Linger

As Moses went up to meet with God and receive instruction,
A young man lingered at the foot of the mountain,
Away from family and friends, he chose to linger where God was near,
Dreaming, cherishing how awesome to be in His presence,
To talk like a man to his closet friend;
Joshua wondered in amazement: I want what Moses has; so I will linger at the foot of this mount.

Away from revelry and comforts of tent and camp,
A young man lingered outside the Tent of Meeting,
Waiting upon his God and leader as they communed like friends of old,
Dreaming, cherishing, yearning how awesome to be in His presence,
To talk to God, Maker of all;
Joshua wondered in amazement: I want what Moses has; so I will linger around this holy Tent of Meeting.

To be in His presence is answer to all cries,
As Joshua lingered, I too will linger at the door posts of Yahweh;
When He comes down on a mountain top or in the house of our sweet meeting
Dreaming, cherishing, yearning, believing how awesome it is to be in His presence,
To talk to my King in the pillar of fire;
I wonder in amazement: I want what old Mosey and Joshua had; so I will linger a little longer strengthening my heart, becoming more stronger.

To be in Almighty's presence is Joy so unexplainable,
May there be many a young men to linger and long for His cover and be a blessing to generations,
Be it in the calm and peace of life or in the heat of a heavy battle,
Dreaming, cherishing, yearning, believing, knowing, how awesome it is be in His presence,
To talk to the Lord of Hosts, Lord of the armies of Israel,
I wonder in amazement: I want what old Mosey and Joshua had; so I will linger in His presence all the more.

Covered in the dust of the Rabbi

In my last post I mentioned a couple of blessings that came away with me, one of which was the blessing of being covered in the dust of the Rabbi. This one came from a DVD clip a brother shared from Nooma a group that is specializing in giving messages through short movie presentations. Anyway the revelation that came to me understanding the Jewish culture of that time is the weight of the words of Jesus "Come Follow Me".

Let me delve in more and explain. In the Jewish culture of Jesus's time the highest and the most honored position in their society was that of a Rabbi. A Jewish boy when he is five years old enters into their educational system where he learns to recite/commit to memory the law (the first five books of the Torah) it lasted 5 years of training called the Beit Sefer. This means by the age of ten the student learnt by heart the books from Genesis to Deuteronomy. From here the best of the best went into Beit Talmud where they learn interpretation of the law, study the prophets, and essentially commit to memory the rest of the books from Judges to Malachi. Now if they are among the elite of the elite or the best of the best of the best they will try and find a Rabbi who will accept them as a student to study under him. Now remember this was a very special position of honor in the Jewish society and culture of the time. The Rabbi would essentially interview the prospective student ask him questions of the law, his relationship with God and if he felt that the student has the cut in him to bear his yoke and become like him he will tell him to come and follow him or else send him away to follow the family trade the student was pursuing. The accepted pupil enters the Beit Midrash where he leaves his synagogue, village and family to study under this Rabbi. The pursuit was not to just be a master of the law and an good member of the priesthood but to be like his master.

In the gospel of Mathew 14:27-31 the following conversation takes place between Jesus and Peter when the disciples see Him walking on water :

27But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." 28"Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water." 29"Come," he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" 31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?"

Peter is asking Jesus to command him to 'Come'. Peter wants to become like his Rabbi. Now this is the point of revelation, this is the same radical Rabbi who went through the Jewish educational system, walks down the banks of Galilee and commands the fishermen, 'Come Follow Me'. The fishermen drop everything immediately and follow this Rabbi. Ever wondered why they dropped everything to follow this Rabbi. The cultural perspective discussed above gives you a glimpse into that answer. Ever wondered why this Rabbi called the fishermen who did not make it to the best of the best of the best cut? The answer is this Rabbi believed that they could become like Him. It is this perspective that blows me away that our Lord Jesus believes in us and when He says 'Come Follow Me' He believes that we can follow Him, not only do that but become like Him. He promises us His Holy Spirit, He believes that we can do it.

So the blessing 'May you believe in Him who believes in you. May we be transformed from glory to glory as the scripture says and May you be covered in the dust of your Rabbi'

Shalom

Oh What a week!!!

Oh what a week !!!! God is so so so Good ..Praises to the Almighty One of Israel...There is no one like you Lord.

This weekend I spent three days with 15 men (a strong band of brothers) worshipping, loving and waiting on our King. The presence of the Lord was so sweet in Keystone a ski resort nestled in the mountains north of Colorado Springs as we worshipped and basked in His presence, I felt very strongly the light of His presence coming down on the mountains. The hills were lighted, and the glow of His joy filled every heart that was hungering and thirsting in our group.

