Cambodia Mission trip-Day 1
The first day, has been a pretty eventful day. Even before departing for Phnom Pehn, our flight was delayed to some error on the side of the airlines. Nevertheless, God still brought as through the 2 hours flight safely and also, clearing through customs without being stopped and inspected. I was abit nervous of being stopped as we were bringing in medical supplies without declaring it to customs.
One of the Missionaries from COSI picked us up from the airport and since we were slightly hungry, decided to stop by along the way, to have some beef noodles. The noodles were awesome! Really tender meat pieces and and the noodles were really smooth and tasty too. The best part? It only costs 2 USD. Can you imagine. Even the coffee was really good too. It was really value for money spent on such great yet cheap stuffs.
We then met the older youths and brought them out for a lunch buffet. To think we just had a meal prior to the buffet, we were going to start eating again! But I guess, that our stomach had some space left to chow down some more food items. I should mention something at this point though. Our flight was at 630 am. As such, we had to meet at 430 am to check-in. Most if not all of us, had not gotten adequate rest and by the lunch buffet, most of us was craving for some much needed sleep! In between traveling from one destination to the next, most of us were cat-napping along the way. It was that bad.
After lunch, we dropped them off back the Methodist Mission School and we proceeded on to stocking up necessities for the team. As the water at the hostel we would be staying at is non-portable, we had to stock up on mineral bottles of water and also, to get some comfort food as it is quite inaccessible for the team to return back for more items as, the hostel is quite a distance away. We then made our way back to the hostel itself- the main highlight of the day!
The path to the hostel was terribly rocky as, it was filled with potholes. It was indeed a really bumpy ride. The moment we got down from the van, we could see the kids running to greet us! Especially those whom the kids were familiar with. We settled stocking up the medical supplies first before, exploring the place and interacting more with the kids. Dinner was provided by the hostel as well and it was no wonder, that the other team members were saying that we could put on weight instead of losing any! The food was nice and I was filled by the end of it. Looking forward to day 2's dinner!
After dinner came Vesper. It is a time where, the kids of the hostel come together for a time of devotion. They start off my singing songs and then the village pastor, Mama Yun, will come in to share the gospel to the kids. For today's session, we introduced ourselves to the kids. Really cute bunch! Some of us are new to COSI and they were eager to find out our names and chat with us. Looking forward to working with them in the coming days :)
We will be starting devotion tomorrow. Guess who's doing first? I hope I'm adequately prepared!
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
Cambodia
I will be leaving for Cambodia in a few hours time! I have been looking forward to this trip as, this will be no ordinary trip. Its a mission trip, one that I have been wanting to embark on for as long as I can remember.
Most of my stuffs are packed and I am all ready to go! I have a strong feeling that I might not be able to sleep tonight due to the excitement that is building up, as the hour to leaving for the airport draws near.
Basically, I will be going to COSI home hostel to teach the kids there English. Though, this is not purely an evangelical outreach, you will never know how the Holy Spirit will lead you and what awaits for the team there. Expect anything and everything, so I was told. Anything can change any moment and we have to be prepared. I am going there with such a mindset. To not rest on my laurels but to be sensitive to how the Holy Spirit will be guiding us along there.
I shall not blog too much as I am sure I will blog about my trip alot more in detail when I do arrive back. In the meantime, I humbly ask that you keep me in prayer. We all need prayer warriors and I hope you can be mine. Here are some prayer pointers that perhaps, if you are unsure of what you should pray for.
1) Being humble and able to discern to the Holy Spirit
2) Building spiritual friendships
3) Understanding what God is saying and doing in life with regards to the mission field
4) Able to overcome any difficulties that might come our way
5) For my family and friends back home, that they will be kept safe while I am away
I shall blog about my trip soon! Till then, take care and God bless :)
In His grip and fervour,
Mark Kesavan
Most of my stuffs are packed and I am all ready to go! I have a strong feeling that I might not be able to sleep tonight due to the excitement that is building up, as the hour to leaving for the airport draws near.
