His temple

His temple is like a well. We take from it. We draw these things

I. power and strength

II. Grace

III. Honor

I. Power and Strength. 

David comes to the Lord's presence for the power and strength. David is not selfish but in need of it. 

I have seen you in the sanctuary

and beheld your power and your glory. Ps. 63:2

 When the power and strength comes, it builds a castle around you and it wages war against your enemies.

1. A castle for your health

We all know that Psalm 91 talks about plague that it cannot touch your tent. First he says that he confessed that the Lord is his refuge. Secondly he confesses with the Lord that he is his refuge. These two confessions are like two vaccine doses. This chapter says, because you said that God is your refuge, he deliver you. 

II. Grace

God told to Moses to tell people to bring needed things to build the tent. They brought. Giving is called grace in 2 Cor. 8:1. Even to build the temple we need grace. When the church has grown to a big number in Antioch, church in Jerusalem sent Barnabas to go and see. When he visited, he saw the grace. 

III. Honor

Go up into the mountain and bring down timber and build my house, so that i may take pleasure in it and be honored. Hag. 1:8

God honored Peter and John and made them pillars of the church

Kraisthavudavaithiva (క్రైస్తవుడవైతివా)

From Serpent to the Savior

My Family with my mom. Sitting is my mom, 

From left: My youngest Jadon, Hulda my wife, Me, Joshua my eldest son

She hold her baby in her lap. Her baby had his eyes locked straight. Looks dead. Was born at 4pm and now it is 8pm. Crying and crying for four hours she was exhausted. She was all alone. Everyone just left. All the neighbor women tried to wake the child up but in vain. They beat him, pinched him, hold him upside down. They tried every trick they know. Nothing worked. They said, "do not cry. You already have four children. Just take it as you did not give birth to him at all." They left her alone and helpless.

Now with tears and with a deep agony she said unto God, "Lord if you let him live, I will give him back to you to serve you". That's it. She heard baby cried. What a joy she felt. Her name is Martha Manorama. That's my mom. It's my birth story. Prayer works.

When I was 9years old, in 1979 there came a cyclone. My house was a thatched house and about to collapse. We are 11 members in the family: parents and nine children. We thought of moving all the stuff into the nearby school building to save ourselves. So along with my brothers and sisters, I took up some stuff and ran into school. I did like that few times. When I was about to do it one last time, I heard my maternal uncle, Jonathan from the top of his building was shouting at me to go into home. I looked up and saw an iron roof from the movie theatre was up in the wind. I turned back and ran. But the roof came and cut my left leg at the ankle. When I looked at my leg it was hanging. I tried to jump with my right leg to go but I could not. I fell down on the floor. Then my maternal uncle with the help of a rikshaw driver took me to the road to find any vehicle to take me to the hospital. There were some trucks moving on the road which are assigned to move people to the hillside because there was a threat that sea would come up. They took me to a private hospital. They said that they cannot do anything. Then they took me to the government hospital. They said that the only option is to remove my leg. Then my another maternal uncle Vijayachandra asked them to try healing me because I'm still very young. Then they said they will try. They stitched my hanging foot with the leg. But the skin over that part rotted I guess after three days. Then came some specialists from government hospital from Guntur. They took me to their hospital in a vehicle. I remember it was still raining. I was on the bed for 9 months. I am healed but with an exception that I cannot move my ankle. It is stuck. 

Our family lives in a small town called Ongole, in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. In 2011 there was a Zion family meeting in Ongole. My elder brother Gripson Thella was given this thought by Holy Spirit that our whole family (my Grand father's family, that is my dad and his two brothers) meet once in a year and worship our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He named our families as "Zion Family". At that time I have noticed that each family has one person with a history of leg injury. Then I remembered the scripture in Genesis that serpent would bruise on the heel. Then I approached my dad and asked if there is any connection between our family and the serpents. Then My dad revealed that our grand fathers worshiped serpent god. That's how my dad also got his name Subbaiah, which is a variant name for serpent. 

