"Lord
Instills Faithfully Emancipation! (L.I.F.E)"
By Ramesh
C.Reddy
Pittsburgh Standard
February 22,
2008
Editors Note: The devotional has a background song 'Take Me In' by Petra which can be heard if you use Internet
Explorer.
SCRIPTURE:
"No one sews a patch of
unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull
away from the old, making the tear worse. And no one pours new wine into
old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the
wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new
wineskins." (Mark 2:21-22, NIV)
Observations:
I asked
myself what are the words/phrases repeated in these verses.
-
Old (3)
-
New (4)
-
Wine (4)
-
Wineskins (3)
Yesterday, I learned Jesus
speaking about fasting so the people who questioned Jesus regarding the
disciples of John and disciples of the Pharisees could understand
why his disciples did things differently.
Today, I see Jesus explaining
the disciples’ actions in terms of two examples: cloth and wineskins
Interpretations:
I asked
myself why those words were repeated!
Usually when words are repeated,
there is significance attached to them.
I asked
myself what the significance was!
The point that came to my mind
was that we cannot mix our old life with our new life. Jesus came to
give new life to the people. The disciples of Jesus could understand
that but the disciples of John and disciples of Pharisees were still
stuck in their old traditions and ways.
Implications:
I saw important implications for
our own lives.
When we come to Jesus, we are
given new life in Christ. This however does not mean, we did not have an
old life. Our new life in Christ must be mixed with the new things that
Christ offers us. However, if we decide to mix our Christian life with
the life we used to live when we were not Christians, there would be a
bigger mess. Once someone becomes a follower of Christ, people have
different expectations of them! If the person goes back to their OLD
ways, then they are worst of now than they were before because they
tasted the Good News and have decided to go back to their old ways.
People will start thinking, he/she is supposed to be a Christian and
this is how they are acting. They are supposed to be different and they
are not!
Jesus was making a point to the
disciples of the Pharisees and disciples of John that his disciples are
doing things differently because they have Jesus with them. With Jesus
on their side, they are living a new life and it would be disaster to
mix the new life with the old life. He was also making the point
regarding the act of fasting. Since Jesus was with them they did not
have to fast at that moment but a time would come when they would fast.
This is exposited more in yesterday's devotional.
I ask you
now dear friends, how do you see your life?
Dear friends, your life may seem
good or bad to you. Your life may seem the same old life or a new life.
I do not know how you see your life. The way you see your life is
dependent on what you emphasize to be important in your life. However
you have perceived your life to be, I have Good News for you. Yes, I do
friend! Jesus is His Name and He wants to give you a life with no shame.
No matter where you have been or what you have done, a new life in
Christ is available for you! You can have a new life in Christ and allow
Him to work in your life. He will make the difference and help you
through your life.
Even if you have messed up as a
follower of Christ and gone back to your old ways, Jesus still loves you
and has His arms open wide for you to come to Him. You are never out of
His love; you are never out of His reach. Come to Him as you are.
I know I am excited to have
Jesus Christ in my life. There have been times I have messed up badly
that would even make me shudder that I call myself a Christian. But you
know what, Jesus in His grace and mercy let me know that on my own, I
will mess up and go back to my old ways. Instead, I need to constantly
put on the new self and crucify the old self with His help as I lean on
Him. You can do that too! Do not be discouraged when you mess up for our
Lord and Savior is there to forgive us and help us through. Yes, He is
friend!
There is now no condemnation to
those who are in Christ Jesus for the power of the life giving Spirit
has freed us from the law of sin and death! (Romans 8:1)
LIFE
By Ramesh Reddy
Where is this generation headed,
can we say we know ?
Are we doing what is right,
doing what God wants us to do ?
What happened to the beaver ?
Shame to seem him gone,
gone with the wind,
having all his morals and values
dried up like sun-baked clay.
Now are we battered, bruised, and burned
seeing shows depicting immorality,
causing restlessness
like pain in the back ?
Are we going to a shrink ?
What good will that do ?
It will only shrink our pockets
as our minds get shrunk
like delicate fabric
in improper washing.
What happens to our sanity
as our anxiety rages
like thundering sea waves ?
We want to know answers,
answers to the questions of life.
Do we end up in our self-world
dreading in despair,
despair that brings us to the edge
like an uncontrolled automobile
about to fall off the edge of a cliff.
We have our own hopeless life to live,
life that seems to end in misery.
Where does our hope come from,
hope that can lead us to a blessed life,
life that brings us perfect peace ?
