january - february 2018 the voice of st. jude jan... · the voice of st. jude january - february...

| JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2018 | The Voice of St. Jude

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| JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2018 | The Voice of St. JudeThe Voice of St. Jude

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CONTENTS

APPROBATIONOFFICIAL ORGAN OF:

St. Jude’s Shrine, Civil Lines,JHANSI-284 001 (U.P.) India

Shrine Office: 91-510-2471205Email : [email protected]: www.stjudesshrinejhansi.org

PATRON:Most Rev. Peter Parapullil

(Bishop of Jhansi)

Editor:benny palliparampil

Sub Editor:Mary CJ

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photograph to the editor at

[email protected]

GOD BLESS

Vol.: 78 No. 01 January - February 2018

• EDITOR.......................................................................2• SHEPHERD’SVOICE.....................................................3• YOUHAVETHEWORDSOFETERNALLIFE...................4• THECANONOFTHESCRIPTURE.................................5• AQUESTIONOFAUTHORSHIP.....................................6• SOMEOBSERVATIONSABOUTJESUS.........................7• BLINDFAITH................................................................8• HOWTOCOMBATBIBLICALILLITERACYINTHECHURCH........9• WHATHAPPENEDINOURCULTURE...........................10• ADOUBTINGGENERATION........................................10• FOCUSONJESUSCHRISTTHROUGHSCRIPTURE........ 11• AMESSAGETHATINSPIRESANDINFURIATES........ 12• DYNAMICANDLIVINGREALITY................................ 12• MARYINTHESCRIPTURES...................................... 13• BIRTHDAYCELEBRATIONSOFOURMOTHER............ 13• PIERCEDBYTHEWORDOFGOD............................... 14• THREETHINGSWEMUSTBELIEVEABOUTGOD'SWORD.... 15• THEBABEWHOOPENEDTHEDOOR......................... 16• INSPIRINGWORDSFROMGODTHATWILLCHANGE

YOURLIFE................................................................. 17• ANSWERSTOTHECOMPUTERQUIZ........................ 17• LIFEISOFTENNOISYANDFULLOFDISTRACTIONS-

MEDITATE................................................................. 18• FROMDEVOTEES...................................................... 19• CONSECRATEDLIFE.................................................. 19• THOUGHTSFORLIFE................................................ 19• STORYINSILENCE.................................................... 20• BIBLEANDCOMPUTERQUIZANSWERS.................. 20

| JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2018 | | JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2018 | The Voice of St. JudeThe Voice of St. Jude

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editor

In the Beginning was the Word...(John 1)and when everything was created God saw that it is good! (Genesis 1)

This is what we see in the Bible.However, our life begins with a Noise...

and when things get unfolded year after year we can see chaos!

There is a need in our time to silence ourselves from the noise.So that our life may be synchronized with the sound of nature!

There is a need to journey in the true rhythm of life.

Countless are the people who found this tranquil map of life in the Word of God.

Let us wish-pray-act for harmony in everyone's life through Word of God

GOD BLESS

benny palliparampil

Shepherd’s Voice

Word is used for communi-cation. It helps us to express our thoughts, desires and as-pirations. The Word of God came to the prophets and they passed on the message of God to His people. God used Word to create the whole world.

From nothing He created the Universe and all the living beings. Moreover God revealed Himself through His ‘Word made flesh in Je-sus Christ’ (Jn 1:14).History begins with the Word of God. The first Word is “Let there be light” (Gen 1:3-6). In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God (Jn 1:1). Word of God is strength and food to the soul because Word of God is active, alive and fruitful in the life of each believer (Heb 4:12; 1Thess 2:13). The importance and the power of the Word of God is beyond human comprehension. The nature too is subject to the Word of God (Psalm 148: 8-10). The Word that comes from the mouth of God is effective and fruitful (Is 55:11). Word of God has to be welcomed at all times even in moments of af-fliction and trials because it will generate the joy and happiness of the Holy Spirit in believ-ers (1Thess 1:6). Lexio Divina is intended to promote commu-nion with God and to increase the knowledge of God’s Word. It has three parts: Lexio (Read-ing), meditation (meditation), and oratio (ora-tion). One who reads, one who hears and one who keeps the Word of God are blessed (Rev 1:3). Jesus is the Word of God “made flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn 1:14). Peter was filled with the Spirit when he acclaimed: “Lord where shall we go, You have the Words of eter-nal life” (Jn 6:68). Jesus is the salvation of the

world and no other name is given except the name of Jesus (Acts 4:12). For me the Word of God is the PERSON JESUS, the second per-son of the Holy Trinity.To the people who asked Jesus “Sir give us this bread always, Jesus replied: “I am the bread of life, he who comes to me shall not hunger, he who believes shall never thirst”(Jn 6:35). “For my flesh is food indeed and my blood is drink indeed” (Jn6:55). To the tempter, Jesus revealed His true nature: “Man does not live by bread alone but every WORD that proceeds from the mouth of God”(Mt 4:4).Word of God is to be lived and proclaimed. Proclamation of the Word of God is an essential part of the Christian faith. “Did not our hearts burn with-in us while he opened to us the Scriptures” (Lk 24:32). By listening to the Scriptures the disci-ples received new hope, encouragement and a proper direction in life. They at once returned to their companions to share the joy of rec-ognizing Jesus in the breaking of bread. This is the God experience in the Word of God. St.Paul believes that “The Word of God makes man complete and equipped for every good work” (2Tim 3:16-17). In his letter to Timothy, Paul urges him to “preach the word of God in every season and teach the word diligently” (2Tim 4:2).Dear readers, I wish you a very happy and blessed New Year 2018! “Let the Word of God dwell in you richly, teach and admonish one an-other in all wisdom and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to god the Father through Him” (Col 3: 16-17). This is my message for you for the year 2018.

+Peter Parapullil,Bishop of Jhansi


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“YOU HAVE THE WORDS OF ETERNAL LIFE”(Jn 6:68)

After the multiplication of bread, when the people were amazed at the great miracle that Jesus had just performed, Jesus told “You should not be working for perishable food but for food that remain for life eternal” (jn 6:27). During the discourse that followed,

