The Journey of a Priest _ Dr. Sophia Devasahayam

THE JOURNEY OF A PRIEST-

Dr. Sophia Devasahayam

1.    Being Chosen by the Lord

Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations”. A Prophet is a man chosen by the Lord to do his service. Let us look in the following study of God’s word, how we qualify to preach God’s word to the nations around us. The following verses after the one I mentioned above, contained a few commandments, which we would see for our Bible study tonight.

2.    Commandments of the Lord:

“For you shall go to all to whom I send you” Jeremiah 1:7

Here the insistence is ‘go to whom the Lord sends you’. Do not visit people and places of your own customization. Why I say this? Having grown up among preachers, I have seen pastors filled with the Holy Ghost and it’s anointing to heal, prophecy, help, and hospitable. BSut go behind the rich. This is only a beginning. Eventually these pastors get adhesive about the rich. Forgetting to preach the word as yea and yea and nay and nay. Soliciting the rich one’s  lives filled with immoral, unscrupulous life styles. Forgetting their work on Sanctification, holiness, righteousness, leading them to God through justifying the ways of man to God. A fallen church is the end result. Repercussions as I have noticed is this “If you forget me I will forget your children”. Children loosing the blessings of God or his grace in the area of education, choosing life partners, being unequally yoked with other partners. The Lord only promises the children of a righteous man will never beg for his food. So if you be righteous his hands will rest on your children. His grace is the only word to describe the process of receiving all blessings. And that grace is given to the humble. And now the humble is not servility! But obedience to Christ through service. The Lord says, “Do not be afraid of them”. (Isa. 1:8) Jeremiah 1:16 he says “wickedness in forsaking me!”.

3.    Building by the Master Crafter

Jeremiah 1: 18 “And I for my part have mad you today a Fortified city or Iron Pillar and Bronze wall against the whole land. Kings of Judah, Princes, Priests and People of the Land”.  “They will fight against you and they shall not prevail against you; for Iam with you”.  Verse 17 “Do not break down before them, or I will break you before them”.

Opening the verse word by word. Next checking the connection between  them we shall soon see what the Lord messaged me straight from his heart to mine. For this is what I wrote as a message. Peeling the layers of the subtext of these lines, I was only able to see the Lord’s training, testing and moulding patterns from the master cutter of stone. Let us take a look:

Fortified City: A person without self – control is like a city without a wall. Fortified city, although it could literally mean Godly protection as “The Lord surrounds and protects his people”. “Iam in the midst of her and she shall not be moved” etc. Still my focus here would remain on inner fortification such as self – control, free from revenge, overcoming, fearless, treachaury free, free from false affections, bribery, greed for money etc. A true preacher must be a fortified city – full of strength and honour.

Iron Pillar – Steel like man, we all know this saying. Or, Iron like Man. Will power, strong in the mind, strong in the spirit, immovable, are some the traits of this man. Not letting other’s people’s opinion, advises, suggestions set its foot before God’s word of commandment or guidance given to you. Iron – “Pressed on all sides but never crushed” “many are the afflictions of the righteous”. How does God create this kind of a servant, a steel like prophet. First step Training. How? Sickness. This is allowed to teach endurance. Sustaining yourself first throughout that episode. Exercise faith to heal and not quitting faith for escape. Financial handicaps. This is when God closes all the doors of our income, through loss of jobs, embittering of relationships, or indifference of them towards your need. Cruel mockery through others to add spice to it all. First forigiving them, never confronting their cruel words of mockery, and finally letting it heal and not allowing  it to takes it’s toll on you. Letting God be the judger of all things. For the word quickly says “that God mocks at mockers”. Leaving all our hurts and sorrows in his hands with their cruelty meted out to you should be your response.