Basically, I will be going to COSI home hostel to teach the kids there English. Though, this is not purely an evangelical outreach, you will never know how the Holy Spirit will lead you and what awaits for the team there. Expect anything and everything, so I was told. Anything can change any moment and we have to be prepared. I am going there with such a mindset. To not rest on my laurels but to be sensitive to how the Holy Spirit will be guiding us along there.
I shall not blog too much as I am sure I will blog about my trip alot more in detail when I do arrive back. In the meantime, I humbly ask that you keep me in prayer. We all need prayer warriors and I hope you can be mine. Here are some prayer pointers that perhaps, if you are unsure of what you should pray for.
1) Being humble and able to discern to the Holy Spirit
2) Building spiritual friendships
3) Understanding what God is saying and doing in life with regards to the mission field
4) Able to overcome any difficulties that might come our way
5) For my family and friends back home, that they will be kept safe while I am away
I shall blog about my trip soon! Till then, take care and God bless :)
In His grip and fervour,
Mark Kesavan
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Birthday
Its my birthday today. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!! :) 24 years of God given grace. I thank God for all these years and hopefully for more years to come. This year, I'm sick on my birthday. Couldn't go for the much longed for seafood dinner that was planned the week before only for a stumbling block, in the form of me falling ill, stopped it from taking place today. Thankfully, it has been postponed to another time and I can't wait to taste the succulent flesh of crabs and prawns and all the sinful dishes!
I've been thinking much, for this birthday. Honestly, I am really thankful for all the wonderful wishes that have came pouring in since morning. But, deep in me, I'm sad. I believe God has put me through a humbling experience. Not that this is the first of such experiences, but I now know better how to react to His humbling of me. I guess it was something that was bound to happen sooner or later and I suppose I was half expecting for something to happen. But even with such a preemptive head start to brace myself, I'm still sad nevertheless.
Every year I'd make a wish before blowing the candle and, every year its the same wish. Wishes aside, I would wish that certain things stayed the same. Again, maybe I've got myself to blame. To have tried to attempt things based on my own wisdom and not leaning onto God for guidance. At times I did but, I should have done it each time instead. I guess, things will start to change more and that makes me more sad inside. There is nothing much I can do but pray God guards my heart and not let my emotions get the better of me. It's going to be difficult but God does not give us situations we cannot handle. But that does not mean we should handle it on our own. We have to handle it with God's guidance.
I know I'm not being specific here because, I do not want this to be a post about me ranting. Rather, about how we should try to deal with our emotions in trying times. Honestly, I'm still learning. Its tough but, I know God wouldn't want me to give up but to trust in Him more. I may not understand why He has allowed such incidents to repeat itself in my life thus far, but I know He has His reason and will reveal it to me soon enough.
In His grip & fervor,
Mark Kesavan
I've been thinking much, for this birthday. Honestly, I am really thankful for all the wonderful wishes that have came pouring in since morning. But, deep in me, I'm sad. I believe God has put me through a humbling experience. Not that this is the first of such experiences, but I now know better how to react to His humbling of me. I guess it was something that was bound to happen sooner or later and I suppose I was half expecting for something to happen. But even with such a preemptive head start to brace myself, I'm still sad nevertheless.
Every year I'd make a wish before blowing the candle and, every year its the same wish. Wishes aside, I would wish that certain things stayed the same. Again, maybe I've got myself to blame. To have tried to attempt things based on my own wisdom and not leaning onto God for guidance. At times I did but, I should have done it each time instead. I guess, things will start to change more and that makes me more sad inside. There is nothing much I can do but pray God guards my heart and not let my emotions get the better of me. It's going to be difficult but God does not give us situations we cannot handle. But that does not mean we should handle it on our own. We have to handle it with God's guidance.
I know I'm not being specific here because, I do not want this to be a post about me ranting. Rather, about how we should try to deal with our emotions in trying times. Honestly, I'm still learning. Its tough but, I know God wouldn't want me to give up but to trust in Him more. I may not understand why He has allowed such incidents to repeat itself in my life thus far, but I know He has His reason and will reveal it to me soon enough.
