I am Sandeep.B, a medical doctor now in Psychiatry, CMC, Vellore, Tamil Nadu. By the way, the most remarkable thing I want to share with you from my life, is about the tremendous joy and peace that fills my heart as a result of my encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ. Being from a traditional Hindu family, I’d like to say that this is not at all a religious conversion, but it’s a thrilling story of transformation from deep within my heart….
The rest you can read in my article "About Me".....
This is a modified letter of reply which I had written to a friend of mine, addressing some issues in the ‘churches’, both the traditional as well as the ‘separated’ ones. I’m enclosing the substance of the letter below:
“My dear friend,
Jesus never founded any religion or organization. He always stood against man-made traditions and systems! Please read Mark 7: 5- 13, where Jesus tells the Pharisees that they neglect (verse 8), set aside (verse 9) and finally invalidate the word of God (verse 13) by their tradition which they had handed down. He always exposed the hollowness and hypocrisy of those who earn money, man’s honour and fame in the name of God (even in the name of Jesus)!! So it is Christ, not the religion of Christianity, that we should follow!
History tells us that Christianity degenerated into a religion around AD 300, when the Roman emperor Constantine accepted Christianity as a religion without any repentance, and the people of his empire imitated him in order to please him, thereby beginning to bring numerous nauseating traditions and rituals (in “Christian whitewash”), which are not at all found in the New Testament.
Mediation
My very dear brother, please do not feel bad when I’m quoting these verses from the very Bible you and I are reading everyday:
“For there is one God, and ONE mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).
“… If anyone sins, we have AN advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous” (1 John 2: 1).
Dear brother, Mary was, of course, a very humble and holy woman of God, worthy to be chosen to be the mother of the Lord on this earth. But she herself said: “Whatever He (Jesus) says to you, do it” (John 2: 5). She always pointed others to Christ and not to herself.
Jesus Himself always paid more importance for spiritual relationships, rather than for physical relationships. For example, see Luke 8: 21:
“But He answered and said to them, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it”.
Also in Luke 11: 27, 28, we read: “And it came about that when Jesus said these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts at which You nursed”. But He said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God, and observe it”.
Jeremiah 7: 18 and 44: 17 refers to a heathen goddess as the ‘queen of heaven’. Then how dare one call Mary the queen of heaven? When the Almighty Creator God expects us to pray only to Him, how are rosary and mediation to innumerous saints ever justifiable?
Doctrines like mediation to Mary and other saints, rosary, idol worship, infant baptism etc. were not in the Church in the early days. They came in the later days when people began to follow this as a mere religion without having any personal relationship with the Lord Jesus!
Idolatry
The Word of God unambiguously exhorts us “not to be idolaters” (1 Cor. 10: 7, and to “flee from idolatry” (1 Cor. 10: 14). Apostle John, at the very end of his first epistle, says: “Little children, guard yourselves from idols” (1 John 5: 21). And do not be shocked, dear brother, when I say that 1 Cor. 10: 20 makes it crystal clear that the things that the Gentiles sacrifice to idols, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God!
It should be thought- provoking for all idolaters to see that the Word of God clearly categorizes them along with fornicators, adulterers, effeminate, homosexuals, thieves, the covetous, drunkards, revilers and swindlers in the list of those who shall not inherit the kingdom of God !(1 Cor. 6: 9, 10).
Galatians 5: 19, 20 includes idolatry along with immorality, impurity, sensuality, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness and carousing among the deeds of the flesh, and warns us that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God!! Ephesians 5: 5 says: “For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God”!
Again Revelation 21: 8 includes idolaters along with the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, immoral persons, sorcerers and liars among those whose part is in “the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death”! And it is amazing to see this verse of warning even in the very last page of the Bible: “Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying”! (Rev. 22: 15).
Do you know what the second one of the Ten Commandments God gave Moses in the Old Testament is? Here it is: “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” (Exodus 20: 4 – 7; Deut. 5: 8 – 10).
But it is literally shocking to see that some ‘churches’ conveniently omits this second commandment of Almighty God and cleverly splits up the tenth commandment into two commandments, so that there are somehow ‘ten’ commandments altogether!!! (See Exodus 20: 17). But they can deceive only those lazy, half- hearted people who never care, at least once in a blue moon, to open up their “precious” Bibles adored and adorned in the show- case!