Bronze wall against the whole land – Here the vision to set yourselves apart. Not following the ways of the heathens. Setting yourselves apart could only be living a sanctified life. In a nutshell “Be ye holy for Iam holy” “Be ye perfect for Iam perfect”. To be faithful to the Lord in the seven times storm. Here the real test could be when ways and chances are present before us to opt out. Sarah opted out using Hagar and having Ishmael for a son. “They shall fight against you and not prevail” – How?  When we are a bronze wall, living a life that is set apart, against the whole land, not imbibing their ways. Then next, God allows testing. The arrows of the enemy in terms of financial handicaps, ruining of relationships, cruelty upon cruelty meted out to you in words, and actions.  All of this will melt away like wax and will not prevail by having their victory over you. How do they not prevail, when we stand strong against any storm. Strong in faith, in trust, in hope, in belief, in prayer and steadfastness. This is how we prevail against the arrows of the enemy. Here how do we find the above mentioned characteristics. Is it a gift from God. No. But by spending time in the Presence of the Lord. The word of God says, sorrow will not touch a man who lives in the Presence of the Lord. Words that sting to death such strong words will be powerless in your hearts and not hurt you when you are living in the Presence of the Lord. This is how we overcome. Stings of death and stings of words will be nullified by God’s presence.

Finally “Do not break down before them, or I will break you before them”. What does it mean. Do not break down your training. What you were tested for!  when the Lord releases you to be the preacher or prophet to the  Nations. If you destroy the fact of just acting as his mouthpiece. Then he will destroy you by turning you into a laughing stock before those whom you trusted, by denying to put God first. Again through the same arrows we discussed above. But this time not sent by the enemy. But by God. And to no rescue since you are no longer in the Presence of the Lord!  A man who is steadfast and obeys all the commandments mentioned above will be used as this “SO HE SHALL STARTLE MANY NATIONS” (Isaiah 52:13)  This is your  Victory in Jesus Name.

Sunday Morning Service - Message - The Spirit of the Lord bring Victory.

The SPIrit of the lord

Isaiah 25: 10 “For the Hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain”

What is the mountain? The king of Assyria has waged a war against the country Israel, the people are expecting defeat and slavery. This is the mountain that is standing before them. Before focusing on the victory of the Lord. The Lord kept opening this verse to me, preceeding the main focus of today’s message.

Sins as Mountains:

“Go and loose the sackcloth from your loins and take your sandals off your feet”, and he had done so, walking naked and barefoot. Then the Lord said “Just as my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years and as a sigh and a portent against Egypt and Ethiopia” Isaiah 20: 2,3.

1.      A sign of humiliation.

 We notice in proverbs “The Lord laith bare the wanton eyes”. Lust of the flesh. Boundaries in the inside. When we lack inner sense of curtailing our thoughts, our actions, our deeds, our speech, our words, when we do not exercise inner resources of self-control. We have accumulated a barrier or a mountain within ourselves, paving way for humiliation along the road of life. Humiliation could be defeat in workspots (promotions) and other repercussions. Taking this a little practical to life, let me include here some of my observations of life. Inner emotions gives rise to exterior mountains or obstacles or tribulations. For eg. I know a believer who served the Lord, but was wanton. Mild flirting…with other men. Not sexual. She was earning for some more respect, power, or even attention. Women can understand what I mean by power. Manipulating men by offering them certain level of space, it does not have be physical. My co-students would call it intellectual flirting, nothing to be guilty about. But I have soon noticed how God raised thorns! One after another. Daughter would not go to school, failed in numerous subjects, complaints sored from teachers about her waywardess..A thoroughly disciplined child till that point. This lady continued…another thorn, her husband who once cooked, watched over the children, picked and dropped her from work. Attended to her every need, completely or absolutely lost his affections for her. In her words she described herself as no more the wife but a maid to her husband and children. One thorn after another soon became a mountain. The Lord was specifically asking me to write on this point before promoting to the next level of deliverance. Here what do we learn. Abstain from sexual immoralities. And how, nobody is perfect. By prayer. List your weaknesses to God, tell him the truth, cry out to him, and he will heal you and deliver you. The Love of God is so sustaining to fill every vacuum within you. But not unless you try him, beyond measure. It is the narrow way to reach heaven.