Jesus affirmed, “I am the bread of life”, hearing this many left Him saying, ‘who can believe this?’. Then Jesus asked His disciples: “Will you also go away?” Simon Peter surely felt the deep feeling of Jesus at that moment, he was all for his Master, with sentiments of profound love and appreciation for His beloved Master, he said aloud: “Lord to whom shall we go, You have the WORDS of eternal life” (Jn 6:68).We read the Bible – the word of God- perhaps ev-eryday! How does IT affect our day to day lives? “ like rain… so shall my WORD be that goes out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please – and it shall” (Isaiah 55:11). God’s purpose will be estab-lished through God’s WORD which will give life to God’s people and to the entire creation. Every WORD that Jesus spoke was life giving, healing, comforting, forgiving, empowering, encourag-ing, uplifting, compassionate and Love incarnate.Words of New Life: Lazarus was dead four days. Jesus stood at his tomb and cried out: “Lazarus come forth”. And Lazarus came out of his tomb alive (Jn 11). The only son of a widow died. People were carrying him for the burial. Jesus stopped the bearers and touched the litter and said :”Young man, I tell you get up”. The dead man sat up and began to talk (Lk 7:14-15). Jai-rus’s daughter was already dead when Jesus reached the house. People were wailing and cry-ing with loud noise. Jesus stopped them. He told the little girl: “Talitha koum” which means, little girl get up. And immediately she stood up and walked.(Mk 5:41-42).Words of Healing: A Centurion sent some Jew-ish leaders to Jesus and informed that his servant

was sick and begged Him to heal him. Jesus was on His way to the Centurion’s house, when he sent word to Jesus saying, “Sir, do not take trou-ble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you en-ter my house. Just say a WORD and he shall be healed (Lk 7: 1-10). A woman who for eighteen years had been possessed by a spirit was badly stooped incapable of standing erect. Jesus told her: “Woman, you are free of your infirmity.” Im-mediately she stood up straight and began thank-ing God (Lk 13:12). A man had been in the pool of Bethesda for 38 years waiting for the move-ment of the water. When Jesus saw him, He said to him: “stand up, take up your mat and walk.” The man was immediately cured (Jn 5: 1-9).Words of Forgiveness and grace: A paralyzed man was brought to Jesus. He told him, “Your sins are forgiven”, the man rolled up his mat and went home (Mt 9:2-8). A woman caught in adul-tery was brought to Jesus. The culprits were ready to stone her to death. Jesus challenged them: “Let the man among you who has no sin be the first to cast a stone at her.” They left one by one. Then Je-sus said to the woman,”… neither will I condemn you, go, sin no more” (Jn 8: 7-11). At a Phari-see’s home where Jesus was reclining at table, a woman came in, washed his feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair and anointed his feet with costly perfume. The Pharisee grumbled because she was a sinner. But Jesus said to her: “Your sins are forgiven, your faith has been your salvation, now go in peace”( Lk 7:36-48). On the cross Jesus assured the repentant thief: “I assure you this day, you will be with me in paradise” (Lk 23:43).Words of Wisdom and Authority: Jesus spoke with authority. When Jesus was twelve years old, He went with his parents to Jerusalem for the Passover feast. After the feast, the Boy Jesus remained in the temple. On the third day Mary and Joseph found him sitting in the midst of teachers listening to them and asking questions. All who heard his WORDS were amazed at His intelligence and His answers. (Lk 2:41-47). At the beginning of His ministry, Jesus was in the

Synagogue reading from the Book of Isaiah. All in the syna-gogue marveled at the WORDS which came from His lips and they asked: Is it not this Joseph’s son? Jesus taught at Capernaum where He began instructing on the Sabbath day. They were spell bound by His teaching for His WORDS had authority (Lk 4: 31-32). With authority, He commanded the tempest and the tumultuous waves of the sea sub-sided (Lk 8:22-25). With author-ity He commanded the unclean spirits to set their victims free. (Mk 5:1-10)and they obeyed.Words of Surrender: Though He was in the form of God…He emptied Himself, He surren-dered to His Father and sought the Will of His Father in every-thing He did. “The WORDS I speak are not spoken of myself, it is the Father who lives in me

accomplishing His works” (Jn 14:10). In Gethsemane when Jesus was in agony and sweat-ing blood, in total surrender, He cries “Not my will but Thine be done”(Mk 14:36). On the cross, Jesus accomplishes the mis-sion entrusted to Him by the Father when He says, “Father into your hands I commend my spirit”(Lk 23:46).The more we read the Bible, the more we are able to cap-ture every WORD spoken by Jesus pregnant with wisdom, power, comfort, instruction, healing, humility, obedience …the list is inexhaustible. Every WORD of Jesus touches the heart, pierces into one’s being, transforms one’s outlook and attitudes. “The word of God is alive and active, sharper than a two-edged sword- it pene-trates and divides the soul and

spirit, joints and marrow – it judges the thoughts and atti-tudes of the heart”(Heb 4:12).The Psalmist in his ecstasy says: “How sweet to my taste are your WORDS, sweeter than honey to my mouth” (Psalm 119:103).We believe in the WORD of God because “The WORDS of the Lord are pure words like silver purified in the furnace, like gold refined seven times” (Psalm 12:6).

- Sr. Mary C.J.

Although the original docu-ments have been lost, we can be sure that the original words have been preserved in the cop-ies we possess today. But can we be sure that those original docu-

ments infallibly captured God’s words at the very beginning?The word canon is now used to refer to the com-plete list of the Bible’s God-inspired books. From the time each original book was penned, it was recognized as God’s Word. So its place in the canon was sure from the time it was written. The writers of Scripture did not pick and choose what was God’s Word, but they received it directly from its true Author God.As the apostle Peter explained, “The prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21).Old Testament CanonThere are 39 books in the Old Testament, written mostly in the Hebrew language (and some in Ar-

amaic). The Hebrew people were the custodians of the Old Testament canon, carefully copying each word from one generation to the next. Je-sus Christ believed the entire Old Testament came from God’s own mouth: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).New Testament CanonThere are 27 books in the New Testament, all written in the Greek language. Followers of Je-sus Christ carefully copied each word from one generation to the next. Jesus Christ said that the Holy Spirit of God would inspire the authors of the New Testament: “The Spirit of truth. will guide you into all truth” (John 16:12–13). He told His apostles that their words would have the same authority as His: “He that hears you hears me” (Luke 10:16). We can confidently trust that we have God’s very words in our hands. Many apologetics books, such as Brian Edwards’ Noth-ing but the Truth, provide much more detail on this interesting topic.

- Mike Matthews

THE CANON OF SCRIPTURE


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It’s a question almost everyone asks: how do we know the Bible is God’s Word? This indeed is a complex issue. How on earth do we know that the Bible is really what we are told it is? And is any Christian theory or fact applicable without resorting to a book we don’t know anything about? With no disrespect. Although we have faith that the Bible really is the Word of God, it is not a “blind” faith or a mere assumption. It is something we can know for certain. We can know this by the impossibility of the contrary. That is, if the Bible were not the Word of God, we couldn’t really know anything at all! First, the Bible itself claims to be the inspired Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16). For some reason, many people seem to dismiss this as if such in-ternal evidence doesn’t count.2 But this is a dou-ble standard that they would not apply to most other books. The Bible’s self-authenticating claim should not be simply dismissed. After all, how else would we know that the Bible is written by inspiration of God unless it said so?I suppose God could have attached a yellow sticky note to the Bible that said, “This really is my Word.” But then we’d have to ask the ques-tion, “How do we know for sure that the sticky note was really written by God?” And then I sup-pose God could attach another sticky note to the first sticky note that says, “The first sticky note was really written by Me—God.” But then we’d have to ask how we know for certain that the sec-ond sticky note was really written by God, and... well, you see where this is going. Ultimately, the Bible must be self-attesting—and it is. It claims to be the Word of God, and a person must either accept or reject that claim. And that choice will have consequences. It is these consequences that allow us to know for certain that the Bible’s claim about itself is true. And this brings me to my second point: Rejecting the claim that the Bible really is God’s Word will inevitably lead to the