In His grip & fervor,
Mark Kesavan
Monday, June 28, 2010
Masculinity
Masculinity. A word we don't often hear being mentioned much these days, I feel. Its a word that has been either forgotten and is slowly fading away from this world. New terms have been coined to replace this word such as, metrosexuals, heterosexuals and other terms as well.
Society tells us to strive to be anything but masculine. Why? Because of how some individuals have decided that being masculine is not enough anymore. The term masculine became boring to them and as such, needed some extra connotations to the term. Thus, you see masculinity being replaced with added connotations to it and inexplicably, new terms as well.
But the most worrying of all, is how masculinity is being ushered out by feminists. Yes, feminists. Those who sincerely believe that, men and women are equal. That, this world can get by without men. Such thinking, has only served to reduce masculinity in the society as a whole. I honestly believe that, men and women are never meant to be equal. Why? We have our own roles and responsibilities assigned to us by our Creator. We are COMPLEMENTS. We complement each other. As we read the Book of Genesis, we will know that Eve was created as a helper to Adam.
"The Lord God said, it is not good for the man to be alone, I will make a helper suitable for him"-Gen 2:18 And with that said, the story goes that Eve was made out from a rib from Adam's body.
But things get interesting, a serpent had told Eve that it was alright to eat from the tree that God had clearly commanded not to eat from. However, she did. Not only that, she offered to Adam as well and he ate from it. He followed Eve's instruction instead of God's. How interesting woman, even then, had already attempted to reverse the roles of Man and Woman. But my point here is this, that Adam did not take responsibility over Eve. Little known to him, had been ordained great responsibilities by God(one of those responsibilities was naming all the creatures that had roamed the land and this, is indeed a great responsibility as God has specifically given it to him to carry out)
And this, is what is happening today as well. We as men, are not taking responsibilities. Responsibilities that we should be glad to take on and carry out instead of leaving it to women to do so. I'm not saying that we should be dominant over women instead, we should stand out as leaders. Not to shrink from our God given roles but to embrace them tightly. Spiritual leadership comes into play as well. What the bible says about our roles as men to the women. The roles between men and women are increasingly being blurred or crossed over. As a Church, we should not allow the worldly view that it is alright for such roles to be reversed or played out by just one gender. Distinctions have to made and re-iterated.
Elisabeth Elliot defines masculinity as initiation and femininity as response. But she clearly says this," is that a woman cannot properly be the responder, unless the man is properly the initiator. He must take the lead in order that she may follow, as in a dance. The willingness of each to perform the "steps" that have been choreographed gives the other freedom"-Mark of a Man. See how important it is for a man to lead correctly?
At this point, I hope you(both man and woman reading this) reflect the roles you are currently playing. What changes can be made? How can I be a better initiator or a responder? Have I tried to play a role other than my own? Will I be able to stand up and be a leader or will I be able to let myself be led? There are many more questions but I pray, that more man and woman wake up to the idea of what the bible specifically says about our roles. Even if you are a pre-believer, such questions should still demand answers from you.
In His grip and fervour,
Mark Kesavan
Society tells us to strive to be anything but masculine. Why? Because of how some individuals have decided that being masculine is not enough anymore. The term masculine became boring to them and as such, needed some extra connotations to the term. Thus, you see masculinity being replaced with added connotations to it and inexplicably, new terms as well.
But the most worrying of all, is how masculinity is being ushered out by feminists. Yes, feminists. Those who sincerely believe that, men and women are equal. That, this world can get by without men. Such thinking, has only served to reduce masculinity in the society as a whole. I honestly believe that, men and women are never meant to be equal. Why? We have our own roles and responsibilities assigned to us by our Creator. We are COMPLEMENTS. We complement each other. As we read the Book of Genesis, we will know that Eve was created as a helper to Adam.
"The Lord God said, it is not good for the man to be alone, I will make a helper suitable for him"-Gen 2:18 And with that said, the story goes that Eve was made out from a rib from Adam's body.