2.      Captivity:

The Lord releases captivity. Sin and its bondages leads us into captivity. In Isaiah 36:8  we read And Rabshakeh said unto them, “I will give you two thousand horses if you are able on your part to set riders on them”

Isaiah 36:8 “On whom do you rely”, 18: “Has any of the Gods of the nations saved their land out of the hand of the King of Assyria”.

The captain of the army mocks the Israelities. We read his arrogant verses above. Just as this we hear the words of our enemies during captivity. Mockery and signs of laughter. And we call unto the Lord. When we confess our sins, he is faithful to deliver us from our captivity. Deliver us from all our bondages. Isaiah says “For the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain” Isaiah 25: 10 He is faithful to forgive us. If Christ sets you free you are free in indeed. Though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow. We are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. Make us whole Lord Jesus. Simply pray this prayer to the Lord and he will set you as the head and not the tail. The Psalmist says “As wax melts before fire so does the wicked melt like wax in the presence of the Lord”. “The Lord will make all your mountains a way”. “The mountains melt like wax in the presence of the Lord”. Again the focus here is Presence. Do we live in the presence of the Almighty God. If so do you still gossip, speak evil of others, speak openly about other people’s dark inner secrets, do we offend others, mock others, hurt others, revengeous towards others, are we forgiving, do we make efforts to control situations by just exercising silence, when abhorred by others. What movies do we watch, what songs do we listen, whose fan are you. Do you uphold the wicked.  Do we tithe to  please man or God. Do you preach his word as yea and Amen. Are you sanctified. Do you speak bad words. Do you fight or just silent in an argument. If so now check and know if you are still living in the presence of the Lord. It is easy to fail, but do we return through earnest repentance, and make sincere efforts to climb higher than the mantle set towards us. Here discretion to act noble is required. Now if you say that I do live in the presence of the Lord. I think right and Iam not unequally yoked like Samson. If so now the Lord tells you, that he will make all your mountains a way. “The Lord binds up the injuries of his people and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow”!

3.      Victory and the Spirit of the Lord:

Whole of last week the Lord was whispering this verse to me “the spirit of the Lord”. This is the message he gave me for this Sunday Morning Service!. Isaiah 42:1 “I myself will put a spirit in him so that he may hear a rumour”. “An angel of the Lord set out and struck down one hundred eighty five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. When morning dawned, they were all dead bodies” (Isaiah 37:36). Transfer of spirits, the indominable spirit of the Captain of the Assyrian army was transferred with a spirit of confusion and he lost the battle. Spirit triumphs, or Truth Triumphs. The spirit inside us attracts the spirit of victory or failure sent to us by the Lord. So if you are loosing your battle, check whether if you have a right spirit with the Lord. Isaiah 42:1 “I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nation”. Considering this verse. When we have the spirit of truth within us then the Lord revealeth his own spirit into us. The spirit of courage, strength, wisdom, glory, power and victory. We therefore rise above all the nations. He set Jesus high above all the nations. He set Daniel high above all the nations. We notice how in both these men The Government shifted from the Lord’s shoulder to their shoulder. But truth, goodwill, meekness, faithfulness, prayerfulness, austerity, self-lessness was their true virtues in common. So now who wants a promotion from the Lord. Honour and Glory. Reflect the true natures of Jesus. Here all I want to say is perfection is a life long process. So God might send you into Refiner’s fire, Seven time of Affliction, till he sees his image in you. And then you are ready. Let us pray dear Lord Let the Beauty of Jesus be seen in Us. Finally Isaiah 44:6 “Iam the first and Iam the Last besides me there is no God”. To me it could also mean There is only way to victorious living. And this is the way God showed me. I believe.

VICTORY IN JESUS NAME.

Secret Chicken Recipe - Navayuga Hotel

 

 

Navayuga Chicken

Chicken - 1/4 k.g.
Red Onion - 1 large
Tomato ketchup - 1tsp.
Green chilli - 3
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp.
Saffron powder - 1 pinch
Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp.

Preparation.

