Originally posted by blueskypoint at Flickr

By Sidharth Mohandas

Romans 8: 29, 30:

“For whom He foreknew, He also foreordained to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren: and whom He foreordained, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified.”

1 Peter 1:1, 2: “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the elect … according to the foreknowledge of God the Father…”

From the above two Scriptures I come to believe that predestination is closely linked with the foreknowledge of God. I believe understanding the foreknowledge of God is the key to understanding predestination. 1 Peter 1:1-2 tells us that God’s election of His people is according to His foreknowledge. What did God foreknow? I believe God foreknew our choice. Anyone who is truthful to himself will agree that man has an absolute free-will. And that means he is free to choose whatever he wants. God will never barge into any mans life and force him to accept anything, that’s the reason why God can judge our actions. If God had foreordained our choice then He would be unjust in judging those who did not believe in Him. God has given us the freedom to choose life or death.

I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before thee life and death, the blessing and the curse: therefore choose life, that thou mayest live, thou and thy seed. [Deuteronomy 30:19]

God foreknew yours and my decision to His message. And based on the foreknowledge of our response, He has chosen us.

Courtesy to Walter’s Art Gallery

By Sidharth’s mom 

This is my grand letter that must be written- declared from the rooftop: the letter revealing the Faith- a beacon, the Standard for all to see and witness:

Every one of us feels areas of curse in our lives- areas in our life which needs change or breakthrough- but we face uncanny resistance- it just wont go away…
We see the presence of curse in the world too- and makes us wonder, Will life always be like this? Will there be a breakthrough? Why did God allow such situations? What is God’s role… where is God?

The Word of God says, life wasn’t created like this- God didn’t intend existence to be what it now means to us.

He designed a perfect Garden of a life for His favorite creation: Man-and-woman - two parts of one.

But the moving, dynamic Being that He is, when He created man/woman, He created them as a dynamic being- in His Image: they were given the freedom of choice. God placed blessing and curse before them.

“I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants” [Deuteronomy 30:19]

Whether we like it or not, our Great Grand Parents chose… curse through their disobedience. After that through man/woman’s ingenuity and resourcefulness, each (through different kinds of religions) tried to offer compensation to escape from the condition of curse by offering sacrifices.

Man’s effort fell short of God’s standards.

So God provided a way out:
And that way is Jesus Christ.

He offered the complete compensation, the perfect sacrifice - for the curse, for the fall.

And opened a way for man/woman to approach God; to circumvent the curse and live a blessed life on this earth which is still cursed.

So when each, first accepts Christ, is born again as a new creature/creation in the spiritual Garden of Eden- and begins to grow - learning and understanding obedience to God. And learning to receive and live in a blessed state. It’s a new Kingdom- the Kingdom of God. You become a new citizen with awesome rights and power. You are given a new mind and you will be trained to have new thoughts, attitudes. In short: you will be modeled on the perfect Man that ever lived: Jesus Christ.

By Bala Samson 

Introduction

“So that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (Mathew 6:18) 

Let these words of Jesus echo in your heart today. What an awesome promise for those who fast, but sadly Christians have failed to realize and use this powerful key to miracles. Some of you have loved ones who’ve heard the gospel countless times, but they’re still away from God. The fact is, you can put the truth right under their nose, but they can’t see it because of the darkness. They need a personal touch from God for the true light to penetrate the deadly darkness. Don’t try to win the battle by debating, arguing, crying, or screaming – win it through prayer! Plead, weep and cry out to God until He shines His light into their life and they can see. Remember, they have been in darkness for too long, it needs the power of God to tear this darkness and reveal Jesus to them. Friend, fasting with prayer moves the heart of God.

Through Fasting I Won My Husband!

I was the first one to get saved at home. My husband would watch me lifting my hands, speaking in tongues, rejoicing in the Lord and praying for many hours together. My husband bewildered and astonished seeing the change in me, but he remained hard and argued with me over certain things. I determined in my heart to fast and pray for him. The very first year as I read the Bible, the Holy Spirit revealed to me the power of fasting and I started fasting immediately after delivering my miracle boy, who was the reason for my salvation. I set aside Wednesdays to fast and pray for my family. I would just not stop with fasting but I would wake up early start the day with prayer and also end the fasting with prayers. Since I was working for a multinational company, sometimes the work would be hectic, but I would set aside time to pray. I guess it touched my Father’s heart. One day while at church, the pastor gave a call for infilling of the Holy Spirit. My husband sat tight in his seat, I nudged him to go. I thank the Holy Spirit for taking him that day. After the service was over, he came all glowing and the words he said were, “I missed this experience all these days”. My husband said that he was the first one to be touched and the Lord filled him with the Holy Spirit and he started speaking in other tongues. My husband just could not wait that day to gather for our family prayer at night. He was so filled with God and His Presence that He wanted to worship along with us. That night was a day to remember in our family, he spoke for half an hour in tongues and my husband had never been the same again. All this was made possible because I fasted and prayed for him.

 Fasting Can Change Your Crusty-hearted Relatives 

I was so encouraged by this miracle that I started praying on Thursdays for my very close relatives, one person in particular was very arrogant, proud, and abusive, and into every worldly habit you could think of; it was just next to impossible to preach to him. When we invited him for prayers, he would just sit and nonchalantly watch me preaching and not care a bit. But I started crying, fasting and praying just for him. What a miracle! In a matter of few months, God touched his heart and his attitude changed towards me and now he is the one who is helping us in our ministry. Praise God! Friend, the most beautiful moment in my life is when my husband stands on the pulpit and testifies saying that he came to the Lord watching me fast, pray and sing. Hey, sing? Yes, singing with anointing can touch souls. Friend, more than anything, you need to be a living testimony. Fast and pray for God to change your family, finances, circumstances… and most important, YOU FIRST. Mark my words: God does not change circumstances without accomplishing His purpose of changing YOU.

Tips For Fasting:

How do I fast?

1. If you are a beginner, you can start with just giving up on one meal.

2. List out very clearly as to why you are fasting, do not do it haphazardly, tell the Lord the cause for your fasting.

3. Particularly confess your sins and keep yourself open for the Holy Spirit to correct you.

4. If you have grudges in your heart, your fasting goes null and void, please reconcile with people before you reconcile with God.

5. Never postpone the date you have set for fasting, satan tries his best to do this, stand firm.

6. Do not let slight illness postpone the fasting, remember Jesus fasted for 40 days and Moses fasted for 40 days twice without food and water.

7. Remember to drink lot of water while fasting.

8. Most important, as much as possible avoid advertising your fasting, keep yourself fresh and active. 

Remember, if you are a Christian, you should start right away to learn to fast. The reason many Christians do not have power to resist Satan and the reason they fall too often, is because they do not know to fast. Come on now, learn to say NO to food and start fasting right away! Never just stay in the beginners stage, move towards doing greater things for God.