Later in the Old Testament, the Lord used the king Hezekiah to break in pieces even the bronze serpent that Moses had made, because the sons of Israel had been burning incense to it! (2 Kings 18: 4). If you want to get a glimpse of how much the Lord abhors idolatry, just see these numerous verses in the Bible:
Some people tell that they keep idols and pictures of ‘Jesus’ only as reminders. But a truly born again person never needs such reminders because he has the Holy Spirit of God dwelling in him, “who will teach him all things and bring to his remembrance all that the Lord Jesus has told him” (John 14: 26). Anyway, there is no proof that the prevalent pictures of ‘Jesus’ are really of the Lord at all! The faces in different pictures themselves differ considerably!! Then how can they ever be genuine? A true disciple of the Lord will admit that these pictures are actually hindrances for him to come to the real Lord and behold His spiritual beauty with his inner eyes through the enlightening of the Spirit of God! (Matthew 5: 8; 2 Cor. 4: 6).
Priesthood
1 Peter 2: 9 clearly says to all believers that “you are a royal priesthood”. Though the priesthood was restricted to some section of the Jews in the Old Covenant, all the children of God in the new covenant are royal priests, as is evident from that verse as well as Rev. 1: 6 ! The Old Covenant (not the Old Testament) is made obsolete and is growing old and is ready to disappear, according to Hebrews 8: 7, 13! Does this not prove, dear brother, that the priesthood practised in most ‘churches’ is not at all Biblical!
Also, in Matthew 23: 9, the Lord Jesus forbids calling anyone on earth your ‘father’! The word ‘reverend’ is found only in one place in the whole Bible, where it is used to describe the Almighty God (Psalm 111: 9 KJV). The Word of God is always against using titles (even ‘pastor’ (= shepherd) which is a calling for service – Eph. 4: 11 -- and not a title) that would exalt one above others (See Matthew 23: 5 – 12). Jesus says: “… you are all brothers” (Matthew 23: 8). It is amazing that many of the Pentecostal ‘pastors’ also exalt themselves and lord over their flock just like the traditional ‘priests’! (1 Peter 5: 2, 3).
False Practices
1 Timothy 4: 1-5 unequivocally says that forbidding marriage is a doctrine of the demons!! Yet marriage is forbidden to the ‘priests’ and nuns in some ‘churches’! How can this be?
When the Word of God says: “For a man ought not to have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God…”, I wonder, dear brother,why many of these “Christian priests” take all pains to carefully cover their heads with fancy caps and crowns!!
As one said, the New Testament states only one instance of a person confessing his sins before the priests, and that is none other than Judas Iscariot, the very betrayer of our Lord Jesus!! (See Matthew 27: 3- 5). The Bible very clearly teaches us to confess our sins to God alone (1 John 1: 9). And if we have hurt anybody by our words or deeds, we need to ask their forgiveness also (Matthew 5: 21 - 24). In an exceptional occasion of sickness due to some unconfessed sin, one has to confess one’s sins to the elders of the church who are to pray for his healing (James 5: 14 – 16). Then how can the tradition of confession of sins to ‘priests’ ever be justified?
Our Lord Jesus instituted the covenant of “breaking of bread” among His disciples, and not in the midst of the multitude! The “holy mass” in many ‘churches’ is conducted by some ‘priest’ who is most probably not born again at all (and if at all born again, disobeying many of the commandments of the Lord described above and below). And this ‘mass’ is received by multitudes of people indulging in smoking, drinking, lying, immorality etc. Then how can this ritual be of any value before God??
And how can any ritual, for that matter, conducted by such a ‘priest’ be of any value before God, say, baptism? Anyway, infant baptism has absolutely zero value before God, whosoever does it!!! Because the Greek word ‘bapto’ from which the word ‘baptism’ came, simply means ‘to immerse’, and not ‘to sprinkle’! And I have heard that the KJV translators coined the new word ‘baptism’ in English instead of using the simple English word ‘immersion’, in order that they can safely cover up the traditional infant baptism of sprinkling!
