Dearly beloved in Christ,
I greet you in the sweet name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Man places his trust in so many things for resolving his problems. He does not know whether what he believes will bring it to pass or not. Without analysing the logical basis for his beliefs, he follows them according to the practices of the people around him.
Once I was invited by the sisters of a retired army officer to pray for him as he was to undergo a heart surgery the next day. I promised to go over to their house after the meeting. They waited and took me to their house. Seeing us, their brother got up to receive us. I asked him a question: whether he had dropped coins into a running stream. He denied having done it. But after some time, he said that once he did it from a train. He was then appointed as a junior officer and had to travel to a region in Ladak. His parents were aged and all his sisters had got married and so he was worried as to who would take care of them. He saw a person in the coach throwing a coin into a river. He enquired him why he did it. Then he explained his faith that what he desired would happen. Then he also threw a coin into the river. I told him that because he did it believing in a practice, he had that ailment. I explained to him that they were throwing coins because there was a temple in that area and it was their offering to the god there. He then felt sorry for what he had done without knowing the reason behind it. Then he pleaded for forgiveness. The next day the doctors examined him before performing the surgery and said that there was no need for the surgery.
As people indulge in acts of unknown beliefs, they meet with disastrous consequences. As we place our trust in the Almighty God who created us in the womb of the mother, we would inherit wonderful, blessed exaltation. Let us say with David, “My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him.” (Psalm 62:5). Further we are assured: “He who heeds the word wisely will find good, and whoever trusts in the Lord, happy is he” (Prov. 16:20). ‘who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.”’ (Rom. 4:18). His faith was amply rewarded. He got Isaac at the age of 100. The Lord God honoured the faith of Abraham.
Dear Brother/ Sister, do you think that you are too aged to have children? Are you worried in disbelief? Place your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. He created the world and all that are there with His words and the breath of His mouth. He will do great things in your life and He would enable you to have children.
Once an electrician came for prayer at the end of a ministry in an area. He had a desire to extend his electrical store and he needed money for the purpose. He came with this desire at heart. As he expressed his desire, I asked him a question – whether he believed in the saying that itching in the left palm would bring money and itching in the right palm would result in expenses. First, he smiled and tried to laugh it away. Then he accepted that he believed so. I asked him to trust only in the Lord Jesus Christ. He alone is rich and would supply all our needs. He would supply all his needs to extend his store. There would happen a miracle and I counselled him to trust Christ alone.
1. Deliverance
“Our fathers trusted in You;They trusted, and You delivered them.” (Psalm 22:4)
Today man needs deliverance from so many things. Without true emancipation from the bondage of sin, of the devils and of diseases, they would lose their joy and live in constant fear and worries.
i) Deliverance from the Devil
“Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:36)
If you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, He delivers us from the evil power of unclean spirits. There are a number of Christians today who are under the power of the spirit of deep sleep. They complain of not being able to meditate on the Word of God or praise the Lord or pray. It is the spirit of the devil that operates against you secretly to prevent you from reading the Bible or to praise the Lord. In some he induces thoughts of sin or immorality and makes them ineffective in what they purpose to do. Such people would like to pray but keep postponing the time and waste their time in sleep. But they who do have faith in Christ keep praising the Lord at all times and spend time in meditating on the Word of God and praying.
Once I was led by the Holy Spirit to pray for a lady who had been separated from her husband. I went to her house with the help of my sister’s husband. The evil spirit in her began to manifest and it began to reel and spin her head with spread out hair, saying, “Have you come to pray?” In those days I had no experience to cast out devils, but I kept praising and thanking the Lord. In a short time, the devil left her and she was filled with the Spirit of the Lord. After she was delivered, she shared with us how those who loved her counselled to indulge in certain wrong practices. But she did not give room for those acts which were practised by people of other faiths. She was fully reliant on the Lord with faith. She had trust in the Lord and so the Lord delivered her.
Sin reigns over Man. “For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.” (1 John 2:16). When these things overwhelm us, they make us walk according to flesh and bring us under condemnation. Trusting in the things of the world would take us away from the purpose for which we are created. The lusts of this world make us get attached to them and we would over-value their importance. This creates in us strife and enmity. “Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?” (James 4:1). “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.” (James 4:3). The lusts operate against the soul of man. Instead of leaving them, we cling to them and spoil ourselves in fulfilling those lust. We waste our time and energy and consequently spoil our body, soul and spirit. To corrupt our thoughts and to arouse lusts in us, the devil operates through mobile phones, laptop and TV in bringing before us scenes of abomination. There are people, men and women, who spend several hours in watching them.
