US Blog, Yielding

Yielding Control To The Holy Spirit

Jun 8, 2022 Control by Percy Parakh

💫 ❤️ Yielding Control 💖

🌞 During a visit with a friend suffering from a particular disease, I asked what lessons God was teaching her as she traveled down this difficult road.

Her immediate response was, “Loss of control.” She had always been a highly organized, independent person whose corporate job involved long hours and frequent travel.

Now she had to depend on others for everything from getting dressed to brushing her teeth. Unable to move her arms or legs, she had control over only what she thought and what she said. She knew that soon she would even lose her power of speech.

“I used to stress over my job,” she said, “and never really gave it to the Lord. Now, with almost all control gone, I can stress about [my physical limitation] or surrender it to Christ.”

🙇‍♀️ The question facing each of us is, “Will I retain control of my life or yield it to the Lord today ?” To live only for what I want is to be controlled by the worldly nature. Apostle Paul said that this leads to death, “but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”

🙇‍♂️ 🙇‍♂️ Whether we are afflicted physically or distressed emotionally, or if we are robustly healthy in body and mind, we all need a reason for living. If we are merely existing from day to day, we understand what Shakespeare meant when he wrote that our lives can be like “an idiot’s tale, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

To one degree or another, we will all lose control of our lives as we grow older. Yielding control to God is a choice we can make every day — Starting Today. — David C McCasland

Heavenly Father is all the world to me,
My life, my joy, my all;
He is my strength from day to day,
Without Him I would fall. — Thompson

Living for God is the best reason for living.

🎊 Stay Blessed My Friend 😊 🌹

Sanctuary, US Blog

Begin At My Sanctuary – Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth

Jun 8, 2022 Compromise by Percy Parakh

Dannah Gresh:Believers are the Bride of Christ. Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth wonders how our compromises affect our Beloved.

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: What grief must the Savior feel as He beholds His adulterous Bride in her tattered, stained, threadbare wedding garments? What must He think, how must He feel, as He sees His Beloved One seduced, infatuated, and defiled by the world?

Dannah: This is the Revive Our Hearts podcast with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, author of Surrender: The Heart God Controls, for June 6, 2022. I’m Dannah Gresh.

We’re diving into the archives today to bring you a message Nancy gave more than twenty-five years ago, at an event called Fasting & Prayer ’96. This gathering of ministry leaders, hosted by Mission America, was held in St. Louis. Thousands of believers around the world joined via satellite to cry out to God in earnest prayer for our world.

Nancy shared her burden that day for repentance and revival in the church. Her message is based on Ezekiel chapters 8 and 9 and is called “Begin a t My Sanctuary.” As we think about all that is happening in our world today, I think you’ll agree that this message is as needed today, if not more needed, than it was in 1996.

As you listen, I want to encourage you, if you can, to stop whatever you’re doing for these next twenty minutes. Ask God what He is wanting to say to His people, to our own hearts, in our day. In fact, let’s pray right now.

Lord, we do need You. We need You desperately in our world today. We need a divine intervention for the brokenness, the hatred, the strife, the sinfulness and the waywardness that is so common. God, would You begin Your work in us today as we make our hearts attentive to Your words from Your Word in Ezekiel chapter 8 and 9. I pray Father that we would learn what it means to be in Your sanctuary and that we would begin there. Anoint these words for each individual heart and life. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Nancy: We have come together to sseek the face of God and to cry out to Him on behalf of our nation. We are acknowledging that there are no human solutions to the tidal wave of evil in our land, and that nothing short of divine intervention can overcome the darkness and the lostness of our world.

But I believe we need to remind ourselves that there are some prayers God will not hear; there are some solemn assemblies He will not attend; there are some fasts that are not pleasing to Him.

When the children of Israel came to fast and pray with unclean hands and hearts, God said, “Though they shout in my ears, I will not listen to them. . . . though ye make many prayers, I will not hear . . .” (Ezek. 8:18; Isa. 1:15 NIV).

In fact, the Scripture goes so far as to say that our prayers and our fasts are actually an abomination to God if they are not accompanied by humility and repentance.

We would all be quick to agree about the need for repentance outside these walls. But are we as quick to recognize our own need for repentance?
We can readily identify the sins of the White House. But have we become blind to the corruption in our own house?
We decry the sin of our world. But have we not tolerated virtually all the same sins in our churches?

Tonight we face a danger of feeling that the problem is somewhere “out there”—in Washington, San Francisco, or Hollywood, on our secular college campuses, or among nominal church members. But as we read the Scripture, we see that the sternest words of reproof were issued, not to the pagan world, but to the people of God.

The prophet Isaiah calls out,

Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth!
For the Lord hath spoken;
“I have nourished and brought up children,
And they have rebelled against Me: . . .

They have forsaken the Lord;
They have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger;
They are gone away backward. . . .

The whole head is sick,
And the whole heart faint.
From the sole of the foot even unto the head,
There is no soundness in it,
But wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores; . . .

How is the faithful city become an harlot!” (Isa. 1:2, 4–6, 21 NKJV)

Throughout the Old Testament, the Father/Husband heart of God grieved over the waywardness of His chosen people. Time after time, He begged them to repent. And when they refused, the Hound of Heaven pursued their stubborn, sinning hearts with painful discipline.

In the New Testament, we hear Jesus’ indictment against the spiritual leaders of His day—men who were renowned for their much fasting and praying: “These people honor me with their lips,” He said, “but their hearts are far from me.”

The opening words of Jesus’ ministry here on earth were not, “Fast and Pray!” but first, “Repent!”

And when the ascended Lord Jesus looked down from His throne in heaven, His final message to the churches was not, “Go and preach the gospel,” but first, “Repent!” For an unrepenting church has neither the motivation nor the capacity to fulfill the Great Commission of our Lord.

To the first of those seven churches He said, “You have committed spiritual adultery . . . You have left your first love . . . Repent!” To another, “You have a reputation for being alive, but you are really dead . . . Repent!” And to the comfortable, complacent church at Laodicea, He said, “You don’t think you have any needs, but the fact is, you are wretched, naked, miserable, blind, and poor . . . Repent!” (see Rev. 2:4, 3:1, 3:17)

And still tonight, the Lord Jesus pleads with His beloved Bride: “Be zealous, and repent, or else I will come and remove your light from its place.” (see Rev. 3:19)

I have been gripped over and over again by the account in Ezekiel 8 and 9, where God takes His servant in a vision to the temple in Jerusalem. No less than ten times in the eighth chapter, God says to Ezekiel: “Look! See! Do you see what’s going on in there? Look at the detestable things taking place right in the middle of My temple!”