But suppose, even if an infant is immersed, it will not become the true water baptism! Because the water baptism is symbolically burying the ‘old man’ who became dead when one is born again (saved) and rising up of the ‘new man’ (Romans 6: 3 – 7). So all ‘baptisms’ before one is truly born again (whether as an infant or as an adult) are not more valuable to God than the bathroom shower we have everyday!!
Further, it is to the disciples (and not to any Tom, Dick and Harry) that Jesus gave the commandment to baptize. And one who receives baptism must be a born again child of God, who is seeking to obey all the commandments of the Lord! (See Matthew 28: 16 – 20).
And I have no words to say of those ‘believers’ involved in filing court cases against other ‘believers’ because the Word of God already uses enough words to depict their condition in 1 Cor. 6: 1 – 8 !
Jesus teaches us to fast in secret, so that whether alone or together with fellow believers, only those who are fasting need to know about it (Matthew 6: 16 – 18). And I am amazed at the public fasting of ‘believers’ after distributing even printed notices about it!!
Miracles
Miracles, supernatural experiences, false visions and lying divination can be there in heathen religions too (Exodus 7: 8 – 13; Ezekiel 13: 6 – 9). One thing is sure: everything supernatural is not from God! Even the antichrist will do extraordinary miracles by Satanic power! (See Rev. 13: 11 – 15; 1 Thess. 2: 8 – 12). If anyone, no matter whichever church he or she attends,rather than seeking the Lord, goes seeking after supernatural miracles (even if they are ‘in the name of Jesus’), he or she is 100% destined to be deceived, especially in these end days! (See Matthew 7: 20 – 23; 24: 4, 11, 24).Of course, on the other hand, it is beyond doubt that the Lord also does numerous miracles even today out of concern for the needy people!
At one extreme, people call everything supernatural as the manifestation of the Holy Spirit and mistake emotional upheaval for the power of the Holy Spirit! At the other extreme, there are others who intellectually dissect the Word of God and come to the false conclusion that the gifts of the Holy Spirit do no longer exist today! But God is looking for those who adhere to the Word of God and at the same time continually seek for the genuine enduing of the power of the Holy Spirit from above (and not from any ‘gifted’ ‘pastor’ below)!! (See Luke 24: 49; John 3: 27; James 1: 17).
Any genuine disciple of the Lord will soon be disgusted with the worldliness and extreme chaos that take place supposedly in the name of the Holy Spirit in many ‘churches’! On the other hand, one will be bored with the monotony and legalistic bondage prevalent in many other churches! And I pray that the Lord will be able to see more churches in these last days with the true liberty as well as discipline of the Holy Spirit, which have the fruit as well as the gifts of the Spirit!
False Gospel
At one extreme, instead of exhorting the unbelievers to radically repent of their sins and trust in the Lord Jesus in order to be born again, many are just preaching methods of self improvement and reformation. (Even heathen religions teach these self-reformatory methods). At the other extreme, masses are brainwashed by a ‘health and wealth and prosperity gospel’, which is totally man-centered and ‘training’ people to be more and more covetous and greedy and selfish!! But God is looking for those who share the true gospel of “repentance (turning away from one’s sins) toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20: 21). It is this gospel which results in salvation (new birth) as a free gift from God through His grace, and not the good works or religious rituals that one has done (Eph. 2: 8 – 10).
Money Matters
As one has pointed out, the Old Testament commandment of tithing (instead of the New Testament commandment of cheerfully giving – 2 Cor. 9: 7) is imposed by covetous ‘pastors’ on the undiscerning believers! Foreign funds are many a time misused for selfish interests by the corrupt leadership! As somebody said: “When it comes to such matters as dowry, almost all of these ‘churches’ seem to have exactly the same doctrine, because they also can receive some commission each time!”
Jesus clearly contrasted between the good shepherd who gives even his life for the flock and the “hireling” who works for his salary! (John 10: 10 – 13). The Christendom is unfortunately flooded by numerous “hirelings” who are working for their regular salary, rather than working for the Lord out of love for Him and earning their daily living as well! (Please read 1 Thess. 3: 6 – 15). Of course, genuine servants of the Lord are worthy of reward for their spiritual labour; but that should never be an excuse for the “hirelings” to cover up their covetousness! (See 1 Cor. 9: 9 – 18; Gal. 6: 6 and 1 Tim. 5: 17, 18).
