He Is My All In All!

It Is Not About ME, But It Is All About HIM

By Abraham Israel

Many times when we do the work of God, we tend to lose our focus and start to think that if we don't do the work of God, God cannot do much. It is a religious thinking that has crept in to our mind because of a lack of perpetual relationship with God. Whenever we take our eyes of Jesus and focus on the work we do for God, the very work we do for God becomes a religious idol to us. Our God is a very jealous God and he doesn't like us to have idols instead of a pure devoted heart towards Him (James 4:5). So one should be ready for chastisement from God if we don't really repent from such proud attitude.

Such thinking also makes a man to boast and brag about his work before God, it makes his head get puffed up with pride like a ballon ready to burst. Pride always comes before some kind of destruction hits us (Prov 16:18; 18:12). The destruction always will come concealed in the shape of strife, division and finally shame (Pro 11:2; 13:10).

Elijah is such a classical example for this type of people, the work he did zealously for God became an idol to him because of a hidden wrong attitude that hid itself in his heart. Elijah challenged the false prophets of the pagan god of Baal to prove their god as a true one by bringing fire from heaven to consume a sacrifice of bull on the altar. These false prophets were supported by the king's wife who was an idolater, who also promoted it throughout the nation of Israel at that time and were making the men of Israel to be unfaithful in their devotion towards their God of Israel (1 Kings 18:20-29). The false prophets miserably failed but Elijah succeeded. Elijah prayed one of the most simple and the greatest prayer of all time to bring the fire of God to consume the sacrifice on the altar that he built according to the perfect requirement of God. When the people saw the fire fall from heaven to consume the burnt sacrifice, the wood, the stones, the dust and lick the water that was in the trench, they fell on their faces and shouted, “The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!” (1 Kings 18:30-39). Here we see Elijah bringing one of the greatest fire revival that drew the hearts of the children of Israel towards their godly forefathers and turned their godly forefather's heart toward that present generation of the children of Israel (Malachi 4:5-4). Elijah was so zealous for God that he immediately commanded the devoted men of Israel to seize the prophets of Baal and kill all the false prophets according to the law of God, then he took them all and executed them, there at a Brook named Kishon (1 Kings 18:40; Deut 18:9-14, 20; 13:1-3, 5-18). Here Elijah the prophet did all right things that was commanded in the law before the sight of the Lord, but still at this time a little bit of pride was hidden in his heart which only God knew. A person can do what is right before the sight of the Lord, but without a loyal heart of humility which God loves and requires His servants to have while working for Him (2 Chronicles 25:2). When we work for God, God sees the motives that drive us to work for Him and rewards us according to it (1 Samuel 16:7; 1 Cor 3:15; 4:5; 1 Thess 2:4; 2 Cor 5:9-10).

Elijah was doing all these things under the instruction of God (1 Kings 18:1). Then Elijah prayed another greatest prayer of faith and preseverence for the rain to come to the drought hit land of Israel (James 5:15-18). There was no single drop of rain for nearly three years and six months, inspite of the bone dry surrounding circumstance, Elijah was able to hear through his spiritual ears of faith the abundance of rain and declare it boldly to the God-appointed highest kingly authority. Then Elijah persevered in prayer until a small hand size cloud came up in visiblity, with that hand size cloud Elijah boldly sent his servant and declared to King Ahab to go before the rain stops him. But the king Ahab was a man living by his sight and not by faith, so he rode away only when the sky became black with clouds and wind, with heavy rain to follow (2 Cor 5:7). That day Ahab must have really felt what it means to ride through in rain storm, he must have really felt bad for his delay to obey the prophet's word. Then the supernatural hand of the Lord came upon Elijah to supernaturally run ahead of Ahab the king who was riding his chariot in full throttle speed (1 Kings 18:41-46). All these things were of the supernatural order in the life of Elijah the prophet. It is indeed a glorious time of spiritual revival at its zenith, in the history of the nation of Israel and in the life of Elijah the prophet. But now after all these glorious works, the Lord wanted to deal that spiritual religious pride in the heart of this great prophet who has brought a revival of the highest order in the life of the nation of Israel.