1. Take bone less pieces of the Chicken.
2. Cut them into medium sizes.
3. Add the masala powder and marinate it for 1/2 an hour.
4. In a thick pan, add the oil, next add 10 curry leaves, and slit green chilli.
5. Next add the roundly cut onion and saute for a whole minute. Followed by this add the marinated chicken. Add salt. Kept stirring and frying on low heat. The chicken would take around 20 mins. to cook completely. Next add the tomato ketchup and stir, let the chicken cook for 12 more minustes. (remember we are cooking without water, and on low flame!). Navayuga chicken is ready.

(Those who use ready made chicken masala. Beware, there are gravy masalas, kurma masalas, tandoori masalas. A small shift can completely ruin the taste. This chicken is a secret recipe of a restaurant I lately visited. Thankfully the owner shared, saying "madam this chicken recipe attracts customers!". It is very tasty.

Continuing Victory

CONTINUING VICTORY – PJM

MESSAGE BY DR. SOPHIA DEVASAHAYAM

      Psalm 24:6, “Such is the company of those who seek him. Who seek the face of the God of Jacob”.  In the old testament, God tells Moses in many places, “And the Levite is mine”. He prescribes the ‘Duties’ of the Levite in service, and mentions the colours ‘purple’, ‘blue’, ‘crimson’ to be used in service. Each one of these colour’s represent something. Purple stands for royalty. Blue spiritually stands for prophetic ministries. Crimson stands of passion. These three qualities together constitute service for royalty, in royalty. “And thou art a royal diadem in the hands of the Lord a royal priesthood forever”. “The scepter shall never depart from Judah”. “And the Levite is mine”. Service in the Kingdom, Service in the Lord’s Ministry. The two are two different arms of the Lord. What are the Lord’s characteristics?

 Humility:  Men or Women who are his arm, allows the flood of life-flow to flow within them. And so, what are his traits. Let me begin with what he taught for a over a decade starting from age 12, when I started reading his word. “Humility”, “Do not boast about yourself, let other’s boast about you”, “He that wants to be great in God’s kingdom learns to be the servant of all”. These two verses, he taught me, broke open to me, everyday for years. In the 8^th grade I learnt this spiritual secret, ‘he who takes victory over the depths of temptation! Catapults himself to great heights”. Praying and opening the doors of temptation, for VICTORY! To overcome! How do you overcome? Hours of prayer, bible reading and spending time in God’s presence. The Lord himself will reveal yourself to you. Setting yourself up, through struggle and fight. Not by choosing to cross the road of influence through  powerful men or women.  Waiting for God’s time to plunge you to victory. Till then “Be still and know that Iam God”.

Denying yourself:  Not seeking places of importance or self-strategising higher roads, which is seemingly victorious! My humble opinion only God can give real victory.  I don’t believe in not eating well, not dressing well, those are matters to do with self-esteem. Self respect and self-esteem, must not be confused with self-denial. Self-denial could also mean, waiting on the Lord for his time to move in every area of your life. /Going deep, going strong, being prepared for victory. This also could be the connotation for the word ‘passion’. Without it, an individual could become servile! What is servility? Waiting more on the arms of man to move in the direction of your need. Whereas God is unfailing, ‘But the shepherd only knows HIS SHEEP’. His sheep, follows  him anywhere he leads, trusting in him. Trust and Obey for there is no other way, to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.

 Joy:  “Peace, my peace I leave with you, not as the world gives do I give unto you”. This peace creates fountains of joy. It doesn’t promise lack of tears, but it ensures lack of sorrow. “The sting of words, shall never touch a righteous man” (quote from catholic bible). Peace ruleth over you. Without this aspect of faith and trust, sojourney with the Lord could be impossible.