We can only have true contentment,
contentment in our hearts,
only if we find peace,
peace that will end strife
when we come to know the
PRINCE OF PEACE
Who is this Prince of Peace ??
J esus, the Savior of the world.
E verlasting peace comes from knowing him.
S urely goodness and mercy will follow
U nconditionally all the days of our lives
S trengthening us to do what God wants us to do.
Amen!
May you know the wonderful new
life, Jesus Christ offers you! Amen!
“Lord
Instills Faithfully Emancipation!”/How do
you see your life?
Prayer:
Dear Jesus, thank you for the new life you offered to the disciples and
let the disciples of John and Pharisees see that they were holding on to
their old life. Lord, many times it is so easy to go back to the old way
of doing things. I know you don’t want that for our life for the thief
comes to steal, kill, and destroy but you have come to give life in all
its fullness giving us abundant life. Help us to take the abundant life
you offer us and to hold on to you. I am so sorry for my sin. Please
forgive me of my sin. Come into my heart Jesus and make my heart your
home. Thank you Jesus we are never out of your love and out of your
reach. So right now Jesus, I ask you to live in me Jesus and I pray that
I will live for you and serve you the rest of the days of my life. I
want the new life you offer me. Help me Jesus. Thank you for your help.
Thank you for dying for our sin and cleansing us with your precious
Blood. Wash us and we will be whiter than snow. I thank you Jesus! I
acknowledge you as my Lord and Personal Savior. Thank you Jesus for
being my Lord and Personal Savior. Thank you for the new life you give
us! Thank you for hearing us and answering us Jesus! In Your Name I Pray
Jesus! Amen!
You can invite the GREAT PHYSICIAN right now as you make this your prayer.
Dear Jesus,
thank you for healing the paralytic after forgiving his sins. He set him
free to go home. I want to be free. I don’t know
everything about you. I still have a lot of questions. What I do know is
that you died on the cross for my sins. When it comes to sin, I am a
paralytic Oh Lord. I am infected with this deadly disease known as sin.
I am not perfect but a sinner who needs your cleansing blood to clean me
of my sin everyday. I confess to you my sin and repent of my sin. I know
you have forgiven me when you died on the cross. I want to accept that
forgiveness. Thank
you for shedding your cleansing precious blood for me. You were nailed
to the cross because of me. It is like I actually held the hammer and
pounded the nails so I could be free. Thank you for willingly dying for
me Jesus. Thank you for taking the shame and pain for me. Thank you for
doing that to set me free. I come to the cross and ask you for your
healing in my life. Thank you for the power of your Blood to redeem
humanity. Thank you for coming back to life to save us and give us
Eternal Life as we yield to you. Your blood can heal us where we are. I
love you Jesus. Even with my questions, I come to you now and accept you
into my heart. Please Jesus come into my heart and make my heart your
home. Give me a transfusion of change. Live in me Jesus and I will live
for you and serve you the rest of the days of my life. I thank you Jesus
for coming into my heart and making my heart your home. Thank you for
living in me Jesus. I acknowledge you now as my Lord and Personal
Savior. Please be the Lord and Savior of my life. Thank you for being my
Lord and Personal Savior Jesus and because of what you have done for me when
God looks at me, He now sees me covered in your blood and His judgment
passes over me. Thank you that you have heard my prayer and answered me.
Thank you for being with me Lord. Please fill me with your Holy Spirit.
Thank you Jesus I now belong to you and never need to be alone! You will
always be with me and have given me Salvation. In Your Name I Pray
Jesus! Amen!
Friend, if you have prayed this
prayer and meant it in your heart, you are a new creation in Christ and
all old things are passed away and everything has become new! You may
feel something or may not but don’t base it on feelings but base your
new life in Christ on the promises of our Savior who will never leave
you nor forsake you! Amen!
No matter what you feel in your heart,
know that Jesus has come in and resides with you! You are not alone! To
make your walk strong with the Lord, spend time in prayer talking to Him
as you would to a friend. You don’t need special words to talk to the
Lord. Spend time in His Word reading Psalms and turning them into
prayer. Next allow God to heal you and speak to you through the Gospel
of John or Gospel of
Mark before moving on to other Books of the Bible! Slowly, let the Lord
show you to which Scriptures He wants you to go to next. It is also important to be part of a body of believers to
help you grow in the faith. Find a Bible believing church that preaches
the Word of God from Genesis to Revelation proclaiming Jesus Christ our
crucified and risen Lord who brings us hope, healing, and help! But
beware of churches who do believe in the Word of God completely but
there is no freedom in Christ but legalism involved.