This chastisement to Elijah came through a woman named Jezebel, she sent word through a messenger to Elijah the prophet threatening to kill him the next day. The man who had turned whole nation of Israel towards God by slaughtering 450 false prophets of Baal the false god, suddenly was gripped with fear and ran for his life like a coward. What a pity. God did not want His servant to continue with the same religious prideful attitude sitting in his heart unaware, so God allowed this in Elijah's life. Elijah went to the point of praying a suicidal prayer to God saying, "Take my life out, let me die. It is enough! I am not better than my fathers!". Here was the pride of Elijah peeping its head out of him saying that he has done great things for God like his fathers the prophets and he is also boasting that he is not better than them to live without dying in such opposition against God from his enemies. But God was faithfully and supernaturally taking care of his servant by giving him very high protein supernatural heavenly food through an angel. This teaches us that tough we are chastised by God through our enemies, still we are provided with all our needs of sustenance.

Then Elijah went in to a cave and hid himself in it. There God met Elijah and told him to come out of the cave hiding and stand out on the mountain. Then the Lord passed before him. Elijah thought God was in the mighty demonstration that he did before people, but God wanted to prove to Elijah that he had depended upon his mighty demonstration of the work and have forgotten to think about the Lord as a person who sees the heart motives of all men to reward them. Then the LORD passed by and , "...a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. 13 So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”" (1 Kings 19:11-13). When the Lord proved to Elijah that he was not pleased in the mighty works that Elijah did because he had religious pride still sitting in his heart, Elijah became angry towards the Lord and wanted to shut his ears to the Lord's voice. Then pride came out of him finally and he said to the LORD, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts; because the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.” (1 Kings 19:14). The Lord did not immediately give Elijah the answer, but he wanted him to be a humble and obedient servant of Him. So the Lord instructed Elijah to go and do the assignment that he wanted him to further do, once Elijah heard the word of the Lord with humility then immediately God gave an humbling answer to Elijah's prideful question. God said, "Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.” (1 Kings 19:18). It must have been greatly humiliating to hear the truth when God revealed this truth to Elijah. This must have really shattered Elijah's prideful mindset of exclusivity. Praise God that a humble attitude of Christlikeness at least returned to Elijah at the end of this ordeal for the GLORY OF GOD!

Many times God will take us through chastisement and will finally make us to learn the truths of God when we get humbled before him. It is better to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God in His presence (1 Peter 5:6; James 4:8-9), than to fall in to destruction mode and then learn the truth after much humiliation before Him. The bottom line is, 'It is not about us, it is all about what Christ has done for us that should make us to work for him in gratitude. We should never ever forget that we are restored and blessed with HIS ANOINTING to WORK FOR HIM because of JESUS' sacrifice for us, not because of our goodness, special ability and qualification. Though we are weak and having not much ablity of our own to be successful in this competitive world, yet God has chosen us to fool the people who boast about their ability in this world. This was done so that we might not glory in ourselves from our achievement, but glory in the LORD (1 Cor 1:26-31). God has chosen us not because of our ability but because of our availability. Like Paul the apostle may we learn to say, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." (Gal 2:20). This is what it means to acknowledge the true grace of God working in and through us. May the Lord bring out all the prideful attitude that is hidden in our hearts out of us and make us be devoted to HIS CAUSE for the GLORY OF GOD! Praise the Lord!

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Is Hell Real Or Reel? Is Hell Open Now?

Is There A Real Hell Right Now Somewhere Or It Will Come In The Future?

Question : Is HELL REAL OR REEL? Is hell open now? I think hell will become a reality only after the last Judgement. Can U pls give some reference from the Bible, that hell is already open?

Answer : The place under the earth is 'sheol' in Hebrew [i.e. abode of the dead spirits until the day of white throne judgment] and 'Hades' in Greek.

The righteous section of the Hades where Lazarus was sitting in Abraham's Bosom has been emptied by the Lord Jesus (Luke 16:19-31), it happened after the resurrection of Jesus where he took the captivity captive to the heavenly city of Zion (Eph 4:8; Matt 27:52-53; Heb 12:22-24). But the unrighteous section is still there and it will be present there until the day of White Throne Judgment (Rev 20:11-14). When the Bible says clearly that Hades or Sheol is in "the lower parts of the earth" (Eph 4:9, b), we have got to believe it whether we have evidence of it or not.

