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To everyone who has Jesus as their Lord and Saviour,

#March Ahead with Confidence!! There is no other race on planet Earth who can walk with their heads held high and with confidence. Just think about it! You have the Holyspirit who is living in you, Jesus who is with you and the Father God giving assurance that nothing can snatch you away from them. The Word of God which is with us has countless promises, blessings and truth,giving us a clear picture that we only need to hope for the good in our tomorrows. ‭‭Philippians‬ ‭1:6‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ says,“being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;”

The one who started the good work will complete it. It says good work, which means all things will work out for our Good. Which means, the Faithful One, who started the work in you is responsible to complete it and His work, you can be sure will be perfect in all ways. Just imagine, if us as humans try to do our best in what we do, how much more will Father God, who created us in Christ Jesus aim for excellence.

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”- Ephesians‬ ‭2:10‬ ‭

We were created for good works which He himself will do through us. He has preordained the good works in us before the foundation of this world that when we trust and love Jesus, the Holyspirit will make us walk in them without us trying on our own. Just like how a carpenter takes pride in his works,the Father God is pleased to see His work which is us, His Precious Children, His Bride in all Glory and Power.
You have your personal Friend and Lover for intercession and an Advocate on your behalf at the throne of grace, at the Father’s right hand and the Holy Spirit here on earth to help you in every step.
So #March Ahead into the Year Accomplishment with all Confidence!

– Raunaq & Sara

Nothing in this world stays for long. People will come and go. They might take you for granted, they might ignore you most of the times, they might talk ill about you in your absence, they might also leave you.

But there is a person who will be there always, standing next to you and His name is Jesus. Jesus is the only person who can love you more than anyone else in this world.He was beaten up for you, He was naked for you on the cross, He was crucified for you and He gave his own LIFE for you.
He died on the cross for you to walk without sin. That was the only time when Jesus was helpless. The moment when the Father turned His face away from His begotten Son Jesus because He became sin for you and me. Even when He was crucified, it was not that painful, but when the Father turned His face away when His Son became sin for us, Jesus could not handle the pain. All the things in this world have several conditions to love you but Jesus loves you without any condition. Even if we forget to pray, even if we don’t have time for Him, His love for us endures. Never think that you are alone in any situation. Jesus is there for you. You are His beloved and nothing can ever separate you from His love for you. Whatever you may do, nothing can ever reduce the unconditional love Jesus has for you. And with Him, you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.

All your heart’s desires will happen, and you will not lack anything. Whatever you need or want just ask it in His name.
Mark 11:24 says, “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them”

Your Father is extremely rich and everything in this world belongs to Him. You being his beloved child,don’t have to worry about anything. You won’t lack in anything. 2 Corinthians 9:8 says,”And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work”

All He needs is, YOUR 100% LOVE !

– Roshna Grace Mathew

We can sing praises without actually giving glory and praises to God!
“These people honour Me with their lips, but their heart is far from me,” (‭‭Matthew‬ ‭15:8‬ )‭

Our fallen nature, namely the flesh is in enmity with God. ( Romans 8.7) It will never give glory to God, but instead wants all the glory. It always says, “If I wasn’t there, nothing would have worked out”. But the reality is that God could do everything without me. All what is done through me at home, in church or at the work place is just because God used me as an instrument. A pen can never take the glory of the composition of a book! After doing far more than all other apostles, Paul came to the understanding that it is just the grace of God!
“… In fact, I worked harder than all of them – yet not I, but the grace of God with me.” (‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭15:10‬ ‭)

This understanding is the true worship. By singing praises to God with this understanding, we can put to death our flesh and we will be more empowered to do even greater tasks. Be a true worshipper and be victorious!

Have you ever thought why the Holy Spirit has placed the book of Romans in such a way that it comes after the gospels and spearheads the epistles? The reason is that the gospels give us a detailed account of what Jesus did while He was here on earth and the book of Romans tells us about the finished work of Jesus i.e.; the righteousness of God and its impact in our lives.
Romans 1:16, 17 say, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith. So, through the gospels, the righteousness of God is revealed”. His righteousness is the crux of the gospel.
At the cross, Jesus said, “It is finished”. What exactly is the finished work of our Lord? The following verses clearly tell us what Jesus did for us.

