THE HELPING DADDY IN A SHALLOW VALLEY

Psalms 23:4 - Even Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will not fear.

The psalmist is sure when he makes this statement. We must also be assured of it, even when we go through situations that are dire and hard to cope up with.

Let's look at the life of a person from the Bible. Asa is a man from the Bible; the King of Judah and descendant of David. Unlike his father Abijah, Asa was good and right in the eyes of God. And God blessed him and gave rest to his land for 10 years. Well, you might think of this as a smooth ride. Wait till the problem rises.

Amidst this peace and quietness, rises a shallow valley in the life of King Asa. He has to face an Ethiopian army for a battle at the Valley of Zephathah. But rather than getting into despair, Asa turns his eyes to his God, placing his trust on God completely. Following his forefather David, he prays to God to be His helping hand in this situation and relies on Him. Sure enough, God delivers King Asa and his army from the Ethiopians who fled away. The Land of Judah celebrated this whooping victory. Asa's sole reliance on God delivered him and his nation in their time of trouble.

Many a times we also face such valleys in our lives. These valleys might be difficult for us to cross, but let's remember to trust God and rely on Him completely. He is our help and our defender. Like the psalmist, let us proudly declare, "even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will not fear". When Daddy's in control, whom shall we fear?

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Ansu Susan Oommen

Ansu is a student of Delhi University and a youth leader in Crossway. She can be reached at ansususan9828@gmail.com

Game on

Sometimes when you're in a railway station, observe the difference between passengers who hold confirmed tickets and those who are on standby. The ones with confirmed tickets read newspapers, chat with their friends or sleep. The ones on standby hang around the ticket checker pace and smoke, smoke, and pace. The difference is caused by the confidence factor.

Joshua 6:2-3 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days.

While they were just evaluating the magnitude of the problem called Jericho, God spoke. This time it was even more challenging. Joshua and His people had to believe for victory even before they could attain it. The next few days were the tests of their confidence. If they really believed that God has given them the city, that's when they could march all around, for all 6 days. They did because they believed and were confident.

Our confidence often comes from our own strength and abilities. That's the very reason that we are often disappointed and never confident about anything. When God spoke to Joshua, that you are victorious he was sure about it and went for whatever God said. He knew His God and God knew Joshua would believe and encourage others to believe as well.

Our daily lives are a statement of our faith and confidence in God. Your words, things at home, work, school or even at the gym are just a reflection of your confidence in the Lord. So march on with confidence wherever God has placed you. Trust in Him for He has already given you the victory. Game on.

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Stanley Thomas Isac

Stanley is serving as the Pastor of Crossway Church in New Delhi, he can be reached at Pastorstanleytisac@gmail.com

HE is able

We all prefer a good life. We do work hard and desire for a comfortable life with no issues and problems. Perhaps it can happen only in dreams or maybe in a movie. The harsh reality of life is that we are facing challenges one after another.

Joshua 6:1 Now the gates of Jericho were securely barred because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.

So the people of Israel had just crossed the river Jordan. It was a great victory. They couldn't even celebrate properly. In fact, they would have been looking for some 4G or WiFi to post in on social media. Even before this could sink in, they were faced with another huge challenge. Joshua would have been like OMG, not again.

As Joshua and the people of Israel stood before the city and the walls of Jericho it would have been very challenging. They would have felt weak, cos they had just crossed a big hurdle and now the next was just ready for them. Indeed our lives and the walk with the Lord, we face one challenge after another. Let us not be discouraged and feel week. Let's remember the very God who parted the Red Sea, provided manna in the wilderness, parted river Jordan is able to bring down the walls of Jericho as well. HE is able.

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Stanley Thomas Isac

Stanley is serving as the Pastor of Crossway Church in New Delhi, he can be reached at Pastorstanleytisac@gmail.com

The true champion

There's a Spanish story of a father and son who had become estranged. The son ran away, and the father set off to find him. He searched for months to no avail. Finally, in a last desperate effort to find him, the father put an ad in a Madrid newspaper. The ad read: Dear Paco, meet me in front of this newspaper office at noon on Saturday. All is forgiven. I love you. Your Father. On Saturday 800 Pacos showed up, looking for forgiveness and love from their fathers.

Joshua 3:7 And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses.

The lust for authority and power is such a big issue. Strangely many are attracted by the selfish and cruel ways of the world. So in course of time, one cannot have anybody over themselves. It’s my life, my thought, my decisions, my body, my rules, my future and it’s just more of me.

Joshua was a successful military man, but his greatest success came by staying under the authority of God the Father. The battle of all battles is to defeat myself and let God win. Joshua was a champ at it. God the Father just loves this. And He continued to exalt Joshua in the house.

Father’s heart is love. His authority comes out of love. Sadly some are not able to understand it. Several want to claim daddy’s love but doesn't want to be under His authority in His house. But true success and victory will only come when you are in Daddy’s house and let Him rule. The true champion.