As a
student, it is not too late to join a fellowship on campus too this
blessed New Year of 2008! May the Lord's presence and peace fill you with His
love now and forever! Amen!
Feel free to email me at
reddy4hisglory2004@yahoo.com if you want to meet to study the Bible,
pray with, talk about spiritual issues or whatever is on your mind! My
number is 412-720-4579.
"This is my
work and I can do it only because Christ's mighty energy is at work
within me." (Colossians 1:29, TLB)
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' I AM ' Series
Archives:
What kind of L.I.G.H.T do you follow? (Dec 13,
07, 10:09 a.m.)
"What kind of B.R.E.A.D do you eat?" (Dec 08,
07, 10:10 a.m.)
"Who is your S.H.E.P.H.E.R.D?"
(June 30,
06)
Gospel of Mark Archives:
Mark 1:1:
"What does the G.O.S.P.E.L mean to you?" (Jan
15, 08, 1:15 p.m.)
Mark 1:1-4: "How
seriously do you T.E.S.T.I.F.Y about prophesy?" (Jan
12, 08, 11:18 p.m.)
Mark 1:5-8:
"Who do you P.O.I.N.T to?" (Jan 16, 08,
8:48 a.m.)
Mark 1:9:
How will you take a S.T.A.N.D? (Jan 17, 08,
11:21 a.m.)
Mark 1:9-11:
"How is your loving P.R.A.I.S.E?" (Jan 18, 08,
8:53 a.m.)
Mark 1:12-13: "How
do you handle T.E.M.P.T.A.T.I.O.N?" (Jan 19,
08, 12:27 p.m.)
Mark 1:14-15:
How do you handle T.I.M.E given to you? (Jan
21, 08, 1:31 p.m.)
Mark 1:16-18:
"What kind of P.R.O.F.E.S.S.I.O.N are you in?" (Jan
26, 08, 10:22 a.m.)
Mark
1:19-20:
"Without having to P.R.O.C.R.A.S.T.I.N.A.T.E, what should you do?"
(Jan 29, 08,
10:44 a.m.)
Mark
1:20-22:
"How do you rate in the B.U.S.I.N.E.S.S of Jesus?" (Jan
30, 08, 11:29 a.m.)
Mark
1:20-22:
"Whose T.E.A.C.H.I.N.G.S do you follow?" (Jan
31, 08, 11:52 a.m.)
Mark
1:23-28:
"What C.A.P.T.I.V.I.T.Y are you facing today?" (Feb
01, 08, 10:35 a.m.)
Mark 4:3-20:
"What if Jesus talked F.O.O.T.B.A.L.L?" (Feb
02, 08, 10:35 a.m.)
Mark 1:29-31:
"Where do you need H.E.A.L.I.N.G?" (Feb 05,
08, 11:44 a.m.)
Mark 1:32-34:
"Where do you need an A.N.S.W.E.R?" (Feb 06,
08, 11:16 a.m.)
Mark 1:35-39:
"Where do you give your S.O.L.I.T.A.R.Y time to the Lord?" (Feb
07, 08, 11:41 a.m.)
Mark 1:40-42:
"Where do you need to be C.L.E.A.N?" (Feb 09,
08, 11:00 a.m.)
Mark 1:43-45:
"What do your actions C.A.U.S.E?" (Feb 11, 08,
9:23 a.m.)
MARK CHAPTER 2:
Mark 2:1-2:
"What do you do with your P.O.P.U.L.A.R.I.T.Y?" (Feb
12, 08, 9:52 a.m.)
Mark 2:2-5:
"What kind of F.R.I.E.N.D are you?" (Feb
13, 08, 11:49 a.m.)
Mark 2:5-12:
"Where does P.A.R.A.L.Y.S.I.S take hold of you?" (Feb
15, 08, 7:42 a.m.)
Mark 2:5-12:
"What are you thinking in your M.I.N.D?" (Feb
16, 08, 11:08 a.m.)
Mark 2:5-12:
"What do you represent by your A.C.T.I.O.N.S?" (Feb
18, 08, 8:23 a.m.)
Mark 2:13-15:
"Where are you looking for A.C.C.E.P.T.A.N.C.E?" (Feb
19, 08, 11:22 a.m.)
Mark
2:15-17:
"Who do you I.N.V.I.T.E to Jesus?" (Feb 20,
08, 9:57 a.m.)
Mark
2:18-20:
"When do you F.A.S.T?" (Feb 21, 08,
9:32 a.m.)
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