Yes that serpent has bruised my heel. But that's the only a half of the prophecy. The rest is now happening that I have been bruising his head. I have been a worship leader for a long time. Some of the songs you can find in this Link. Worship bruises the head of the serpent. From my elder brother Gripson Thella to my youngest sister Carolyne, all of us were in the worshipping team in their respected time in the church. Pastor Gripson Thella, my elder brother paved the way that we might get into worship. He led worship in most of the Christian meetings in Ongole and in different villages at that time. My eldest sister Helen Jasmine made an album. I think this is all God's plan to bruise the serpent who ruled our families for years. 

Worship

Worship means losing yourself for someone else.

The presence of God is revealed when you worship. You might say that the presence of God is everywhere. Off course, but it is not revealed everywhere. Darkness leaves when the light enters. When the presence of God is revealed, the presence of the darkness leaves automatically. Whenever David plays the Harp devil leaves Saul.

Birth place of worship is heaven. Worship exists even before the foundations of the earth. Job 38:4-7

In worship God becomes our addiction. We cannot count the time. It's because the song was born when there was no time.

When you enter the holy of holies you didn't have much to speak. That's why angels sing few words but more repetition. Seraphim though they worship him every day, they cannot say, its not new to me. It's always new to them. They cover their bodies with wings always. It's because his presence is always powerful and they cover their bodies always.

Det Proverbs 10

1. Many options split your mind's caliber. Only option is to enquire all knowing God.

Many ways kill your time. Only way is to enquire God in whose hands your timings are.

2. Fighting for the truth without taking any hurt is a joke.

3. As long as your ways are submitted to God, you are not messed up.

4. A losing person cries to the Lord and he will be answered. A sword dropping person might not be answered.

5. You wanted to "have" what you like. The foolishness is that you actually begin to "give" to it whatever pleases it.

6. Ephesus has no Balaam teaching like Pergum, fornication like Thyatira, and uncleanness like Sardis. Sinless also get a rebuke.

7. If you are falling, either you gave up your stronghold to demon or you got a weak hold on to God. 

8. Demon possessed is less dangerous than Demonized. Former spoils himself and latter spoils his relations too. Former is attacked, latter is an attacker. Former is a victim of the witchcraft, latter is an accommodation of the witchcraft.

9. Have an eye on faithful Joseph though it offends him, that you might not judge him wrong later. 

10. Avoiding people is not peace but it's the absence of disturbance. Peace is to establish by confronting disturbance. This makes you a son of God.

11. A great fasting prayer of a great prayer warrior will never have enough power to justify his own ways before God. Prayer is meant to plead God and not to lead God.

12. Gratitude loses it's virtue when it supports a virtueless attitude.

13. I can do all things, not because I am a Christian, but because I do all through Christ.

14. The idea of "world peace" finds its answer only in the idea of walking with him. Trust in his timings.

15. Mary tried to continue her call by directing Jesus' call. And she failed. 

16. Saul's anointing could not change him, Lucifer's anointing could not restore him.

17. When anointed Samuel missed the sight of God at Eliab, he almost messed up his call.

18. Same uncleanness that God allowed you to have, will not allow you to have His presence. 

19. Prayers help you to fulfill your responsibilities and they themselves will not fulfill your responsibilities.

20. Ask God for some money. He gives you. Yet it doesn't mean He removed your lackness. 

Tithe

I want to write about tithe. But i am not interested to spend my time totally on it. So i thought of starting it now and edit, add little by little later and shuffle it to put it in order...

1. Tithe means 1/10 of something. (hmm i started to write :)) It also can be called a 10% of something. Same way "fifth" part means it is 1/5 of something and it cannot be called 5%. It is actually a 20%. If you wanted to redeem your 10%,  you have to add 20% more to its value and redeem it. (Lev.  27:31)

2. Offering is consecrated when you give and tithe is consecrated before you give.  Same like the first born, you cannot consecrate which was already consecrated by nature (Lev.  27:26). You just give it back. Free will offering is yours until you give. (Act. 5:4). Tithe is not counted as a free will offering though both are given by a single person. When you give tithe since it is already consecrated, blind or lame it has to go to the sanctuary. (Lev. 27:32-33.) Jacob vowed that he will give tithe. (Gen. 28:22). Something can be a vow until it becomes a commandment. After that it cannot be a vow.

