CHRIST in CHRISTmas!

Each year, on the 15th of December, Grace Youth Carolers Margao (Goa), would hit the streets every evening with lanterns, guitars and song sheets. The youth looked forward to the caroling for several reasons - The mood was special, girls and boys professed their love for each other, many households would offer free drinks and eats and the best reason of all ... the collection over the 9 days of singing would be spent on a grand picnic (Of course some of it would go towards charity!)

Sometimes, my brothers and i would be part of the school choir to compete with other school groups all over the State. Many of us met our soul mates during this romantic time. Some of us even made it to marriage!

Today, even as i call myself a 'bible following' Christian, the season still brings over me that wonderful mood each year and i feel pretty nostalgic. I miss my mom and extended family in Goa terribly over Christmas and it's been several years since i've spent Christmas with them. This year, my brothers and their families are in Goa and i was not able to go due to reasons beyond my control. As i sat and mulled over all those beautiful moments i spent with loved ones in Goa, i was saddened over that one memory of my Melbourne trip that keeps coming to mind and that is of the dishevelled hippie who stood in the middle of a busy pavement holding a placard that said - REMEMBER CHRIST IN CHRISTmas!

Whilst we make merry, get drunk, go for dances, romance and party let us remember the real reason for the season - Christ!

GOD'S CAKE! (Author unknown)

 

       Here's an old post from the internet which i was greatly touched by. I hope it touches your lives too and so i will post in on my blog.  
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       After all life is not a piece of cake, or is it?  So

   the next time you feel troubled why not have a piece of.....

                                      God's Cake

       Sometimes we wonder, "What did I do to deserve this", or

   "Why did God have to do this to me". Here is a wonderful

   explanation!

       A daughter is telling her Mother how everything is going

   wrong, she's failing algebra, her boyfriend broke up with her

   and her best friend is moving away.

       Meanwhile, her Mother is baking a cake and asks her

   daughter if she would like a snack, and the daughter says,

           "Absolutely Mom, I love your cake."

           "Here, have some cooking oil," her Mother offers.

           "Yuck" says her daughter.

           "How about a couple raw eggs?"

           "Gross, Mom!"

           "Would you like some flour then?

            Or maybe baking soda?"

           "Mom, those are all yucky!"

       To which the mother replies: "Yes, all those things seem bad

   all by themselves. But when they are put together in the right

   way, they make a wonderfully delicious cake!

       God works the same way. Many times we wonder why He

   would let us go through such bad and difficult times. For God

   knows that when He puts these things all in His order, they

   always work for good!   We just have to trust Him and,

   eventually, they will all make something wonderful!

       Always remember, God is crazy about you.

   He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning.

   Whenever you want to talk, He'll listen. He can live anywhere in

   the universe, and He chose your heart. 

       Now I hope your day is a "piece of cake!"  After all, Life may

   not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might

   as well dance.

                                                         ---Author Unknown---

WORK IN THE "BLESSING''

Here are a few notes i took down from an anointed preacher who preached in Rio De Janeiro at the ADHONEP Conference held a few years back. I hope you will be blessed by them!

BLESSING = EMPOWERED TO SUCCEED NO MATTER WHAT THE ODDS
CURSE= EMPOWERED TO FAIL NO MATTER HOW HARD YOU WORK.

In Genesis, man was in paradise ... blessed. Disobedience brought a separation from God and therefore the 'kingship/dominion' over all of creation was taken away from man.

Jesus came to restore this relationship back with God our father.

Through His WORD, we can reconnect and claim our blessing through faith.

1:The the ability to CREATE wealth TO FUND GOD'S KINGDOM as well as TAKE FOR OURSELVES WHAT WE NEED
2:We have the AUTHORITY in the area of 'LAW'
3:We have territorial DOMINION
4:We can create an atmosphere for MIRACLES.
5:We have a MINISTRY and to run it well we are given the ANOINTING of the Holy Spirit

In essence, when we WORK FOR GOD, we are then elevated to the rank of 'FAITHFUL SERVANT' ( you know the parable!)

When you are thinking the KINGDOM PRINCIPLES at all times (PRIORITY) then GOD GIVES YOU CREATIVE IDEAS TO DWELL ON.

These when put into action produce much return which means that you have actually ACTIVATED your BLESSINGS.

Obedience to God's holy WORD is a must!

Funding His KINGDOM is a must!

We must SOW to REAP!
If you have not even purchased the LOTTERY, you would be foolish to DREAM of the PRIZE!!!!
When you have understood the above, 'sow' a seed into God's kingdom and then activate the blessing ... it can be any seed, but let it be the best seed you can afford to sow at the moment

Believe that you have activated the BLESSING and pray for a 'vision' and 'idea'!

BATHROOM REFLECTIONS

Whilst i was humming ' How great is our God ' in the shower yesterday, i saw a jumbled up array of video clippings on the timeline of my mind. There was no particular sequence but just images from the past projecting themselves on my screen of consciousness. I was not even dwelling on any particular 'video clip' but just letting them flash up and disappear. The surprising thing is that i can still remember and therefore i can write this article!

It started with a flashback of my childhood days, of how my mom used to give me a bath near our deep well. My grandmother would draw water from the well (22 hands deep ... that is how they measured the depth of wells those days!) and fill a huge copper pot. It always sat on 3 stones with fire burning under it. Hot water would be drawn out from it with a steel tumbler into a bucket and mixed with cold water until a bearable temperature was reached. It was then taken outside, and kept next to the washing stone, where i was given my bath. The water just flowed into a channel, which meandered downhill until it met the main sewer. Today, i was standing inside a posh bathroom with a choice to either lie lazily in my bathtub or just take a shower with water controlled by a mixer on the wall! I considered myself blessed and highly favoured by God to have such comfort and luxury when many dive into cold muddy waters to wash themselves clean even in the chill of winter!

Greg B's (A missionary) message came to mind. He had asked himself, " Why was i born in an affluent American home and not in some slum-dwelling family?" We come with no choice of where we are born but then we have millions of choices to make in our lifetime thereafter. What choices do we make? Are they 'world-wise'? ' Word-wise'?

Last week, Greg had shared again. I saw him asking me, " So Bro. Joseph, you are an Architect right? Tell us something about the foundations of 'Burj Khalifa' (Tallest building in the world)". The take-home from his message was screaming in my head. The ground is excavated, the piles are driven very deep into the ground until they hit rock, the piles are capped and the raft slab is poured .... One may not see any building coming out of the ground for months on end! But when it does rise tall, it is there to stay for a long time, come storm or tempest!

Matthew 7:24-27

Build Your House on the Rock

24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

Are we digging into the