Saturday, January 1, 2022

Life as it is…..01/01/2022- Dr. Johnson Cherian

So here we are in 2022. It was great to enter the New Year (with prayers, worship & meditation of God’s Word) with my family and my brothers and sisters in Christ from my Church in Kerala, not in person though, only via zoom. And what an unexpected blessing Zoom has turned out to be since the pandemic began. Will 2022 bring many more unexpected blessings? Only time will tell.

Midnight in India, 21.30 hrs. in Qatar and surprisingly as I started my new year message, there was lightning, thunder, gusty winds and heavy rain. Wow.

I spoke using the Bible text from Matthew 22:23

 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”

We serve a God who not only blesses us because we love and live for him, but also blesses the generations to come from us. He not only blessed Abraham, but also Isaac, Jacob and the generations after them.

Interestingly, God wants to establish a relationship with all his children; not many get close to him though, for various reasons like fear, disinterest, ignorance and so on and so forth. Check how he was there, dealing with problems that all these three faced and the phrase that is to be noted when he spoke to them was, “Do not fear”

To Abraham he said, “Do not fear, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” (Genesis 15:1)- Abraham’s fear was that he was childless and his servant would inherit all that he had. God was there to remove those fears and bless him and make him a great nation.

To Isaac he said, “I am the God of your father Abraham; do not fear, for am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for my servant Abraham’s sake.” (Genesis 26:24)- Isaac’s fear was that his enemies would steal his blessings. God would not allow that.

To Jacob he said, “I am God, the God of your father; do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there.” (Genesis 46:3)- Jacob was 130 years old and he had to travel to Egypt to see his long lost son Joseph. God allayed those age and travel fears.

God Almighty who has called you in to fellowship with his son Jesus Christ is faithful. He desires not only to bless you because you faithfully serve him, but also the generations after you. So be strengthened this 1st day of 2022. He says, “Do not fear”. If you remain childless, he has plans for your life too. Know his plan and fulfil it. Only that would give you lasting satisfaction.

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