US Blog, Wisdom

Two Kinds of Wisdom – Worldly v/s Heavenly

Aug 30, 2020 Heavenely, Worldly by Percy Parakh

James 3:13-18 King James Version

13 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

James 5:7-12 King James Version

7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
8 Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
9 Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.
10 Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.
11 Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
12 But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.

Storm, US Blog

‘Til The Storm Passes By – as sung by me (Please use headphones for better sound)

Aug 29, 2020 Passes by Percy Parakh

‘Til the Storm Passes By

In the dark of the midnight have I oft hid my face
While the storm howls above me, and there’s no hiding place
‘Mid the crash of the thunder, Precious Lord, hear my cry
Keep me safe till the storm passes by

Till the storm passes over, till the thunder sounds no more
Till the clouds roll forever from the sky
Hold me fast, let me stand in the hollow of Thy hand
Keep me safe till the storm passes by

Many times Satan whispered, “There is no need to try
For there’s no end of sorrow, there’s no hope by and by”
But I know Thou art with me, and tomorrow I’ll rise
Where the storms never darken the skies

Till the storm passes over, till the thunder sounds no more
Till the clouds roll forever from the sky
Hold me fast, let me stand in the hollow of Thy hand
Keep me safe till the storm passes by

When the long night has ended and the storms come no more
Let me stand in Thy presence on the bright peaceful shore
In that land where the tempest, never comes, Lord, may I
Dwell with Thee when the storm passes by

Till the storm passes over, till the thunder sounds no more
Till the clouds roll forever from the sky
Hold me fast, let me stand in the hollow of Thy hand
Keep me safe till the storm passes by

Compassions, US Blog

His compassions never fail, they are new every morning

Aug 29, 2020 New by Percy Parakh

At the south of Africa the sea was generally so stormy, when the frail barks of the Portuguese went sailing south, that they named it the Cape of Storms; but after that cape had been well rounded by bolder navigators, they named it the Cape of Good Hope. 🙇‍♂️

In your experience you had many a Cape of Storms, but you have weathered them all, and now, let them be a Cape of Good Hope to you.
Each dawning day gives mankind hope in fresh mercies and compassions from God.

We need a constant supply and God has promised to send them without fail. No matter how bad the past day was, God’s people can look to the new morning with faith and hope. 🙇‍♀️

These mercies are always new because they come from God. “Our treasures, which we lay up on earth, are the stagnant pools; but the treasure which God gives us from heaven, in providence and in grace, is the crystal fount which wells up from the eternal deeps, and is always fresh and always new.” 😇

– C H Spurgeon
Stay Blessed My Friend 😊 🌹

Tongue, US Blog

Taming the Tongue – in the book of James

Aug 23, 2020 Taming by Percy Parakh

James 3:1-12 King James Version

3 My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.
2 For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.
3 Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body.
4 Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth.
5 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!
6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
7 For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:
8 But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
9 Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.
10 Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.
11 Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?
12 Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.

DEVOTIONAL READING
Isaiah 50:4-11 King James Version

4 The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.
5 The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back.
6 I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.
7 For the Lord God will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.
8 He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? let us stand together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me.
9 Behold, the Lord God will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up.
10 Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God.
11 Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.

Pleasure, US Blog

He will rejoice over you with Singing!

Aug 23, 2020 Singing by Percy Parakh

The Pleasure of God in the Good of His People

Can you imagine what it would be like if you could hear God singing ? Remember that it was merely a spoken word that brought the universe into existence.

What would happen if God lifted up his voice and not only spoke but sang ?…When I think of the voice of God singing, I hear the booming of Niagara Falls mingled with the trickle of a mossy mountain stream.

I hear the blast of Mt. St. Helens mingled with a kitten’s purr. I hear the power of an East Coast hurricane and the barely audible puff of a night snow in the woods.

And I hear the unimaginable roar of the sun 865,000 miles thick, one million three hundred thousand times bigger than the earth, and nothing but fire, 1,000,000 degrees centigrade, on the cooler surface of the corona.

But I hear this unimaginable roar mingled with the tender, warm crackling of the living room logs on a cozy winter’s night. “And when I hear this singing I stand dumbfounded, staggered, speechless that He is singing over me. He is rejoicing over my good with all His heart and with all His soul”👼-

John Piper (Zep 3:17)
🎊 *Stay Blessed My Friend* 😊 🌹

List, US Blog

The List Your Name is On

Aug 23, 2020 Name by Percy Parakh

The List Your Name is on! Ron Hutchcraft

I’m kind of a strange tourist. When I was in Halifax, Nova Scotia, I asked to be taken to a graveyard that overlooks the ocean. There, I walked through rows of these grave markers that have no name but the same date – April 15, 1912.

That’s the night the Titanic sank, and those are some of its unidentified victims. Not too long ago, the Titanic showed up again on the evening news. Lillian Asplund, the last American survivor of the sinking of the Titanic, died at age 99.