I have been asking God to help me see what He sees when His all-knowing eyes examine the church in America. The picture is not a pretty one, and the truth is painful to admit. But we have got to get honest, if we ever hope to get God’s attention.

The truth is, we have not only flirted, but actually fornicated with the world. When it comes to how we think, how we live, how we look, how we sound, and how we “do ministry,” we have become virtually indistinguishable from the world outside the church.

We have bought into the world’s philosophies and practices. Whereas the church once told the world how to live, now the world is telling the church how to live. We have accommodated to the culture, rather than calling the culture to accommodate to Christ.

Thus, church and ministry have become big business. We are more familiar with management and marketing principles, than we are with principles of faith, humility, purity, and prayer. Many pastors and Christian leaders have become CEOs rather than spiritual shepherds.

We have utilized nearly every worldly method conceivable to attract the lost, and, in many cases, have lost both our distinctiveness and our effectiveness. We have built our ministries on pragmatism—”whatever works”—without stopping to evaluate if the means we are using are in accordance with the ways and Word of God.

In an effort to convince the world that Christianity is fun, we have entertained and amused ourselves to death. Why do Christian celebrities and comedians perform to sell-out crowds, while scarcely a few attend the prayer meetings?

Whatever happened to the power of God? Have we become more dependent on methods, techniques, strategies, and programs, than on prayer and the Holy Spirit?

Have we lost confidence in the power of the Word to convict, the gospel to convert, and the Spirit to draw men to Christ? We have seen what human effort, ingenuity, creativity, and technology can do; we know what money, organization, and promotion can do; but we have yet to see what God can do!

We care more about public relations—how our constituents view us—than about how God views us; we are more concerned about our reputation than His.

In our seeker-driven mindset, we are more worried about offending visitors than offending God. We are more concerned about people “feeling good” than about their “being right.” We want people to leave feeling good about church, about us, and about themselves—never mind that they have grossly offended a holy God and are under His condemnation and wrath!

We are so afraid of seeming intolerant or unloving that we tiptoe around crucial issues of the Word of God. Our cowardice in standing with God on such matters as divorce and remarriage has made us accessories to the carnage of millions of Christian families. In fact, we have placed ourselves in the precarious position of justifying and defending what God says He hates!

We have commercialized and merchandized the gospel of Christ for the sake of financial gain and worldly acceptance. We have pursued unity at the expense sometimes of purity. Today, anyone who dares to call sin by name, or to point out doctrinal error is likely to be branded as divisive, unloving, or “legalistic.”

In an effort to make Christianity palatable to our soft, self-centered generation, we have preached a diluted message that sidesteps the issue of sin, eliminates the demands of the cross, and overlooks the need for conviction and repentance.

In an effort to make our message “relevant,” we have ended up preaching “another gospel” that is no gospel at all. We have preached Christianity as a way to find fulfillment, rather than a calling to take up the cross and follow Jesus.

In many cases, we are more concerned about additions and statistics than actual converts, or the quality of those converts. And let me tell you something that deeply grieves my heart. Never before in the history of the church, have there been so many millions of people on the church rolls who profess to be Christians, who can even name the time and place of their “conversion,” but whose lives give absolutely no credible evidence of a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. God help us!

Inside the church, in far more ways than we care to admit, we have failed to live by the Scripture. Like King Saul, we say we have obeyed the Word of God; but how do we explain all the evidence to the contrary?

For example, we are a community of the forgiven who refuse to forgive. We live with unresolved conflicts—in our homes, among church and ministry staff, and in the pew.

Further, we have ignored or rejected the biblical standards for spiritual leadership. Instead, we elevate, we exalt giftedness over godliness, and we elevate men whose lives and homes are far from conforming to the standard of God’s Word.

We brush known sin under the carpet. Why do so few churches practice biblical church discipline? And why are professing believers who refuse to repent allowed to continue as members in good standing?

The Bride has forgotten how to blush. We sin without shame; we have lost our ability to mourn and grieve and weep over sin. Even our language betrays our theology of irresponsibility. We speak of leaders “falling” into sin, rather than acknowledging that these men and women have chosen a pathway of compromise and gratifying the lusts of the flesh.

In keeping with the times in which we live, we as Christian women have tossed aside such outmoded notions as virtue, modesty, femininity, and submission. We have exchanged the adorning of a meek and quiet spirit for an angry, demanding, controlling spirit. Abandoning our God-created role as helpers, we have insisted on taking up the reins in the home and in the church.

In our casual brand of Christianity there is little sense of the fear of the Lord. How else could millions of churchgoers sit under the preaching of the Word week after week and leave unchanged, unmoved? How else could so-called believers who claim to believe in holiness, sit in their living rooms or hotel rooms, watching television and laughing at ungodly jokes, lifestyles, and philosophies? When is the last time you saw the people of God “tremble at the Word of the Lord”? When is the last time we trembled at the Word of the Lord?

Should it come as any surprise that the watching world should reject our message, when our lives bear so little witness to its truth and power?

At the heart of our problem is that subtle, deadly sin of pride—insidious, cancerous, blinding pride. We are proud of our doctrinal correctness, proud of our spiritual accomplishments, proud of our statistics, proud of our stand on moral issues, proud of our reputation and our level of sacrifice.

Pride causes us to be self-righteous, self-congratulatory, and self-sufficient. It blinds us to our true condition and our great need. It causes us to fear men rather than God. Pride causes us to compare ourselves to others and breeds a competitive, critical spirit. Our pride is strangling the life of Jesus right out of the church.

Yet, even as we list these sins, some of us may feel that we have not rejected the ways and the Word of God. Then could I ask you some questions God has been asking me in recent days?

If we are so close to God, where is the passion? Where is the compulsion, the unction, the fire? Where are the tears? Where is the mourning, the grieving, the weeping? Why are our eyes dry and our hearts dull? Where is the groaning, the crying out in soul travail?

Where are those who cry out with David, “It is time for you, oh God, to act, for they have trampled Your law”?