absurd consequence that knowledge would be impossible. Any alternative to the Bible is “sink-ing sand” and will not support a rational worl-dview (Matthew 7:24–27). This is because only the biblical worldview can account for those things necessary for knowledge. These are things most people take for granted, like laws of logic (as shown in Atheism: An Irrational Worldview), the ability of the human mind to be rational, and the basic reliability of our sensory perceptions.These things all make sense if God created and sustains everything as the Bible teaches but can-not be rationally explained in a non-biblical worldview. In a random-chance, evolutionary universe, why would we expect the mind to be rational or our senses to be reliable? If the Bi-ble were wrong about God creating the universe, then why would we expect the universe to be orderly and comprehensible? Science depends upon the regular operation of the universe in order to be successful. Yet, only the Bible can ac-count for this. For example, God has promised a certain degree of uniformity in the future—in terms of the cycles of nature (Genesis 8:22). Such consistency of natural law throughout time is what makes science possible. But only God is in a position to tell us on His own authority about the future because He alone is beyond time. None of us has experienced the future. And so, it is only on the basis of God’s revelation in the Bible that scientific knowledge has an objective, rational foundation. Apart from the biblical worldview, there would be no good reason not to believe. All reasoning rests upon a type of faith. But faith in any ultimate standard other than the biblical God cannot account for those things we take for granted. So, faith in the Bible is not merely a blind assumption. Knowledge is possible; thus, the Bible really is the true Word of God.

- An extract from Dr. Jason Lisle

A QUESTION OF AUTHORSHIP What does John want to tell his readers is this

that first about the person called Jesus Christ whose deeds and actions simply fill the pages of this Gospel? No. What he wants to tell his readers is His existence with us in our specific time, the essence of his identity, his unique rela-tionship with God, and Jesus' relationship to the world in which he lived.“In the beginning was the Word.” The words “in the beginning” are identical in Greek to the first two words in the Greek Old Testament: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” That’s not an accident, because the first thing John is going to tell us about what Jesus did is that he created the universe. That’s what he says in verse 3. So the words “in the begin-ning” mean: before there was any created matter, there was the Word, the Son of God. Remem-ber: “These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God” (John 20:31). John begins his Gospel by locating Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, in relation to time, namely, before time. Jude exults in this truth with his great doxolo-gy: “To the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and for-ever. Amen” (Jude 1:25). Paul says in 2 Timothy 1:9 that God gave us grace in Christ Jesus “be-fore the times of the ages.” So before there was any time or any matter, there was the Word, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. That is who we will meet in this Gospel. “The Word was God.” One of the marks of this Gospel is that the weightiest doc-trines are often delivered in the simplest words. This could not get simpler and it could not get weightier. The Word, who became flesh and dwelt among us, Jesus Christ, was and is God. Let this be known loud and clear that at Beth-lehem indeed, at all true Christian churches we worship Jesus Christ as God. We fall down with Thomas before Jesus in John 20:28 and confess with joy and wonder, “My Lord and my God!”. When we hear the Jewish leaders say in John 10:33, “It is not for a good work that we are go-

ing to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God,” we cry out, “No, this is not blasphemy. This is who he is our Savior, our Lord, our God.” Do you see what this means for our series on the Gospel of John? It means that we are going to spend week after week getting to know God, as we get to know Jesus. Do you want to know God? Come with us, and invite others, to come and meet God as we meet Jesus. If a Jehovah’s Witness or a Mus-lim ever says to you: “This is a mistranslation. It should not read, ‘The Word was God.’ It should read, ‘The Word was a god.’” There is a way right here from the context that you can know that’s wrong even if you don’t know Greek. I’ll show it to you in just a moment in the last point. But first, let’s look at his relationship to God.“The Word was with God.” “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” This is the heart of the great historic doctrine of the Trinity. If Jesus Christ is not God, he could not accomplish your salvation (Hebrews 2:14–15). And his glory would not be sufficient to satisfy your everlasting longing for new discoveries of beauty. If you throw away the deity of Jesus Christ, you throw away your soul and with it all your joy in the age to come. So we have seen (1) the time of his existence (before all time), (2) the essence of his identity (“the Word was God”), and (3) his relationship to God (“the Word was with God”). And now we close with his relationship to the world. “He was in the be-ginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.” The Word who became flesh and dwelt among us, taught us, healed us, rebuked us, protected us, loved us, and died for us creat-ed the universe. Don’t let yourself diminish the majesty of the work of Christ as Creator. He was the Father’s agent, or Word, in the creation of all things. But in doing it, he was God. God, the Word, created the world. Your Savior, your Lord, your Friend — Jesus is your Maker. “Christ was not made. That is what it means to be God.”

- an extract from John Piper at desiringgod.org

SOME OBSERVATIONS ABOUT JESUS


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The concept of “blind faith” is a recent invention, found no-where in Scripture. If you go back to God’s Word, you’ll find that the Hebrew word for faith, by its very definition, refers to a logical, robust, unwavering confidence in the truth. Chris-tians, especially six-day cre-ationists, are often accused of

blind faith. Is this fair? What is meant by blind faith? Indeed, what is faith?Hebrews defines faith as “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). As Jesus explained it to Thomas: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). So faith, as commended in God’s Word, is being sure about something that wasn’t witnessed firsthand (including cre-ation, Hebrews 11:3), or that cannot be seen now, or that is yet to be revealed. By this definition, all faith is blind! If we can see something, then faith is no longer operative. The fact is that every-body has faith of sorts. Evolutionists have faith in their version of origins, subway passengers trust a train driver’s skills, and children believe they’ll get gifts at Christmas. All are relying on something unseen. Some faith may be unwarranted, and no doubt this is what’s meant by blind faith. In contrast, the Christian faith is both reasonable and justified. It is founded firstly and primarily upon God’s con-sistent and reliable Word. And while it doesn’t re-quire external proof, it is entirely compatible with physical evidences. God may be invisible, but His qualities are clearly seen in nature (Romans 1:20). The very language of the Hebrew Old Testament reveals that our faith is intrinsically linked to truth. The two words for faith and truth—emu-nah and emet—are even sometimes translated interchangeably in different Bible versions. Both