Colossians 1:13 says, “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,  in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins”. So, Jesus Christ has redeemed us, forgiven our sins and brought us out of the power of darkness and taken us into His Kingdom. We are already in the Kingdom of God not because of anything we have done and that is the righteousness of God! We have entered God’s Kingdom by grace through faith.
In the book of Hebrews, Paul says that we who are in the Kingdom should now grow in the Word of Righteousness. Let’s read Hebrews 5:12,13 where it says, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.  For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the Word of righteousness, for he is a babe”.

The Word of righteousness means the Word that reveals righteousness to us. It edifies us in many ways. It helps us to grow out of our spiritual childishness. So, each time we hear the Word of righteousness, we realize more and more what Jesus has done for us and that knowledge gives us the freedom and the confidence to stand in God’s Presence. Through the righteousness of God we get the same ability of God and it has made us able to command and change our circumstances. His righteousness has given us the freedom to call God, ‘Abba Father’.
2 Corinthians 5: 21 says, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him”. Jesus did not carry our sins. He became sin for us so that you and I could be made righteous!
Not only did He make us righteous, but He also put His Spirit in us so that we may call Him Abba Father! His righteousness made us the righteousness of God in Him.

(To be continued…)

– Dr. Mathew Kuruvilla (Tangu brother)

HAPPY REPUBLIC DAY
Republic Day honours the day when the constitution of India came into effect on 26th January 1950, replacing the Government of India Act as the governing document of India. On this day I am reminded of a famous quote of Shri B.R.Ambedkarji, who was the chairman of the drafting committee of the constitution, “IF YOU DON’T KNOW HISTORY YOU CANNOT MAKE HISTORY”. Yes, let us look back this day and remember those who paved way for India that is today and be proud of our rich heritage and values and keep it by honouring the constitution. I salute all the army jawans who are at the borders guarding our nation. Bless you all on this day! Not to forget to pray for all those in authority who rule over us as it is good and acceptable to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Let us have a mind that we are first Indians, and then whatever we are. Proud to be an Indian!!

-Tangu brother

Agape is the highest form of Love, the purest as it can get. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 gives us a small idea of this Agape Love. The word Agape being Greek in origin, means unconditional and sacrificial love unlike Philia( love for family and friends), Eros( affectionate Love between lovers), and Storge( parents’ love for their children).
Agape is on a totally different league, where it’s totally independent of us. It’s GOD’s Sacrificial, Unconditional, Unlimited, and Inexpressible LOVE.

When we look at God’s creation itself, there are fragments of His Agape Love. A beautiful flower does not live for itself. It buds and blossoms, it lives so that it can look appealing to our eyes and its death also turns out for our benefit once it goes back into the soil. Human minds can’t fathom this Love because we have not felt it in our lives.

Love is Who God is! He cannot be anything other than that. When humans were created, God, not being bound by time or space, knew that we would rebel against Him, but still chose to make us and made the best provision to redeem us forever.
This Agape Love – JESUS, put on flesh and dwelt among us enduring the worst for us because that’s how HE is…asking his creation (you and me), ‘Do you love me more than this world?’.

Many of us search for this Real Love. We search for it at the wrong places and meet the wrong faces, and realize later that what we have found is selfish.

OR

WE CAN SET OUR EYES ON THE ONE WHO IS LOVE. JESUS!

He is the Love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

God is patient. God is kind. He does not envy. He does not boast. He is not proud. God does not dishonour others. He is not self-seeking or easily angered. God keeps no record of wrongs. God does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. God always protects, always trusts, always hopes and He always perseveres. God never fails!!

– Raunaq & Sara

A star was risen as the sign of the birth of Christ.
“Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.” (Mathew 2:2 )

The wise men considered this sign so seriously that they didn’t give up for two long years until they reached baby Jesus. The star went before them! But on the other hand, Jewish scholars who were around couldn’t find Him even though they were deeply in search of the prophecies concerning the incarnation of Christ!

That is why Jesus said:
“You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life” (John 5;39,40)

We know that this same Christ, who was found in a manger of Bethlehem as a baby, is going to come again on the clouds as the King of Kings, accompanied by the great trumpet. In the Bible, there are more prophecies about the signs of the second coming of Christ than about His birth in the flesh. Among all the signs, the most obvious sign that Jesus Himself prophesied was that the Jewish people will be scattered all over the world and that they will be gathered and returned to their land before His return. Nearly impossible thing to happen! But after 20 centuries it happened and they became a nation in 1948! President Donald Trump’s declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel has a very important significance in prophecies concerning the trumpet of our Lord! The morning star of that GREAT CHRISTMAS we await for is rising up in our hearts!