Heights:

Moses and other saints, met Jesus in the heights of the mountain. A mountain top experience is always symbolic with prayer. We are now coming to the focal point of today’s message, ‘continuing victory’. Both Jesus and Moses, took the first lap of victory, when they completed their pass in the 40 days of  fasting and overcoming temptation, and 40 years of crossing  the wilderness. David too took his first lap of victory, after running from cave to cave in the outskirts of his land. Hunted down for his life by Saul. His victory came with the death of Saul and Jonathan at the battle. Saul’s head was chopped off. He wrote the famous Psalms during his journey within.  But he fell in the middle of his journey. Victory was not sustained. Not continued. Whereas Moses and Jesus, the two saints, finished their race starting from the beginning to the end. How did they do it?  Moses waited on the Lord, heard his word, and later approached the pharaoh. When denied, he went back and told the Lord, and found another way to take his victory for the children of Israel. Redeem them from the stronghold of the enemy! And lead them to Canaan. Jesus prayed all night, and did ministry all day. (To those who think, you don’t have that grace. All I want to tell you is this, working in various colleges in Chennai, I use to set time apart from night 10p.m to morning 2a.m, rarely 3a.m. Sometimes going to bed at 9p.m and waking up at 3a.m. for prayer. God gave me grace to work without taking a single casual leave at the Anna Adarsh College of women where I worked. He took full charge of everything that concerned me. Securing peace in my borders.  However watching me in secret for so many years, in 2009 April he said, greater victories leave the job. I obeyed. It is possible. I was able to do this with cooking, cleaning, lacking maid or any sort of help. You can do this too, one just has to ask him).

“Duties of a Levite” Today:

Jesus asked Peter to pray for him. Find some good friends and people, who will continually hold you in their prayers. Warriors who have been through much afflictions. The bible says, “the prayer of the righteous man availeth much”, “the prayer of the righteous man pierces the cloud and will not come back without an answer”. “The Lord does not forget the afflictions of the righteous”. Keep yourself in the good company of men and women like this. Support them, if not by money, atleast with your love. Do not take them for granted. An intercessor is the spine of God’s kingdom, not even those who can raise the Dead! This is what God taught me. Further discussing the ‘duties of a Levite’, Jesus preached! Jesus performed miracles!  Jesus wept - true burden,  Not working for fame or popularity. Jesus called his disciples – preparing future generation to carry on the Lord’s work. Jesus watched over Peter while walking on the sea, while fishing – watching over the needs, affairs and attitudes of those subjected to be within our reach. Real sincereity, not artifice. Not just for the sake of the call and the work. Truth in heart.

Prayer for Today: Holy Lord Jesus give us thy grace. Go before us prepare the way. Prepare our hearts. May thy grace be sufficient for us. Amen.

Oneness in God's Kingdom

    

     Oneness in god’s kingdom

By Dr. Sophia Devasahayam – pjm ministries

Qualities of a Ruler, Leader or Shepherd:

Judges 15:9 – 13

Vs. 12 , then men of Judah told Samson, “We have come down to bind you, so that we may give  you into the hands of the Philistines”. Samson answered them.  Vs. 13, “Swear to me that you yourselves will not attack me Qualities”.  They said to him, “No, we will only bind you and give into their hands; we will not kill you”.

     Who are the Judaeans. Jacob blessed Judah his son saying, “And the scepter will never depart of Judah”. On careful reading one can notice the birth of Jesus, prophesied so early. But we notice in the above verses, that they exercise no qualities of leadership, only servility. Why? Consecration, dedication, sincereity, sanctification, wholesomeness, in tune with God’s voice. hearing his voice, yielding to his guidance, are some of the qualities of a leader. They are set apart to be used by God. How they fail? We shall study this under the light of Samson and Saul.