Hebrew words derive from the same root, aman, meaning “firmness, certainty, reliability.” So rather than being nebulous, biblical faith—like truth—is sure and certain. An integral part of emet is re-liability and faithfulness, even though the word is most often translated “truth.” Biblical truth stands firm over time like the temple’s pillars, om-not (“firm supports”), another word derived from aman (see 2 Kings 18:16).Ironically, it’s actually human philosophies and theories that are nebulous, not biblical faith. Jesus said that those who ignore His teachings, whether in their thinking or behavior, are like houses built on sand, destined to collapse (Matthew 7:24–27). In contrast, those who live according to “the truth” (John 14:6), like houses on bedrock, can endure all hardships faithfully. Indeed, a key element of emunah often translated “faith” Is faith-full-ness: persistent trust in God and His promises, no matter what. We see examples of emunah in the woman with long-term bleeding (Matthew 9:22), the Canaanite woman whose daughter was demon-oppressed (Matthew 15:28), and blind Bartimaeus (Mark 10:52). They believed and per-sisted. Jesus commended such faith. He likened faith to a mustard seed (Matthew 17:20) because, though it may start small, with faithful nurture it can grow to achieve big things for God’s glory. A further derivative of aman is amen. In saying “Amen” af-ter a prayer or statement, we endorse its truthful-ness and confirm our agreement with it. A fitting translation is “Sure!”God is the Rock, and He never changes (Malachi 3:6). He is totally trustworthy, always fulfilling His promises. He is El emunah (Deuteronomy 32:4) and El emet (Psalm 31:5)—“God of faithfulness” and “God of truth.” Thus, faith in our reliable God and the truth of His Word is both well-founded and reasonable. Amen!

- John C. P. Smith

BLIND FAITH

“It is fashionable in some academic circles to exercise scholarly criticism of the Bible. In so doing, scholars place themselves above the Bible and seek to correct it. If indeed the Bible is the Word of God, nothing could be more arrogant. It is God who corrects us; we don’t correct Him. We do not stand over God but under Him.” - R.C. Sproul.

The true contemplative is not one who prepares his mind for a particular message that he wants or expects to hear, but is one who remains empty because he knows that he can never expect to anticipate the words that will trans-form his darkness into light. He does not even anticipate a special kind of transformation. He does not demand light instead of darkness. He waits on the Word of God in silence, and, when he is answered it is not so much by a word that bursts into his silence. It is by his silence itself, suddenly, inexplicably revealing itself to him as a word of great power, full of the voice of God. - Thomas Merton.

HOW TO COMBAT BIBLICAL ILLITERACYIN THE CHURCH

Biblical illiteracy has become an epidemic. People, sadly including many professing Chris-tians, simply don’t know what the Bible teaches and often hold to unbiblical or even heretical beliefs. What can parents, pastors, and Sunday school teachers do to combat biblical illiteracy? Here are a few ideas for how to instill a biblical worldview in the young people under your in-fluence. Don’t assume people know the gospel and other fundamentals. We tend to assume that young people who’ve grown up in the church under-stand the gospel and other biblical doctrines—but you can’t assume this! Research, such as that mentioned at the beginning of this article, has shown that many professing Christians don’t even understand the basics of the gospel mes-sage, let alone other doctrines. Weave the gos-pel into your sermons or teaching moments.Teach the whole gospel. Don’t just focus on one aspect of the gospel, such as the Cross or the Resurrection. Teach the whole gospel from be-ginning to end—including the bad news about our sin nature that begins in Genesis.Don’t teach just “Bible stories.” Teaching God’s Word as “stories” can unintentionally imply that God’s Word is nothing but a fairy tale or that it is less than authoritative. Teach the accounts in Scripture as real history, just as the Bible itself does. And help people to understand how these accounts teach us theology and doctrine. They don’t just teach us to be brave like David or for-giving like Joseph—they teach us things about God and his plan throughout history.Teach the whole Bible. On this side of the Cross, we often find the New Testament easier to un-

derstand than the Old Testament, because it is full of seemingly foreign concepts like sacrifice and Levitical law. But these are foundational concepts to the New Testament teachings about Christ and what he did for us. The Old Testa-ment is part of our Bible for a very good reason, and we need to teach the Old Testament equally as New Testament.Encourage and answer questions. Christianity is a reasoned faith with answers to the skepti-cal questions of our day. Encourage your young people to ask questions. If you don’t know the answer, tell them that and promise to follow up—and then do! You’ll both learn something!People should know what the Bible says and to live by it. People are leaving the church large-ly because of unanswered questions about the Christian faith; there is a dire need to equip be-lievers and churches. One of the means would be Sunday school curriculum that goes through the Bible chronologically and includes in-depth teaching, apologetics, and theology. In our back ground Basic Christian Communities and the discussion and sharing that happens within the gathering hours would be one of the best means to strengthen our basic faith. Faith orientation in family by regular prayers and frequenting to church activities and spiritual activities also would be a means to grow in our spiritual lit-eracy. Because those would be an occasion not just for prayers alone but also draw strength and knowledge from our dear saintly persons those whom we admire and venerate. Whose life style that marked thousands and thousands of people to lead a better. Life.

-Extracted and edited from Avery Foley


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WHAT HAPPENED IN OUR CULTURE?Point Community Church in Georgia, was interviewed. He was asked, What would you do if you were the “Pope” of the entire evangelical church? He replied:I would ask preachers, pas-tors, and student pastors in their communication to get the spotlight off the Bible and back on the resurrection. Let’s get people’s attention back on Jesus as soon as possible, that the issue for us is always who is Jesus, [and] did He rise from the dead? And that we would influence the authority we have in the resurrection as opposed to Scripture, not be-cause I don’t believe Scripture’s inspired in terms of reaching this culture.”Now I have heard Pastor Stan-ley make similar statements about the Bible over the years. But what he wants to see hap-pen in our churches is very dif-ferent from what I have been seeking in 40 years of creation, the apologetics ministry. How would I answer the question Pastor Stanley was asked? Well, my response is found in what I have been saying in my public talks recently: God’s Word warns us in 2Corinthi-ans 11:3 that the Devil is going

to use the same attack as he did on Eve to get people not to be-lieve the things of God. When we go to Genesis 3 verse 1, we find this first attack was on the authority of the very Word of God. I call it “the Genesis 3 at-tack” of our day. The devil said to Eve, “Did God Really Say?” This first attack (which was successful) was to get Adam and Eve to doubt Him and then not believe the Word of God. We are warned by God’s Word through the Apostle Paul that the Devil will use this same attack on us and our children and friends. The attack will be directed at the Word of God. I then continue in my talks to explain the attack further: The Devil is very clever. In a sense, he has been saying the follow-ing to the church: You can go on and teach your kids about

Jesus and the Resurrection, and about miracles like walk-ing on water, feeding thou-sands, healing the blind and the lame, and raising the dead. You can teach them about the miracles of the Israelites cross-ing the Red Sea and Jordan River, and of Jonah living in a fish for three days and so on. The Devil might continue: Yes, teach these Bible accounts. But I’m going to attack the in-tegrity of the Word. While you may teach them the wonderful Bible accounts, I’m going to work hard to get them not to believe the Book, the Word, from which these accounts come. And once they don’t believe the Book, they won’t believe any of those accounts and their messages anyway. That’s exactly what I believe has happened in the culture. Whether it’s through the pub-lic education system (most kids from church homes at-tend government-run schools, the media, or even through compromised teaching in churches, the Devil has been able to convince generations of people that the written Word cannot be trusted—particular-ly beginning with the book of Genesis.

