Category: Practical Apps

Yearning For His Courts

Featured ~ Sowmya Gali

Psalm 84: 1-2, 4, 10

How lovely are Your dwelling places, O Lord of hosts!

My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.

How blessed are those who dwell in Your house! They are ever praising You.

For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

When my family first started attending our church, I was pleasantly surprised to hear the congregants’ response to “How are you?” Most of them would reply, “I am blessed.” Usually, we hear, “I am doing well or all good or fine.” Not that there is anything wrong with those answers but ‘I am blessed’ definitely took us by surprise. After a few weeks, as we were getting to know our fellow believers, I was amazed to hear how some of them are eager to enter God’s presence. They talked about Heaven as though going from one town to another. Many of them were enthusiastically waiting for the Lord’s call.

The Psalmist of Psalm 84 sounded just like my fellow believers. He longed and yearned to be in the courts of the Lord. Even a single day in the Heavenly courts was much better than a thousand elsewhere. He’d rather be standing at the threshold of God’s house than anywhere else. He wasn’t worried about the cares of this world. The reason he longed to be there was to praise Him forever. He probably envied those who were already in the Lord’s presence when he exclaimed, “How blessed are those who dwell in Your house! They are ever praising You.”

Not only his soul but his heart and his flesh longed to be in His presence and sing for joy. One day soon, when we receive our glorified bodies, we will be in His presence forever praising Him. Many of us are concerned about the things of the world. To some extent they are important but they shouldn’t be consuming our lives. The political situation in our country, the terror that is exploding in unexpected places, the mental and spiritual state of humanity, epidemics, world’s hunger and poverty, the economic condition of individual as well as state, etc., are all very important concerns. We should be involved in all these matters, and be aware of what is going on around the world. However, these matters should neither overwhelm us nor consume us.

We all live in a fallen world. As believers, it is our responsibility, first and foremost, to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world around us as He is the only hope for mankind. The entire world is falling apart and we are not equipped to fix it. We can do our part to make it a tad bit better. Nevertheless, our business must be about restoring lost souls to the Kingdom of Heaven. When our hearts long for His presence, we so desire that others around us also shouldn’t miss out on Heaven. When people see the joy of the expectation of Heaven on our faces, they also will long to have such a desire. It is a good contagion, if you ask me. That is how I too got the contagion from my fellow believers. Now my soul longs to be in His presence as well.

Recently, my aunt went home to be with the Lord after a long battle with illness. She was a strong woman in the Lord. Despite her illness, she continued to pray for scores of people that they would come to the saving grace and knowledge of God. The doctors had given up on her and sent her home. As she teetered between heaven and her bedroom, the family that gathered around her could see her smile, hear her hum and in between pray. When she was strong enough to muster some words, she assured her daughters that she is asking God to strengthen them and that she prayed for future generations as well. Her only request was that they should continue to grow in faith and do their part for the Kingdom of Heaven. Her life and testimony had been to show case Jesus through her life and music. However, her soul yearned for Heaven. Now she is in His presence singing His praises evermore.

Dear Saints of God, no matter how deep the valleys or how high the mountains are in this world or how chaotic the world around us is, when our eyes are fixed on Jesus, who awaits us in Heaven, then we too will sing like the Psalmist, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for you, Lord. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God?” Psalm 42: 1-2

Let us make this our prayer:

Psalm 27: 4

One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in His temple.

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Racing With Horses

Featured ~ Sowmya Gali

Jeremiah 12: 5

If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?

In the first four verses of Jeremiah 12, we see Jeremiah complaining to Almighty God about the wicked people, how they are prospering, how the faithless are bearing fruit. Even though they have God on their lips, He is far from their hearts. Jeremiah is calling on God to bring down judgment on these wicked people who have surrounded him and were plotting against him (Jeremiah 11: 18-23).

In Verse 5 God answers Jeremiah with the above verse. In this world, we are being persecuted for our faith. We deal with daily sneers for professing our faith in Jesus in the public square. We are dealing with wickedness and faithlessness on a daily basis. However, God is saying that just because a few people are mocking us for our faith, are we right in asking God to bring down judgment on the unrighteous?

Jesus Himself declared that in this world we will have many struggles but be of good cheer because He has overcome the world. He has laid an example for us to follow suit. Jesus could have wiped out the whole mankind with just one word or called on His angels to destroy us. But He didn’t. He didn’t compete with men. Even when the people crucified Jesus on the cross, He didn’t contend with them. He wasn’t racing against men on foot but He was competing with the devil himself for our souls.

The trials and temptations we face in this life are hard. Indeed, we constantly contend with them on a daily basis. If these struggles can shake our faith, then how can we withstand the onslaught of the evil that is coming? A horse represents speed, agility, and an unstoppable force. If the small struggles we face for our faith bring us down and make us question our faith, then how will we stand against the full onslaught of the evil headed our way. The evil one is always conspiring against us. He aspires to see that sooner than later we will be rattled to give up our faith.

We see, just like Jeremiah, the wicked prospering and are frustrated. We consider in our hearts that the unfaithful people are having fun and always enjoying life, while we Christians are always poor, and constantly struggle. Such situations cause many to abandon their faith and follow the world. That is exactly the time when the devil smirks at Jesus.

God points out to Jeremiah that if what we see in the physical realm and get disheartened, then how are we going to face the battles in the spiritual realm? If in a safe country we are stumbling, then how can we stand firm and manage our way out when we are surrounded by hate and persecution? Consider our fellow Christian brother and sister in a region where they don’t have freedom to read the Bible or where Christianity is forbidden.

Do you see and read, dear Saint, the times we are living in? We are constantly facing troubles of all sizes and we get disheartened. If under such small trials, we are troubled, then how are we equipping ourselves to face the bigger ones that are coming our way? Jesus Christ faced the ultimate stronghold when He took up all our sins on the cross, and He came out victorious. Apostle Paul urged Christians in the early church to stay the course and keep the faith despite the persecution. He assured them that God will rescue them. Saints down through the ages have faced several trials. Many were martyred but they gladly bore them all knowing that the One who walked before them has already won the victory. When we face trials, let us learn to look up as our redemption draws near.

In exhortation, Ephesians 6: 10-12: Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

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