The Word of God clearly commands us in 2 Timothy 3: 5 to “avoid those who hold to a form of godliness, but have denied its power”. I never wish to be a part of a ‘church’ which is led by such covetous and unrighteous persons, because, otherwise, I’ll be disobeying His Word! Jesus told many “hard” truths to people IN LOVE (Eph.4: 15) without caring whether they will get offended and leave Him. We have to follow His example.
Please don’t misunderstand me, my dear brother. I am “not judging anyone according to appearance, but I judge with righteous judgment” just as Jesus commanded us to do in John 7: 24. In 1 John 4: 1 we read: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world”. Jesus Himself has sternly warned us to “beware of the false prophets, who come to us in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves”, and to “know them by their fruits” (and not by their gifts)!! (Matthew 7: 15, 16).
I do not despise or look down upon any human being; but I was just comparing what we see around us in Christendom ‘in the name of Jesus’, with what is written clearly in the Word of God, so that we can come to the true liberty which the truth of God alone can bring (John 8: 32). Just as Jesus did in His days, I was just trying to expose the futility of man-made traditions and interpretations, because ‘the precious name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is being blasphemed among the non-Christians because of the so-called Christianity today’! (Romans 2: 24).
Be Separate
May I just take the freedom to ask you this ‘strange’ question: Are you 100 % sure that even if you die at this very moment, you’ll reach the Lord’s presence in heaven the same moment? Are you sure, dear? If you are not sure, then repent of your sins and surrender your life to Christ Jesus so that you may be saved from the eternal wrath of God! But, if you are sure of your new birth, then you need to take these Words of God seriously:
2 Corinthians 6: 14- 18 says: “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of God; just as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate”, saysthe Lord. “And do not touch what is unclean; and I will welcome you. And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me”, says the Lord Almighty”.
Revelation 18: 4 says: “I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of Babylon (the false ‘church’), my people, that you may not participate in her sins and that you may not receive of her plagues”.
John 12: 42, 43 says: “Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God”. So, whose approval, do you want, dear brother, -- man’s or God’s?
Read the example of the man born blind who was healed by Jesus in John 9. That poor man, unlike his diplomatic parents, did not care for the approval of the religious authorities of his time and was absolutely faithful to the light he had. And he confessed Jesus boldly before them and was put out of the synagogue. And read John 9: 35: “Jesus heard that they had put him out; and finding him, He said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”. And thus Jesus could reveal more of Himself to him, and the man worshipped Jesus (John 9: 38). So we have to pay a price to really worship Jesus in spirit and truth, dear brother!
See what Peter and John, the uneducated and untrained fishermen, said before the religious authorities who asked them not to preach the gospel anymore: “But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4: 19, 20). Again in Acts 5: 29, we read: “But Peter and the apostles answered and said, “We must obey God rather than men”.
So, What?
So what’s the solution? Is it to leave the false ‘churches’ and to attend no church? Never. I have heard some people saying that they do not need any fellowship, but will obey the Bible on their own. But the very Word of God which they profess to follow, also exhorts us “not to forsake our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but to encourage one another; and all the more, as you see the day drawing near” (Hebrews 10: 25). Just a few verses before the commandment in 2 Timothy 3: 5 to “avoid those who hold to a form of godliness, but have denied its power”, we are also commanded in 2 Timothy 2: 22 to “flee from youthful lusts, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart”, (and not with the unbelievers or ‘compromising, worldly and half-hearted believers’ of our “precious” age-old denomination, whichever it may be, the traditional or the so-called ‘separated’ ones)!! So the Lord’s perfect will for any born again child of God is that he/she should be built together in close fellowship and love with other whole-hearted children of God of his/her locality, “into a dwelling of God in the Spirit” (Ephesians 2: 19 – 22).
Throughout the epistles, we see many local expressions of the Body of Christ in various localities like Rome, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colossae, Thessalonica etc. Likewise the Lord is building His true churches, though few in number, here and there, which seeks to obey and teach the whole counsel of God as revealed in His Word (Acts 20: 27). There the children of God will be strongly united as members of one Body, encouraging and correcting one another, with fervent love for each other, irrespective of their financial status, educational qualifications, occupation, culture, caste or colour or gender or whatever! (See John 13: 34, 35; 1 Cor. 12: 13; Eph. 4: 16; Col. 2: 18, 19).
