Pause and Ponder

14/02/2022

14/02/2022

13/02/2022

In search of one sheep

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. Isaiah 55:8
If a man owned hundred thousand sheep, and one went missing, Will he bother to go on a mission to find it? If God owned hundred thousand sheep, and one went missing, it’s altogether a different story. He will risk his own life to get back the lost sheep. (John 10:11)

Even though Egyptians worshipped Idols, God did not destroy Egypt. The sin of the Cananites was unbearable. Child sacrifice, in**st, adultery, temple prostitution, and several other heinous actions were all normal among them. Like S***m and Gomorrah, the entire country has become evil. God revealed to Abraham that he was going to destroy S***m and Gomorrah, Abraham pleaded for his nephew Lot. God saved Lot and his family. I believe God did not save Lot for Abraham. He would have saved him, anyway. You may ask how can you say that. I say that because that is the nature of my loving God. God sees people as individuals, not as a group. I will show you a classic example from the book of Joshua.

God told Abraham that his fourth generation will come and destroy Cananites because of their sin. 440 years passed away. God commanded Joshua to destroy the city. What was the first thing Josuha did? He sent two spies to Jericho. It is strange because Joshua knows very well that it is a supernatural war. The Lord God told him that He has given this land to Israel, so military information about the enemy is not even important for him. Joshua already had a terrible experience with spying. Despite all this, he is sending these spies, not to spy the land, but to save Rahab. Joshua, the son of Nun, sent two spies. The root meaning of the name Nun is ‘eternal’. Joshua, the son of eternal, is sending two spies to deliver God’s sheep. In the same fashion, Jesus, the son of Eternal, is sending his disciples two by two to deliver the people from sickness and bo***ge.

Rahab is God’s sheep. What the bible says about God’s sheep? Who is God’s sheep? Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me” (John 10: 14). Anyone who knows God and believe in Him is His sheep.

Rahab was a pr******te. In Cananites’ culture, pr******tes are involved in the temple rituals, but that doesn’t stop Rahab from seeing the truth. The walls of Jerico could not stop Rahab from knowing the God of Israel.

It is amazing to read the words Rahab told the Spies. She started by saying, I know that Lord has given you the land. She is mentioning the first miracle of drying up the red sea when the Israelites left Egypt 40 years ago and to their latest victory in the war. She could see how this God cares, protects, and provides. And she acknowledges the God of Israel as the true God of heaven and earth. Somewhere deep in her heart, she knew He is God and no one or nothing can stand against him. She believed that she will find mercy because he is a good and merciful God. (John 6:37)

Rahab is a Canaanite. She has got no covenant with God of Israel. She was a pr******te and would have taken part in many temple rituals and worshipped those idols. All these things could not defile her eligibility to become God’s own. The moment she acknowledged God and his mercy, believing she can come to him for help, she has become His own. God did not count Rahab as just another Canaanite. She is not just a number. She is a very important person. So is everyone. No matter where you are, what you have done, when you seek God, He will be there to help you. Jesus said that a good shepherd will leave the ninety-nine and go for that one sheep that is lost. Do the value for ninety-nine and one are the same? The answer is yes.

Nothing stops God from coming close to people, but the people’s ignorance about the loving nature of God is stopping them to go to Him.

Today, I would like to encourage you by telling this great truth that you are very important to God. You are not just a number or just another person, and not one among many, but you are like the only one to him. Do you believe it?

Bible references

John 10:11
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. (NLT)

John 10: 14

“I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep.”

John 6: 37

whoever comes to me I will never drive away

08/02/2022

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ct87SyL1OnQ

08/02/2022

Don’t let that serpent talk

The greatest obstacle that humankind faces is believing that God is good, merciful, and that he genuinely loves us.

If we take a moment to pause and ponder when we read the Bible, we can plainly see how Satan, through the serpent, sows doubt in Eve’s heart about God’s goodness. (Gen 3:4,5) He wants her to assume that God doesn’t love them enough, so He is holding something magnificent from them. Eve yielded to that deception. As a result, her actions did not align with God’s will. The Hebrew word for serpent is Nâchâsh. According to Strong’s dictionary, its original root means “to hiss, to whisper a spell.” Even today, Satan uses the same weapon, with the sole purpose of making you doubt God’s love for you. That’s why it’s difficult for us to think he cares about us and listens to us every time we speak to him.

Dear child of God, you may hear a faint whisper in your heart telling you that God will not answer you, or that he will not answer you right away, or that he is furious and teaching you a lesson, or that he will not heal you... and so on. Remember, this is the serpent’s (Satan’s) voice, and he wants you to doubt God’s goodness. Dismiss such thoughts.

Remember, God so loved the world that he gave his only son for us (John 3:16). How much he would have loved and valued us to make such a sacrifice.

Constantly remind yourself of this great love. Tell yourself, God loves me, He is always looking out for my best interests (Jeremiah 29:11), He wants me to be well; I am healed because of his stripes (Isaiah 53:5), He always pays attention when I speak to him (1 John 5:15), When I seek for help, he always comes through (Psalm 91:15) (Psalm 34: 5), He is faithful. (1 Thessalonians 5:24)

- Stella Raj

Bible references

Gen 3:4,5

4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

John 3:16
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Isaiah 53:5
But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. {NLT)

Jeremiah 29:11

11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

1 John 5:15

And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

Psalm 91:15

When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them.

Psalm 34: 5

Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces.

1 Thessalonians 5:24

Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ct87SyL1OnQ