. It is only through FAITH that we can access the blessing! Tell yourself again and again, 'I AM BLESSED. I AM A CHILD OF GOD. WITH GOD ON MY SIDE WHO CAN BE AGAINST ME?'

Whatever blunders you may have done in the past, that door is shut now and that 'moment in time' cannot be revisited and put right! But a new door has opened in 2013 which affords the opportunity to 'repair' whatever 'damage' we may have caused in relationships with man or God.

Let us resolve to evolve into a New Creation in Christ this year! Let the 'pursuit of Holiness' continue throughout this year!