Where are the Isaiah’s who stir up themselves to take hold of God, praying fervently, “Oh, that Thou wouldst rend the heavens, that Thou wouldst come down!”? (Isa. 64:1 KJV)

Where are those who plead with the psalmist, “Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts, cause thy face to shine . . .”? (Ps. 80:19 KJV)

Where are those who abhor sin, whether in the world, in the church, or in their own breast, who cry out, “Horror hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked that forsake thy law.”? (Ps. 119:53 KJV)

Where are the Jeremiah’s whose hearts are in anguish, and whose eyes overflow with tears for the desolation of God’s people?

Where are the prophets who are willing to risk their reputation, their retirement funds, and their acceptance within the Christian community, in order to say what needs to be said to our generation? Where are the men who are sounding the alarm to waken the church out of her sleep and lethargy?

Is not God’s Word like a fire, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? Then where is the preaching with conviction, confrontation, divine fire, and Holy Spirit anointing?

Where is the urgency, the solemnity, when we talk to men about eternity and the condition of their souls?

Where are the intensity and terror when we speak of the judgment and the wrath of God?

Where, for that matter, are the tenderness and passion when we speak of the loveliness, the beauty, and the grace of our Lord Jesus? Have our minds been engaged, without our hearts being ravished?

Where are the hot hearts, set aflame by the coal from the altar of the Lord?

Where are the men who have been with God, who have tarried in His presence until they have heard His Word, and then descended from the mount with the glory of God radiating from their faces and the power of God reverberating from their hearts?

Having shown Ezekiel the abominations taking place in the inner court of the temple, God sends forth into the holy city a man with a marking pen. He is told: “Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who mourn and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it.” (Eze. 9:4)

Then executioners are sent into the city with instructions to slaughter all who do not have the intercessor’s mark on their forehead. And, says the Lord, “Begin at My sanctuary.”

In that passage, as in this auditorium tonight, there are really only two groups of people: those who are the cause of the problem, and those who grieve and mourn with repentant hearts. There is no middle ground.

We know for sure of One who carries this burden on His heart tonight. What grief must the Savior feel as He beholds His adulterous Bride in her tattered, stained, threadbare wedding garments?

He who became sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. He who shed His precious blood to purchase for Himself a holy Bride without spot and without blemish. What must He think, what must He feel, as He sees His Beloved One seduced, infatuated, and defiled by the world?

If our hearts are not broken by what breaks the heart of God, if we are not part of the remnant that sighs and groans and mourns within over the detestable things that are going on in the temple of God, then we are part of the multitude that is in danger of His chastisement and in desperate need of repentance.

So tonight, God calls us to repent . . . to be afflicted and mourn and weep—first over our sin. For He will not hear or heed our prayers for our nation, as sincere as they may be, until we have first humbled ourselves and repented of our wicked ways. “The time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God”!

In a moment, I am going to suggest that we go to our knees and humble ourselves in the presence of the Lord—each of us asking God to search our own hearts. During that time, would you join me in praying,

“Oh God, it’s not my brother, not my sister, not my pastor, not the deacons or the elders; it’s not the church or the ministry down the street, but it’s me, oh God. Shine the light of Your holiness into the innermost parts of my heart. Show me how I have sinned against You, how I have been a part of the problem, rather than a part of the solution. Show me where I need to repent.”

As the Holy Spirit brings conviction to our hearts, let’s humble ourselves, confess our wicked ways, and plead with our gracious God for mercy and forgiveness.

Let us search and try our ways; let us turn to Him with all our hearts, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. Now, could we bow our knees and our hearts before the Lord?

Dannah: If you’re able to, I’d encourage you to get on your knees and pray as we listen to this song from Christy Galkin. “Lord, we need You to sweep through Your Church. Clean us up! Bring revival to Your people. And let it begin in us. Let it begin in me!”

Search Me O God

Choosing, US Blog

Choosing Well – Liberating Letters

Jun 1, 2022 Spirit by Percy Parakh

Galatians 5:16-26 NIV

¹⁶So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. ¹⁷For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever^[a] you want.

¹⁸But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
¹⁹The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;

²⁰idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

²⁴Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

²⁶Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Forgot, US Blog

I Forgot. Everyone Does At One Time Or Another

Jun 1, 2022 Remember by Percy Parakh

💫 ❤️ I FORGOT 💖

👼 I was relieved to find out that I’m not the only one who forgets things. Everyone does at one time or another, according to Karen Bolla, a Johns Hopkins researcher. These are the things people most often forget: Names 83%, Where something is 60%, Phone numbers 57%, Words 53%, What was said 49%, Faces 42% … and if you can’t remember whether you’ve just done something, you join 38 percent of the population.

🙇‍♀️ 🙇‍♀️ Followers of Jesus Christ also have a problem with forgetfulness. In high-pressure situations, or when we’re just going through a daily routine, we forget God. We seem to forget that we are His children. We fail to recall what He has promised to do for us. We don’t remember His awesome power and His love. So we try to overcome temptation in our own strength, or to solve a difficult problem by using the wisdom of the world.

🙇‍♂️ In Psalms 20:7 King David said it this way: “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses,” which is another way of saying that people rely on their own resources. But then David added, “We will remember the name of the Lord our God.” How’s your memory today ? — David C. Egner

Daily blessings are daily reminders of God.

🎊 Stay Blessed My Friend 😊 🌹

NewAge, US Blog

The Mystery Of The Secret – A Fraud New Age Group, posing as Christians

Jun 1, 2022 Mystery, Secret by Percy Parakh

For my Indian Friends! This is a very Deceptive Group. They pose as a Christian Group promising you all kinds of things. Please DO NOT BE DECEIVED!!

“The Secret” also known as the “law of attraction,” is the idea that because of our connection with a “universal energy force,” our thoughts and feelings have the ability to manipulate this energy force to our liking.

According to “The Secret,” our thoughts and feelings attract a corresponding energy to ourselves. If our thoughts are negative, we attract negative things. If our feelings are positive, we attract positive things.

The essential message of “The Secret” is that we all have the power to determine our own destiny. We can all create our own reality. Through fully and consistently applying the “law of attraction,” we can be who we want to be and have everything we want to have.

Is there any truth to “The Secret”? Is there any validity to the law of attraction? As with most other popular ideas, “The Secret” has a nugget of truth that is expanded to unbiblical and illogical extremes.