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Stanley Thomas Isac

Stanley is serving as the Pastor of Crossway Church in New Delhi, he can be reached at Pastorstanleytisac@gmail.com

You want to see a miracle…

At a meeting of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Bobby Richardson, former New York Yankee second baseman, offered a prayer that is a classic in brevity and poignancy: "Dear God, Your will, nothing more, nothing less, nothing else. Amen."

Joshua 3:5 Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.”

God can fill us only when we are empty. Easier said than done. When Joshua told the people of Israel to consecrate themselves, he was basically telling them if you just let Lord be the master of your lives you will see great miracles tomorrow. Consecration is not making ourselves holy by our works and actions. We can never. It is to separate ourselves for God and His will.

So Daddy is not blessing us to use us and make a profit out of us. In fact, He will bless us because we are His children. When we are separated for Him we are his responsibility and God will lead us miraculously. You want to see a miracle…

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Stanley Thomas Isac

Stanley is serving as the Pastor of Crossway Church in New Delhi, he can be reached at Pastorstanleytisac@gmail.com

True love displays….

The trouble oftentimes with religious people is that they try to be more spiritual than God himself.
Frederick Buechner.

Joshua 3 : 4b But keep a distance of about two thousand cubits[a] between you and the ark; do not go near it.”

Perhaps we are in times when people are either too spiritual or completely disoriented from God. So when the Ark of the covenant was being carried by the Levites into the water, there were clear instructions to the Israelites to maintain a proper distance from the ark. It was clear that there was no need to patronize God and not to block others from having a connection with the presence of God.

Many times with the extra zeal we end up causing harm rather than being a blessing to the kingdom. Unless we care for others, we have nothing to do with the kingdom of God. Let our zeal be about Loving God and His people. True love displays….

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Stanley Thomas Isac

Stanley is serving as the Pastor of Crossway Church in New Delhi, he can be reached at Pastorstanleytisac@gmail.com

Less of me, more of you

Listening is an art and everyone should learn it. For sure then the world will be a better place. Over the years Lord has been teaching me to listen well and I am still a poor student, but working hard to get better.

So I got to spend time with a missionary to a very backward northern state of India. Hearing stories of God's leading and providence. The striking thing being that this man of God spent the best part of his life in a big city, successfully working in a corporate and also being involved in ministry activities which brought a lot of respect. But he was not satisfied, so he moved away.

But then the Lord led him to the mission field and he plunged into ministry by faith. Even though there are hardships and difficulties, but yet he is satisfied and happy because he is walking the way in which he ought to. It's a purpose-driven life.

Joshua 3:4a Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before,

When Joshua exhorted the people of Israel to follow the ark of the covenant, it wasn't an easy task. They were people who had heard about the red sea, walked in the wilderness and ate manna every day. So they had some sort of experience and a decent understanding of God. Yet they were asked to follow God like a child. Perhaps this challenge was different and one could not depend on their own ability. That's the hardest thing to do. Trusting God fully takes a lot. Many a time we face the Jordan with our strength and might, which will never be enough. Can we let God be the only boss? Life might have concerns and troubles but it will be satisfying. Less of me, more of you.

http://xfiloz.blogspot.in/

Stanley Thomas Isac

Stanley is serving as the Pastor of Crossway Church in New Delhi, he can be reached at Pastorstanleytisac@gmail.com

Continue to follow Him

Left on a sinking ship were the captain and three sailors. The captain spoke first. "Men, this business about a captain going down with his ship is nonsense. There's a three-man life raft on board and I'm going to be on it. To see who will come with me, I will ask you each one question. The one who can't answer will stay behind. Here's the first question: What unsinkable ship went down when it hit an iceberg?" The first sailor answered, "The Titanic, sir." "On to the next question: How many people perished?" The second sailor said, "One thousand five hundred and seventeen, sir." "Now for the third question," and the captain turned to sailor number three. "What were their names?"

Joshua 3 : 1-3 Early in the morning Joshua and all the Israelites set out from Shittim and went to the Jordan, where they camped before crossing over. After three days the officers went throughout the camp, giving orders to the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the Levitical priests carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it.

This week we will be learning from Joshua 3 about crossing the Jordan which is of course a big challenge.

In life, we are always hit by that overwhelming moment where it's so hard to move ahead and find victory. But in the heat of the moment, we need to remind ourselves that It is God who has brought us thus far, and He will see us through. The ark of the covenant mentioned in v.3 is symbolic to the presence of God. And Joshua through his leaders was spreading the word that in front of the challenge don't forget to follow God. Many a time in front of a big challenge we tend to forget God's presence. We ought to remind ourselves that I have a big God and let me just follow Him faithfully.

So if He has brought us thus far, let's continue to follow Him.