Recently a youth came to me for prayer as he had no job and also because he wanted deliverance from a disease. I asked him how long he read the Bible and prayed. He said that he would neither read the Bible nor pray. Then I enquired him about the time he spent with his phone. He said that he spent all his time with it. People spend their time in watching You-tubes which cripples their lives and they can in no way progress in life. This is the way they hurt themselves. To be delivered from such practices and to overcome sins, one needs to place his trust in the Lord. He will do everything for you. When you have that certainty, all your struggles would end. You would have hope and it is in no way vain hope.
iii) Deliverance from Fear
“and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” (Hebrews 2:15)
Fear is agonising. When you have trust in the Lord, no fear can overpower you. The Lord will protect and lead you. Some children are afraid to sleep alone at night. These children might have been threatened in their early age to make them eat food or drink milk, saying that this or that would come, or the child-lifter or thief would come. In this way fear is planted in their hearts. This continues even in adulthood. When they place their trust in the Lord, no fear can rattle them. They would have a strong heart and can withstand any situation. Animals and creatures attack and harm us only because they are afraid of us. No fearful situation or creatures can harm a child of God who trusts in the Lord. Trust in the Lord insulates us from fear. The Lord protects us from fears.
2. Trust the Word of the Lord
“You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You” (Isaiah 26:3)
A mighty act of God is to protect us as the apple of the eye. Man fits several safety devises or systems in his house to protect him. But the Bible says, “But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them; Let those also who love Your name Be joyful in You” (Psalm 5:11). The Lord protects those who trust in Him from all terrible situations, struggles, strifes and problems. There are today so many people who indulge in witchcraft. David speaks about it in several places in the Bible. “For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now I will arise,” says the Lord; “I will set him in the safety for which he yearns” (Psalm 12:5). Those who work against the poor think that they will not be disturbed. “His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and oppression; Under his tongue is trouble and iniquity. He sits in the lurking places of the villages; In the secret places he murders the innocent” (Psalm 10:7-8). The Lord delivers innocent people who trust in Him from such acts of witchcraft done in secret. The Lord says, “No weapon formed against you shall prosper. . .” (Isaiah 54:17). Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace and He will make peace rest with us and protect us.
3. Mercy Abounds
“Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; But he who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround him.” (Psalm 32:10)
Because of Jesus Christ, who is fullness of grace, through Him, we have grace upon grace. The Book of Law came through Moses, but through Jesus Christ we have grace and truth. This grace is enough for us as it brings blessings. “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Heb. 12:1). As His grace surrounds us, we are protected from destruction. His mercy has no end. “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not” (Lam. 3:22). It is a great blessing that His mercy protects us from the works of Satan.
In the life of Saul, we read in the Bible that an evil spirit entered into him when the Spirit of the Lord left him. This spirit terrified him. He lost the mercy of the Lord. That evil spirit took hold of him and tormented him. The Lord, who removed His grace from him, promised David His sure mercies.
Beloved in Christ, we are saved by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8). We are not annihilated because of His mercies. He leads us by His grace. As you trust in Jesus Christ, this mercy surrounds us.
4. Prosperity
“... But he who trusts in the Lord will be prospered.” (Proverbs 28:25)
Prosperity denotes that the barn will be filled with fullness of everything. When Isaac sowed, the Lord blessed him and he had hundred times the harvest. Day by day he increased in prosperity. It includes spiritual blessings of peace, joy, rest, and fellowship of love. As you trust in the Lord, you have this blessing. “Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God” (Psalm 92:13). When we go to the church and worship the Lord of Hope, He loves us and blesses us in all good things. We are blessed to have the blessings pertaining to this world as well as to the spiritual realm.
I know a family which actively took part in the worship in the church. They came to church well before the worship began and kept praying there on their knees. They took part in all worships. Even though they were lowly placed in life, their children were abundantly blessed and they occupied places of importance. We should also be like them and live righteously. The righteous shall flourish (Psalm 92:12). “The curse of the Lord is on the house of the wicked, but He blesses the home of the just” (Prov. 3:33).
We should be righteous in the Lord. When we commit to live as righteous people, we will flourish as a palm tree. Let us commit with faith and trust in the Lord to live cleansed with the blood of Jesus Christ to inherit prosperity and to lead an exemplary life.
5. Fruitful Life
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord.” (Jeremiah 17:7)
Many trust in Jesus Christ, but in the midst of troubles and tribulation they seek ways of the world which the Lord abhors. The life of a man who remains steadfast in the midst of troubles in his trust in the Lord will be blessed in a unique way. His life is like a flourishing tree. Like a tree planted near a stream with its roots reaching the stream that is not affected by heat but appears green and yields fruit in its seasons regularly, he will be fruitful.
The Lord Jesus Christ is a God who sees. Jesus Christ saw a fig tree with a lot of green leaves but with no fruit when he was hungry. Then He said that no man would eat of it after that. That tree withered and dried up. Fruitless trees would be cursed and those trees which do not yield good fruit would be cut and put into fire. The Lord expects from us a fruitful life. If we bear bitter fruit, unmindful of what the Lord has done to us so far, He tears down the hedge of protection around us. He has put up a hedge of protection around us, around our house and our possessions. Satan could not enter the boundaries of Job as the Lord had given this hedge of protection around him and his possessions. Only when He permitted Satan to work in his boundary, he lost everything. But Job did not sin with his lips, but rather chose to say: “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him...” (Job 13:15). He regained everything double the amount. Today in our lives, let us trust the Lord and trust Him only; let us bear the fruit of the Spirit; let us do good works; let us be filled with the fruit of the lips and live a witnessing life.
May the Lord bless us!
In the service of Christ Jesus,
Bro. C. Ebenezer Paul.