For example, a thesis of the law of attraction is that our physical health is determined by our thoughts and feelings. It has been medically proven that stress and worry are harmful to the body, while joy and peace actually aid in the healing process.

The Bible agrees, “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones” (Proverbs 17:22). “A cheerful look brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones” (Proverbs 15:30). As David was struggling with the guilt of his unconfessed, evil actions, he declared, “When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long” (Psalm 32:3).

Our thoughts and feelings do have an impact on our physical well-being. However, this is due to how God designed our bodies—not because of our connection with a universal energy force and our negativity or positivity attracting negative or positive physical symptoms.

A second error in the “law of attraction” is its emphasis on money and wealth. The Bible has much to say regarding wealth and the management of money and resources. Proverbs 13:11 exclaims, “Dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow.”

Similarly, Proverbs 17:16 proclaims, “Of what use is money in the hand of a fool, since he has no desire to get wisdom?” Our financial success is determined by our decisions, our hard work, and our wise stewardship of what we have.

No matter how positive our thoughts and how focused our mind is on wealth, if we have built mountains of debt, the bills will continue to come (Proverbs 22:7). The only impact the secret of “positive thinking” can have on our financial situation is in motivating us to work harder and spend more wisely.

The Secret—and its focus on achieving wealth—goes directly against the teachings of the Bible. Solomon, the wisest and richest man in the Bible, observed, “Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless” (Ecclesiastes 5:10).

Jesus, who possessed everything, warned us, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). First Timothy 6:10 could not say it any more clearly, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”

With that said, the primary error of “The Secret” / law of attraction is its view, or lack thereof, of God. In the law of attraction, God, if He even exists, is nothing more than a universal energy force that we manipulate by our thoughts and feelings.

The law of attraction assumes a pantheistic (God is everything) view of God. The Secret denies the ideas of a personal God (with thoughts, feelings, and emotions) and a sovereign God (omnipotent and omniscient, perfectly in control of everything).

The core message of “The Secret” is that we are in control of our own destiny. God knows the truth to be very different, “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be” (Psalm 139:16).

Nebuchadnezzar, the greatest king of ancient Babylon and a prime candidate for someone who would know “The Secret,” declared, “Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified Him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; His kingdom endures from generation to generation.

All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as He pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back His hand or say to Him: ‘What have you done?’” (Daniel 4:34-35).

According to the proponents of the law of attraction, we are all “incarnations of God.” We are all our own gods, able to create our own reality, able to control our own destiny. This lie is not a secret, and it is nothing new.

Satan’s primary temptation has always been to obtain knowledge and thereby to become like God, “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God—” (Genesis 3:5).

Satan’s own fall from glory was this same error, “You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High’” (Isaiah 14:13-14).

The message of “The Secret” is the same message that Satan used to tempt Adam and Eve into sin: “You do not need God—you can be God!” And just as Satan will fail in his quest to be God (Isaiah 14:15; Revelation 20:10), so too will all those who seek to be their own god fail: “’You are “gods” but you will die like mere men” (Psalm 82:6-7).

The true “secret” is that God is in control. God has a sovereign and perfect plan for us. The key is getting in tune with God, thereby understanding His heart and knowing His will.

Rather than seeking after wealth, fame, power, and pleasure (in which there is nothing but emptiness), we are to seek a relationship with God, allowing Him to place His perfect desires in our heart and mind, conforming our feelings to His – and then granting us the desire of His, and our, hearts.

“Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him and He will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun” (Psalm 37:4-6).

Secret-law-attraction.

If you have a desire to discover the true secret to a joyous and fulfilling life, please read our article on “What is the way of salvation?”

Freed, US Blog

Freed To Love – Liberating Letters

May 23, 2022 Love by Percy Parakh

Galatians 5:1-15 NIV

Freedom in Christ

5 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

²Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. ³Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.

⁴You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. ⁵For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. ⁶For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

⁷You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? ⁸That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. ⁹“A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.”

¹⁰I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty. ¹¹Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished.

¹²As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!

Life by the Spirit

¹³You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh^[a]; rather, serve one another humbly in love.

¹⁴For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”^[b] ¹⁵If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

US Blog, Wonder

God Of Wonder Beyond Our Galaxy

May 23, 2022 Galaxy by Percy Parakh

💫 ❤️ Amazing Skills 💖

🌞 The leader of our college singing group directed the group and accompanied us on the piano at the same time, skillfully balancing those responsibilities. At the close of one concert, he looked particularly weary, so I asked him if he was okay.

He responded, “I’ve never had to do that before.” Then he explained. “The piano was so out of tune that I had to play the whole concert in two different keys — my left hand playing in one key and my right hand in another !” I was blown away by the startling skill he displayed, and I was amazed at the One who creates humans to be capable of such things.

🙇‍♀️ King David expressed an even greater sense of wonder when he wrote, “Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex ! Your workmanship is marvelous — how well I know it.” Whether in people’s abilities or nature’s marvels, the wonders of creation point us to the majesty of our Creator.

🙇‍♂️ 🙇‍♂️ One day, when we’re in God’s presence, people from every generation will worship Him with the words, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” The amazing skills God gives us and the great beauty God has created are ample reason to worship Him. — ODB

If God has made this world so fair,
Where sin and death abound,
How beautiful beyond compare
Will paradise be found ! – Montgomery

The pleasures of earth cannot be compared to the joys of heaven.

🎊 Stay Blessed My Friend 😊 🌹

Needs, US Blog

My God Will Meet All Your Needs

May 23, 2022 Meet by Percy Parakh

An Answer For Everything ❤️

🌞 Dad, can I have 10 dollars?” “Dad, can you help me with my math?” “Dad, what’s the capital of Maine?” “Dad, why can’t we get another car?” “Dad, I didn’t make the team.” The questions and requests and needs of my children seem endless. Whether they are in junior high, in high school, in college, or married, they never stop needing help.

🙇‍♀️ Often I can provide the help they need, but sometimes I am unable to come up with the answer or the solution. As much as I would like to, I don’t have an answer or the resources for everything. But I know who does. I know that God supplies all of our needs (Phil 4:19). And He knows when our requests are genuine needs, or when He must redirect our thinking instead.

