Dearly beloved in Christ,
I greet you in the sweet name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
By the gracious and loving acts of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have come to the last month of this year. For that we are duty bound to thank and praise the Lord. Till now the Lord God has blessed us by bestowing on us very many good things. Let us thank Him profusely. We should thank the Lord Jesus Christ daily as said in Psalm 103:1,2 “Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits.” Many a time we fail to thank Him adequately and forget all the good things He has done in our lives. We are like the worldly people by doing things that displease the Lord. The loving Jesus Christ is pleading for us in the presence of God to make us live with peace and joy.
These days we find people who worship the Lord, taking the path of worldly people and doing certain traditional practices. Not only that, they accuse those who refuse to go with them in such practices. ‘Thus says the Lord: “Do not learn the way of the Gentiles; Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the Gentiles are dismayed at them”’ (Jeremiah 10:2). They do not honour the word of the Lord but seek to be self-righteous. The grace of the Lord sustained them too and for that also we are to thank the Lord.
Today the Lord has blessed us with His indescribable gifts, so many in number that we should think of them and thank the Lord with zeal.
The Gifts Offered BY GOD
1. Good Things
“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” (Matthew 7:11).
The Lord is sure to bestow on us good gifts out of His grace. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17). The Lord who crowns us with good things does not change. He bestows on those who ask Him everything in full measure with His own provisions and protection.
Once one sister shared with us what the Lord God had done in their lives. She was forsaken by her husband and she had to take care of her children. She was left alone to fend for herself for all her needs. She was enthusiastically involved in seeking the Lord and in meditating on His word. She carried on her life with the help she had from relatives. One day they had nothing to eat at night. She was praying to the Lord and the Lord led her to go to the railway station.
She was in sorrows and dismay. When she alighted from the bus, she felt something under her feet. It was darkness. When she examined what it was, she found that it was a hundred rupee note folded many times. With that money she bought the food needed for her children. Such is the hand of the Lord that feeds us and sustains us in a wonderful way. We should thank Him adequately. He is worthy of all praise.
Another good thing from God is good health. Some happen to be gripped by some disease and are afflicted. In the lives of some people this suffering multiplies even unto death. We read about King Hezekiah. The word of the Lord came through Prophet Isaiah to him to set his house in order and to prepare for his death. Hearing this word, he wept bitterly and prayed to the Lord to be mindful of him. Then the Lord responded: ““I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will add to your days fifteen years” (Isaiah 38:5). He testifies: “What shall I say? He has both spoken to me, and He Himself has done it. (Isaiah 38:15). The Lord Jesus Christ went about doing good to people (Acts 10:38). He continues to do good even today. He fills our mouth with so many good things to satisfy us. The Bible says, “The Lord makes us prosper with the riches of this world and also with spiritual blessings. Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God” (Psalm 92:13). Let us go to the church and worship Him to inherit great blessings and to be exalted.
Another important aspect of His goodness is His forgiveness of our sins to satisfy us fully. Our sins stand between us and the Lord making it impossible to access Him. Sins obstruct our prayers from reaching Him and we are unable to receive any blessing or miracle from Him. The Bible says, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear” (Psalm 66:18). But the Lord God is forgiving and forgetting whatever might be our sin.
He is also good enough to heal us. In this world there are several diseases that afflict us. There are also people affected by evil spirits and by witchcraft and are mentally disturbed. The Bible warns us, “... But you shall cry for sorrow of heart, and wail for grief of spirit” (Isaiah 65:14). Such people are not in their senses and do not realize what they do. Their spirits are broken and keep talking to themselves without any relevance. All of a sudden, they flare up and get agitated and attack others. The evil spirits which operate behind these wicked acts work towards their destruction. Some would buy costly vehicles, but would sell them in a few days for a pittance. Their acts would not be reasonable.
In Matthew 17:15, we read about a boy under the influence of the devil that sought to destroy him by pushing him into water and fire. Jesus Christ can deliver such persons from the devil and heal them. In Luke 8:26-35, we read about Jesus coming to Gadarenes and meeting a person possessed by demons. He had his dwelling amongst the tombs. He could not stay at home or wear any dress. The graveyard was his dwelling place. When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me!” For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had often seized him, and he was kept under guard. When the demons left him, he was healed, clothed and in his right mind.
Once a family brought a young man to a Deliverance Prayer Camp held in Pudukottai. He had completed B.E. and had been working in an I.T. company. He began to break costly electronic goods at home and was uncontrollable. He was standing at one place for a long time. He did not take drinks. Even on the second day he was just standing. On the third day we started to pray for him. The evil spirit in him began to manifest and he began to convulse. We prayed in the name of Jesus Christ and the spirit left him. He became alright and came to his senses. Then he joined his job and continued to work well. Today there are such people affected by the demons and are mentally disturbed. They are healed by the power of the Lord that is at work even today.