Of course, they would not be perfect churches because no human being is perfect. But a true church of God will have an uncorrupted leadership, which is “rooted and grounded in love” (Eph. 3: 17), and which is living before the face of God, and which is able to steer the church in the right direction of the Holy Spirit! They are the “shepherds after God’s own heart” who will help their flock to ‘know Him and understand His ways’. It is such true shepherds that the Lord has promised for those who come to Zion, the true church of God! (Jeremiah 3: 14, 15).
As someone said, the God who helped the wise men from the east, the shepherds, the righteous and devout Simeon, and the old, pious widow, Anna to find the first and physical Body of Christ, will also help the genuine seekers even today to find the second and spiritual Body of Christ, the Church, near their locality. As is evident from the four types of above – mentioned people who found His earthly Body, God never shows partiality to anyone based on their wisdom, education, richness, occupation, knowledge of Scriptures, age or even gender; but He is looking for people with an honest and humble heart to stand for Him uncompromisingly in this land and in this generation! Just as everyone understood whom God was like through the first and physical Body of Christ, which walked through Israel about 2000 years ago (John 1: 18), it is through this second and spiritual Body of Christ, the Church, that the Lord wants to demonstrate to this world today whom the real Jesus of the Bible is like! (1 John 4: 12). And, dear brother, are you willing to be a part of that Body?
My dear brother, I'm saying these not for any argument at all. But I'm saying the truth only in sincere love for you (Ephesians 4: 15). And dear brother, God Himself has given you freedom to disagree and throw away these truths! Because He never compels anybody!
I’m neither a ‘Catholic’, nor a ‘Pentecostal’, nor a ‘Jacobite’, nor a ‘Brethren’, nor a ‘Baptist’, nor a ‘Marthomite’, nor a ‘CSIite’ and so on….. I belong to Jesus and attend church fellowships consisting of brothers who diligently seek to follow the Lord Jesus in everything. And I pray that the Lord may raise up true local churches – the genuine expressions of the Body of Christ – having the pure testimony of the Lord Jesus, in every part of the world so that the Lord’s name might be mightily exalted everywhere in these last days!
Hope you’ve not been offended by this loving brother! I’ll pray for you, dear! May the Lord Jesus richly bless you and guide you in all things!
Someone once said, “There is a God-shaped vacuum inside each of our hearts that can be filled only by God.” How true it is; isn’t it? Whether we admit it or not, that sense of emptiness deep inside our very being, an indescribable yearning...!
Often we try to fill this vacuum with wealth, love from others, comforts, sensual pleasures and so on, but all in vain! And it is even more surprising that no religious ritual, philosophy or even good works can fill this vacuum!
Yes, the Almighty and loving God alone can fill this emptiness; He alone can fill our innermost being with inexpressible love, joy and peace! But we know that the true God is the One who created and controls the entire universe, and He alone is worthy to be worshipped! If so, how can this holy God come into our hearts?
If we are honest to ourselves, we will agree on this one thing: we all have disobeyed our conscience knowingly or unknowingly many a time in our thoughts, words and deeds! It is this falling away from the character of God that the Bible calls ‘sin’: “…for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23).
Do you know what the punishment of sin is, in the eyes of the infinitely holy God? The punishment is that any one who has committed even the smallest sin should suffer in hell — an eternal separation from God! The Bible describes it in this way: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). “And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:15). Jesus Himself said, “… in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 22:13).
But how can this loving God cast us, His dear creation, away into hell eternally? Even as God is infinitely loving, He is also infinitely holy, just and righteous. It will not be an act of justice if a righteous God does not give punishment for our sins just because we regret them, or perform some religious rituals, or do some good deeds.
Can a judge in a court of law avoid punishment, even if the culprit is his own son? No. But since he loves the son so much, that judge can declare a lawful penalty for the offence, then pay that penalty himself and thus free his son! This is exactly what God did for us.