     God first chose Saul to be the king of Israel. But he was neither trained nor tested. God unconditionally trusted him! Saul was soon seized by lust for power and authority. He couldn’t admire anyone better than himself, for eg. young David. He was seized by torments. He considered himself a Demi-God, we realize this when we read how he killed the priests ordained and set apart for God’s ministry. He offered sacrifice, which was a job meant to be done by only Samuel. He wanted to be everything. A king-priest. But that was not his call! Living within the borders of one calling, is the key to an unfailing relationship with God. When WE set ourselves for higher goals or victories, without his arm of strength as our support, we are bound to fail. I have admired how Saul was a not man  prone to weakness. He heart did not wander after wine, women, and wealth. He only seized himself power. But he intended to obey, when we notice him crying, missed being killed by David in the caves. He blesses young David as the next king, accepts God’s will. Humbles himself. But only momentarily. This was because his heart was not set on God himself but on what  God had to give him. We later notice how every male child in his family was killed, except Jonathan’s son who fell and broke his legs. Early in 2003, I was seated in a Christian organization, thinking this is how great I must climb in ministry, the Lord was quick to tell me something at that moment “Serve my heart and not my hands”. Pride killed Saul. He also failed to exercise oneness with God’s heart and his will. For a moment it is good to consider, how Samuel must have felt, when God asked him to ordain Saul and David as the future king of Israel. Imagine, called even in the womb, torn away from mother’s arm since a weaned child, served him in holiness and righteousness as a little child. Receptive to God’s voice, more than Eli. And yet, God Moved On! God’s focus is on what is best for his kingdom (in this case Israel) and not what is best for even Him! Parents raise your children in simplicity, discipline and fear of the Lord. This is not possible in your own strength. Set a day in a week just for them and fast and pray, indulge in alms giving,  my great - grandmother use to stand in the verandah of her house every evening, giving away money to the poor, saying “Cast your bread upon the water, for you don’t know may be all will return”. And God is still so faithful, in his call and will for her great grandchildren too. Unfailing Love.

Not taking God for Granted:

Judges 16:1, “Once Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute and went in to her”.  “So they circled around and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They kept quiet all night, thinking, “Let us wait until the light of the morning; then we will kill him”.

We all complain about the attacks of the enemy. Their schemes, plans, deceptiveness, lies, set – ups all intended to destroy us. Never peace. Struggle to the point, we are at the edge of this Christian journey. And may be, it could be God is just not setting you up. His line of plan for you is different, and not struggle. God set Samson a battle at his wedding plan, but not at Gaza. He set himself up. When we serve the Lord, fruitful in labour, the eyes of the enemy is always swift in making us fall, destroy us, and uproot us. The situation could be relationship, financial, neighbourhood problems, workspot, failing health, and carnal.  Analyse yourself in his presence, fast and pray in cleansing, let go , and set yourself free at his throne. He is faithful who called you, to redeem you. But to those who take him for granted, failing in this Christian journey again and again, God might just give you up soon one day. He might allow the Delilah. Iam telling you in truth, in my long walk with God, I have noticed how he not only sets you free, but also BLOCKS THE ROAD TO TEMPTATION!  The failure, which the world sees in your life, could only be a BLOCKED ROAD TO A FALL. You will not know yourself, unless you ask God, seated  at his feet , before his throne. When you are ready, he will PLUNGE YOU TO VICTORY!

Focal Point of Today’s Message:

Ch.15: 12 “We have come down to bind you, so that we may give you into the hands of the Philistines”.  Heart is filled with tears, writing this. How Samson could have felt. Great leaders of God, preachers, saints, prophets, struggle so much for His sheep through various battles. Broken by God in the furnace of testing and training. Broken by men through envy, jealousy, maliciousness and hatred. Tying Samson with chords. Evil witchcraft and voodoo regularly practiced against the saints and his family,  by God’s enemies. How much they struggle. Instead of supporting with their swords in battle, hometown men, blood line men, tied Samson with wounds. If you go through this road, you will not read this without crying. In my father’s ministry I have noticed how my parents gave everything to live and work for Christ among prostitutes, local rowdies. Daddy use to struggle so much on his knees in fasting and praying, and later voluntarily preach them the Gospel, at road meets, shops, stores. They were all soon saved, baptized and together ousted him out of his ministry. His heart broke through those roads. Blood use to be found at our staircase, witchcraft, to breakdown our home. Parents and children, husband and wife. It is through these roads as a young child of 12 years, I use to worship kneeling before the Lord from 3 to 6 every evening. Crying out to him, and he delivered us. My vexed father once laid his hands on my head and prayed, “God I believe this Child is my reward, release your storehouse of blessings into her life. Lead her to greatness”. He was so hurt, he didn’t even want to be rewarded in this ministry. Prayer warriors, preachers, prophets, support each other in prayer. Don’t speak evil of one another. Don’t try to destroy each other. Don’t be jealous of one another. This is the message God whispered to me this afternoon, Oneness!