"MY MONEY MY OWN!"

In the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus, we see that the rich man went to hell. He was not an adulterer or a blasphemer. He was not killing or stealing. In fact, we read of many good things about him. He loved his brothers. And he was calling Abraham 'father'. Abraham also doesn't accuse him of any wickedness. Why did he go to hell then?

One reason why the rich man went to hell could be that he was clothed in purple and fine linen. In Bible times, scarlet and fine linen were royal and expensive clothing. You may be a rich man. You may say, "I am using my own money and wearing expensive clothes or having an expensive car or other luxurious items." But when you use your money like that, the Bible calls you a murderer. "I am not taking anybody else's money. Whom am I killing? You may ask, "Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just" (Jms 5:5,6). When you are living in pleasure you are morally killing many poor and needy people who may die of starvation or malnutrition. Remember, not only your tithes, but also every penny of yours belongs to God. One day we have to give account to God for them.

Those who live in pleasure and spend money on luxuries will have a tormenting end. Their life too will be a torment. "How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her" (Rev 18:7).

Dear child of God, the happiest life is a simple, humble life. God gives you money, but He wants it to be used for the glory of God.

- TPM Morning Manna

SEEK SUPERNATURALITY...!

God made man in His own image and likeness. God is wonderful. Therefore when He made us, He put in us the desire to be wonderful. Every human being, sinner or saint, longs for supernaturality. Sinners seek supernaturality through drugs, cigarettes, witchcraft, etc. They want some supernatural power.

God wants to do something supernatural in us and through us. He has got a great plan for us, that is much greater than we can imagine. That is why the Word of God says, "Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people" (I Pet 2:9). If our spiritual eyes are opened to see how wonderful the Lord wants our lives to be, what a difference it will make to our lifestyle!

The Lord wants to reveal Himself to us as the wonderful One every day. If God does not answer your prayer in a straight way, it means He wants to answer it in a wonderful way. Our God delights to do the impossible. Because our Lord's name is Wonderful, He wants to do everything in a wonderful way.

One man of God says we must pray for the impossible. It is easier to do a difficult thing than an easy thing. Our God dwells in the realm of the supernatural. When we ask for an easy thing we are limiting the power, the ability and the glory of Jesus. We are grieving the Holy Spirit. We are doubting the power, the generosity and the love of our God. In fact, we ar tying the hands of God. Our spiritual eyes need to be opened. Then we will not pray for small things; we will learn to pray for the impossible. We will pray for greater things and with greater faith and vigour.

- Late Pastor T.U.Thomas, in "Morning Manna"

TRIALS DO US GOOD

"The waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered" (Gen 7:19)

In the Word of God, waters often refer to afflictions and sufferings. The Psalmist prays, "Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul" (Psa 69:1).

God permits trials to 'prevail exceedingly' so that the high hills or our proud nature that often lifts its ugly head might be covered and crushed. The trials the Israelites encountered in the wilderness were intended to humble them (Deut 8:2).

"The waters prevailed exceedingly" so that the whole earth was covered and the sky or heaven alone could be seen. Dear child of God, our sufferings are meant to cover our earthly nature with all its vanitites - so that Christ and the heavenly nature alone may be seen in us.

As the waters increased, "all flesh died" (vs 21). Destruction of ALL FLESH was the purpose of the flood waters. The tribulations we go through help us to strip off our fleshly and unsacntified natures. "Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God" (I Pet 4:1,2).

So dear child of God, welcome trials that are in the perfect will of God - they are a sure sign of God's love for you!

- Late Pastor T.U.Thomas, in "Morning Manna"

HE KEEPS OUR FEET...:

"He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: He that keepeth thee will not slumber" (Psa 121:3).

What privileged people we are! Our God has promised that He will not allow our feet which have been set on the Rock of Ages (Psa 40:2), to be moved or shaken.

"He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways" (Psa 91:11,12). "He will keep the feet of His saints" (I Sam 2:9). Is it not amazing that not only are the holy angels holding us in their mighty hands that our feet may not dash against a stone, but the Lord also is Himself watching over our feet night and day - He doesn't ever slumber or sleep!

However, if the Lord is to keep our feet, we have a part to play. "I have refrained my feet from every evil way" (Psa 119:101). Here 'feet' means 'walk of life'. When our walk of life is free from all known evil, the Lord will preserve our feet from being shaken and also from falling. "Thou hast delivered... my feet from falling" (Psa 116:8).

If God is caring for and keeping our feet, the lowest part of the body, how much more willing He must be to care for our head - to keep it from evil thoughts, imaginations, etc! And if God cares so much for our body, how much more He must care for our soul!

- Late Pastor T.U.Thomas, in "Morning Manna"

END WELL!

"And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom" (Gen 19:1).

What a contrast to Genesis 18:1! The Lord Himself came to meet Abraham. Here, to meet Lot, only two angels arrive. When a perfected saint dies, not merely angels, but the Lord Himself comes to welcome him to his eternal home.

