Without faith it is impossible to please God..... God not interested in the lemons or our lemonade

God showed me a vision of a huge ship which was tossed and turned in rough seas, it went through a storm. Saw the captain of the ship extremely confident of sailing through this, he seemed trained, equipped, and having all the experience that was needed. However, I saw him stressed out, extremely busy with managing the situation during the chaos across. After all the struggle and hardship for prolonged period he did manage get the ship out to safety. In the end he had a pleased expression on his face about his achievement. However, it was as if the Lord was not pleased with it. While I asked God what it was, I believe the Lord spoke, what we did with our faith, what we did with all the power and authority that he entrusted us with. Christ Jesus not only walked on water but also displayed dominion and authority over the sea and the storm and I felt God saying that this was an opportunity allowed by God to display his power and glory, only if the captain would have operated in faith and in the supernatural and not just depended on his strength and ability.

 

I believe the Lord is speaking, He has given us authority and dominion and wants us to realize it and operate in it. Too long we have depended on our abilities, strengths, our training and experiences and in doing so we have allowed the enemy to keep us engaged with worthless and petty things. Rather God wants us to align with him and operate from the position that he has placed us into, seated at the right hand of the father, besides Christ and take authority and dominion and operate in the supernatural, with complete dependence on God. It would have been so much easier for the captain to just move in that authority and calm the sea and the storm. The Lord reminds us about the authority that he has given us over the scorpion and serpent.

 

This season, God wants us to look beyond things and walk in the supernatural, not getting caught up with the mundane things of life but operate in that authority that the Lord has given us. Our victories will come from God and He has bigger things in store for us. It has always been Satan’s strategy to keep us engaged and distracted and get us to work on petty things. We have heard the phrase ‘when life throws lemons make lemonade’. I believe the lord says that this season he is not interested in the lemons or our lemonade (things we achieve by our own strength) but he is interested in seeing what we do with the authority and power that he has given us, He wants us to see beyond these problems and focus on the kingdom of God and the supernatural. We can please God only by our faith, for our works are like filth rags before him.

The Parable of the lost Son

 The Parable of the lost son – Luke 15:11-24
 
This story is not just about the sons return back to the father and repentance but is also about our God the father who longs for us to return back, and he not only forgives but restores us back.

Sin is nothing but wrongdoing or missing the mark that God has for you, missing God’s plan / purpose….
 

1. Fathers heart is longing to have us back to him, return from our sin / mistake / missing the mark / deviating from his plan for your life…. And when we do that, he restores the below:
2. Places the Robe – which speaks about taking away our shame and restoring back righteousness and honor.
3. Puts the ring – restores our position & authority as his heir / son seated at the right hand of the father with Christ Jesus.
4. Sandals on our feet – sets us back on track and restores protection, establishes us & directs us. Adam sinned and lost dominion and the serpent could bruise his heal. Father restores back the protection. Establishes us - Every place that the sole of our foot shall tread upon, he will give us Josh 1:3. Directs our paths - Thy word is a lamp unto my feet Ps119:105
5. Sacrifices a calf – makes a covenant, forgives / erases our sins / mistake as far as the east is from the west never to be remembered again. (Sacrifice is made as a covenant to reassure that God / father would keep His word to him.)
6. Celebrated and had a feast.

 

I believe many are going through this and God wants to restore back everything that we missed, he wants to restore back everything that the enemy stole from us. He will remove our shame, guilt and restore back our honor and protection, place us in authority as his son / daughter, establish us and direct our paths to lead us.

If you want to catch the attention of the King (God), treat his daughter well!

I always wondered what this verse in the Bible actually meant.

“He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord” - Proverbs 18:22

The implications of this promise go far beyond simply getting married. Many have done that without any increase of God’s favor over their lives, so what does this verse actually mean.

This promise is given to those who correctly steward the blessing of marriage. If you want to catch the attention of the King (God), treat his daughter well.

It is not the wife who brings in good or bad fortune in the house like many cultures and traditions teach us. But it is ones attitude and behavior towards her that determines and draws God’s attention and further brings forth blessings and favor on your life.

It illustrates the relationship of God with His people ‘the church’. The groom is to love his bride as Jesus loves the church and died for her. The bride is to honor and respect the groom as the church respects God. Stewarding marriage by maintaining honor and love in the relationship is to position oneself for increase of favor with God and man.

It is when this relationship is held in proper esteem that the message of God’s love is most clearly seen in the world.

Treating our wife, daughter, mother & women friends releases Gods blessings as they all are daughters of the King (God).

God Bless!!

