In His Time.......... with P.Ramachandran

James 1:3 - because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. The brother of Jesus gives another reason why we should welcome testing and trials in our lives. It produces perseverance. Perseverance is the continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition. This is a quality that is very much lacking in many Christians. We give up easily; we quit before its time. Look at all the resolutions we make at the beginning of the year. How many of us really see them through for the rest of our lives? We are all good in starting many things but when difficulties come our way, when no one wants to cooperate with us, or when the journey with the Lord becomes hard, there is always a tendency to give up. James tells us that all these challenges come our way to develop our character, especially in the area of perseverance. And as Christians we need to persevere in all that we do, because if we don't it will result in failur...

James 1:2 - Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, The author of this book is understood to be the half brother of Jesus named James. It is obvious from this verse that James is writing to a group of people who were suffering persecution because of their faith in Jesus. History tells us that the first Christians did not have a honeymoon when they chose to follow Christ. They were tortured torched, imprisoned. I noticed that James did not begin with the niceties that we are accustomed to, e.g, “God knows your pain”, “God is in control”, “He will never leave you or forsake you” ect. But rather he commands the believers what their reaction should be to their circumstances. And he does that at the onset of his letter. He seems to sound like a crude taskmaster who does not care for the feelings of the people. Because the natural reaction of anyone going through trials and tribulations would be to worry, panic and question God. W...

These few months, because of the lockdown, we began to see a slide in the tithes and offerings in our church. W and our treasurer  was raising the alarm. We have a big missions budget as well. But God is amazing and He sends the ravens in time of drought In MAr, a Malaysian brother send is a gift for Sing $10,000 out of nowhere. But it was an answer to prayer. A few days ago a brother from Cambodia texted to say that he has transferred Sing $7,000 for the missions work.  Malaysia and Cambodia are the last places you would expect money to come from. Even if it did come, one would have expected a small amount. But these figures drove me to tears. I was reminded of the words of our Lord to Mary, " Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?" God has again proved that He is sovereign. He still has His ravens in the times of drought. To God be the glory.

Psalms 46:11 - The  Lord  Almighty is with us;   the God of Jacob is our fortress. Psalm 46 was Martin Luther’s favorite Psalm. During the dark and dangerous periods of the Reformation, Luther would turn to his trusted friend Philip Melanchthon and exclaim: “Let’s sing the 46th Psalm, and let the devil do his worst!”  It inspired him to write the great hymn “A Mighty Fortress is Our God.”   No Psalm in the entire Psalter expresses the tremendous truth that God’s presence and power are with us in all circumstances more than Psalm 46.  We need to know God offers us two kinds of help: a stronghold into which we can flee and a source of strength by which we can face the uncertain future.   And so in concluding the psalm, David uses the same words he used in verse seven. In the earlier discourse we noted two important attributes of God: the almighty Creator and the almighty Savior. It also underscores the faithfulness of God’s presence and...

Psalms 46:10   - He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” I read this story some time ago. Not sure if it’s true but there’s real meaning behind it.  Some years ago, a major art gallery sponsored a competition for painters and for the best painting on the subject of "Peace." Many entries were submitted but the one that won the competition was a real surprise. The painter drew a scene of a violent storm in the sea. The sky was dark and threatening and the lightning was cutting across the sky. The waves were crashing into the rocks of the cliffs. There is certainly not a picture of peace. Where was the peace? You had to scrutinize carefully to understand what was going on. Up the cliff, was a birds' nest tucked into a tiny hollow in the rock. A mother bird was sitting on that nest with her little babies tucked underneath her, sleeping soundly. In the midst of the storm, there was peace. There’...

Psalms 46: 8-9  - Come and see what the  Lord  has done,   the desolations he has brought on the earth. 9  He makes wars cease   to the ends of the earth.   He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire. The theme of this Psalms has been, “Why fear when God is with us”. In the earlier verses David takes pain to express God’s relationship towards us. He reasons that because God is our protection, our strength and His presence is always with us –there’s no cause for fear. He hits the high crescendo in verse 8:  The  Lord  Almighty is with us;  the  God of Jacob is our fortress.  The verse ends with the word  selah  in KJV.  The mysterious Hebrew word “Selah.” “Selah” was most likely originally a musical notation indicating a pause in the music for contemplation on what was just sung. You might translate it  “Pause and think of that!”  Stop ...

Psalms 46:7 -  The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.  This verse seems to be a short summary of all that David has been describing earlier and an interlude to what is to come. There is really no need to fear because the Almighty God is with us. David highlights two important features of the Almighty God in this verse. The Almighty Creator’s presence The KJV uses the phrase “the Lord Hosts”. The hosts represent the heavens and the entire universe.  God may be invisible but His invisible qualities are clearly revealed. Look at the size and complexity of the skies and the heavens containing the sun, the moon and the stars, it shows God’s eternal power. The beauty and order and design of creation show God’s divine nature.  Our God is creator and ruler of the heavens. I am simply daunted by the immensity of the universe. The millions of galaxies, the vastness of space and the mathematical precision the universe is orchestrated. It’...

Psalms 46:6   - Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts.  In the previous verses David uses the analogy of nature to describe adversities that may afflict one’s life, the earth, the mountains and the sea.  And we drew parallels from these illustrations to real time issues. In this verse David paints another form of affliction that are not uncommon to all.  There seems to be disquiet amongst the countries of the world. The KJV uses the words, “ The heathen raged ”. It seems to give the impression that nations were in disarray and kingdoms begin to shake in rage and arrognace. Political leaders are the source of distress, people are the casue of complaint and relationships seem to be breaking down. A relational crisis.     Political pressure, relationship issues and oppression from people is another avenue the devil brings to deflate the faithful. If you are a true Christian, you must be familiar w...