But things get interesting, a serpent had told Eve that it was alright to eat from the tree that God had clearly commanded not to eat from. However, she did. Not only that, she offered to Adam as well and he ate from it. He followed Eve's instruction instead of God's. How interesting woman, even then, had already attempted to reverse the roles of Man and Woman. But my point here is this, that Adam did not take responsibility over Eve. Little known to him, had been ordained great responsibilities by God(one of those responsibilities was naming all the creatures that had roamed the land and this, is indeed a great responsibility as God has specifically given it to him to carry out)
And this, is what is happening today as well. We as men, are not taking responsibilities. Responsibilities that we should be glad to take on and carry out instead of leaving it to women to do so. I'm not saying that we should be dominant over women instead, we should stand out as leaders. Not to shrink from our God given roles but to embrace them tightly. Spiritual leadership comes into play as well. What the bible says about our roles as men to the women. The roles between men and women are increasingly being blurred or crossed over. As a Church, we should not allow the worldly view that it is alright for such roles to be reversed or played out by just one gender. Distinctions have to made and re-iterated.
Elisabeth Elliot defines masculinity as initiation and femininity as response. But she clearly says this," is that a woman cannot properly be the responder, unless the man is properly the initiator. He must take the lead in order that she may follow, as in a dance. The willingness of each to perform the "steps" that have been choreographed gives the other freedom"-Mark of a Man. See how important it is for a man to lead correctly?
At this point, I hope you(both man and woman reading this) reflect the roles you are currently playing. What changes can be made? How can I be a better initiator or a responder? Have I tried to play a role other than my own? Will I be able to stand up and be a leader or will I be able to let myself be led? There are many more questions but I pray, that more man and woman wake up to the idea of what the bible specifically says about our roles. Even if you are a pre-believer, such questions should still demand answers from you.
In His grip and fervour,
Mark Kesavan
Monday, June 7, 2010
Trust
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me" John 14:1
There are times in our lives where we feel that everything seems to go against us. We think about why such things are happening to us and we wonder what is that we can do to change things around. At this moment in time, I am going through such a phase.
For the past week or so, I have been thinking about many things. Things that I find difficult to understand and wonder, is there anything that I can do or should maybe consider changing that would bring about much needed calm in my heart.
You know how people ask themselves, " can things get any worse?", and it does after saying so? Such a outcome happened to me. And with such an outcome comes a flurry of emotions that just sweeps you over and engulfs you. I was filled with various thoughts. I just could not contain myself from feeling the way I did.
A certain incident occurred recently, that had made me question the trust in a certain decision made that I was unhappy about. Deeply, I felt the decision should have been made otherwise. Thus, I questioned that very decision. I just could not understand why such a decision has to be made and not what I explained it should be instead.
I spent some time going over in my head to the point where, I had a headache-literally. I just could not accept it. It was like a giant bitter pill that I had in my mouth that I just could not swallow.
God works in wonderful ways, both small and big. In my case, it was small but it had a big impact. It came in the form of a verse. A short but meaningful verse that spoke to my heart at that very moment. Immediately, I knew what I was doing wrong. I was not trusting in God. All these issues that were troubling my heart up to that point, were not placed in the trust that God will see me through.
The verse was the glass of water I needed to allow me to swallow the huge bitter pill. That in that pill was also God's love and healing for me. I just have to trust that the pill will work. I will admit that it is not easy, but it does help to know that God is with me. I have to learn to trust Him more, especially so in this particular period.
If you are going through such a period, I pray that God speaks to you the way that He did to me. Let's not doubt the trust we have in Him but instead, look to Him for the strength to control the emotions and the godly wisdom to handle such situations that may occur in future to ourselves or even to people around us.
In His grip and fervour,
Mark Kesavan
There are times in our lives where we feel that everything seems to go against us. We think about why such things are happening to us and we wonder what is that we can do to change things around. At this moment in time, I am going through such a phase.
For the past week or so, I have been thinking about many things. Things that I find difficult to understand and wonder, is there anything that I can do or should maybe consider changing that would bring about much needed calm in my heart.