GOD IS BRINGING A CHANGE OF SEASON IN 2013

On November 18, 2012, Sunday morning it was Shiv Sena chief’s (Bal Thackeray’s) funeral procession and we were supposed to go to church in Bandra. The funeral procession was to start from Bandar at 8:30am and was to go to Mahim, Dadar Shivaji Park, it was supposed to block all roads. Being a local political leader, it was a sensitive situation in the city.

Kranti (my wife) and I decided to go to church regardless of the traffic congestion or the sensitive situation in the city. When we reached Bandra, the procession had just passed by the Bandra flyover bridge; we could still see the procession below the flyover.

There was heaviness in the atmosphere; we could sense the extreme heaviness in the air, we could sense the spirit of death and its stench/stink. The atmosphere was very depressive, heaviness in the air, darkness looming around, with confusion at its peak. Kranti and I could literally sense and feel these things.

We attended the prayer service and immediately left for home.

While returning back after 2-3 hours, suddenly the atmosphere on the way back (same route) seemed very clean, very open and fresh, although few miles away the funeral procession was still going on. While returning back out of nowhere on the western express highway several butterflies crossed us, rather bumped into the car. This was a very unusual sight; you don’t get to see butterflies in November and definitely not on the express highway. There were at least 20 butterflies that crossed us while we were driving back home. I found this very strange and God started speaking to me through this and about it.

Over the last few months God has been emphasizing on what He had spoken on 18^th November 2012. Today, I strongly believe that God is speaking this for the Church about the city of Mumbai and our nation as well, something that is about to begin in Mumbai and its outpouring will spread throughout the nation.

God is doing the below things and I believe that He has already begun doing it:-

God is giving a window of opportunity to the Church:-

God is opening up the heavens and giving us a window of opportunity to establish that which God intends to establish, build and restore the ruins of the city and the nation. There is a window of opportunity to declare and carry out His work speedily with force and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I am not sure till when the window will remain open; will it be for few months or for a few years? But, I strongly believe that we cannot afford to miss this window. This is our chance!!

God is clearing the atmosphere:-

I believe God is clearing and has cleared the atmosphere in the spiritual realm of the below things:-

• Spirit of death which grabs souls to hell
• Heaviness, demonic strongholds and demonic influence, something that hinders and comes against the work of Christ
• Confusion and chaos
• Heavy depression and oppression

When I say God is clearing the atmosphere, I am not saying that confusion, depression and economic crisis and demonic influence will decrease over the city and the nation. I believe these things would increase and are bound to increase in the last days; however, God is clearing the atmosphere for His bride to march in and establish His Kingdom. We will experience such a release in the spiritual realm that what did not happen for years will now happen suddenly.

There is a shift in the spiritual realm over the city, something has shifted which will cause us to:-

• launch out and fulfill the very purpose of God for our lives
• access the very presence of God and tap into His resources and spiritual realm
• will open portals between the heavens and earth, portals of revelations and grace
• to demonstrate Gods power and might and to set the captives free

God is changing the Season:-

Butterflies speak of the change of season. God is changing the season and calling us into a new season.

• God is saying that the season for waiting and preparation is over, the process of metamorphosis is complete, now it’s time to launch out into the very purposes of God
• God is saying that He is releasing His people into the fullness of all that He has for them, the very purpose for which He has kept us in this generation, the very call over our lives
• Holy Spirit is commissioning us and activating the new phase of our assignment which will realign us into the destiny that He has for us
• For some it would be a new assignment, however for some it would be their very purpose and call
• There is an urgency in the spirit to fulfill our God given purpose and call and to accomplish all that He wants us to accomplish, now is the time, now is the window
• We cannot afford to be observers and let it pass by

God is releasing authority:-

God is releasing authority to the Church in levels, He is releasing great authority:-

• Authority over spirit of death, spiritual death as well, where we will be able to snatch souls into His Kingdom and heaven
• Authority over demonic strongholds, over powers and principalities,
• Authority over chaos and confusion that would be there over our city and nation
• Authority over the deteriorating economic crises. God will release creative ideas and insights to men and women of faith to prosper them in their work places and businesses.

God is calling us to restore and build:-

I have been praying for the city and nation after God released this word to me. While praying, I could see the city & nation crack down, break down.

• City walls were breaking down
• Gates are being pulled down
• Foundations of the city and nation were shaken

God is saying that He will shake everything that could be shaken. Yet, God is saying that we need to rebuild and to restore the ruins and to build that which God has called us to build, which is His Kingdom.

There is an apostolic call, which will go beyond denominations, beyond cultures and beyond establishments. God is releasing an apostolic mantle and an apostolic mindset to the Church. God is not establishing denominations; He is establishing His Kingdom hear on earth as it is in heaven and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Even as we take the step and do all, that God is calling us to do; we will see the release of the first wave of the demonstration of His love and power over the city.