2. Wise Wife
“Houses and riches are an inheritance from fathers, But a prudent wife is from the Lord” (Proverbs 19:14).
A wise wife brings with her blessings to her husband. But a foolish wife would be a great burden to the husband. Once when a marriage was to be fixed for a boy, he refused to get married. He had fear that she might be bad. A bad wife creates problems for the husband and destroys the family.
A family lived near our house. The husband was employed in a position in the railways. The wife was a housewife. They had two children. They had a pestle at home for pounding paddy. They had in store the stock for one year. The mother had the habit of reading story books and visiting cinema houses when the others were away without their knowledge. Neither the husband or children knew about it. She used to sell the paddy and used the money for cinema shows. When her husband went away at night for work, she used to sell the paddy at home to nearby people. In the end, they had no paddy at home for food and the husband became suspicious and questioned her. The family lost peace and joy and fellowship; there were quarrels and infighting in the family. They lost their wealth and peace because of the activities of the woman.
But a prudent woman would win the confidence of the husband and is active to uplift the family by constantly involving in some work. She gets up early in the morning and does all the household work like preparing food for the family. She would make or stitch the clothes for children. In today’s environment, many ladies do not prepare food for the family. Every thing is available ready-made. A good woman would buy fields and farms. She works day and night for the family. Then the family’s wealth keeps accumulating.
I know a family in which the wife was a prudent one. She also worked at an office. She used to stitch pants and shirts for her husband which looked very good. She stitched clothes for her children too. When she found anyone wearing a good model of dress, she would make note of it and made similar dress for her children. So, the family could easily buy a plot and build their own house. Later they bought a few more houses in the same town at different places. They did everything without any loan. The family prospered. Not only that, they initiated the efforts to build a church by working with others and collecting money. They were of great help in conducting worship too.
Today when we live with clarity in mind, and obey the word of God, the blessings of the Lord would multiply.
3. Salvation
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8).
In Christian life, salvation is very important. Ministers of God very often enquire others whether they are saved. Salvation is getting reconciled with God. Mark 16:16 says, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. All those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ should take baptism. Apostle Peter says: “There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 3:21). Further, in Matthew 3:15, Jesus says to John the Baptist ‘“Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him.’ Hence it is an act of fulfilling all righteousness. “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27). Thus, it is an act of putting on Christ and becoming a new creation in Christ. As 2 Cor. 5:17 tells us, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” Thus, we are saved when we receive baptism and stand in faith.
In Luke 19:2 we read, “Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.” He was short of stature. But he had the desire to see Jesus and to see Him directly somehow. There was a big crowd around Him. So, he went and climbed on a sycamore tree that was near the path He took. He waited there eagerly. When Jesus came near the tree, He looked up and called him by name and said: “Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for today I must abide at thy house.” He made haste to come down and took him to his house. Those who saw Him going with him said that He went to be a guest of a sinner. He was reckoned to be a sinner by all, but Jesus went to his house. The presence of Jesus Christ brought about a great transformation in him. He was greedy and had amassed a lot of wealth illegally. But now he decided to part with half his wealth for the poor. He confessed and resolved to return anything he had got unjustly by four times. Jesus then said: “This day is salvation come to this house.” As there was faith in him, he was also a son of Abraham. As he confessed and admitted his guilt, by the grace of Jesus, he was saved through his faith. This salvation is the free gift of God.
If we are not saved, we are condemned to doom. We would be deprived of the gift of salvation in peace and joy. David pleads in Psalm 51:12, “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit.” He confessed his guilt and accepted the precious gift of salvation. We should preserve it to the end.
4. Gift of the Holy Spirit
“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him” (Luke 11:13).
The Lord Jesus Christ assured His disciples that He would not leave them forsaken but would give them another Comforter who is the Spirit of Truth who would abide with them. The world would not receive Him as it has not known or seen Him. But He would be with His disciples and will be in them. When we are anointed with the Holy Spirit, our life will be totally transformed. Our original nature would go away, yielding to the thoughts of Christ. That would remind us of His sufferings on the cross, His death and resurrection. This Spirit was conferred on certain saints in the past before Christ. Now through Jesus Christ we have the privilege of being anointed with Him.
The presence of the Holy Spirit leads to deliverance. “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Cor. 3:17). As we do not know how to pray, He helps us to pray. Paul says, “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Rom. 8:26). Micah testifies: “But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord, and of justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin” (3:8). When the Holy Spirit came upon Samson, he became a strong man.
Further, the Spirit of the Lord cleanses us and makes us worthy to be filled with the love of God and with the gifts of the Spirit. Thus, He moulds us for good works.
We should thus be transformed to receive all His wonderful gifts and offer to Him the sacrifice of thanksgiving and glorify Him. We would thereby glorify and honour the Lord God.
May the Lord bless us so!
In the service of Christ Jesus,
Bro. C. Ebenezer Paul.