Sheol or Hades hell is open now and is taking unbelieving people in to it. It will take in unbeliever's until the day of White Throne Judgment take place after the Millennium rule of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, ‎"...wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction [of Hell], and there are many who go in by it." (Matt 7:13). The gate of Sheol and Hades hell is wide open and many are entering in to it daily day after day as Jesus Himself has said in the above verse.

From the example of Jesus we see that the rich man who was a unbeliever was taken straight to Sheol or hades hell (Luke 16:22-23) and it has not changed ever since Jesus told. If it has not been open, this rich unbeliever would have stayed in the grave instead of going to Hades hell. No apostles anywhere else in the Bible altered this under the inspiration and it shows that what Jesus has told is more than enough for us to depend on. Until Judgment Day [the Last Great Day] comes, according to the Bible - all dead sinners go to this temporary kind of "hell" called "Sheol" or "Hades" [not Gehenna which is Eternal Hell]... which is also metaphorically spoken by the preacher as "... the grave, whither thou goest." (Eccle.9:10). The Bible says, "Do not put YOUR trust in nobles, Nor in the son of earthling man, to whom no salvation belongs. His spirit goes out, he goes back to his ground; In that day his thoughts do perish." (Psalm 146:3-4). This above verse clearly describes that the dust return to the ground, which means literally we get buried and our physical body gets decayed after some time. Then it says that the spirit goes out. Where? It goes to the nether place where dead unbelieving spirit are kept in prison by the Lord. Beneath it is a bottomless pit where disobedient angels who have rebelled and possessed people during Noah time are kept (Jude 6; 2 Peter 2:4). In this same bottomless pit Satan will be bound for a thousand years during which we the saints along with Jesus will rule the earth in peace and righteousness (Rev 20:1-3, 4-6). Originally Hell was intended by God only for the Devil and his angels, but when man joined in the rebellion with the devil and his angels against God, they too go to that place where they will be tormented eternally being separated from the goodness of God's Presence because of their own choice. On the day man dies all his plans perish. Once we die, we are in the spiritual domain of God. No man can escape that Sheol or Hades hell (Matt 10:28).

Sheol or Hades hell is temporary until the seven thousand years get over and then the final White Throne Judgment take place for all the spirits in Hades hell to be judged according to their works (Rev 20:11-13). In this Sheol or Hades hell, there will be torment to the conscious soul of man due to lack of God's Presence. Once a soul is dumped in this place, their spiritual eyes will be opened and they will be able to see themselves with their conscious soul without their physical body. There will be severe thirst that one may feel in the soul due to flames of torment. One may be able to consciously ask even for water to cool their tongue. The person who is dumped in this Hades or Sheol hell may even be consciously concerned for their family members, relatives, kith and kin down in the earth to not to come to the same place of torment. A person who is dumped by God in to this Sheol or Hades hell will be able to remember all that they have done on earth, how they have lived on earth and the times they had consciously rejected God's grace, mercy and love which pursued them in order to save them from this place of torment (Luke 16:22-31).

But the real permanent Hell that Jesus spoke about in Mark 9:44 saying, "Where 'Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'" is 'Gehenna' in Greek. This real Gehenna Hell will be the eternal place of residence for all unbelievers through out eternity. After the White Throne Judgment for all unbeliever's get over, then this very place of 'Sheol or Hades' hell along with 'the spirit of Death' and all the souls of unbelievers will be cast in to the eternal lake of fire [i.e. Gehenna Hell], then will real Hell start to burn for eternity [i.e second death and eternal death] (Rev 20:14). There will be no Presence of God ever felt by these unbelievers forever because of consciously rejecting the salvation of God which was given through Jesus Christ. In this place the worm will not die and fire is not quenched for eternity ahead. 

Much Blessings.....

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The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard

Was Jesus a Socialist?

By Abraham Israel

Socialist means a person who believes in socialism and advocates its values. Socialism means 'in (Economics), an economic theory or system in which the means of production, distribution, and exchange are owned by the community collectively, usually through the state. It is characterized by production for use rather than profit, by equality of individual wealth, by the absence of competitive economic activity, and, usually, by government determination of investment, prices, and production levels. Or in (Government, Politics & Diplomacy), any of various social or political theories or movements in which the common welfare is to be achieved through the establishment of a socialist economic system.'