It’s believed that there might have been just two survivors left at that point, both in England. Those names and the name of every passenger are listed on a big wall at the end of an exhibit I attended called the Titanic Artifacts Exhibit.

I got to experience that exhibit as it toured America’s great museums years ago. The list indicated whether the person was a first, second, or third class passenger, or a crewman. But no matter what their class, every one of those 2,200 people appeared on one of two lists.

I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “The List Your Name Is On.”Every person on the Titanic ended up listed one of two ways: saved or lost. Nothing else mattered. Every person on earth, every person listening, is on one of two lists in God’s records. As the last survivors of Titanic have slipped into eternity, they will be “saved” or “lost” forever and so will every one of us.

Our word for today from the Word of God makes the two lists very clear, along with what it is that makes a person either “saved” or “lost.” In 1 John 5:11-12, the Bible says: “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life (that’s saved); he who does not have the Son of God does not have life (that’s lost).”

Our eternal destination is all contingent on one thing – whether or not we have the Son of God. Not whether or not we have religion or Christianity, but whether we have Jesus.So how do you get Jesus? God’s pretty clear about that. He says, for example, in John 3:36, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life (saved), but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him (lost).” God’s wrath is because of what we’ve done with the life He gave us.

In essence, we’ve made ourselves God by doing what we wanted to do with our life. Oh yeah, we may have mixed in some religion to try to offset our taking over of our life, but religion in no way can pay the penalty for the hijacking of our life from the Creator of the universe. Sin is a capital crime, punishable by spiritual death; separation from God now and forever.

The Bible says that believing in God’s Son, Jesus, can literally change which list we’re on. When the Bible says “believe,” the word is about total trust, complete reliance. And only total trust in Jesus can rescue us from our spiritual death penalty, because only Jesus could and only Jesus did die in our place.

He said, “Father, I will take their hell so they can go to our heaven.” He did that for you. That’s how much He loves you.So what’s happening right now is so much bigger than you just listening to some guy on the radio. This is a holy opportunity to remove your name forever from the list that says “lost” and put it on the list that says “saved.”

Your name will be entered in what the Bible calls God’s Book of Life the moment you reach for Jesus in total trust as your only hope of going to heaven. That could be today. With eternity in the balance, I can’t think of a good reason to risk one more day on the list that says “lost.”We’d consider it such a privilege to do for you what someone did for us one day. They explained to us how to begin this relationship with Jesus.

Well, that’s what our website does. So I want to ask you to go there. It’s ANewStory.com.I’ll leave you with just how the Bible describes what could happen to you this very day. It says that the man or woman who opens their life to Jesus “…has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life!” (John 5:24). This could be that day for you!

Gods, US Blog

You Shall Have No Other Gods Before Me

Aug 20, 2020 Ten Commandments by Percy Parakh

🌞 🦅 🔥 🐃 🦁
During a children’s church service, the teacher talked about the first of the Ten Commandments: “You shall have no other gods before Me”.

She suggested some ways for the kids to keep this command.

She said, “Nothing should come before God – not candy, not schoolwork, not video games.” She told them that putting God first meant that time with Him, reading the Bible and praying should come before anything else.

An older child in the group responded with a thought-provoking question. She asked if being a Christian was about keeping rules or if instead God wanted to be involved in all areas of our life.

Many a times we make the mistake of viewing the Bible as a list of rules. Certainly obeying God and spending time with Him are important, but not because we need to be rule-keepers.

Jesus and the Father had a loving relationship. When we have a relationship with God, we desire to spend time with Him and obey Him so we can become more like Jesus.

He’s the example to follow. When we want to understand how to love, or how to be humble ourselves, or how to have faith, or even how to set our priorities, we can look at Jesus and follow His heart.🙇‍♂️

Yes, Jesus calls us to follow Him. 👼By Anne Cetas
🎊 *Stay Blessed My Friend* 😊 🌹

Living Faith, US Blog

LIVING FAITH – Faith and Wisdom in the Book of James

Aug 16, 2020 Faith by Percy Parakh

James 2:14-26 KJV

14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?
26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

Matthew 25:31-46 King James Version

31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

In Step, US Blog

Walking in Step with the Spirit Gal 5:25

Aug 14, 2020 Walking by Percy Parakh

🌞
🚶‍♀️ *Walking In Step* 🚶‍♂️

When my daughter Ann was in the high school marching band, I loved to watch the young musicians march in step.

Whether they were performing before a panel of judges at a district competition, at halftime during a football game, or on tour in Austria, they moved as one to the cadence of the drums and the lead of the drum major.

Galatians 5:25 states, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”

That last phrase can also be translated, “Keep in step with the Spirit.”
It means that as we walk along in our Christian lives, we are to follow the Spirit’s lead. We are to be in harmony with Him. If we get out of step, follow a wrong cadence, or stray off the correct pathway, the results will be obvious.