🙇‍♂️ 🙇‍♂️ Consider this: When we think we are too tired to go on, Jesus says, “I will give you rest.” When we think no one cares, God says He loves us. When we can’t figure things out, God says He will guide us. When we need forgiveness, God says He will forgive us if we confess (admit) our weaknesses. God is our heavenly Father, who wants us to come to Him with our requests. He wants us to listen to Him speak through His Word. He has an answer for everything.
– J D Branon

For answered prayer we thank You,
Lord, we know You’re always there
To hear us when we call on You;
We’re grateful for Your care. – JDB

God never tires of our asking

Inheritance, US Blog

Receiving A Good Inheritance – Liberating Letters

May 17, 2022 Good Inheritance by Percy Parakh

Galatians 3:18-29 NIV

¹⁸For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.

¹⁹Why, then, was the law given at all? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator. ²⁰A mediator, however, implies more than one party; but God is one.

²¹Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. ²²But Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.

Children of God

²³Before the coming of this faith,^[a] we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. ²⁴So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. ²⁵Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.

²⁶So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, ²⁷for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. ²⁸There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

What Are The Works Of The Law

In his letters, the apostle Paul warned the believers in the churches in Rome and Galatia not to place their hope for salvation in the works of the law. To the Roman Christians, he said, “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his [God’s] sight” (Romans 3:20). To the Galatian believers: “We know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ” (Galatians 2:16; cf. 3:5). To justify is to declare righteous.

The “works of the law” are the actions performed to fulfill the Mosaic Law found in the first five books of the Old Testament. Keeping the Sabbath, being circumcised (the issue before the Galatian churches), eating “clean” foods, and other ceremonies are powerless to justify us in the sight of God. In addition, following the morality of the law (not murdering, not committing adultery, not stealing) is insufficient to make us right in God’s eyes. No act on the part of sinful creatures can result in God’s declaring them to be righteous in His sight.

Why can’t the works of the law save us? First, because the works of the law can never be done completely. The standard is perfection, and that means “good enough” won’t pass muster. Paul explains to the Galatians: “All who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law’” (Galatians 3:10, emphasis added). James further explains that anyone who offends in just one point is guilty of breaking the whole of the law (James 2:10). There are over six hundred individual commandments in the Mosaic Law, and breaking just one of them one time renders a person guilty. No one but Jesus ever kept the law perfectly.

Second, the law was never intended to justify anyone; it was given to show us our sinfulness and to reveal the perfect holiness of the Lawgiver (Romans 3:20). Without the law, we would not know what sin is (Romans 7:7). The law is holy because God is holy. Just as a straightedge reveals the crookedness of a line, so the law of God exposes our lack of holiness. No one measures up to God’s standard (Romans 3:10). The law cannot justify; it can only condemn. No one can stand before a holy God on the basis of his own efforts, even if those efforts include a hearty attempt at keeping the works of the law.

If the works of the law justify no one, and serve only to reveal our own sinfulness and our desperate state, what are we to do? The Bible offers the only solution to the problem of sin: “But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe” (Romans 3:21–22). This is why “the just shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17, NKJV).

We can only be declared righteous “by faith apart from works of the law” (Romans 3:28), and that faith must rest in the only Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). To continue to attempt to earn a place in heaven through the works of the law is to ignore the sacrifice of Christ: “If righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” (Galatians 2:21).

Father, India Blog

My Father Is The Best Mother On Earth

May 16, 2022 Best Mother by Percy Parakh

Had tears running down when I read this?

Read on….. He was watering the plants in the posh gardens of an International school, heat and dust didn’t seem to affect him.

“Ganga Das, Principal Ma’am wants to see you — right now”…The last two words of the peon had lots of emphasis on them, trying to make it sound like an urgency.

He quickly got up, washed and wiped his hands and headed towards the Principal’s chamber. The walk from the garden to the office seemed never ending, his heart was almost jumping out of his chest.

He was trying all the permutation and combination, figuring out as to what has gone wrong that she wants to see him urgently…He was a sincere worker and never shirked his duties…knock knock…

“Madam, you called me?” “Come inside…” an authoritative voice made him further nervous…Salt n pepper hair, tied neatly in a french knot, a designer sari-sober and very classic, glasses resting on the bridge of her nose…She pointed out towards a paper kept on the table…”Read this”…

“B..but Ma’am I am an illiterate person. I can not read English. Ma’am please forgive me if I have done anything wrong… give me another chance… I am forever indebted to you for allowing my daughter to study in this school, free of cost… I could have never ever dreamt of such a life for my child..”

And he broke down almost trembling: “Hold on, you assume a lot…we allowed your daughter because she is very bright and you have been our sincere worker.. Let me call a teacher in, she will read it out and translate it to you… this is written by your daughter and I want you to read this.

“Soon enough the teacher was called and she started reading it, translating each line in Hindi…It read-“Today we are asked to write about Mother’s Day. I belong to a village in Bihar, a tiny village where medical help and education still seem like a far fetched dream.

Many women die every now and then while giving birth. My mother was one of them too, she could not even hold me in her arms. My father was the first person to hold me.. or perhaps the only person.

Everyone was sad.. as I was a girl and I had “eaten up” my own mother. My dad was instantly asked to remarry but he refused. My grandparents forced him by giving all logical, illogical and emotional reasons but he didn’t budge.

My grand parents wanted a grandson, they threatened him to remarry or else he would be disowned…He didn’t think twice… he left everything, his acres of land.. a good living, comfortable house, cattle and everything that counts for a good lifestyle in a village.

He came to this huge city with absolutely nothing — but me in his arms. Life was tough, he worked hard day and night.. raised me with tender love and utmost care.

Now I understand why suddenly he developed a dislike for things that I would love to eat when there was only one piece left in the platter…. he would say that he hated eating it and I would finish it considering that he did not like it…. but as I grew older I realised the reason and what sacrifice is all about.

He gave me the best possible comforts beyond his capacity. This school gave him a shelter, respect and the biggest gift — an admission to his daughter…If love and care defines a mother… then my father fits in there.

If compassion defines a mother, my father fits in well in that category too…If sacrifice defines a mother, my father dominates that category. So in a nut shell.. if a mother is made of love, care sacrifice and compassion… MY FATHER IS THE BEST MOTHER ON EARTH THEN.

On Mother’s Day, I would like to wish my father for being the best parent on earth… I salute him and say it with pride that the hardworking gardener working in this school is my father.

I know I may fail this test after my teacher reads this — but this would be a very small price one would pay towards an ode to the selfless love of my father. There was a deafening silence in the room… one could only hear soft sobbing of Ganga Das….

