Life as it is…..03/01/2022- Dr. Johnson Cherian

To the church at Ephesus (in the 2^nd chapter of the book of Revelation), Jesus had many good things to say. It had plentiful works, arduous labor, patient endurance, it did not tolerate evil men and discerned false apostles and dealt with them appropriately. What more could Jesus ask from a church or believers, one could ask! But there you are. Jesus says something so strikingly painful, that whoever in the church, especially the leaders when they heard it, they would shake their heads and say, “What more can we do?” Jesus had said, “Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place. (Revelation 2:4, 5)

We are speaking here of a Church which earlier had great leaders like Timothy and John, the Apostle. Was the sin so glaring that Jesus warns them that the Church would cease to exist if it did not repent? And cease to exist it did, because they did not repent.

Jesus spoke about the Ephesian Church to have left its first love. 30 years back then, the Apostle Paul had written to the same church, saying, “Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ sincerely. (Ephesians 6:24)

So the question arises for believers and Churches in our present time. Have we left out first love?

We may be doing everything that a believer or Church is supposed to do. Worship, prayer, meditation of God’s Word, evangelism…..yet, without any intimacy with Jesus Christ, our Savior.

Has all that we do, become a routine or a burden, without any love for Jesus?

The question is are we enjoying our relationship with Jesus? “Delighting” would be the right word, as we read of in several scriptures in the Word of God.

…..his (Jehoshaphat’s) heart took delight in the ways of the Lord. (2 Chronicles 17:6)…

But his delight is in the law of the Lord…. (Psalm 1:2)

Delight yourself in the Lord…. (Psalm 37:4)

I delight to do your will….. (Psalm 40:8)

Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who delights greatly in His commandments…. (Psalm 112:1)

Many believers delight in serving Jesus initially in their walk with him, but as time goes by, their first love wanes and then they just do things because they have to. If we have left our first love, this is the time and season to repent and love Jesus from our hearts and delight in serving him.

As the return of our Savior looms on the horizon, some of us need to do a diligent heart search and love our Savior in sincerity, as Apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesian Church.

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Life as it is…..02/01/2022- Dr. Johnson Cherian

For over a year now, I have been closely watching the birds that come to eat the rice grains that I leave outside my kitchen window and often I am reminded of the words of Jesus to his disciples who were worried about their next meal or food provision in general….. Jesus said, “Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? (Matthew 6:26)

Look at the birds – well, we hardly have time for that, for we are mostly looking at our mobile devices or binge watching TV (God save the believer).

Jesus said, “Birds neither sow nor reap or gather into barns”….he didn’t mean we are to sit idle, not working for our food. Many believers in the Church at Thessalonica did just that. The Apostles including Paul preached to them that Jesus was coming back soon, so many of them stopped working. Paul had to then admonish them, saying, “If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.” (2 Thessalonians 3:10). Jesus, here, was stressing the fact that our dependence should not be on what we reap, gather or store, but on the Father in Heaven who sustains his children each and every day.

Jesus was also pointing out to his disciples the very important fact that we, as God’s children are so valuable to him that he would provide for our daily needs, if we were to first seek his kingdom and his righteousness.

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. (Matthew 6:33)

What Jesus meant here was that, we must put God’s interests first in our life, then God will take care of our necessities of life, at present and in the future. If we are to be devoted to the accumulation of financial reserves, we could be never sure we have saved enough because there is always the danger of market collapse, inflation, calamities, prolonged illness and paralyzing accident.

As a child of God, you and me, we are very valuable to God. Much more valuable than birds which the Heavenly father feeds daily.

Whether it be food, clothes or any other genuine need of yours, your Heavenly Father will provide. Trust in him. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

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 I 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 1^st 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.

Life as it is…..31/12/2021- Dr. Johnson Cherian

(Please do share this with family and friends; translate/get it translated in to your local language and do share with others, send me your thoughts and comments; God permitting, I will be blogging regularly in 2022; if you miss any blog entry, please visit my website www.johnsoncherian.com and click on my blog link to see all entries. God bless you.)

Wherever you are, whatever situation you find yourself in, this day, if you are a child of God, a royal member of God’s heavenly kingdom, God’s got you covered. Jesus often told his disciples that the Christian walk would be tough. Denying oneself, picking up our cross and following Jesus is no walk in the park. The pandemic doesn’t seem to be going away, at least for another year or two. I remember Jesus speaking in his still small voice on the morning of the 17^th of July, 2020, when the pandemic was in the initial stages, whispering as I was waking up that morning…this (pandemic) will last for quite some time, then other significant events will follow and then I will return. That was almost one and half years back and here we are on the verge of entering 2022…just a few hours…2021 will be history soon.

Personally for me, the last few days of 2021 have been difficult, with the flu hitting me hard, being out of work and in bed for 4 days, but God showed mercy yet again by healing; praise God for my faithful Savior Jesus who keeps continually interceding for me in the presence of the heavenly Father; praise God for faithful family members and friends who regularly keep me in prayers. I believe the attack on my body was satanic retaliation for Christmas messages that I sent out on TV and mobile devices.  Anyway, Jesus’ power always prevails over satanic power.

In my suffering, I often tell Jesus that I am going to cut down on ministry and laboring for the kingdom, because the evil attacks are many. But as soon as I recover, I see another power at work in me, which takes over and pushes me to do even more for my Savior. That’s the power that the Apostle Paul speaks of in the letter to the Ephesians.

Ephesians 3:20, 21

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. 

Yes, Glory be to God Almighty, who works powerfully in us by his Holy Spirit. 

So, on the last day of this year, be strengthened, God Almighty is with you. Jesus will never leave you nor forsake you. In whichever part of the world you are now, as a child of God, you have the divine privilege to have your loving Savior’s eyes continually focused on you. What tomorrow (2022) will bring, remains a mystery for now, but all the promises of God are “Yes” and “Amen” in Christ Jesus. They are all for you.

If you are in trouble this day, remember,

Psalm 46:1

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” 

The life time promise of Jesus has stood the test of time for his loving children…….he says,

Matthew 28:20

“I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.

 www.johnsoncherian.com

 johnson3570@gmail.com

വാഗ്ദത്തം ചെയ്തവനെ വിശ്വസ്തൻ - Dr. Johnson Cherian - 05-12-2021

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