A DOUBTING GENERATIONWhen I have asked audiences how many of them have heard questions and statements like the following, usually all the hands in the room go up: Who made God? This is a scientific age and science has dis-proved Genesis. Noah couldn’t fit the an-

imals on the Ark, so it couldn’t have really happened. Where did Cain get his wife? Doesn’t carbon dating disprove the Bible? The Bible doesn’t explain dinosaurs. What about all the ape-men? And the “races”?

Now, the Apostles Peter and Paul wouldn’t have heard such objections to the Bible. They did not have to deal with such “Genesis 3 attack questions.” In this era, however, the questions and statements above relate to the fact that the historicity of Genesis has been undermined for many generations. This generation is facing even more Genesis 3 attacks. By and large, government schools present evolution and

millions of years as fact. Such teaching has resulted in many young people doubting (and ultimately not believing) God’s Word. Sadly, most Christian families and churches have not been teaching creation and general biblical apologetics (al-though increasing numbers of families are beginning to re-alize the importance of doing this).Because generations have not been taught to defend the

Christian faith and thus don’t understand they can trust the Word, they have also rejected the primary message of the Word: salvation through Jesus Christ. And numerous per-sonals have left the church. Indeed generation that doubts are a major issue.Which can only dealt and solved by proper knowledge and vibrant combatant those can withstand devil.

We recognize that the focus of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation is on a Savior, Jesus Christ. It’s the most

vital message in the universe for us to proclaim. Because of our sin, God’s Son became the God-man to pay the penalty for our sin by dying on the Cross and being raised from the dead. But think about it: where do we get the message of salvation and the message of who Jesus is and His Resurrection? We find them in the written Word. How do we find out about our need for salvation? From the written Word. How do we find out what sin is and why we are sinners? From the written Word.I’m reminded of the account of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16. They both died, and Lazarus went to be with Abraham while the rich man went to a place of torment. The rich man want-ed to send a warning to his surviving brothers. He asked for Lazarus to return from the dead to tell them. He believed this would convince the brothers. We then read:“I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him [Lazarus] to my father’s house, for I have five brothers that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.” Abraham said to him, “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.” And he said, “No, father Abraham;

but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.”But he said to him, “If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.” (Luke 16:27–31) Many of our Christian leaders seem to be obliv-ious to what’s been taught in the education sys-tem and media. They apparently aren’t aware that, as a result, increasing numbers in this generation do not believe the writings of Moses (particularly Genesis). They don’t understand why we are losing teens and young adults from the church. The exodus of young people from our churches has already happened. One of the major contrib-uting factors to this exodus is that much of the church did not teach apologetics and ignored (or compromised with) what kids were being taught at school concerning evolution/millions of years. They just kept on teaching about the Resurrection alone; all the while the devil was indoctrinating young people not to believe the Book—from which the message of the Resur-rection comes. We need to answer the skeptical questions of the day, point people to the reliable Word of God, and preach the message of Jesus and the Resurrection!

- Ken Ham

FOCUS ON JESUS CHRIST THROUGH SCRIPTURE


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Some one told me that she was a Christian with a vigorous scientific background. She was sure that evolution was God’s mechanism for cre-ation. As a “novelty,” she decided to visit the Cre-ation Museum and hear about our fanciful and obviously wrong view of origins. But she told me, with a smile on her face, “It only took one trip!” You see, after a few hours at the museum, she was convinced of the truthfulness of God’s Word regarding origins. She also declared that it had dramatically affected the way she viewed the rest of the Bible. Someone told me that he was absolutely thrilled there was a place like the Creation Museum that spoke the truth so clearly and boldly! His joy, however, was tempered by a heavy distress. He said, “There were times as I was going through the museum that I just wept. I wept because so many people, especially where I live, desperately need to hear this!”What makes the Creation Museum, Ark Encoun-ter, and the message so powerful? And why are these two outreaches so inspiring to Christians and infuriating to atheists? Two words: biblical authority.The idea that the Bible is authoritative and that there is a Creator God is tremendously problem-atic for the atheist or any nonbeliever. If there is a Creator, that means he made us, he owns every-thing, he sets the rules, and everyone is account-able to him. He is the judge of us all. Sinful man hates these ideas and suppresses the

obvious truth of a Creator (Romans 1). A well-known outspoken atheist recently visited the Museum with the publicly expressed purpose of mocking it. As we expected, his comments were derogatory, misleading, and at times out-right dishonest. But (apart from a working of the Holy Spirit) that’s what we should expect from a God-hater like him (2 Peter 3:3–7). The unbe-liever dismisses biblical authority and rejects out of hand the notion of a Creator.For the believer, however, the message of biblical authority that what we boldly proclaim is won-derfully empowering. It directly counters the modern attack on God’s Word, which has also subtly eroded many Christians’ confidence to stand on God’s Word. For generations, Christians have been deluged with the message that the Bible can’t be trusted in this “scientific age.” As a result, many believers have either compromised the Bible’s clear teach-ing in Genesis or have been embarrassed into silence. The revelation that the Bible’s plain his-tory is true, that real science confirms historical events in the Bible, and that Christians have solid answers to the skeptical questions of this age is absolutely revolutionary! Their faith in Scripture is revitalized, and they become inspired to sur-render to all of God’s Word and discover a new-found boldness to proclaim the gospel to a lost and dying world!

-Extracted from Bryan Osborne

Everything that exists, including us humans are molded through the Word. The Word that in-fused the life of God into creatures. The question arises, "what is the Word?" or "the Word of God" for that matter. The Bible in John 1:1 says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."We conclude the readings during the Holy Eu-charist by saying, "the Word of God," becasue we believe the Bible to be the most distinctive

piece of work, all alive and active. We believe in the power of God's word, as it can manifest great things. Pope Francis once said, "the Word of God is a dynamic and living reality that develops and grows because it is aimed at a fulfillment that none can halt." We Christians are bound to be bearers of the Word where we go into the world and proclaim the Good news.