The harsh sun could not wet his clothes with sweat but soft words of his daughter had soaked his chest with tears…. he was standing there with hands folded. He took the paper from the teacher’s hands… held it close to his heart and sobbed.

Principal got up.. offered him a chair, glass of water and said something… but, strangely the crispness of her voice was taken over by a surprising warmth and sweetness….”Ganga Das.. your daughter is given 100/100 marks for this essay…

This is the best essay ever written about Mother’s Day in the history of this school. We are having the Mother’s Day gala event tomorrow and the entire School Management has decided to invite you as the Chief Guest for the event…

This is to honor all the love and sacrifice a man can do to raise his children… to show that you do not have to be a woman to be the perfect parent…And most importantly this is to reinforce/appreciate/acknowledge the strong belief of your daughter in you, to make her feel proud.. to make the entire school feel proud that we have the best parent on earth as stated by your daughter.”

“You are a True Gardner, who is not only looking after the gardens, but also nurturing the most precious flower of your life in such a beautiful way….””So Ganga Das, will you be our Chief Guest for the event?

Purpose, US Blog

According To The Bible, How To Find Purpose In Your Life

May 16, 2022 Life by Percy Parakh

The Bible is very clear as to what our purpose in life should be. Men in both the Old and New Testaments sought for and discovered life’s purpose. Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, discovered the futility of life when it is lived only for this world.

He gives these concluding remarks in the book of Ecclesiastes: “Here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).

Solomon says that life is all about honoring God with our thoughts and lives and thus keeping His commandments, for one day we will stand before Him in judgment. Part of our purpose in life is to fear God and obey Him.

Another part of our purpose is to see life on this earth in perspective. Unlike those whose focus is on this life, King David looked for His satisfaction in the time to come. He said, “And I—in righteousness I will see your face; when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness” (Psalm 17:15).

To David, full satisfaction would come on the day when he awoke (in the next life) both beholding God’s face (fellowship with Him) and being like Him (1 John 3:2).

In Psalm 73, Asaph talks about how he was tempted to envy the wicked who seemed to have no cares and built their fortunes upon the backs of those they took advantage of, but then he considered their ultimate end.

In contrast to what they sought after, he states in verse 25 what mattered to him: “Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you” (verse 25). To Asaph, a relationship with God mattered above all else in life. Without that relationship, life has no real purpose.

The apostle Paul talked about all he had achieved religiously before being confronted by the risen Christ, and he concluded that all of it was like a pile of manure compared to the excellence of knowing Christ Jesus.

In Philippians 3:9-10, Paul says that he wants nothing more than to know Christ and “be found in Him,” to have His righteousness and to live by faith in Him, even if it meant suffering and dying.

Paul’s purpose was knowing Christ, having a righteousness obtained through faith in Him, and living in fellowship with Him, even when that brought on suffering (2 Timothy 3:12). Ultimately, he looked for the time when he would be a part of the “resurrection from the dead.”

Our purpose in life, as God originally created man, is 1) glorify God and enjoy fellowship with Him, 2) have good relationships with others, 3) work, and 4) have dominion over the earth.

But with man’s fall into sin, fellowship with God is broken, relationships with others are strained, work seems to always be frustrating, and man struggles to maintain any semblance of dominion over nature. Only by restoring fellowship with God, through faith in Jesus Christ, can purpose in life be rediscovered.

The purpose of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. We glorify God by fearing and obeying Him, keeping our eyes on our future home in heaven, and knowing Him intimately. We enjoy God by following His purpose for our lives, which enables us to experience true and lasting joy—the abundant life that He desires for us.

Hope, US Blog

Hope For The Future – Liberating Letters

May 11, 2022 Future by Percy Parakh

Romans 8:18-30 NIV

Present Suffering and Future Glory

¹⁸I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. ¹⁹For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.

²⁰For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹that^[a] the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

²²We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. ²³Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.

²⁴For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? ²⁵But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

²⁶In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. ²⁷And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

²⁸And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who^[b] have been called according to his purpose. ²⁹For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

³⁰And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

Tactics, US Blog

The Enemy’s Tactic Is To Entice People To Believe His Lies

May 11, 2022 Lies by Percy Parakh

The enemy is not everywhere. He can only be where there is an opening for him. The enemy doesn’t know everything, and he doesn’t know what you think.

He only knows what you say. So watch what you say. If you say, “I hate my life and I don’t want to live anymore,” the enemy will help you get what you say you want.

Or if you say, “I know I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, and God will enable me to live the life He has for me because I pray in Jesus’ name,” the enemy is powerless against your prayers in Jesus’ name and can do nothing.

The enemy is not even close to being as powerful as God. Only God is everywhere, all-knowing and all-powerful. Keep that firmly in your mind.(Excerpt from Stormie’s book, “The Power of Praying Through Fear”)#ThePowerofPrayingThroughFear

Real Jesus, US Blog

Why You Might Not Be Worshipping The Real Jesus

May 5, 2022 American gospel by Percy Parakh

The real identity of the church is in proportion to her identity with the real Jesus. But, too often, the believer’s identity is with things pertaining to a form of Christianity based on doctrinal fads and theological biases or a leader’s personality—shaped within a “Christian” subculture built on its own ideals, philosophies, and traditions, combined with a particular brand or flavor of God created in our own image, and not with Christ Himself.

“It seems to me that, if we get one look at Christ in His love and beauty, this world and its pleasures will look very small to us.” —D.L. Moody

“Much of our difficulty as seeking Christians stems from our unwillingness to take God as He is and adjust our lives accordingly. We insist upon trying to modify Him and to bring Him nearer to our own image.” —A.W. Tozer

“There is a God we want, and there is a God who is … And they are not the same God.” —Patrick Morley

“As a child, I received instruction both in the Bible and in the Talmud. I am a Jew, but I am enthralled by the luminous figure of the Nazarene. No one can read the gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life.” —Albert Einstein, Saturday Evening Post, Oct. 26, 1929

“The wicked have fashioned a god who will not hold them accountable.” —Carter Conlon

“Too many Christians want a manageable, domesticated Jesus who makes no demands on their time, money, words, social life and sexuality. In the midst of this great and growing deception, God is looking for uncompromising believers who are committed to proclaiming the truth of the gospel and not the counterfeit Jesus of Western Culture.” —Anonymous

“Too many of us have constructed a “god in a box,” a god whose job is merely to pander to our needs, desires, and ambitions.” —Anonymous

“We offer a motivational, pep-talk, feel-good, self-help, personal-empowerment Jesus rather than the Jesus of the Scriptures, and, in doing so, we damn our hearers rather than deliver them.” —Dr. Michael L. Brown

“Sadly, I think many in the community of believers cling to an Americanized gospel which equates what is biblically true and reliable with being part and parcel of various right-wing political agendas. Actually, Christianity itself in the U.S. and many other nations has been interpreted (and by virtue of this) rewritten to gel with sentiments and ideas that actually run contrary to what the Messiah taught and advocated (Torah-based Judaism), e.g., unbridled capitalism and the greed it is predicated on and the corruption it engenders and promotes.