For that very purpose, the Almighty God incarnated as a human being in Jesus Christ about 2000 years ago! He lived for thirty-three and a half years, setting an example for us to live by. In fulfillment of the prophecies of the Bible, Jesus was cruelly crucified on the Cross of Calvary… It was the endless misery of hell-fire which you and I had to suffer for endless ages … that Jesus endured for our sake during those three hours on the Cross with deep pain and agony …!
What we behold on the Cross is that tender heart full of love and compassion unwilling to cast us into hell!! The Word of God says: “… God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8). And Jesus rose again, conquering death, which is man’s greatest enemy.
Just as that judge did, the Lord Jesus also paid the penalty for our sins on the Cross! But the son in the court of law can become free only if he accepts the penalty paid by his father. Likewise we also can be free only if we believe deep inside our hearts that Jesus bore the punishment of hell for us! Otherwise we will be choosing to suffer the vacuum in this life and eternal hell-fire after death…
If there was any other way for the forgiveness of sins, then there was no need for Jesus to undergo such a brutal and shameful death. Yes, “Salvation is found in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12).
Any person in any condition can freely and easily receive this salvation by repenting of his/her sins and trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ who paid the penalty of sin! There is no need for religious conversion or to join any organization for this; because Jesus never founded any religion or organization. Jesus always stood against man-made traditions and systems! He always exposed the hollowness and hypocrisy of those who earn money, man’s honour and fame in the name of God (even in the name of Jesus)!! So it is Christ, not the religion of Christianity, that we should follow!
Jesus says: “Come to Me, all who are weary and who are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28).
“…the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.” (John 6:37).
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.” (John 14:6).
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16).
“But seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things (material needs like food, clothing, healing etc.) shall be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33).
This Jesus is calling you too… His eyes full of love and compassion are even now gazing at you… If you believe that this Lord Jesus is able to take away all your sins, burdens and emptiness, then you can open your heart and say this prayer right now to Jesus:
“My loving Jesus, thank You for dying for my sins, and rising from the dead to give me eternal life! Cleanse my sins with Your blood shed on the Cross, and come into my heart now. Fill me, Jesus, with Your love, joy and peace! Thank You for hearing my prayer.”
Yes, let us live for Jesus with our hearts filled with His love, leaving behind all discouragement and emptiness forever! May the Lord bless you richly!
1) “The strongest power of attraction in this universe is nothing other than the love of Jesus Christ. It is like a magnet; the closer you come to it, the stronger it binds you, and the farther you go, it just leaves you alone, but will, of course, seek to bind you all throughout your life!”
2) “Our Lord longs to flood our beings all the time with His love and freshness in such a way as to overflow and touch and transform others around us too.”
3) “Until Jesus alone becomes enough for us, we will continue to have complaining and murmuring”.
4) “The honour and money of this world are just like rubbish for a person who is truly taken up with the glory and beauty of Jesus Christ. The more you come closer to the Lord, the less you will be attracted by them!” (Phil. 3:8).
5) “Where do you first look to, when you suddenly come across a crisis or a need – to mere men or to the Lord Jesus Himself?”
6) “Blessed is the man who has learned to sense in his heart everything the Lord wants to communicate with him!”
7) “Deal kindly and compassionately with others as the Lord deals kindly and compassionately with you!”
8) “When we realize the sufferings and pain that our beloved Jesus has endured in order to reach out to us and win us, whatever hardships and inconveniences and losses we suffer in order to reach out to others and win them for the Lord, will count to absolutely nothing!”
9) “All the persons and circumstances we face in our daily life are actually different tools in the skilful hands of our loving Lord used for carving us out into His very image! And if we resist Him He will simply leave us alone….but with great grief in His heart!”
10)“Failure of any sort is a golden opportunity for us to once again realize our nothingness and become humbler”.
11)“The people around us are knowingly and unknowingly seeking for real, Christlike love, -- the love which can understand their deepest needs and accept them as they really are. Are we able to impart them the same quality of love through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit?”
12)“It is our Helper, the Holy Spirit who helps us to continually put to death our flesh with all its lusts and desires, and thus enables us to become smaller and smaller in own eyes!”
13)“When others look down upon us and ridicule us for our uncompromising stand for the Lord Jesus, we should always be able to sympathize with, have compassion on and pray for them, keeping in mind their eternal destiny!”