How can we tell if we are walking in step with the Spirit? How would you rate yourself when it comes to walking in step with the Spirit? Are you in cadence ? Or are you following a drumbeat of your own making ?

The challenge is – *If you keep in step with God, you’ll be out of step with the world.*-By David C. Egner
🎊 *Stay Blessed My Friend* 😊 🌹

Traps, US Blog

Monkey Trappers in Africa catching their prey!

Aug 10, 2020 Monkey Trappers by Percy Parakh

Monkey trappers in Africa have a clever method of catching their prey. A number of gourds are filled with nuts (monkey treats) and firmly fastened to a branch of a tree.

Each has a hole just large enough for the unwary monkey to stick his fore paw into it. When the hungry animal discovers this, he quickly grasps a handful of nuts, but the hole is too small for him to withdraw his clenched fist.

And he doesn’t have enough sense to open up his hand and let go in order to escape, so he is easily taken captive. Too often we get these certain things in our lives that we just don’t want to let go of.

We think that it’s these certain “nuts and berries” that really make life worth living. Yet it’s these very things that keep us captive. If we’d just let go, we could be free.

There’s only one thing to hold on to, our loving relationship with Jesus. Can you truly say, “The Lord is My (Husband) Everything” ? 👼-Rich Cathers

God's Word, US Blog

Hearing and Doing God’s Word – Sunday School Class

Aug 9, 2020 Doing, Word by Percy Parakh

James 1:19 – 27 King James Version

19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.
27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

James 1:19 – 27 New International Version

Listening and Doing

¹⁹My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, ²⁰because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. ²¹Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

²²Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. ²³Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror ²⁴and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. ²⁵But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

²⁶Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. ²⁷Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Giving, US Blog

The Grace of Giving by Stephen Olford

Aug 6, 2020 Grace by Percy Parakh

In ‘The Grace of Giving’ Stephen Olford tells of a Baptist pastor during the American Revolution, Peter Miller, who lived in Ephrata, Pennsylvania, and enjoyed the friendship of George Washington.

In Ephrata also, lived Michael Wittman, an evil-minded man who did all he could to oppose and humiliate this dear pastor.

One day Michael Wittman was arrested for treason and sentenced to die. Pastor Peter Miller travelled seventy miles on foot to Philadelphia to plead for the life of the traitor.

“No, Peter,” General Washington said. “I cannot grant you the life of your friend.”

“My friend!” exclaimed the old preacher. “He’s the bitterest enemy I have.” “What?” cried Washington. “You’ve walked seventy miles to save the life of an enemy? That puts the matter in different light. I’ll grant your pardon.”

Washington granted the pardon and Peter Miller took Michael Wittman back home to Ephrata–no longer an enemy but a friend. His love for his enemy changed his enemy. 👼
-Mattoon’s Treasures

Sunflower, US Blog

Do You Have a Sunflower Trait? By Soraya Canamar

Aug 3, 2020 Sunflower Trait by Percy Parakh

Sunflowers turn according to the position of the sun. In other words, they “chase the light.” You might already know this, but there is another fact that you probably do not know!Have you ever wondered what happens on cloudy and rainy days when the sun is completely covered by clouds?

…This is an interesting question. Isn’t it? Perhaps you think the sunflower withers or turns its head towards the ground. Is this what crossed your mind?

Well, that’s incorrect! This is what happens! They turn towards each other to share their energy.

Nature’s perfection is amazing. Now let’s apply this reflection to our lives. Many people may become low-spirited, and the most vulnerable ones, sometimes, become depressed. How about following the example of the beautiful sunflowers?

i.e.”Supporting and empowering each other”. Nature has so much to teach us. Daffodils behave in a similar way.

Wishing everyone a “Sun flower” trait of turning towards each other on their cloudy and gloomy days. Spread goodness…it will come back to you…

US Blog, Wisdom

Faith and Wisdom in the Book of James

Aug 2, 2020 Faith by Percy Parakh

JAMES 1:1-11 King James Version

1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
9 Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted:
10 But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.
11 For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.

1 PETER 1:6-9 KJV

6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:
9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

1 PETER 4:10

10 As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

Scenic City, US Blog

Visit Chattanooga Tennessee – The Scenic City

Aug 1, 2020 Chattanooga by Percy Parakh

Thousands of people are getting goosebumps watching this video, celebrating our lively, modern music scene and its rich, historical roots.

See Downtown Chattanooga, the Tennessee River, Coolidge Park, Market Street Bridge, Walnut Street Walking Bridge, The Fresh Water and Salt Water Aquarium, Lookout Mountain, History Museum, The Downtown Tivoli Theater, etc.

https://youtu.be/02aua963HSM

Month: August 2020

‘Til the Storm Passes By