I want to share a couple of things that I came away with, I will elaborate these points in my later posts:

1. I want to be with my Jesus, my King and my Lord
2. I want to be covered in the dust of my Rabbi, Jesus
3. I want to go where He tells me to go
4. I want to say things that He says
5. I want to live in the Holy Fear of my Lord all the days of my life

May these desires be your own too, more than that may the desire's of our Lord Yeshua be your own.

Shalom and Shallu Shalom Yerushalim

Blessings,

All About You

I want everything in me to be all about you O Lord,
All about you will make my offering complete,
When its all about you, will then my obedience be complete.
So come Spirit aglow the fire as I wait on you my Lord.

As a handmaiden waits for her master, for mercy & providence,
So does your servant wait till your hand of deliverance is nigh,
Come then as in the ancient of days, bring your redemption near,
Make my heart rejoice and thankful for all that your hand provideth.

When will this struggle be over, to see my foe subdued by your mighty hand,
For Lord, Here I am to fulfill what I am called for, for this generation,
So, I finish my race strong and gallant to be a blessing to all,
And receive from you the crown and be seated at thy right hand.

Lord so purpose thy desire in my heart, and make that desire all about You.

‘Yearning Eyes’

As she fed at mother’s bosom,
Held by the Love more than the world can give,
She heard the footsteps as they thumped upwards to her room.
In expectation of her Papa, she looked up,
To see another part, of the joy of her world.

Everything secure, everything at peace,
She hugged back at mother’s chest for her feed,
A second or two she conjures desire to see her dad,
With questioning glance to see if he is here at all,
Her World at Peace, she clings back to mamma for her nosh.

For few seconds later she decides to try again, the game she loves,
But little did the Princess know, Papa left the room a minute ago,
Ha, she thought in her little mind, he must have gone downstairs,
But I am sure He will be back to wait upon me for the joy I give,
A minute seemed long, she turned up to look around, where’s Papa gone?

She continued not once, not twice at least thrice,
Makes me think and wonder of our search for our Heavenly Father,
The desire to see Him in our life, standing ever present,
With His strong hands, With His Smile, With His delighting in us.
Even when not seen, He still stands as security of our home, of our world.

So little daughter, Papa thanks for the lesson you have taught,
Through your yearning eyes, you let me know,
My Father’s there to ensure my world is safe and secure.
So little one, know that, I am here for you,
Every time you turn to see Papa, you will know your world is safe and sound.

I am in Love with You

This surge of passion I cannot contain,
Because Lord I am in love with you, I am in love with you,
This is your doing,
I am smitten like a wondrous youth falling in love;
For the first time with a maiden,
Or like a virgin dreaming about her lover all day long.

Your love O Lord what draws me everyday,
Filling my heart with
This passion of purity,
This passion of Love,
Passion of who you are.
I read and meditate everyday about you;

Sometime dreaming,Sometime in trance,
But Oh All the time in your awe,
Of what you said, of what you did,
Of how you responded, the way taught,
The way you looked,
O Lord I am in love with you.

It's a wonder to me that though you loved me first,
You are still in love with me,
And that Your love is umpteen times,
More than my love for you.
Will I even get close? But till then...
Oh Lord I love you again - for loving me so.

SK

Oh Lovely One!

These days I am being immensely blessed by the Gospels and it seems what our Lord Jesus spoke and taught is sinking in deep at new levels in my heart with new prespectives of what the Holy Spirit is showing me to yearn for and live accordingly. This has specially happend in the light and weight of the knowledge of what Lord Jesus spoke "I have not come to condemn or judge the world but to save it, but my words which I have spoken will judge you in the last day" (NLT). I don't remember the exact chapter and verse but you get the gist.

The deep realization of what the Lord said is plain.... On the Judgement day we as believers already know the basis of His judgement ...it's all going to be based upon all the words He has spoken. This led me to the thinking that apart from knowing all scripture and theology of our faith (which is good to know) if we just live by the words that He has spoken we are the inheritors of what He says..."Great will be the reward of those who have obeyed my words" (the words that He has spoken).

As I read about Him the Holy Spirit is just surging in me new waves and passions of Love for Him, what He did, what He spoke, How He responded, His Compassion, His mercy, His forgivness, His amazement, His Joy, His mourning, His hurting the list will go on. As I read through the different situations in the Lord's ministry...I have observed there are specially three or four kinds (maybe even more) of people that respond in differnt ways to Him.The mains one's are enumerated below:

1. The one's that will....Love Him and make Him the Lord of their lives (total change, transformed homes, transformed lives e.g.'s Zachhaeus, Mathew, the Immoral Woman, Cenutruion, the Samaritan woman)
2. The one's taht will....Hate Him and are altogether against Him (Pharisee's)
3. The one's who are lukewarm (no reactions...closely observe some people who were healed e.g....ten lepers who got the miracle didnt come back to glorify God...using God as a means)
4. The one's who completely miss His presence and fail to respond.