We are tempted to decide that Jesus must have been a socialist after reading the following parable plainly. The following parable is usually called as "The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard." It definitely deals with money, work and shared capital reward from the goverment of God. All the ingredients which usually support a socialist cause.

Let us read it first, "1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 and said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. 5 Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise. 6 And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive.’ 8 “So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, ‘Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.’ 9 And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius. 10 But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each a denarius. 11 And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, 12 saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.’ 13 But he answered one of them and said, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. 15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?’ 16 So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.”" (Matt 20:1-16).

We see here in the above parable the kingdom of God likened to a landowner who calls labourers to work in his field starting from morning 6.00 am he hires some labourers, then at 9.00 am he hires some more labourers who were idle without work, then at 12.oo pm he hires still some more labourers standing idle without work because of the need of the harvest to be done before the day gets over, then again at 3.00 pm in the evening still more labourers are hired who were standing idle for 2/3rd of the whole day and atlast even at 5.00 pm which is the starting time of the final hour before the day closes at 6.00pm, the owner hires those idle labourers who stood idle with no work the whole day, to come and do the final work of harvest because of the dire need of harvesters.

Now according to the law of work and wages, the one who has worked more will be the one who will normally get more wages and also it is right for them to expect more pay than those who came to work for less hours than them in the harvest field. All the parables that Jesus spoke are heavenly realities that were compared with earthern realities to bring out the heavenly truth to be understood by earth bound men like us. So we cannot take a part of the parable and decide the meaning of it just by looking outwardly, but rather look deep inside it in a whole contextual way to know the spiritual meaning. First of all just because Jesus was advocating equal wages for all men without considering how much work they have done, does not mean that he is advocating socialism. Why? Because just after some five chapter afterwards in "the parable of the talents" in Matt 25:14-30, he was commending the steward who multiplied 2 talent in to 4 and another one who multiplied 5 talents in to 10 saying "Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord." (v 21, v 23) and then condemned the man who sat idle without using the one talent that he had given him.

The heavenly spirtual truths of the kingdom of God that we see in this parable is, those who harvested with much expectation of reward than others based on the work they did for God were disappointed with the reward. Those who knew that they came late in to harvest field of God and expected nothing more than what ever the king decides to give must have been overjoyed to see the benevolent heart of the lanowner. The question we should ask ourselves is, 'Is God unjust to forget our labour that we do for Him?' The answer is given by the writer of the book of Hebrews who said, "9...[regarding] things that accompany salvation,... 10 For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister." (Heb 6:9-10). So we know from the above verses that surely things that accompany salvation is the service that we do for God and for this work God is just in rewarding each worker according to the work each one will do for the Lord (Eph 2:10). As also the great Apostle Paul who agreed with this truth said, "23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ." (Col 4:23-24). So according to amount of work we do with right motives, we will be rewarded.

But then what does God gives to us all equally. He has given his salvation to us all equally. Then the passage in context must be speaking about salvation of souls who were saved to serve God in the kingdom of God. Yes our guess is right, it does speak about the salvation of our souls and only then serving God as his servant with expectation of wages and finally serving God as bondservants with expectation of no wages but what the master chooses to give according to his goodness.

When we get saved and come in to the kingdom of God, we become the laborers whom God has called to work in His vineyard (Eph 2:10). Some of us have come to Christ from our early childhood days, some of us have been born again in our young age, still others in their 40's, 50's, 60's and even in their 70's and some even just before their death, like that thief on the cross who got saved when He accepted Himself as a Sinner and Jesus Christ as His Savior moments before his death. All of us have the same reward of becoming a child of God [i.e. entering heaven to be in a relationship with God for eternity]. This is what we have agreed when we came in to the Kingdom of God to be a servant of God and this is the reason we call Jesus as our "LORD" (John 20:28; Acts 9:5; 1 Cor 12:3). Some of God's servants who think that they deserve better than this will be disappointed in heaven for their foolish thinking. People who have wrong motives in doing God's work are those who will be so dissatisfied with what God has rewarded them because they think that they deserve it. No man deserves anything good because we are all sinful beings bought by the Lord who paid for us by His own life. Jesus explains heavenly truths with earthly stories and it cannot be done vice versa because no one of us have seen heaven with our physical eyes.