Beloved, I do not want to miss out on anything that God is doing in these days, I want to be a part of all that He is doing and I want you to be a part of that too.

God Bless!!

A sign and symbol from above during the Babri Masjid hearing!!

Just a month before the Babri Masjid case hearing was out, security service for the Mumbai centre was one of the primary responsibility assigned to me, which meant ensuring that the office is safe but more importantly ensuring the safety of our employees.

Few days before the court hearing could be out; I started praying that there would be peace in the city in the midst of the court hearing, more over because this was the first time I was directly responsible for handling security services and coordinating with the leadership to ensure safety of the employees. I was closely involved in such events earlier also but not directly responsible and this time I wanted things to be in control, didn’t want wrong or delayed decisions to be taken which would put employees at risk.

In the past few years we have seen how the city could turn into frenzy during such situations. Political parties use such situations to flame hatred and religious animosity amongst different communities causing riots, infrastructure damage and business losses of the city thus bringing the city to a complete standstill.

Considering the sensitiveness of the issue, I was praying for the city because in turn it was going to affect us and more importantly affect me and what I handle. The city was on high alert, if the situation went bad it would be difficult to send our employees home safely and if anything goes wrong with our employees it would further jeopardize and make things critical. Although the government was doing all that it could to keep things under control, the situation was sensitive enough and even a small thing could snap everything beyond control.

I remember the case was dismissed on 28^th Sep 2010 and the hearing was pushed forward to 30^th September 2010.

In the midst of this situation, while I was praying in the office on 28^th September 2010 around 11am, God spoke to me giving me assurance that He is in control and that there would be peace in the city. As I was talking to God I moved from my desk to a nearby window and I looked out of it and there was an image above the building ahead, it was a formation made by a cloud in clear skies.



Photographs taken on 28th September 2010

To some it would seem just a cloud formation, however the strange part was that it was in a clear sky. Besides, no one else seemed to have noticed this or seen it, although it appeared in the sky just outside the window for some time.

As I saw it my heart filled with joy and happiness because God had spoken to me just few moments before. To me this was a sign and a symbol from heaven. The cloud formation looked like a dove or an angel, dove symbolizing peace and angel symbolizing peace and order as though, God had released His angels to bring forth peace and order in the city. To me it was God once again affirming that He is in control over the city, that there would be peace in the city and that He had heard my prayer. I was so much taken up by His love and faithfulness. I am sure there were many who were praying for peace in the city. I had posted these photographs on facebook on 29^th September 2010.

God was sovereign and in control over the situation. No, no, I am not saying that the decision or the hearing was from God or the decision was right or wrong. In fact to me it does not even matter, because to me we are the temple of the living God, God is a spirit and He wants to dwell in us. Jesus said He knocks on the door of our heart for us to open it and even as we let God in, accepting His provision for us, He comes and lives in us.

Monuments and physical temples are just man made. Isn’t it ironical that men fight over these manmade temples ready to kill and destroy others over God and over the place that they think he resides in, yet destroying the very temple that God wants to reside in, which is you and me?

God wants to reside in his creation, while we His creations want to create a place for Him to reside, isn’t that an irony too?

Hope and pray God opens our eyes, that we may see the truth and honor lives of people.

Life might not be fair, but God is!!

 

Life might not be fair but God is! We who know God, who have experienced Him, cannot be accepting and believing that life is un-fair.

Yes, life might seem un-fair, but God is still in control. He loves, He is trustworthy, faithful and more than anything He is 'just'. Yes, He is.

Why are you downcast, O my soul?

Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God,

for I will yet praise him,

my Savior and my God.

If we believe that He is God, which means He is in control, then He is. He is in control over each and every situation of our life, no matter how hopeless that situation might be.

Bible reveals that God has a plan and a purpose for our life – ‘Jeremiah 29:11’ and God works out all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purposes – Romans 8:28.

How can we say that we believe in God, we believe He is ‘just’ which is supposed to be an attribute of God and then say that God left us at the mercy of life or what it brings forth at us. Life in itself does not bring forth anything, it is either God or the evil one and many times it’s also the outcome of our own decisions.

Satan comes to kill, steal and destroy, but Jesus came to give life and to its fullness.

We might be feeling that we are cornered from all sides, everything seems to be working against us, no hope seems to be in sight or we feel it’s a dead end. But let’s remind our self that as God did in the past, He will make a way. He will turn around the situation.

What the enemy intended for evil; He will work it out for our good.