You know how people ask themselves, " can things get any worse?", and it does after saying so? Such a outcome happened to me. And with such an outcome comes a flurry of emotions that just sweeps you over and engulfs you. I was filled with various thoughts. I just could not contain myself from feeling the way I did.
A certain incident occurred recently, that had made me question the trust in a certain decision made that I was unhappy about. Deeply, I felt the decision should have been made otherwise. Thus, I questioned that very decision. I just could not understand why such a decision has to be made and not what I explained it should be instead.
I spent some time going over in my head to the point where, I had a headache-literally. I just could not accept it. It was like a giant bitter pill that I had in my mouth that I just could not swallow.
God works in wonderful ways, both small and big. In my case, it was small but it had a big impact. It came in the form of a verse. A short but meaningful verse that spoke to my heart at that very moment. Immediately, I knew what I was doing wrong. I was not trusting in God. All these issues that were troubling my heart up to that point, were not placed in the trust that God will see me through.
The verse was the glass of water I needed to allow me to swallow the huge bitter pill. That in that pill was also God's love and healing for me. I just have to trust that the pill will work. I will admit that it is not easy, but it does help to know that God is with me. I have to learn to trust Him more, especially so in this particular period.
If you are going through such a period, I pray that God speaks to you the way that He did to me. Let's not doubt the trust we have in Him but instead, look to Him for the strength to control the emotions and the godly wisdom to handle such situations that may occur in future to ourselves or even to people around us.
In His grip and fervour,
Mark Kesavan
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Character
I was reading this particular description of what it means to be a Christian. The following is taken from "Knowing God" by J.I.Packer. I highly recommend this book to everyone.(pre-believers and my fellow Brothers and Sisters in Christ)
"What is a Christian? Christians can be described from many angles, but from what we have said it is clear that we can cover everything by saying: True Christians are people who acknowledge and live under the word of God. They submit without reserve to the word of God written in "the Book of Truth" (Dan 10:21), believing the teaching, trusting the promises, following the commands. Their eyes are upon the God of the bible as their Father and the Christ of the Bible as their Saviour.
Christians will tell you, if you ask them, that the word of God has both convinced them of sin and assured them of forgiveness. Their consciences, like Luther's, are captive to the Word of God, and they aspire, like the psalmist, to have their whole lives brought into line with it. "Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees!" "Do not let me stray from your commands." "Teach me your decrees. Let me understand the teaching of your precepts." "Turn my heart to your statutes". "May my heart be blameless toward your decrees" (Ps 119:5, 10, 26-27, 36,80). The promises are before them as they pray, and the percepts are before them as they go about their daily tasks.
Christians know that in addition to the word of God spoken directly to them in Scriptures, God's word has also gone forth to create, and control, and order things around them; but since the Scriptures tell them that all things work together for their good, the thought of God's ordering their circumstances brings them only joy. Christians are independent folks, for they use the Word of God as a touchstone by which to test the various views that are put to them, and they will not touch anything which they are not sure that Scripture sanctions.
Why does this description fit so few of us who profess to be Christians in these days? You will find it profitable to to ask your conscience, and let it tell you." -Knowing God(Thy word is truth pg 116)
In His grip and fervour,
Mark Kesavan
"What is a Christian? Christians can be described from many angles, but from what we have said it is clear that we can cover everything by saying: True Christians are people who acknowledge and live under the word of God. They submit without reserve to the word of God written in "the Book of Truth" (Dan 10:21), believing the teaching, trusting the promises, following the commands. Their eyes are upon the God of the bible as their Father and the Christ of the Bible as their Saviour.
Christians will tell you, if you ask them, that the word of God has both convinced them of sin and assured them of forgiveness. Their consciences, like Luther's, are captive to the Word of God, and they aspire, like the psalmist, to have their whole lives brought into line with it. "Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees!" "Do not let me stray from your commands." "Teach me your decrees. Let me understand the teaching of your precepts." "Turn my heart to your statutes". "May my heart be blameless toward your decrees" (Ps 119:5, 10, 26-27, 36,80). The promises are before them as they pray, and the percepts are before them as they go about their daily tasks.