I dare say if Yeshua HaMashiach physically visited most American churches, He would not recognize what was being taught and advocated as being remotely like what He articulated and lived.” —Dr. Anthony G. Payne

In order to have the true image of Christ built into your spirit, you must consider the entire body of His life, example and teachings. For instance, if you focus only on the account of Jesus going into the temple and overturning the tables of the moneychangers in a fit of righteous indignation and driving them out of the temple with a whip, you would be led to believe that Jesus is angry with people day and night.

Your image of Him would be that He is looking for a reason to punish you instead of bless you. Having this mindset of the Son of God would make you think of Him as a religious fanatic filled with rage, which puts Him closer to being a candidate for anger-management classes. This image does not inspire love, faith and praise in the human heart.

On the other hand, and this happens much more frequently, if you focused your image of Him on His encounter and exchange with the adulterous woman whom the scribes and the Pharisees wanted to stone, you probably would come to the conclusion that Jesus never gets angry, never judges, and is just the sweetest, most gentle person.

This image would probably cause you to act presumptuously, believing that Jesus always understands you and your sinful issues and will let you get away with anything. This mindset would eventually lead you to believe and live in an unscriptural mercy. In the West and nations that have been influenced by the false Western gospel, this is the image of Jesus most are familiar with, and their conduct is derived from such a one-sided perception.

Yet neither conclusion would be right within itself, because both sides are Him, and we can know Jesus and His person only as we study the full body of His life and teachings.

If most Christians represented the real Jesus, many people would more easily believe in Him, for, when He is presented in the true light of the Scriptures, the average human heart would be irresistibly drawn to Him.

What we behold is what we eventually become.

When we behold the glory of the Lord as in a mirror (this means, at least in part, to behold Him in the mirror of His Word and by the Spirit’s unveiling of Him to your spirit), we will be gradually transformed by the Holy Spirit into that same glory and reflect the brightness of that image out to the world.

“But we all, seeing the glory of the Lord with unveiled faces, as in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory by the Spirit of the Lord. (2 Cor. 3:18).

Many are convinced that they are faithful Bible believers but, in fact, worship a feel-good, self-help, motivational, and manageable Jesus — one which the Bible refers to as “another Jesus” (1 Corinthians 11:4)—one contracted from an idolatrous image they’ve built up in their minds, based on sentimental Western values.

This counterfeit Jesus makes no demands on their time, money, words, social life or sexuality. In the midst of this great and growing deception, God is looking for uncompromising believers and real disciples who are wholeheartedly committed to proclaiming the real Jesus.

Are you serving the Americanized version of Jesus or the real, biblical Jesus?

When we see Jesus as He is, glorious and altogether worthy of our deepest loyalties and affections, deserving of our total focus and supreme attention, we will catch fire inwardly and burn with holy fear, as the two did on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:31-32). Then a holy hunger for the Word will grip our hearts, and we will proclaim Him as He is.

This is an excerpt from the fourth book of a compelling tetralogy called The Real Jesus.

Freed, US Blog

Freed From The Past – Liberating Letters

May 2, 2022 Past by Percy Parakh

Romans 6:1-14 NIV

Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ

6 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? ²By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?

³Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

⁵For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. ⁶For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with,^[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin— ⁷because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

⁸Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. ¹⁰The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

¹¹In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. ¹²Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.

¹³Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. ¹⁴For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

New Normal, US Blog

Pray We Go To A New Normal

May 2, 2022 Pray by Percy Parakh

I PRAY WE DON’T GO BACK TO NORMAL

1. I pray that the next time a friend grabs me and pulls me in for a hug, I actually take the time to appreciate the gift of their embrace.

2. I pray that when school resumes and people are dropping kids off, they take the time to thank the staff for the amazing gift that they give to our community.

3. I pray that the next time I’m sitting in a crowded restaurant I take the time to look around at the smiling faces, loud voices and thank God for the gift of community.

4. I pray that the next time I’m standing in church listening to the voices of praise and worship that I take a moment to thank God for the gift of congregation.

5. I pray that the next time I see a person or situation that needs prayer, I hope I pray as passionately and fervently as I have these past few weeks.

6. I pray that when I am at the grocery store that I take a moment to thank God that He provides us with the necessities of life and the amazing people who work so hard to keep us supplied

7. I pray that I never again take for granted the ability to hop in the car and visit a friend, go to the mall, go to a gathering, etc. So, truth is, I don’t want things to return to the way they once were. I pray that we take the lessons and challenges of the past few weeks and create a new normal. My goal is to pray more, love harder and truly appreciate the daily abundance of blessings that were so easily overlooked just a mere few weeks ago.

Be Blessed Today!** copied and shared **

Individualism, US Blog

Individualism, Enemy Of The Church

May 2, 2022 Enemy by Percy Parakh

INDIVIDUALISM – ENEMY of THE CHURCH by Andrew Strom

We live in an utterly individualistic and “self”-oriented age today. I’m sure few would disagree. Every advertisement appeals to ‘self’ in some way. We are taught from childhood to be completely self-contained, reliant on no-one, living in our own little bubble where we decide exactly what will take place.

We are often frightened to commit to any particular group or cause, any particular leadership. The modern man is an “individualist” to the core. “Don’t ask me to join or commit! And don’t tell me how to live my life!”

But all of this, of course, is the exact opposite of “Body”. It is the exact opposite of ‘Community’. And thus the exact opposite of the true Church. And yet millions upon millions of Christians today (especially in the West) are just as “individualistic” as the next man. Sometimes even more so.