3. When Abraham gave tithe he did not give because of the commandment but because of his faith. (the law was not there at his time). Tithe is not from the law. It is older than the law. It was added to the law. In New Covenant, we are not without any priestly order. We did not have the order of levites now because it is replaced by the order of Melchizedek. We are now royal priests and Jesus is our High Priest. (1Pet. 2:9; Heb. 5:6-10). Priests have to give their tithes to the high priest. (Num. 18:26). If you see the order of levites, those who would die received tithes. If you see the present order the One who lives is receiving tithes (Heb. 7:8).

The One who lives said not to stop tithing (Matt.  23:23). But he doesn't like that you ignore justice, mercy and faithfulness which are more important matters of the law. Tithing will not replace the observance of justice, mercy and faithfulness. And observing them will never replace the tithing.

4. Giving a consecrated thing doesn't make you a "giver". It frees you from an obligation. Giving a free will offering doesn't make you a generous person. What you give to God is an "offering" and it's not an alm. If you wanted to be called as a giver or a generous person give to the poor and needy. But when you give to the Giver, don't give it like you give to the needy. Give to needy but don't call it an offering. Give to God and don't call yourself a generous person. Give your offerings to the needy if God tells you to but don't call yourself a giver. You actually obeyed to the Giver.

Yes offerings also can go to the poor but from the Object of the offering and not from the worshiper (Deut. 14:28-29). Otherwise calling it an offering doesn't make sense. Jesus told us to give to the poor. I give to the poor. Sometimes i also want to pour oil upon Jesus. While i was pouring i hear someone say "give to the poor." When i look around to see who was that, this time its not Jesus. Hophni and Phinehas took from the offering while it was still in the process. Off course they paid for it later (1Sam. 2:15-17; 4:17). Don't take it for yourself before offering to God or while offering to God.

In 2Cor. 9:5 Paul was talking about a gift that they promised. He was not talking about tithe or any consecrated offering.
 
5. Give 100% to God if you want to but, keep it in mind that it doesn't free you from your action of holding His 10% unless you don't mix both consecrated and normal. Your 100% will never equals with His 10%. When God said that tithe belongs to him (Lev. 27:30), he did not have a memory loss that he should forget the fact that all belongs to him. He said it and i do it. Give if someone asks you. Obey if someone in authority commands you. When you give tithe you are giving because you are obeying.

That prophet

John the Baptist was the Elijah (Matt. 11:14, 17:10-13) yet he said "i am not" (Jn. 1:21). He doesn't know that he was Elijah. Later he was also puzzled about Christ. Luke 7:9.

Now if John the Baptist doesn't know about himself, then how can he know who was Jesus? They asked him "are you the Christ?" He said "no". Then  they also asked,  "are you that prophet?" (referring to the prophet that Moses spoke about.  Deut.  18:15-18) He said "no".  For them both Christ and "that prophet" are two different persons. Their ignorance made them kill Jesus. They asked about it a person who doesn't know about himself yet.

Before the baptism of Christ John the Baptist knew Jesus very well but as a relative. (Luke 1:36). He knows the character of Christ that is why when he saw him he said, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” (Matt. 3:14). After the baptism when the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus, then he realized that his relative Jesus is the Son of God. Let's hear it from his own words, "And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.” John 1:33‭-‬34.

Later before his death John was puzzled about Christ and asked “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” Luke 7:18‭-‬19.

You may be in the same position and puzzled about Jesus. Even Mary who heard Gabriel was stumbled, disciples who have been with him and heard the Father in heaven saying "listen to him" (Deut. 18:15-18) have stumbled, now John the Baptist who heard the heavenly Father and testified him have stumbled. To you i want to tell this. Do not look for some other prophet. He is "that prophet" (Act. 3:22). Listen to him (Mark 9:7).

"Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.” Luke 7:‬23.