-Sibia Augustine

“For no prophetic message ever came just from

the will of man, but men were under the control of the holy spirit as they spoke the mes-sages that came from God’’ (2Peter1:21) “Let it be with me according to your word (Lk 1: 38) Mary, obedient servant of the word Obedient to the father’s plan, the son of God came into the world to pro-claim the good news obedient to the angel’s message. Mary said “Yes and became the handmaid of the word. Mary, Doer of the word. How lovely on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news! Mary the bearer of good news,

goes with haste to the hill country of Judah to meet Eliza-beth. By her visit, Mary brings Joy to the home of the kins-women, Mary is also the model for the church which is called to reach out in the loving concern to those in need. For in doing in so we bring Christ to others. Let us pray that we may always be alert to the need of others Mary, Rejoiced with the Word. “The word brings us to the joy of the kingdom”. In this way the word of God, is planted by Christ as the seed of God’s kingdom, makes its way through human history. (2 Thes 3:1) when Jesus returned in glory that word will resound in an invitation to participate fully in the Joy of the kingdom (MK 25:24) in response to this

sure promise, the church cries out in ardent prayer “Marana-tha”.(1Cor 16:22) “Come Lord Jesus.” “The Word of God is alive and active sharper than any double edged sword. It cuts all the way through, to where soul spirit meet, to where joints and marrow come together. It judges the desires and thoughts of man’s heart.” (Heb 4:12) If you want to love God and grow in Him you must read the Bible daily, with the members of your family. You must med-itate on it, pray over it and live according to it. Mahatma Gandhi said “When I read the sermon on the Mount, I experience peace of mind and happiness inspires me in my spiritual and political life”

-Mrs. Rosy Boadita

“The day of the Nativity of the Mother of God is a day joy, because through the Mother of God, the entire human race was renewed, and the sor-row of the first mother, Eve, was transformed into joy.” Saint John Damascene on 8th Sept, the church joyfully sings Mary’s praises, “Your birth O virgin Mother of God, heralded a joy to all the world, from whom has risen the Sun of justice Christ our God.” We the sisters and pa-rishioners of St. Mary’s Parish, Gursarai thank Mother Mary, the patroness of our mission for her maternal protection and love that we expe-rience every day of our life. To express our love for our dear Mother Mary, we had prepared ourselves during the nine days of novena to cel-ebrate meaningfully her birthday. Fr. Franky helped us every day to reflect on the virtues of our dear Mother such as her humility, mediator of the humanity, the immaculate, the second Eve, the intercessor, her obedience to do the will of

God, her seven sorrows, Mary the model of the families, and Mary queen of heaven and earth. His inspiring thoughts helped us to draw more closer to her and love her dearly. On 8th Sep-tember we had solemn celebration of Mother Mary’s birthday, in the evening at 6.30pm we had procession with Mother Mary’s statue, carrying the lighted candles in our hands, praying the ro-sary and singing her praises we entered the tem-ple of God for the Holy Eucharistic celebration. After the Eucharistic celebration, we as St. Mary’s family had sumptuous agape together. After that each of us returned to their homes with grateful hearts, thanking the Almighty for the precious gift of Mother Mary as the patroness of our mis-sion. And a prayer to our dear Mother Mary... “Mother Mary help us be open to let thy light shine through me Mamma Mary teach me obe-dience, make me transparent like you.”

Sr Lavina

A MESSAGE THATINSPIRES AND INFURIATES

DYNAMIC AND LIVING REALITY

MARY IN THE SCRIPTURES

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS OF OUR MOTHER


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For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and pierc-ing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.The term "word of God" may mean a word spo-ken by God without a human mouthpiece. But in the New Testament it regularly means a word or a message that a human speaks on God's be-half. So, for example, in Hebrews 13:7 it says, "Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith." So the "word of God" in Hebrews 4:12 probably refers to the truth of God revealed in Scripture that humans speak to each other with reliance on God's help to understand it and apply it. "Living and active."The word of God is not a dead word or an inef-fective word. It has life in it. And because it has life in it, it produces effects. There is something about the Truth, as God has revealed it, that con-nects it to God as a source of all life and power. God loves his word. He is partial to his word. He honors his word with his presence and power. If you want your teaching or witness to have pow-er and produce effects, stay close to the revealed word of God. Sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow. What does this living and effective word do? It pierces. For what purpose? To divide. To divide what? Soul and spirit. What does that mean?The writer gives an analogy: it's like dividing joints and marrow. Joints are the thick, hard, out-er part of the bone. Marrow is the soft, tender, living, inner part of the bone. That is an analo-gy of "soul and spirit." The word of God is like a sword that is sharp enough to cut right through the outer, hard, tough part of a bone to the inner, soft, living part of the bone. Some swords, less sharp, may strike a bone and glance off and not penetrate. Some swords may penetrate part way

through the tough, thick joint of a bone. But a very sharp, powerful double-edged sword (sharp on each side of the point) will penetrate the joint all the way to the marrow."Soul and spirit" are like "bone joint and bone marrow." "Soul" is that invisible dimension of our life that we are by nature. "Spirit" is what we are by supernatural rebirth. Jesus said, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John 3:6). Without the awakening, creative, regenerating work of the Spirit of God in us we are merely "natural" rather than "spiritual" (1 Corinthians 2:14-15). So the "spirit" is that invisible dimension of our life that we are by the regenerating work of the Spirit. What then is the point saying that the "word of God" pierces to the "division of soul and spirit"? The point is that it's the word of God that re-veals to us our true selves. Are we spiritual or are we natural? Are we born of God and spiritually alive, or are we deceiving ourselves and spiritual-ly dead? Are the "thoughts and intentions of our heart" spiritual thoughts and intentions or only natural thoughts and intentions. Only the "word of God" can "judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart" as Hebrews 4:12 says.Practically speaking, when we read or hear "the word of God," we sense ourselves pierced. The effect of this piercing is to reveal whether there is spirit or not. Is there marrow and life in our bones? Or are we only a "skeleton" with no liv-ing marrow? Is there "spirit," or only "soul"? The word of God pierces deep enough to show us the truth of our thoughts and our motives and our selves. Give yourselves to this word of God in the Bible. Use it to know yourself and confirm your own spiritual life. If there is life, there will be love and joy and a heart to obey the word. Give yourself to this word so that your words be-come the word of God for others and reveal to them their own spiritual condition. Then in the wound of the word, pour the balm of the word.

- Pastor John“Our combat with the devil always should be with the consciousness that we have authority always should be with the consciousness that we have authority over him because he is a defeated foe – the Lord Jesus Christ defeated him for us.” - Kenneth E. Hagin.

In Psalm 119 we see at least three essential, ir-reducible characteristics we should believe about God’s word. Primarily, God’s word says what is true: Like the psalmist, we can trust in the word (v. 42), know-ing that it is altogether true (v. 142). We can’t trust everything we read on the Internet. We can’t trust everything we hear from our professors. We certainly can’t trust all the facts given by our poli-ticians. We can’t even trust the fact-checkers who check those facts! Statistics can be manipulated. Photographs can be faked. Magazine covers can be airbrushed. Our teachers, our friends, our sci-ence, our studies, even our eyes can deceive us. But the word of God is entirely true and always true: God’s word is firmly fixed in the heavens (v. 89); it doesn’t change. There is no limit to its perfection (v. 96); it contains nothing corrupt. All God’s righteous rules endure forever (v. 160); they never get old and never wear out.If you ever think to yourself, “I need to know what is true— what is true about me, true about people, true about the world, true about the fu-ture, true about the past, true about the good life, and true about God,” then come to God’s word. It teaches only what is true: “Sanctify them in the truth,” Jesus said; “your word is truth” (John 17:17).Secondly, God’s word demands what is right: The psalmist gladly acknowledges God’s right to issue commands and humbly accepts that all these commands are right. “I know, O Lord, that