As noted previously, the very first sentence used to describe the early church says: “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.”(Acts 2:42).That is the very picture of a BODY – not a pile of “individualists”.

They have GIVEN themselves to a group and a cause – a group with real LEADERS who are anointed preachers from God. But it is almost anathema for a modern person to give themselves to any group in such a way. We are far too suspicious and individualistic and untrusting to ever do such a thing.

And thus the question must be asked: Is it even possible to have a true “BODY” in our day? Is “CHURCH” (in the true sense) even a concept that we can understand? Or have the media and our entire culture so “individualized” us that true ‘Body’ is no longer possible?

You know, Christianity is not designed to be lived out by a pack of “individualists”. And half-committed “building-attenders” on Sunday mornings are not it either. Christianity is designed to be lived out CORPORATELY – the “Body of Christ” – an entity that can be seen and observed by people – full of the glory of Jesus.

A Body that corporately carries all the words and power and love and miracles of the King. So how on earth can such a “gathering” take place? How can the scattered remnant of today come together to form such a Body?

Well, it all starts with the anointed “word”. You notice in the above verse that these people gathered around a very specific thing – “The apostles’ doctrine and fellowship”. It is an anointed apostolic “word” being preached that is a crucial element in all this.

From such a ‘word’ everything else follows and comes into alignment. But the big question is – Could today’s “individualistic” types bring themselves to form a real ‘Body’ – even if such a word was being preached? Or is individualism so ingrained that even ‘apostolic’ preaching might not bring this about?

These are questions that every one of us should be asking ourselves if we ever hope to be part of a true movement of God in these Last Days.

India Blog, Your Life

This Was Your Life – An Animated Presentation of What Happens When We Die

Apr 27, 2022 Judgement by Percy Parakh

WARNING: Prepare to Meet God Face to Face[SHARE THIS VIDEO & SAVE A SOUL]

Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened.

And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them.

And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:11-15

What IF YOUR ENTIRE LIFE was PLAYED Back From the Beginning? What IF You were to DIE TONIGHT and Stand Before the Judgment Seat of Christ? Will you make it? This Gospel Tract Depicts What Will Happen To You On Judgment Day.

Since it went into print in the 1960’s it has reached well over a Billion People, and Has Been Translated Into Almost Every single language…Here are a few testimonies about this gospel tract:

I was shaken back into the fear of the Lord from my backslidden state by THIS WAS YOUR LIFE! that I found on my seat in a subway train [Email]

In 1989 I was depressed and even suicidal. I was walking the streets of Nashville one night and I happened upon THIS WAS YOUR LIFE! laying on a grease spot in a parking lot. I read it, threw it down and then came back and read it again. In the months that followed I repented and was saved. [Texas]

Someone left a Chick tract on a restaurant table, which I read and a friend also gave a Chick tract to me. With that combination I turned from being a Hindu to a Christian. That was 10 years ago. I am now a pastor. M.B., Clovis, CAThe YouTUBE Version Can Be Shared BeLOW:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHbllF1ArWoFOLLOW ME TO CHRIST MINISTRIESwww.youtube.com/followmetochrist

Hope, US Blog

The Hope You Need – By Charles Swindoll

Apr 24, 2022 Change by Percy Parakh

The Hope You Need by Charles R. Swindoll

Hebrews 6:19 Somewhere along the many miles of southern California shoreline walked a young, 20-year-old woman with a terminal disease in her body and a revolver in her hand. She had called me late one evening. We talked for a long time.

A troubled young woman, her mind was filled with doubts. She had advanced leukemia. The doctors told her she would not live much longer. She checked herself out of a hospital because, as she put it, she “couldn’t take another day of that terrible isolation.

“Her husband had left her. Her two-month-old daughter had recently died. Her best friend had been killed in an auto accident. Her life was broken. She’d run out of hope.

She and I spoke calmly and quietly about what was happening. I did a lot of listening. There were periods when there was silence on the phone for thirty to forty-five seconds. I didn’t know where she was. I still don’t know her full name.

She spoke of taking her husband’s revolver and going out on the beach to finish it all. She asked me a lot of questions about suicide. In what seemed an inappropriate moment . . . I felt peace, a total absence of panic. I had no fear that she would hang up and take her life.

I simply spoke very, very quietly about her future. I made no special promise that she would immediately be healed. I knew that she might not live much longer, as her doctors were talking to her in terms of a very few weeks—perhaps days.

I spoke to her about Christ and the hope He could provide. After a sigh and with an ache that was obvious, she hung up. Thirty minutes later my phone rang again. It was the same young woman.

She had a friend who was a nurse, who used to come to our church. The nurse had given her a New Testament in which she had written my name and phone number and had said, “If you really are in deep need, I think he will understand.”

By the way, the nurse—her closest friend—was the one who had been killed in the auto accident. She had nothing to cling to from that friendship but memories and this Testament. She read from it.I said, “What does that little Book say to you?”

“Well, I think the first part of it is biography and the last part is a group of letters that explain how to do what’s in that biography.” (That’s a good analysis of the New Testament.) I said, “Have you done that?” And she had called back to say, “Yes, I’ve done that.

I decided, Chuck, that I would, without reservation, give myself to Jesus Christ. I’m still afraid; I still have doubts. I still don’t know what tomorrow’s going to bring, but I want you to know that I have turned my life over to Jesus, and I’m trusting Him through this. He has given me new hope . . . the one thing I really needed.

“It’s very possible that someone reading these words right now feels the very same way. You’re thinking thoughts that you have never entertained before, and you’re thinking them more often and more seriously.

Without trying to use any of the clichés on you, I would say that this hope Christ can bring is the only way through. I have no answer other than Jesus Christ. I can’t promise you healing, nor can I predict that your world will come back right side up.

But I can promise you He will receive you as you come in faith to Him. And He will bring back the hope you need so desperately. The good news is this:

That hope will not only get you through this particular trial, it will ultimately take you into God’s presence when you die because you have received the gift of eternal life through faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ your Lord.

Liberation, US Blog

Experiencing Liberation – Liberating Gospels

Apr 23, 2022 Gospels by Percy Parakh

John 8:31-38 NIV

Dispute Over Whose Children Jesus’ Opponents Are

³¹To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.

³²Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

³³They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”

³⁴Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.

³⁵Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever.

³⁶So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

³⁷I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because you have no room for my word.

³⁸I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you are doing what you have heard from your father.^[a]”