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Stanley Thomas Isac

Stanley is serving as the Pastor of Crossway Church in New Delhi, he can be reached at Pastorstanleytisac@gmail.com

Let’s keep going

After William Carey was well established in his pioneer missionary work in India, his supporters in England sent a printer to assist him. Soon the two men were turning out portions of the Bible for distribution. Carey had spent many years learning the language so that he could produce the scriptures in the local dialect. He had also prepared dictionaries and grammars for the use of his successors.
One day while Carey was away, a fire broke out and completely destroyed the building, the presses, many Bibles, and the precious manuscripts, dictionaries, and grammars. When he returned and was told of the tragic loss, he showed no sign of despair or impatience. Instead, he knelt and thanked God that he still had the strength to do the work over again. He started immediately, not wasting a moment in self-pity. Before his death, he had duplicated and even improved on his earlier achievements.

Philippians 1:14 And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.

Some lives indeed have that strength and vigor to impact generations. Luxuries and riches can only lure this generation, but the tough experiences and the willingness to go through the hardships encourages many. Paul while being in prison was so joyfully going about his life and ministry that the ones outside were surprised and indeed encouraged. People thought that prison would be the end of it and his ministry has ended forever. But to the utter surprise, he stood strong to serve the Lord in prison and this became a great lesson for the those without the chains to serve Christ more effectively.

When we go through hardships and difficult situations in life, we tend to neglect God and His presence. We forget that He is with us and can lead us through if we trust Him. When we are able to stand firm during a loss and a tragedy, surely we become a great testimony and an encouragement to those around us. Thus we can make an impact unto generations even while being in prison and the darkest of situations. Let’s keep going.

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Stanley Thomas Isac

Stanley is serving as the Pastor of Crossway Church in New Delhi, he can be reached at Pastorstanleytisac@gmail.com

Why me?

On February 15, 1947, Glenn Chambers boarded a plane bound for Quito, Ecuador to begin his ministry in missionary broadcasting. But he never arrived. In a horrible moment, the plane carrying Chambers crashed into a mountain peak and spiraled downward. Later it was learned that before leaving the Miami airport, Chambers wanted to write his mother a letter. All he could find for stationery was a page of advertising on which was written the single word "WHY?" Around that word he hastily scribbled a final note. After Chambers' mother learned of her son's death, his letter arrived. She opened the envelope, took out the paper, and unfolded it. Staring her in the face was the question "WHY?"

Acts 25:8 Then Paul made his defense: “I have done nothing wrong against the Jewish law or against the temple or against Caesar.”

The question WHY always does the rounds, maybe a little bit too much in our lives. When tragedy hits us, one feels, I don’t deserve this. When misfortune takes over us, one questions God for HIS  authority. In all this unjust world, there seems to be a disbalance which tends to hurt us and all the more discourage us. When Paul was once more questioned in the court of Festus, he would have felt miserable. Here was a man standing for truth, and was being persecuted without any real cause.

Often when we tend to have questions like  WHERE is our mind, we just need to check the fact, AM I IN THE CENTRE OF GOD’s Will? If the answer is yes, then for sure, God will take care of everything that comes our way. Paul was sure he was in the center of God’s will, so was all ready to face anything and go anywhere. Why me?

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Stanley Thomas Isac

Stanley is serving as the Pastor of Crossway Church in New Delhi, he can be reached at Pastorstanleytisac@gmail.com

It’s now or never

In Saint Louis in 1984, an unemployed cleaning woman noticed a few bees buzzing around the attic of her home. Since there were only a few, she made no effort to deal with them. Over the summer the bees continued to fly in and out the attic vent while the woman remained unconcerned, unaware of the growing city of bees.
The whole attic became a hive, and the ceiling of the second-floor bedroom finally caved in under the weight of hundreds of pounds of honey and thousands of angry bees. While the woman escaped serious injury, she was unable to repair the damage of her accumulated neglect.

Acts 24:27 When two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, but because Felix wanted to grant a favor to the Jews, he left Paul in prison.

Felix the governor seems to be a champ at procrastination. He had the best opportunity to know Jesus. He even knew the message of the cross and even realized his sin. But did not repent of it. Neither did he repent, nor did he release Apostle Paul. He was like, I will see that later.
Most or maybe some of us, do use the phrase “I WILL DO IT LATER” extensively in our life. Whether it be Financial, Physical or Professional, we are like, “I WILL DO IT LATER. When it comes to God and things of God, I WILL DO IT LATER, is always there. The Church as a body is suffering, because you and I as an important organ of the body are not functioning well. When you and I are not responsible in small or big thing, the whole body suffers. It’s now or never.