Christians know that in addition to the word of God spoken directly to them in Scriptures, God's word has also gone forth to create, and control, and order things around them; but since the Scriptures tell them that all things work together for their good, the thought of God's ordering their circumstances brings them only joy. Christians are independent folks, for they use the Word of God as a touchstone by which to test the various views that are put to them, and they will not touch anything which they are not sure that Scripture sanctions.
Why does this description fit so few of us who profess to be Christians in these days? You will find it profitable to to ask your conscience, and let it tell you." -Knowing God(Thy word is truth pg 116)
In His grip and fervour,
Mark Kesavan
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Discernment
"The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned" 1 Corinthians 3:9
Discernment. This particular word, has been tugging at my heart for a couple of days since I read about it from the Bible. Here is the meaning as defined by the dictionary:
The ability to discern allows us to tell apart what is wrong from right. We do this constantly in our daily lives. Or do we? Sometimes, the ability to discern is overpowered by our own will to want to do something that is right in our own eyes but in fact, is actually otherwise. For example, when we cross a road, we tend to jaywalk more often than waiting for the traffic lights to change colors. Yes we may reach quickly to the other side but what if, due to our impatience, we are knocked down by a vehicle. In the first place, we know it is not right to cross a road without waiting for the change in the traffic light, but because of our will to hurry over, we pay the price of not discerning properly.
Spiritual discernment takes on a different meaning altogether. It is more difficult to do so, as compared to the example above. Yet, it is based on a simple understanding- knowing the heart of God. I say it is difficult because, many of us do not seek to know the heart of God. Without the constant seeking of His heart, we grow ever so close to not being able to listen to what God is speaking to us and would rather listen to what the world has to say to us. Let's ask ourselves a question at this point: when we face obstacles, who do we turn to first for help? People around us or to God?
"However, it is written: No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him, but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit" 1 Corinthians 2:9-10
Many a times, we tend to look to outside sources first before looking to the source we have inside of us. The source we have inside of us is none other than the Spirit of God. God is everywhere. He is also, residing in our hearts too. And this my friend, is something we all tend to forget. He is that little voice talking to us but yet, we cannot fully hear it because we allow the ' loud outside voices' to drown His. But, if we continually seek His heart and listen to Him, then the above verses tells us that we will understand what He has prepared for us. Otherwise, we will be like the foolish man who is without the Spirit and does not receive the things that come from the Spirit of God(v14)
The consequences for not being able to spiritually discern, is far greater than that of being knocked down by a vehicle(as mentioned in the example above).
"For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law" Galatians 5:17-18
Paul goes on to list the acts of sinful nature and the list, is not exhaustive. He also points out clearly that, delving in the sinful nature will result in us not inheriting the kingdom of God(v21).
So how then, are able to go about achieving the ability to spiritually discern? Firstly, we must acknowledge that we have the same anointing in this area. That as children of God we all have this ability. It is a matter of how we attain it. Thus, we have to immerse ourselves in the Word of God. Clearly, this would aid us in understanding the heart of our God. In addition, we have to start living inside out and not the other way around. As we are starting out doing so, we will make mistakes. However, it is through this trial and error and over time, we will be able to make better decisions. It is this step in faith that God wants us to grow as we learn more about His heart and as that little voice grows loud enough to drown the 'outside voices'.
This allows us to be more intimate with God with the choices we make and the discernment we receive. The choices we make, determines our growing ability to live like God inside out.
"The wise in heart are called discerning, and pleasant words promote instructions" Proverbs 21
This should be our goal. The Godly wisdom we receive for discerning should not only improve ourselves, but also the people around us.