your rules are righteous,” he says (Ps. 119:75). All God’s commandments are sure (v. 86). All his precepts are right (v. 128). I sometimes hear Christians admit that they don’t like what the Bi-ble says, but since it’s the Bible they have to obey it. On one level, this is an admirable example of submitting oneself to the word of God. And yet, we should go one step further and learn to see the goodness and rightness in all that God com-mands. We should love what God loves and de-light in whatever he says. God does not lay down arbitrary rules. He does not give orders so that we might be restricted and miserable. He never requires what is impure, unloving, or unwise. His demands are always noble, always just, and always righteous.Is the Bible reliable, authoritative, or even necessary? Thirdly, God’s word provides what is good; Ac-cording to Psalm 119, the word of God is the way of happiness (vv. 1–2), the way to avoid shame (v. 6), the way of safety (v. 9), and the way of good counsel (v. 24). The word gives us strength (v. 28) and hope (v. 43). It provides wisdom (vv. 98–100, 130) and shows us the way we should go (v. 105). God’s verbal revelation, whether in spoken form in redemptive history or in the covenantal doc-uments of redemptive history (i.e., the Bible), is unfailingly perfect. As the people of God, we be-lieve the word of God can be trusted in every way to speak what is true, command what is right, and provide us with what is good.

-Kevin DeYoungBible Quiz for Children – 15

Learning the Word of God – Gospel according to John1. What was the occasion when Jesus multiplied the loaves ?2. To whom did Jesus say ‘Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat ?’3. Who told Jesus that there was a lad who had five barley loaves and a couple of fish ?4. How many baskets of left over pieces were collected by the disciples ?5. “This is undoubtedly the prophet who is to come into the world” who said this ?6. What other miracle is mentioned in Chapter 6 ?7. Who said the following , to whom was it said ? a) “You should not be working for perishable food but for food that remains into life eternal.” b) “Sir, give us this bread always.” c) “Is this not Jesus the son of Joseph ?” d) “I myself am the living bread, if anyone eats this bread he shall live forever.” e) “Will you also go away?” f) “Lord, to whom shall we go. You have the words of eternal life.”

PIERCED BY THE WORD OF GOD THINGS WE MUST BELIEVE ABOUT GOD'S WORD3


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Over 6,000 years ago, a “door” was shut to a garden. Because Adam sinned, God sent Adam and Eve out of the Garden: Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—there-

fore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life (Genesis 3:22–24).Because of Genesis 3:15, we understand that God told Adam and Eve that someone would come to open the “door,” leading back to the Tree of Life: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15).In the Old Testament, prophets predicted that this someone would come: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). We also un-derstand that when God told Noah to place one door in the side of the Ark, so that those who went through that door would be saved from the judg-ment of the Flood, this door was a picture of the one who would come to open the “door,” for he “set the door of the ark in its side” (Genesis 6:16).At Christmastime, we especially remember (as we should every day of the year) that this some-one has come and has opened the door. God’s Son stepped into history as the Babe in the manger so that as Jesus Christ, the Godman, he would suf-fer the penalty for our sin in Adam (i.e., death) by

dying on the Cross. He then rose from the dead, conquering death, and now offers the free gift of salvation to those who receive it. The following verses about Christ come to mind: For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger (Luke 2:11–12). Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3–4). That if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (Ro-mans 10:9). I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture (John 10:9).Yes, God’s Son opened a “door” so that all who go through this door and receive the free gift of salva-tion shall be saved, and will once again have access to the Tree of Life and live with our Creator and Savior forever: “He who has ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who con-quers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God” (Revelation 2:7).Furthermore, “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates” (Revelation 22:14). There is only one way to heav-en—only one door that people go through to be saved and have access to the Tree of Life: “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no oth-er name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).The “door” is open for all who will receive the free gift of salvation. One day, however, that door will shut, just as God shut the door to the Ark. This Christmas season, bring family and friends and near ones to celebrate Christmas with us and learn about the Babe, our Creator and Savior (Colos-sians 1), who opened the “door.”

- Ken Ham

“There have been prophets and students who handle the Bible like a child’s box of bricks; they explain to us the design and structure and purpose; but as time goes on things do not work out in their way at all. They have mistak-en the scaffolding for the structure, while all the time God is working out His purpose with a great and undeterred patience.” - Oswald Chambers.

The words of Jesus have stood the test of time and continue to change lives on a daily basis. One of the most influential people in your life is someone you’ve actually never met face-to-face. You’ve nev-er completed the obligatory hand shake with this man, but his presence is life changing and influ-ences your life on a daily basis. I am referring to the man upstairs, of course. You pray to him ev-ery day and request his guidance during times of struggle and uncertainty. The Bible has helped the most depressed people come out of their darkness and acted as the foundation for those who need reinforcement. John 8:21-32 “If you abide in my Word, then you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” It’s im-portant to decipher between the truth and falsities that lie within the world. Others living a lie will face the consequences sooner or later. It’s import-ant to know what battles you should fight and the other quarrels that do not require your physical efforts. Always stay true to your values and allow others to find their own way.Isaiah 55:10-11 “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flour-ish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will ac-complish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” The words and world that God created all have a purpose – they bring forth life. The existence of life changes everything and pro-

vides a foundation for progress. The Bible allows us to see ourselves from the Lord’s perspective. Through scripture we’re able to identify the power of life and death – and we’re able to see past the obstacles that are placed in our path.Philippians 1:6 NLT “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will contin-ue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” In order for God's words to mean something, you must reacquaint yourself with the Bible. The Lord’s words must become personal and custom to your life. Once you can apply the scriptures to specificities, you’ll find a newfound outlook on faith and life. Placing Jesus first will help you hone in on what’s really important and what elements are crucial for a hap-py life. Jeremiah 31:3 “I have loved you, my peo-ple, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love, I have drawn you to myself.” No matter where you stand within your faith, God will always be waiting for you with arms wide open. You can never do anything to truly push God away because he will always forgive and point you towards salvation. Be honest with yourself and your Lord and Savior.Luke 1:37 “For nothing will be impossible with God.” Even though we doubt ourselves from time-to-time, God will never believe that anything is impossible. The Lord’s glory is powerful and can produce the most miraculous things. God doesn’t have anything to prove and that solidifies that his acts are products of grace. It’s comforting to know that God, no matter what you’re facing, Jesus is on your side.

- extract from beliefnet

THE BABE WHO OPNED THE DOOR Inspiring Words from God that will Change Your Life

Computer Quiz for All - 81) How much space in minimum must be provided between columns? a. 0"., b. 0.5". c. 1"., d. 1.5".2) What is the smallest width of a column? a. 0"., b. 0.5"., c. 1"., d. 1.5".3) By default, your document prints with: a. 1 inch top and bottom margins., b. a portrait orientation., c. 1.25 inches left and right margins., d. all of the above. 4) Word is preset to use standard 8.5-by-11-inch paper with ___ margins. a. 1-inch left, right, top, and bottom., b. 1.25- inch left, right, top, and bottom., c. 1.25-inch left and right margins and 1-inch top and bottom., d. 1-inch left and right margins and 1.25-inch top and bottom., 5) What is the default left margin in Word 2003 document? a. 1"., b. 1.25"., c. 1.5"., d. 2". - Bharat.