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Stanley Thomas Isac

Stanley is serving as the Pastor of Crossway Church in New Delhi, he can be reached at Pastorstanleytisac@gmail.com

Talk to them

I was once in a conversation with a friend outside my home. An old lady came asking for a person who lives nearby. But she was not sure of the address and even the name. So she called someone on phone to inquire the address. The other person also did not have the address but knew the name. I realized that they were from my native place so took the phone and spoke to them in Malayalam. They were so relieved and happy. Thus, the old lady could go to meet the desired person.

Acts 22:2 And when they heard that he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, they kept all the more silent.

When Apostle Paul was facing the mob, he tried a simple technique of connecting to them by using their own language and that worked. The moment he spoke their language, the crowds went silent and heard him carefully.

Several times when we are in the marketplace with a desire to witness, our neighbours and friends are unable to understand us because we just don't use their language. We use our religious jargons and big words. Even though we are trying to help them, it just doesn't work. Instead of impressing them we are treated as aliens and marked unfit to hang out with. Let’s connect by speaking what they can understand. Talk to them.

http://xfiloz.blogspot.in/

Stanley Thomas Isac

Stanley is serving as the Pastor of Crossway Church in New Delhi, he can be reached at Pastorstanleytisac@gmail.com

Get used to HIM

A man who lived on Long Island was able one day to satisfy a lifelong ambition by purchasing for himself a very fine barometer. When the instrument arrived at his home, he was extremely disappointed to find that the indicating needle appeared to be stuck, pointing to the sector marked "HURRICANE."  After shaking the barometer very vigorously several times, its new owner sat down and wrote a scorching letter to the store from which he had purchased the instrument. The following morning on the way to his office in New York, he mailed the letter. That evening he returned to Long Island to find not only the barometer missing, but his house also. The barometer's needle had been right--there was a hurricane!

Psalm 25:9 He leads the humble in justice, And He teaches the humble His way.

 Isn’t it interesting to realize that the Creator of the universe is always speaking to us and leading us as we go about living our lives. But more often than not, we are not very serious about it. When God speaks to us through in our daily devotions, through a friend, from a sermon in Church or a write up somewhere, we are like, it sounds good but not for me. Several times we expect God to show up in our bedroom with big lights or do something impossible for us simply to prove HIS divinity for us.

 But God would not simply waste a miracle for the sake of our whims and fancies. HE is always speaking and leading us. We simply need to be listening to HIS sweet and gentle voice. When we are used to HIM, it will be easier for us to obey and trust HIM. Get used to HIM.  

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Stanley Thomas Isac

Stanley is serving as the Pastor of Crossway Church in New Delhi, he can be reached at Pastorstanleytisac@gmail.com

Living with a purpose

Ed McManus, editor of The Jokesmith newsletter, has put out a booklet of humor about folks in human resources. It's called What is a Human Resource? and in it he explains how people get assigned to particular jobs.  You leave them in a conference room for four hours. Then, you go back to see what they're doing.

If they look up when you enter the room, assign them to the Security Department. If they're counting the butts in the ashtray, put them in Finance. If they've taken the table apart, put them in Engineering. If they're screaming and waving their arms, send them off to Manufacturing. And if they've left early, put them in Sales.

Mark 6:43 - NIV - and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish.

        Our God is the smartest. When He creates something or someone, He always has a purpose. God doesn't like wasting away things. After feeding the 5000 with fish and bread everyone was so happy. But the plenty that remained should not go waste. So it was collected and it came up to 12 baskets. Probably it could be used on the way or can be given to the poor or something could be done with it always.

       Many of us in this body of Christ have termed ourselves useless. Even before others name us, we have found our title as useless, because of our negative attitude and lazy nature. Its high time that we realize that God has created us for a purpose and let’s be at it. As we continue in the presence of God and in the things of God, we shall surely get an idea of what we ought to be doing in and FOR HIS KINGDOM. Living with a purpose.

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Stanley Thomas Isac

Stanley is serving as the Pastor of Crossway Church in New Delhi, he can be reached at Pastorstanleytisac@gmail.com

Don't worry be concerned

It is believed that An average person's anxiety is focused on :

40% -- things that will never happen
30% -- things about the past that can't be changed
12% -- things about criticism by others, mostly untrue
10% -- about health, which gets worse with stress
8% -- about real problems that will be faced

1 Peter 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

  It is so striking to realize that most of the things that we worry about serves no purpose. It only scares us more and reduces our effectiveness. Bible does say to be concerned but it's clear about the fact that, do not be anxious. When we are worried and anxious over the things of life we tend to rob Jesus of HIS glory due from our lives.

  We have a Savior who is ever ready to help us and get us going. Whether it be the deepest pit or the darkest cloud, Jesus is always there, we just need to trust HIM at all times and then HE will surely open doors and get us going for His glory. Don't worry be concerned.

http://xfiloz.blogspot.in/

Stanley Thomas Isac

Stanley is serving as the Pastor of Crossway Church in New Delhi, he can be reached at Pastorstanleytisac@gmail.com