In His grip and fervour,
Mark Kesavan
Discernment. This particular word, has been tugging at my heart for a couple of days since I read about it from the Bible. Here is the meaning as defined by the dictionary:
dis·cern (di sʉrn′, -zʉrn′)
transitive verb
- to separate (a thing) mentally from another or others; recognize as separate or different
- to perceive or recognize; make out clearly
The ability to discern allows us to tell apart what is wrong from right. We do this constantly in our daily lives. Or do we? Sometimes, the ability to discern is overpowered by our own will to want to do something that is right in our own eyes but in fact, is actually otherwise. For example, when we cross a road, we tend to jaywalk more often than waiting for the traffic lights to change colors. Yes we may reach quickly to the other side but what if, due to our impatience, we are knocked down by a vehicle. In the first place, we know it is not right to cross a road without waiting for the change in the traffic light, but because of our will to hurry over, we pay the price of not discerning properly.
Spiritual discernment takes on a different meaning altogether. It is more difficult to do so, as compared to the example above. Yet, it is based on a simple understanding- knowing the heart of God. I say it is difficult because, many of us do not seek to know the heart of God. Without the constant seeking of His heart, we grow ever so close to not being able to listen to what God is speaking to us and would rather listen to what the world has to say to us. Let's ask ourselves a question at this point: when we face obstacles, who do we turn to first for help? People around us or to God?
"However, it is written: No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him, but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit" 1 Corinthians 2:9-10
Many a times, we tend to look to outside sources first before looking to the source we have inside of us. The source we have inside of us is none other than the Spirit of God. God is everywhere. He is also, residing in our hearts too. And this my friend, is something we all tend to forget. He is that little voice talking to us but yet, we cannot fully hear it because we allow the ' loud outside voices' to drown His. But, if we continually seek His heart and listen to Him, then the above verses tells us that we will understand what He has prepared for us. Otherwise, we will be like the foolish man who is without the Spirit and does not receive the things that come from the Spirit of God(v14)
The consequences for not being able to spiritually discern, is far greater than that of being knocked down by a vehicle(as mentioned in the example above).
"For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law" Galatians 5:17-18
Paul goes on to list the acts of sinful nature and the list, is not exhaustive. He also points out clearly that, delving in the sinful nature will result in us not inheriting the kingdom of God(v21).
So how then, are able to go about achieving the ability to spiritually discern? Firstly, we must acknowledge that we have the same anointing in this area. That as children of God we all have this ability. It is a matter of how we attain it. Thus, we have to immerse ourselves in the Word of God. Clearly, this would aid us in understanding the heart of our God. In addition, we have to start living inside out and not the other way around. As we are starting out doing so, we will make mistakes. However, it is through this trial and error and over time, we will be able to make better decisions. It is this step in faith that God wants us to grow as we learn more about His heart and as that little voice grows loud enough to drown the 'outside voices'.
This allows us to be more intimate with God with the choices we make and the discernment we receive. The choices we make, determines our growing ability to live like God inside out.
"The wise in heart are called discerning, and pleasant words promote instructions" Proverbs 21
This should be our goal. The Godly wisdom we receive for discerning should not only improve ourselves, but also the people around us.
In His grip and fervour,
Mark Kesavan
Friday, May 21, 2010
Again
I have thought about doing this for a long time. Even when I first thought about recreating a blog, I was filled with ideas about how I would want this blog to be. The previous one that I had, was created about 9-10 years ago. At a time when my entries were more on expressing my feelings. Not that blogs are suppose to be about expressing feelings rather, I want this blog to have a new direction. A direction pointing towards God.
My intention for this blog is to, hopefully with the grace of God, inspire you to want to know more about our Creator, come closer to Him and to edify yourself through my sharing. Even if you do stumble upon this blog by any chance and you are a pre-believer, I pray that these words will leave a mark that will create a desire for you, to want to know more about Jesus Christ our Saviour.
Thus, a new journey into blogging begins! Walk with me in this journey too?
In His grip and fervour,
Mark Kesavan
My intention for this blog is to, hopefully with the grace of God, inspire you to want to know more about our Creator, come closer to Him and to edify yourself through my sharing. Even if you do stumble upon this blog by any chance and you are a pre-believer, I pray that these words will leave a mark that will create a desire for you, to want to know more about Jesus Christ our Saviour.
Thus, a new journey into blogging begins! Walk with me in this journey too?
In His grip and fervour,
Mark Kesavan
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