Religion Vs Relationship with God

“Religion is people trying to reach out to God, while the truth of the gospel is God himself reaching out to men to restore them back to the very relationship for which they were created”.

In the Garden of Eden, before sin entered the world of Adam, God spoke to them face to face. That’s the kind of relationship He had with them. They lived in the very presence of God.

Bible teaches that it is through our spirit, we can have communion with God, “God is a Spirit, and his worshippers must worship Him in spirit and truth - John 4:24”.

Man was created to be a triune being, not just a physical being. Man was created to have a body a soul and a spirit.
• Body consists of five senses
• Soul consists of mind, will and emotions
• Spirit consists of conscience, communion & intuitive knowledge

God had told Adam that if he ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he would surely die. When Adam ate of the fruit he died spiritually. That death actually meant separation from God, which later led to his physical death. Sin separated us from God.

Communion with God gives life, while separation from Him brings forth death.

Jesus the sacrificial lamb paid the price on the cross for our sins making a way to restore us back to God Himself. Jesus redeemed us and now through the cross we can have a relationship with God. Only through the cross can we have this relationship with God, because only at the cross God made the eternal payment for us.

The fundamental difference between ‘relationship with God’ and ‘religion’ is the issue of knowing and being known by God versus merely knowing about Him. In fact, the only thing more important than knowing God is to be known by Him. Jesus made that clear in the Gospel when He warned that the Father would say to some, “I never knew you; depart from Me” – Matthew 7:23

Knowing about someone is not the same as knowing him or her. You might not know him/her or He/she might not know you, although you might know about each other. For getting to know each other you would need to spend time together, and allow each other into their lives.

While God knows everything about everybody, He does not know everyone. He can give more facts about a person than anyone could ever know of himself. But a relationship takes mutual consent and cooperation. For Him to know me I must open up my heart and give Him access to the secret things of my life. Relationships are built on trust, communications, honesty, and time spent together. It is no different with knowing God. And it is from that place of knowing God that we find our greatest purpose in life.

Yet being known by God is the most important thing in life, and it won’t happen without our surrender and response to Him.

Religion on the other hand is the antithesis of the kingdom of God. And the kingdom – the realm of the King’s domain – is what every person actually longs for deep within their heart. Religion creates appetites it cannot fulfill. By nature it carries a value for form without power, information without experience. It makes outward appearance a priority over the issues of the heart. For this reason religion does not provide an opportunity to actually know God, and it is therefore cruel, powerless, and boring.

Religion kills but Jesus gives life and life in abundance.

This was the heart of God for His people, for everyone to have access to Him.

Rejecting His voice is rejecting Him, as it rejects the opportunity for an authentic relationship with Him, and you are left with only religion that speaks about Him.

God reached out to Moses and the Israelites alike to have a relationship with them. However, the Israelites were afraid that they would die if they heard God’s voice, not realizing that the death they feared was in the very absence of His voice. They not only rejected a relational encounter with God, but to top it up, they also chose to have a mediator.

Relationship with God calls for obedience to Him, as it challenges our lifestyle. However, religion is a cover up behind the traditions for the fulfillment of our own agenda’s.

There can be no authentic relationship with God for people who prefer a mediator over and above personal encounters and relationship with God Himself.

The degree to which we perceive God through the manifestations of His presence is largely determined by what is in our hearts. There is a great contrast in the way Moses experienced God and the way the people of Israel experienced Him. Moses’s heart to know God gave him access to revelation that the people of Israel never perceived. Moses was allowed to see God’s form, and Israel wasn’t. Also Psalm 103:7 states that Moses knew of God, and Israel knew His acts.

Knowing God, helps us know the ways of God, while others just know His acts.

The ways of God are discovered through the acts of God, but they are only recognized by those who are hungry for Him. Our value system places more importance on what God does than who He is – if we are religiously motivated rather than relationally motivated – we will not be drawn to recognize the greater revelation behind God’s acts. The sad reality is that some are satisfied with what God can do and have little concern for who God is. Such a preference is wrong and costly in the long run. Many have missed out on the purpose for their creation by settling for the acts of God, thus failing to come under the influence of His presence which is the ultimate quest and our ultimate destiny.

Jesus demonstrated this lifestyle while He moved the streets of Israel. Remember Jesus said, ‘I only do what I see my Father do”. Jesus while on earth, did lot of signs, wonders and miracles. But He only did what He saw His father do. Although Jesus left all His godly attributes and was human, yet He functioned and lived in this lifestyle of completely depending on the Father. Having such relationship with the Father that He only did what He saw His Father do.

Jesus demonstrated that if He was able to have such a lifestyle, we too could live in such a relationship with the Father and fulfill the very purpose of our life.