So What's our decision today?

O Lovely one, Oh Lord come on in ...you are welcome here...in the temple of my Heart ...BE MY KING AND MY LORD and let me love you and fear you like King David did so you can tell me ...I am the man after your own heart.

Jesus: Unique in all the World

Our Lord is unmatched in history nobody equals Him or even comes closer. I read this in one of the Devotions from Our Daily Bread ....thought I might share it here...its life giving:

Jesus Christ is:

Unique in Substance: He alone is both God and man (John 10:30)
Unique in Prophecy: No other leader's life was foretold so clearly and accurately (Micah 5:2)
Unique in mission:Jesus alone came to save us from our sins (Mathew 1:21)
Unique in birth:Only Jesus was born of a Virgin (Mathew 1:23)
Unique in ability: No one but Jesus has the power to forgive sins(Mark 2:10)
Unique in position: No one else is equal with God
Unique in reign:Only Jesus reigns forever (Hebrews 1:8)
Unique in Kingship: Jesus alone is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords (Revelation 19:16)

Have a Blessed and a Grace filled day.

SK

Our New Home

God is good and He is good all the times.

Last month has been really really hectic and the big news from this slice of heaven is God has given us a new home. We have moved again...and we bless our Father back in praises for enlarging our territory in all fronts. So here it is Home Sweet Home.

Have a look ...Praise God and Bless our Home.

How Awesome Is this Place!

At my workplace, our Tech department is going through the book of Isaiah as early morning devotions. Many a times our reading of scriptures follow interesting discussions of biblical lands, peoples and how it relates to us today in our current world and lives. Two days back we had an discussion of Edom and how God chose Jacob over Esau. My thoughts went back to my visit in Shanghai to an international church we had visited for Sunday fellowship. The worship team at this church was completely led by African blacks all professors and resident doctors in that part of the world. (Interesting isn't it..people of God worshipping him in different and far away lands) In the call for prayer I still remember one of these Doctor guys prayed over me and interestingly asked me to read Genesis 28 Jacob's vision of the ladder and told me my life is like that of Jacob and its important for you. That's it. I have meditated on the passage many a times of how it relates to my life.

We as human beings are creatures of awe and wonder. At the same time, we are fearful of what we experience as wondrous, but cannot understand. There are times in our lives when God intervenes and gives us hope and a vision of our life. There are some of us who wake up like Jacob did and acknowledge with fear and awe the awesomeness of His presence and there are some of us who may sleep off on Holy Ground. The edge between fear and awe is razor thin; fear and awe are two sides of the same balance beam. We are at once fearful, because of the extent of our vulnerability, and at the same time awed at the mysterious experience of the holy that fills our world. As the book of Genesis describes Jacob upon awakening from his dream exclaimed:

“Mah nora hamakom hazeh, ein zeh ki im beit Elohim v’zeh shaar hashamayim,”“ “Shaken, he said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the abode of God, and that is the gateway to heaven’” (Genesis 28:17). Jacob'’s theophany might also be translated: “He feared/was awestruck [by the power of his experience] and said, ‘What an awesome/fearful God this is. This is none other than the dwelling place of God, and this is the gateway to understanding that which is in the heavens.”

What shall we do today then? Lay asleep on Holy Ground when God comes and wakes us or shall we say like Jacob How Awesome Is this place this is none other than the house of God.

Blessings

SK

Vision from the Lord

One of my friends and a fellow brother in Christ shared with us a vision God was showing him about Hannah's life. I was really suprised as I had met Steve only once and he revealed these fascinating details through the word he gave us from the Lord.

We surely don't know what the future is for Hannah, but would appreciate our friends and family to pray into the life of Hannah that she will go out and fulfill the Lord's purpose's for her life and give pleasure to our Father's heart. So here is what he wrote.....

As Gary had mentioned @ the men's meeting that night a few weeks ago, you were new to fatherhood / you had a newborn daughter... a vision began to unfold before me with the sight of a young lady walking along a road outside of a city [at that time it was in a distant land, but may also be domestically(America].

This young lady was remarkably beautiful but simply appointed so as not to attract the wrong attention. She was different; there was a measure of strength that far exceeded the humility that enveloped her. Greater still was the anointing that continually rested upon and emanated [sent forth; as from a source] from her feet! Sam and Sarah - She was spectacularly aglow! Angels surrounded this one; this daughter of The Most High God - El Elyon!