All the chapter division and verse divisions came only after New Testament verses were introduced by Robert Stephens first in his Greco-Latin Testament published in 1551 A.D., and then later Stephens published the Latin Vulgate of 1555, the first whole Bible divided into the present verses. This is the reason in context to the end of Chapter 19, we see the topic was about salvation where his disciples were asking Jesus, "Who then can be saved?" (Matt 19:25), also about sacrificial living for the sake of the kingdom of God (Matt 19:29) and the reward for the work done through sacifice (Matt 19:27-28). The Apostle Paul confirms that this "Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard" speaks about salvation by saying in Eph 2:8-10, "8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." In other words Apostle Paul was saying no matter how much work we do for the Lord, we cannot boast about being saved because it was given to all of us freely. All are given salvation freely and it cannot be seen as a reward for our work, but as a free gift from God so that we cannot boast about how much work we have done to get saved before the Lord. These labourers with great expectation of more reward than their fellow labourers who worked with them, were trying to boast about how much they have slogged their way the whole day under the hot sun in Matt 20:10-14 to deserve a better salvation reward than what they have already received. They were not satisfied with salvation that God has given to them freely and equally along with other men. This dissatisfaction have come to them because they were not working as bondservants but as servants who were working just for rewards. They did not like themselves to receive salvation same as other men who worked along with them, because of an evil eye they rejected the goodness of God which makes Him freely give the privilege of salvation equally to all people alike.

The last and the least bondservant who worked with no motives but to please God will be the first in size of the reward and designation in the kingdom of God for eternity ahead, the first servants who were slogging for earthly reward will be the last to get rewarded in size and designation in heaven. Many who are called to serve God will work with bad motives of only earthly rewards, which shows he/she is a coolie minded servants who had worked just for earthly rewards. Thus only the bondsevants who work with no expectation of any reward except that which the Lord decides to give on that glorious day [i.e. the "Bema seat Judgment" for all believers where each on will get their eternal reward (1 Cor 3:11-15; 2 Cor 5:9-11)], will only become chosen to enjoy and party with God in eternity ahead. These bond servants receives all the earthly reward only as bonus that God gives, but their eyes are set on heavenly rewards (Heb 12:2; 10:7). Hence these chosen men will be the bond servants who will serve God with no motives behind their work, but to please Him in everything (Acts 15:22, 25-26; 4:19-20; Gal 1:10; John 4:34, 38). This shows that Jesus was not a socialist but he was using this idea only as an example to reveal the deeper truths of heaven to all of us. God owns a copyright to all the ideas that man has because as the Bible says fearing Him "is the beginning of [all] wisdom" (Prov 9:10, a). The idea of socialism is itself is not wrong, but when it is applied individually apart from the wisdom of God, the same idea becomes useless. The sum of all of man's ideas together can all be applied in various situations very effectively, when we parther with God and use it according to HIS WISDOM. This is what Jesus did to effectively explain heavenly truths to earthly minds.

The Crux of the whole Parable is : We can't earn our way to get saved, it is a free gift we have received and forever it will be like that. God saves us equally because of the goodness of His grace. The first men whom God picked up by saving them to labour in His vineyard, worked hard for God but they forgot to remember that their works has no value in regard to their own salvation. The other men who came later to work realised their unworthiness to receive the great salvation reward of one days work [i.e. the day {denarius - a days wages} in which Jesus Christ paid for our sins so that we could serve God as His children (Luke 1:71-75)] because God took them from a place where they had no work to do but just stood idly on the streets. They do their work without much expectation of reward because they believe that they are totally saved by what Jesus had done for them on the Cross. The people who have been saved for many years and have been working hard for God do not like the newly born believers to have the equal priviledges or favor with God like them. This is a wrong thinking that had come in to their mind because of living a totally work based religious life without relationship with Jesus their Lord and Saviour. But there is no difference between an veteran and a amateur in the kingdom of God in regard to salvation priviledges. Both have to call on the name of Jesus and depend on the worthiness of THE NAME OF JESUS to make their petition to be answered by God (John 15:16). Both have only "the day of salvation" (2 Cor 6:2, b) value of denarius priviledges. The group which works hard after they are saved cannot expect more priviledges than the group of men who are saved at last without much work done for God in their lives. The Apostle John beautifully says, "12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." (John 1:12-13). All the kingdom citizens have the equal priviledge of a day's wages which was acheived for them on the Cross of calvary. Praise the Lord!