“We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” (2 Peter 1:19 )

The day of the Lord – ours too – is about to break. Let’s be awake for our groom’s return!

– Thomaskutty Bro

The day when the angels announced the Great Joy coming to the world for all men(Luke 2.10), the day when the kings of different tribes and tongues lined up gold, frankincense and myrrh, the day when the shepherds followed the star to the manger where our Great Saviour was born. What a glorious day that was! The last resort that heaven had to reconcile men to God was the perfect Lamb that was slain; the worthy sacrifice that made us have fellowship with Father God again, the fellowship that Adam had in the beginning.

Great joy is what multitudes had when Jesus was walking with them on earth. They often forgot their need. Peter fell at the feet of Jesus when his boat was full. Multitudes forgot their hunger while listening to him. They were all filled with joy, not happiness. Happiness is based on a condition and it’s temporary but joy is something divine and only Jesus can give it to you. In John 15 Jesus says, My Joy I give you and if you obey my commandments your joy will be made full. It is that joy which flows out of you that words can’t describe but in His presence His peace overwhelms your whole spirit, soul and body. In 1 Peter 1:8, Peter calls it inexpressible Joy. 1 John 1:8 says that the joy may be made full with the fellowship with His Son. That’s the secret to this joy- the fellowship with the Son.
Even as believers, we find ourselves in a state of unhappiness and anxiety thinking of our needs and situations. But do we have a daily fellowship with our Lord? In 1 Corinthians 1:9 Paul says, God is faithful, that He has called us to a fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. We have been called to have fellowship. God sent his Son on that Great Christmas Day so that man can have fellowship with Him again and be filled with Joy. You will forget your needs, your situations and you will enjoy that joy that comes through His Fellowship.
Is that all? Does it just make us forget our problems? Of course not! It says, My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19). 1 Corinthians 2:9 says that no eyes has seen, no ear has heard nor any heart has perceived of what God has kept for those who love Him.
Your Love for the Lord will grow when you have fellowship with him.

Let this Christmas be a time where you decide not to just celebrate it as a festive day but decide in your heart to start a fellowship (Time Alone with God) with our Lord which will fill you with joy. Let the Joy of Christmas be not just for a day but for all the days of your life until everlasting.

– Raunaq & Sara

Looking into the gospel of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John we can see a few recorded incidences of Jesus while here on earth.
Jesus never did anything for his personal gain and never had an agenda of His own. As we can see from the first miracle in the wedding banquet till the last miracle, He did nothing for Himself. He was looking out for what He could do for the betterment of His people.
Even His will was not His own but it was the Father’s will in His life. Similarly let not our focus be on our own selfish ambitions but instead let our lives be a blessing for others, to be selfless and not selfish. We will not gain anything if we run for this world but when we lose our lives for Christ, we gain and every good things in life start following us.
So, be a blessing.That is what we were called to do.

– Raunaq & Sara

When we accidentally touch a hot surface, our immediate “response” will be to take our hand away from it or it’s our response to stimuli.
The same way, when we face a challenge in our life, let our first response be in Faith. Many a times, what happens is even before we face the issue, our first response is in fear and we approach the challenge with that state of mind.
When we read the bible, when Jesus encountered a situation where there was a lack of something, His first response was in faith and then He thanked Father God. The result of the challenge was 12 baskets full of bread and fish.
When Paul and Silas were in prison, the first response was in faith. They worshipped and began to glorify God. As we read, there was an earthquake and their faith-response led to a supernatural miracle. Worry and fear arise when our focus is on the situation than the Word of God. What does the Word of God say?
It says,
– If God is for us who can be against us?( Romans 8:31)
– I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me( Philippians 4:13)
– And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. (2 Corinthians 9:8)
-A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. (Psalms 91:7)

Have the Word of God inscribed in your heart and minds. Let the Holy Spirit lead you, only to faith responses. When our response to a situation is in faith, a supernatural way will follow.

– Raunaq & Sara