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From the DevoteesI express my gratitude to St Jude for interceding for my younger brother for getting a job, and for all the favors received for me and for the good health of my daddy and mom.

- Christina Mathew.

Thank you for all the Blessings and favors bestowed on our family. We thank you for helping our daughter Gil-lian who go admission to a college in Toronto, passed her medicals and got the visa. A big thank you to St Jude for obtaining all the favors from the Lord.

- George and Debra Martin, Mumbai

We prayed for our granddaughter Riya for the recovery from urinary problem without any operations and our prayers are being heard and she is discharged from the hospital. Thank You St Jude for granting our prayers and Blessing Riya.

- a devotee.

My grateful thanks to St Jude for healing me of a skin allergy and other health problems. Please continue to bless me and my family and keep us all in good health.

-Colleen Scott, Jabalpur.

My daughter Pinky Varghese was weak in studies, af-ter praying to St Jude Thaddeus she scored 72.4%. But this did not help to get admission in any colleges. finally with prayers and intercessions she got the admission in St. Xavier's College Ahmedabad. But there too the prin-cipal gave time period of one week only. We enquired the school and postal service. But the mark sheet did not arrive. We could only pray. Finally a day before the mark sheet was arrived, and the admission was secured. This was an unbelievable miracle that happened in our life. I thank You my Christ and St Jude Thaddeus for blessing our family and being with us in every difficult situations. Amen.

-Reena Varghese, Bharuch, Gujarat.

For all the favors received from God through St Jude at Jhansi, I express my gratitude. The life situations and the struggles are so tiresome and burdening. Still I get strength and encouragement from thin air like. And I know and believe that it's not from thin air, but the Lord alone through the intercession of Mother Mary and St Jude.

- a devotee

Concerns and problems flood our minds. There is always so much to do! But, God wants the very best for you but you just have to know how to recognize it and lay hold of it. If you’ve ever said to yourself, “I don’t even have time to think,” then you know how hard it is to concentrate when you’re being bombarded from all sides. It’s even harder to focus on God when we can’t take time to renew our minds and refresh our spirits by quiet reflection. God doesn’t often shout to get our attention. Instead, He usually speaks to us in “a still small voice” (1 Kings 19:12).It may be a room in your house, outside under the trees, or some other place where you can shut out the noise and distractions of the world for just a few precious minutes. The key to renewing your mind, body and spirit is to develop the habit and discipline of meditating on the Word of God every day — even if it is for just a moment.To meditate simply means to reflect on the same thing over and over again, visualize it and let the meaning of it sink deep down into your heart. The key is to draw on God’s wisdom found in the Scriptures. In fact, the Bible is filled with the blessings and benefits of meditating on its prin-ciples. I have four of these benefits that I want to share with you today:1. Meditating on God’s Word will give you spiri-tual success. God told Joshua, “Study this Book of the Law continually. Meditate on it day and night so you may be sure to obey all that is writ-ten in it. Only then will you succeed” (Joshua 1:8,). God’s definition of success in life is to know Him better. One way we do that is to read and understand His Word!2. Meditating on God’s Word will help you keep your heart right before Him. “The word of God is living and active. Sharper than any dou-ble-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). We need to evaluate our thoughts, deeds

and motives each day, confessing any wrong at-titudes or actions (1 John 1:9). The Bible gives us clear direction on how to live. It is a mirror that accurately shows us where our hearts really are.3. Meditating on God’s Word will give you in-sights and wisdom that will guide you at every turn in your life. “I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes” (Psalm 119:99). There is supernatural wisdom that comes from meditating on God’s Word. It will strengthen you, guide you and give you hope and victory in every situation!4. Meditating on Scripture will help you fill your mind with the things of God. “Fix your thoughts on what is true and good and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely, and dwell on the fine, good things in others. Think about all you can praise God for and be glad about” (Philippi-ans 4:8). Since we can only think about one thing at a time, meditating on God’s love and goodness leaves no room for wrong thinking. There are in-credible riches available when we invest in our relationship with God by spending time in His life-giving Word. We have God’s promise that, “No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11). This Scripture tells us that the Lord has good things waiting for you, but you have to do your part ... you have to walk uprightly. We walk uprightly when we live according to the principles of His Word.Let me encourage you to find a quiet place where you can be still, hear the voice of the Lord and gain the strength you need to fight the good fight of faith. Take time every day in God’s presence, praying and filling your mind with Scripture. The exciting thing about meditating on God’s Word is that even when you leave your quiet place and start another busy day, your mind and spirit are still processing what you read — i.e., the benefits of meditating on Scripture influence your whole day!

-Joel Osteen

“The name of the Lord Jesus, and His Word is powerful as the two edged sword that can cut through the face of the earth and bring man to subjection to His Kingdom which is pregnant to be established. The pains of labor is being felt and will intensify in the years to come and the moment will come for us to meet our Bridegroom Christ Himself.” - Henrietta Newton Martin

CONSECRATED LIFEconsecratedlifethatIamgifted;BeforemybirthinDivineplan,BeforehiswillIsurrender,

Beholdhiscaremorethanalovingmother!

consecratedlifethatIamgiftedBelongsnotformealone,butforall,Belongstotheneedytosharewithall,

Beyondtheboundariesforall.

consecratedlifethatIamgiftedConsecratesnotmylifealone,

Butthewholeworldtobeblessed,Beyondthenarrowmindedcastandcreed.

consecratedlifethatIamgifted;Consecratesnotmylifealone,

Butthewholeworldtobeblessed,beyondthenarrowmindedcastandcreed.

ConsecratedlifethatI'mgifted;Thegreatestonearthandheaven,Behold,bytheDivineMercy,

BestbymyLordJesustheSavior!-FrVincentAlbert.

THOUGHTS FOR LIFE

Wehavejustenoughreligiontomakeushate,

butnotenoughtomakeusloveoneanother.

---Moneyislost,nothingislost,courageislost,muchislost,honorislost,mostislost,soulislost,allislost.

---Lifeisaforeignlanguage:mostofusmispronounceit.

-SharedbyLesliePingfu

LIFE IS OFTEN NOISY AND FULL OF DISTRACTIONS - MEDITATE ON GOD'S WORD

| JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2018 | The Voice of St. JudeThe Voice of St. Jude

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Answers to the Bible Quiz: 1)The feast of the Passover 2) Philip 3)Andrew 4)12 5) The people 6) Jesus walking on the sea 7a) Jesus to the crowd b) People to Jesus c) The Jews among themselves d)Jesus to the Jews e) Jesus to the twelve f) Peter to JesusAnswers to Computer Quiz:

16 - A 17 - B 18 - D 19 - C 20 - B

The Voice of St. Jude

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The Voice of St. Jude

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january - february 2018 the voice of st. jude jan... · the voice of st. jude january - february...

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