She was one who spent time at His feet learning of his ways from her mother, her father, her grandmother, and grandfather, and from her own personal relationship developed from an early age. She's a communicator in the natural and spiritual realm. That relationship of early and humble beginnings created a connection [for her] that would not terminate...much like Jacob's ladder; whereby the angels came and went [on a constant/regular basis].

In her time of communication/dialogue, she learned of the need that a location (city) had or would have. She was one sent to speak to the need. She was to call for life where life was needed [as it always is] and she was to call forth an end to that which was not of her Father's house.

Her mission is a difficult, but necessary role. She is one who knows when to go [ in the right season ] and have in her possession the right tools for use in breaking up hard, fallow ground. Further, she will also learn of fertilization [prayer], dispensing seed [sending forth words of life]; seeds that are hardy/drought resistant, and the indentification/marking out of sites most appropriate for wells [churches] that spring forth into rivers [of life]!

Hannah will need prayer cover [Sam, Sarah]. She will need to know who to meet with in a city or even outlying area. These will be the ones in whom she'll resultantly place some measure of natural trust in [for support during her walk/mission].

I also sense within her a dichotomy - two parts - in that Hannah will almost always extend herself as very relational, but she may also be very internal at times [a balanced independence];omfortable with her Christ [Jesus] and who she is created to be within Him...a powerhouse/a wellspring of life.

In Him she will live, move, and have her being.

Best Regards,
Steven

Thankfulness

O Lord My heart is full of thankfulness today,
My eyes overflow with tears for your mighty works in my life,
I behold in wonder,
What am I?
Who am I?
That your love wraps and satisfies the innermost desires of your servant.

Drawing and weaving us in your love is an ageold art you excel at;
Protecting your beloved from strifes and troubles known and unknown,
We cried once, your heard us twice as is your custom to turn your loving gaze,
On those who call upon your name
We asked and you gave us as true to your nature.

O Holy One can we ever thank you enough,
Even If we do, devise a way, our thankfulnes will be unending...
Praise's to your name.
We will sing unceasingly because your are worthy, worthy
Almighty and Awesome in word and deeds.

SK

The Covenant God

Recently this prespective hit me...stay on for a while...as I retell it to you.

In the Old covenant times there were no written agreements when contracts were formed between men, most of the times it was verbal and done with witness's around. So for e.g when Joe bought land from Zach they cut an animal and poured the blood over the land and walked through it symbolizing that this covenant was unto death. Now keep this in mind as you follow this.

God made a covenant with Abraham. The old covenant was a bunch of rules and regulations in order that a person may live holy before a Holy God. Keeping all the rules and doing everything according to the letter of the law was difficult and in order to change the covenant and save us God choose to die by sending His only son Jesus on the cross. When Jesus died He gave us a testament. A testament is the will of the person which we have inhertied. So as I see this.. it's under the new testament we have rights, privileges and Grace because what Jesus left us as an inheritance. Isn't that wonderful?

When God looked upon the failing man in the Old Covenant He saw failure of men and when He see's us He thinks we are amazing because of what Jesus did on that cross.

Our God is an awesome God.

Have a Blessed Day!

Our Joy

This is what I wrote in our family newsletter when Hannah Joy Kurien was born on February 12, 2006.

It seems like yesterday you were in mommy’s tummy and I can’t believe you are here in our hands. You are a treasure we hold with fearful hearts...it is a wonder that God could trust you to us with for a time. You are our joy and watching you is a pure delight. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 11:5 “As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.” But this we know that what our God has done in our lives bringing you to us is marvelous in our eyes. We can’t stop thanking and praising our Lord Jesus. We named you ‘Hannah’ because Yehovah is gracious to us. Our Prayers are that you be like Hannah and Mary those great women in the Bible who always set their eyes and heart on the Holy One of Israel.

 “Yivarechicha Adonai V’yishmirecha, Ya-Ayr Adonai panav Aylecha v’yichunecha; Yee saw Adonai panav Aylecha v’ya-saym l’cha shalom.” meaning: May the Lord Bless you and keep you, The Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; The Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you His peace.

Back to BlogWorld

Back to the blogging world after a long exile of 8 months. Boy! things have happend so much that it has been hard to get to the writing part on a regular basis..just small things ..not..big big life changing events...Moving more than half way across the world to America...Fatherhood...new Job...new city ...new beginning's...guess the list can go on forever. Now that everything is falling into a routine I hope I can get back to posting and blogging more.

All of you out there have a grace filled day.

Blessings,