Thanks and Blessings......

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Can You Sleep When the Wind Blow?

Be a Storm Sleeper

By Abraham Israel

Years ago a farmer owned land along the South Indian seacoast. He constantly advertised for hired hands. Most people were reluctant to work on farms along the seacoast, because of the awful storms that raged across the coast of the Bay of Bengal, wreaking havoc on the buildings and crops.

As the farmer searched for people to fill the job, he received a steady stream of refusals. Finally, a short, thin man, well past middle age, appproached the farmer. "Are you a good farmhand?" the farmer asked him." "Well, I can sleep when the wind blows," answered the little man. Although puzzled by this answer, the farmer, desperate for help, hired him.

The little man worked well around the farm, busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the man's work. Then one night the wind howled loudly in from offshore. Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand's sleeping quaters. He shook the little man and yelled, "Get up! A storm is coming! Tie things down before they blow away!" The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, "No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows."

Enraged by the response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot. Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm. To his amazement, he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered with tarpaulins. The cows were in the barn, the chickens were in the coops, and the doors were barred. The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down and nothing could be blown away. The farmer then understood what his hired hand had meant, so he returned to his bed to sleep while the wind blows.

My question to you is, "Can you sleep when the storms of life blows?" We see that storm sleeper was so confident of the work that he had done before-hand that he was not at all concerned whether a storm passes through his place or not, one thing he was doing, absolutely enjoying his night of sleep.

Jesus Himself said, "24 Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock." (Matt 7:24-25).

Jesus was a storm sleeper. Apostle Matthew beautifully portrays this incident in Matt 8:23-27, "23 Now when He [i.e. Jesus] got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. 24 And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. 25 Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” 26 But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 So the men marveled, saying, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”".

Here we see in the above incident the disciples were fearful of death because they were not full of the WORD OF GOD inside them. But Jesus slept in the midst of the great and a fierce storm that arose from the sea because he was full of faith by walking perfectly in will of God which was revealed to him through obeying the WORD OF GOD perfectly (John 8:28-29; 6:38; 7:17; Rom 10:17). In Jesus the eternal word of God was manifested in the flesh as a perfect human and fulfilled the perfect will of God (John 1:1-4, 14; Matt 5:17-18). Jesus rebuked the disciples for their lack of faith and then rebuked the storm. The unbelief ran away and the storm suddenly calmed down. Jesus was calm, composed and full of serenity in the midst of all difficulties because the very WORD OF GOD was made flesh in his life on earth. We too like JESUS should strive diligently to enter the rest of God through practicing and living in the WORD OF GOD before we face the storms of life (Heb 4:1-3, 11-13). Jesus demonstrated it so that we can follow Him in our lives.

Do you realise that when you have built your life based on meditating the Word of God and living accordingly, when the storms of life hits you unexpectedly, you will spiritually be without even an iota of confusion, fear, anxiety and restlessness. Instead you will be full of poise, peace, joy and tranquility while the stormy wind blows over your earthern house. It is possible to rest while the stormy wind blows, but it takes much hard work of faith, endurance and self-discipline to attain and enjoy this supernatural state of heavenly rest in your soul.

Choose a place of quietness and commune with the Lord through HIS WORD. Remember what our Lord says, "28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matt 11:28-30).

As you lift up His yoke of obeying HIS WORD joyfully, His supernatural energy and peace will fill you and make you live the abundant life that Jesus has promised to all his obedient disciples. May the Lord's peace, joy and righteousness fill you more and more as you keep buiding your life based on HIS WORD. May you become a Spiritual storm-sleeper and as a result enjoy the heavenly supernatural rest in God. May God empower you to become supernaturally blessed to be a blessing to many around you, who also need the teaching of how to become a storm-sleeper themselves to ENJOY LIFE SUPERNATURALLY APART FROM THE CIRCUMSTANCES THEY FACE.

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