14)“The secret of faith in prayer is the awareness that we are talking to and hearing from our loving, caring Father in heaven, who knows all our needs and burdens, and who Himself is our omnipotent, omniscient Creator!”
15)“In spite of the busy schedule of daily life, it is in the secret chamber with the Lord Jesus, that we get to know Him personally and intimately, and get transformed to that measure of His likeness in which we know Him….!”
16)“Spiritually minded people will long to hear a man who hears God!”
17) “The Lord approves the life of that person who proceeds with the green signal of the Lord in everything!”
18)“How grieved the heart of the Lord Jesus is, when we have no time to hear Him or talk to Him! And how delighted His heart is when He finds one child of His eager to hear Him speak!!”
19)“You can accomplish the maximum for the Lord through this small life of yours, if you allow Him to direct every nook and corner of your life!”
20)“The reason why we are not able to rise up to the expectation of the Lord Jesus in our daily life, is that we have not become humble enough to receive His abundant grace for everything!”
21)“When you are really humble, you can receive true correction from even the youngest of believers and even from unbelievers!”
22)“When you are tempted to seek after the approval and honour of man, ask the Lord to reveal to you the emptiness and hollowness in it.”
23)“Our lives must be an example of how mightily the Lord can use a person completely surrendered and committed to Him!”
24)“Our Lord Jesus always wants to share the sweetness of His fellowship with us even in the little things in our daily life; but are we interested in the same?”
25)“Jesus could perfectly explain the Father to us because He remained spiritually in the bosom of the Father even when He lived on this earth (John 1: 18). So the best way for us to explain Jesus to others today is also to cling close to His bosom all the time!”
26) “When we humble ourselves before the Lord like a new-born baby, the Lord will never leave us nor forsake us, just like a mother who does not want to leave her new-born even for a moment!”
27)“It is a real worshiper who gets his mind transformed and thus gets to know the will of God for everything in his life!” (Rom. 12: 1, 2).
28) “When we get irritated at somebody’s fault, just realize that we are also guilty of the same thing in some subtle manner. When we overcome that area, we will no longer be upset with that fault in anyone else!” (Rom. 2:1).
29) “In the midst of a world which shouts “Pleasure is only in sin”, the Lord wants living examples, especially among young people, who through their lives, can boldly proclaim “You cannot have a more vibrant and exciting and joyful life than in Jesus Christ”!”
30)The Lord Jesus is now asking you: “When most of my children approach Me only for their own personal and material gain, when many are gaining honour and money taking my name, are you willing to do everything in selfless love for Me and portray the real Jesus of the Bible through your life and words in front of this corrupt Christian world?....” =================================
1) “If we keep our hearts attuned to the voice of the Lord by being filled with the Holy Spirit, the Lord will always have a word of encouragement or guidance or correction or rebuke in our daily path of life”.
2) “When you are concentrated on bringing delight to the heart of the Lord Jesus alone through your one small life on this earth, the praises as well as the ridicule of men will count for nothing to you!”
3) “Only a man walking closely to the Lord can ‘nip’ even a small blemish of unChristlikeness ‘in the bud’in his life. Other people will realize the same sin in their own lives only when it has grown into a huge ‘tree’!”
4) “What greater privilege a mere creature can have than having a close two-way communion and fellowship with the Creator Himself!”
5) “A revelation of ‘how much the Lord has suffered literal hell as the punishment for ‘my’ sins on the cross of Calvary’ can keep a person really humble.”
6) “Unfortunately the Lord often finds it easier to teach us some spiritual lessons after our failures, just because that is the time the Lord can find us humblest! But how sad if we cannot learn from the Lord even through failures because of our listening to the condemning voice of the devil!”
7) “When the Lord points out any unChristlikeness in our life, first acknowledge it before the Lord humbly and gratefully, instead of justifying it or struggling to overcome it ourselves. This simple honesty before the Lord is the way by which we can walk in the light and be cleansed from all sin (1 John 1: 7)”.
8) “The increasing spiritual growth of a child of God will delight the heart of a real spiritual father; then how much more the heart of his heavenly Father…..!”
9) “We will really begin to see the wretchedness and filthiness of the tremendous pride and self-centeredness in us, only when we really begin to walk with the Lord and value fellowship with Him above anything else!”
