Tag: Jesus

Consider your ways

~ Sowmya Gali ~ Leave a comment

Haggai 1: 5-7

5. Now therefore, thus says the Lord of Hosts, “Consider your ways!”

6. “You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes.”

7. Thus says the Lord of Hosts, “Consider your ways!”

Several months ago, I had an epiphany that if I desire to be a useful instrument in God’s hands, I should be a healthy individual, first and foremost. Therefore, I embarked on a health journey trying to eat foods in a Biblical way. For several years before this epiphany, I have been making significant changes to my diet and exercise regimen but I wasn’t seeing the results. As I learn about Biblical foods, I kept introducing foods that are healthy and tried to get rid of foods that are unhealthy and processed.

There were moments when even a little difference excited me and gave me encouragement to continue on this health journey. However, there were some old habits that were just hard to give up. For example, I just couldn’t give up coffee. Even though, I wasn’t a heavy coffee consumer, I acutely and woefully craved that one cup of coffee in the morning with a handful of pumpkin, raisins and sunflower seeds. I gave up sugar in my coffee several years ago. I even made a dramatic switch from instant coffee to freshly brewed coffee. Where I used to drink 1 large cup of milk with instant coffee stirred in, I changed it up to freshly brewed coffee with just 1/4th cup of milk.

The verses above gnawed at my spirit. Yes, I am making the changes but I am still not giving up some old habits. Some remnants of the old habits sneak their way back in. The Holy Spirit is asking me to consider my ways. Contextually, Haggai the prophet is asking the exiles who returned to Judea to consider their ways. Here, the Israelites just returned from Babylon, and they built their houses first but ignored the House of God which lay in ruins. They were eager to get into the routine of their lives while ignoring the things of God. They were doing all the right things but not in the right order. They were supposed to rebuild the House of God first and instead were focusing on rebuilding their houses.

All their hard work was misplaced. No wonder they were not seeing the benefits of their labor. In life, we make drastic changes learning from our past mistakes. Nevertheless, in moments of weakness, we tend to reboot our old habits and justify that we are improvising. Our old self constantly reminds us how good it was in the past. As the adage says, ‘Old habits die hard’, we fight hard to give up our old habits. Our new self is in a constant battle with our old self. Who wins depends on our perseverance. We must be in a constant consideration of our ways. With God’s help and our perspective in the right place, we can make progress and be overcomers. Only when we have turned completely away from our old self towards what God intended for us, then we can see the blessings of God pouring down on us.

Whether we are starting our journey or somewhere in the middle or at the end of our journey on this earth, placing God and His Kingdom first puts everything else in its proper place. We don’t need to find excuses to make changes but consider that today is the day of our new self. Old has died and the new has risen. Every day is a blessing from above for us to make those changes. As we make changes to our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual journeys, we will see God blessing our efforts. We will become useful instruments in His hands.

Philippians 4: 6-8

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. It is always good to consider God’s ways!

Being Sabbath-Minded

Featured ~ Sowmya Gali

Jeremiah 17: 24 – 25

But it will come about, if you listen attentively to Me,” declares the Lord, “to bring no load in through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but to keep the sabbath day holy by doing no work in it, then there will come in through the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever.

Revelation 21: 2 – 5

And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.”

We, usually, pray when we have a need, like healing, provision or salvation of a loved one, among many other needs. Not that there is anything wrong with it. We are asked to enter into God’s presence with confidence with all our requests, only believing that He will answer our prayers. As a child confidently approaches his/her father for things they need, so can we approach our Heavenly Father’s presence with what we need. In times of desperation, despite all our efforts, we can’t solve our problems. In such times, we always run to God. God does wants us to come to Him with all our needs, not just some of them.

We, who are the creatures hand-crafted by God, are vessels ordained for worship of our Heavenly Father. Our primary and only focus should be worshipping Him. How many times are we entering into His presence only to worship Him? Our only petition when we enter to worship Him is that He accepts our praise, worship and thanksgiving. Do our hearts long to worship Him or do the cares of this world distract our focus away from worship of Him? When we enter His presence, nothing of ours should go with us. We must leave our cares outside, emptying ourselves completely, before we enter His presence.

When God spoke through Prophet Jeremiah about not carrying any loads into the city gates on a Sabbath, He was saying not just physical load but even our mental and emotional loads. When we enter the City of God on a Sabbath, we are not supposed to carry any of our burdens in but leave behind at the city gates and enter the City, completely empty and naked. Neither our strengths, our skills, our talents, nor our burdens are required inside the Holy City. We enter in through the City gates for the sole purpose of worshipping the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

King David, a man after God’s heart, longed to worship the Lord always. In Psalm 27: 4, David declares, “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.” Joshua remained in the tabernacle of the Lord even after Moses left. Do we like these stalwarts of faith, also love to be in the presence of the Lord just to worship and behold Him? If our hearts are always delighted to be in His presence, casting aside the cares of this world, then we will be sabbath-minded. Our very beings, every cell in our bodies, leaps in joy to be in His presence.

Mark 2: 27 – 28

Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

Jesus Christ declared that He is the Lord of the Sabbath. He is the only one to be worshipped for He alone has conquered sin and death. He alone is worthy to behold. There is coming a Sabbath day, when we will enter the Heavenly Jerusalem, where there is no pain nor sorrow but only joy. All old things will pass away so much so that they will not even come to our remembrance. Everything is made new. The old earth and old Heaven are gone and replaced with a new earth and a new Heaven. We will be preoccupied in worshipping and adoring the Lamb of God, slain for all mankind.

Dear Saint of God, let us enter into this Kingdom of God with confidence so our heart’s desire will be fulfilled. Let us leave our burdens outside the City gates and enter into His rest. We may be heavy-laden but let us swap our burdens with His, which is light and easy. Let us be Sabbath-minded when we enter into His rest. In entering such rest, there is a blessing of prosperity. All the cares of this world will dwindle and pass away. Let us not give up on the glory that awaits us by focusing on these momentary afflictions we may be going through. Let us not be preoccupied by the cares of this world but be preoccupied in worship of Him. Let us join with David in desiring to be in His presence for all eternity. In the end, that is our true heart’s desire: to be in His house, burden-free so our hearts will worship and adore the True King.

Matthew 11: 28 – 30

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”