Unlike in the case of Abraham, here, instead of "the heat of the day", it is "even". All the zeal for the Lord has cooled down; the Sun of righteousness is setting, bringing in dark shadows. Many 'cooled' believers do not realize that they are in a sad state of affairs - they find great joy talking of the zeal they once had, of the souls they won for the Lord, of how much they once suffered, of how they laboured in prayer.

"Lot sat in the gate of Sodom." At one time, when he was in fellowship with the true saint, Abraham, he too was a tent dweller - living by faith; but now he has lost that vision and revelation. Sitting at the gate meant holding the position of a judge. Maybe for sometime it appeared as if Lot was better off than his uncle - sitting at the gate of Sodom rather than dwelling in tents! How sad it is that, when many finally realize their folly in following the ways of the world, it is too late!

Dear reader, the voice of the Lord crying "Where art thou?" is still heard. Are you sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day like Abraham, or at the gate of Sodom at even?

- Late Pastor T.U.Thomas, in "Morning Manna"

CHOOSE HIS PERFECT WILL...:

Getting guidance from God depends on the degree of our dedication. If we want to do the perfect will of God and dedicate ourselves for that, then the Lord will reveal His perfect will to us.

In Ezekiel 20:24,25 we read that God gave the Israelites 'statutes that were not good and judgments whereby they should not live,' because they had despised His statutes! So if you despise the guidance and counsel of the elders you will get counsel that will work your ruin. Here God gave them evil statutes that they may perish. So if God is to give us His guidance we must have a commitment and a desire to do the perfect will of God.

Why did God tell Balaam, 'Go with the men' when He didn't want him to? [When he went an angel of God was standing on the way with a sword to kill him.] God knew Balaam's heart. Deep in his heart he had already decided to do his own will. We can be like Balaam - not really wanting to do God's will, and yet praying to know His will. When the Lord told Balaam "Go," He meant "Go ahead and do what you want."

If you have rejected the counsel of God in some area of your life, God is not going to give you counsel in other areas of your life. Yesterday God may have given you a word of counsel and guidance and you may not have obeyed. If you ask for His guidance for today, you will not get it. You cannot say, "Yesterday I did not want to do that but today I am willing to obey." Unless you are prepared to do the whole will of God, God will not reveal His counsel to you.

- Late Pastor T.U.Thomas, in "Morning Manna"

DON'T WASTE YOUR TEARS!

"Put Thou my tears into Thy bottle" (Psa 56:8).

God has a bottle in which tears are collected and kept in the presence of God. O child of God, your tears are never in vain.

A certain lady had a prodigal son. She kept weeping in the presence of God for the salvation of the boy. One day the Lord told her, "Daughter, your prayers are in My presence. You need not weep any more." Then one day, when that boy was going up in a lift, a stranger with two buckets of water entered the lift. The boy asked the stranger, "Why are you going up with these buckets of water?" Then the stranger answered, "I'm an angel of God. This is not water. I'm taking your mother's tears to the presence of God," and disappeared. The boy had a shock. How much tears my mom has shed for me!" He straightaway went to his mother, apologized to her, and accepted the Lord into his life.

What type of tears is God collecting in His tear bottle? All your tears may not go into that bottle. The people of the world weep when they lose their money, job, position, honour, title, etc. The Holy Spirit is sad about these people who weep, not for the glory of God, but out of self-pity. "Nobody cares. Everybody is rejecting me and despising me. There's nobody who understands." These tears of self-pity do not go to the presence of God.

"Lord, I don't have enough money, I need a better job, etc." is the cry of many. Now, it's not wrong to pray like that. But doctors say we have only a limited quantity of tears in our system. If you waste your tears on material things you will not have any tears for spiritual things. You shed tears for material blessings and you get them, but when you die you may go empty. If you find your tear bottle empty on going to heaven, it means you are almost bereft of the blessings of God in heaven.

The more we weep in the presence of God for our sins, for perishing souls, etc. the more we will be built up in God. All those tears will be collected in the bottle of God. Those tears will be plentifully rewarded by God.

- Late Pastor T.U.Thomas, in "Morning Manna"

HEAVEN IN THE MIDST OF TROUBLES..:

"And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters... And God called the firmament Heaven" (Gen 1:6,8).

It is quite interesting to observe that God created heaven not only 'in the beginning', but also on the second day (only, with contrasting elements as compared to the first time)!

On the second day of His six-day creation, God is mainly dealing with the waters. One may wonder why God is devoted to the subject of waters on the second day, for we find the word 'waters' five times in the two verses, Genesis 1:6&7. From Psalm 69:1,2,14,15 we gather that waters signify afflictions, trials and tribulations. In the midst of the waters, God set the firmament called heaven. How encouraging and edifying it is for children of God to realize that in the midst of the waters or troubles, God has not kept a hell, but a HEAVEN (firmament) for us!

This 'heaven' in not in a corner, or by the sides of the waters, or at the bottom or top of the waters, but IN THE MIDST OF THE WATERS, praise the Lord! As such, our loving God often permits waters or troubles all around us, so that we might enjoy heaven in the midst of them. Instead of crying, "I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me" (Psa 69:2), we can shout, "I am come into heaven where joy overflows me!"

- Late Pastor T.U.Thomas, in "Morning Manna"