10) “Testifying what the Lord has done in us and through us is one thing; but doing the same without touching His glory is quite another thing; and here lies the test of our real humility!”
11) “You cannot ‘feed’ the ‘flock’ of the Lord with anything you like, because they are ‘the flock of His possession’ (Micah 7:14); so speak to them from the Word only what the Lord wants you to!”
12) “The more mature you become spiritually, the more childlike you will become in the purity of heart and innocence of character!”
13) “The more rest and peace you enjoy in your heart, the more effectively you will fight the spiritual battle against the devil and his forces!”
14) “The prouder we become, the more pitiably the Lord has to allow us to fall, so that we may realize our nothingness and become humble!”
15) “One of reasons why the Lord wants us to pray for others is that we become more and more selfless as a by-product of genuine intercession!”
16) “It is not in an easy chair, but in the busy circumstances of daily life that we discover whether we value the sweet fellowship with Jesus!”
17) “If you are more eager for the fellowship with your fellow brothers and sisters than having personal fellowship with Jesus, then there is something wrong with your spirituality!”
18) “When the Lord Jesus looks from heaven at our currency notes, He sees them as mere papers to be used. (That was how He considered money when He lived here on earth also). When the real Spirit of heaven, that is the Holy Spirit, fills our hearts, we will also likewise see money!”
19) “The reason why we get so easily irritated with people and circumstances even inwardly, is that we are so big in our own eyes and we think we deserve to be treated far better than how it is now!”
20) “When you are connected to Jesus Christ, you will always seek to connect others with Him; on the other hand, if you are more connected to an organization than to Jesus Christ, you will always seek to connect others with that organization than to Jesus Christ!”
21) “The secret behind having a fruit-bearing life is to fall before the Lord and die to oneself, especially to the desire for honour and money (John 12 : 24). God is all the more excited to bring really needy people in touch with such a person, because he/she dare not touch His glory through their ministry!”
22) “The more you are committed to the Lord, the more intimate you will be with Him; and the more intimate you are with the Lord, the more committed you need to be in order to retain that intimacy!”
23) “The world is full of people desperately thirsting for some words of love, encouragement, appreciation and comfort, or at least a smile of love and compassion…. When the Lord sends such people to you, would you be quenching their thirst or aggravating it?”
24) “The smaller we become in our own eyes, the larger will our heart become to love and forgive everyone!”
25) “Only a person who really knows the Lord personally and intimately can lead others also to such a relationship with Him.”
26) “When high thoughts about yourselves gush into your mind, smell the danger of spiritual pride, and rush to the bosom of the beloved Lord Jesus to confess: ‘I am a nobody, Lord, but for Your blood which cleansed my wretched past by Your mercy, and for Your Spirit who transformed into Your likeness by Your grace!....’ ”
27) “Blessed is the man who, even when he ascends to loftier and loftier spiritual heights, can still consider himself to be a wretched sinner saved by the grace of God alone! (1Tim.1: 15)”
28) “The most effective and efficient way of doing a work, spiritual or secular, is simply doing it in fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ!”
29) “Greater patience has no one than that of the Lord Jesus who seeks to transform us, bearing up with all our innumerous infirmities and repeated failures! Hence what excuse do we have in beingnot patient with our fellow-beings?”
30) “Wisest is the man who does not depend on his own wisdom, but seeks the Lord’s guidance in each and everything; because “Christ Jesus has become to him wisdom from God” (1 Cor. 1:30)”.
About Me
I am Sandeep.B, a medical doctor now specializing in Psychiatry in Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu. By the way, the most remarkable thing I want to share with you from my life, is about the tremendous joy and peace that fills my heart as a result of my encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ. Being from a traditional Hindu family, I’d like to say that this is not at all a religious conversion, but it’s a thrilling story of transformation from deep within my heart….
I can guarantee that you, too, can experience the joy and the peace such as you have never experienced before in your entire lifetime, and find the real meaning and purpose of your life, if you also truly repent of your sins from your heart and entrust your life completely into the mighty hands of Jesus Christ, believing that it was for “my” sins that Jesus died on the cross of Calvary.
We can discuss more on this, if you want to, in the coming days….
