Posted on

Recognize Yourself in the Grand Weaver’s Picture

Life is full of changes!

The reality and society in which we live in, is driven by a variety of factors that are totally out of our control. There are some things you just cannot stop or change. And these changing factors can lead us to feel as if we’re out of place. Whether it be in your workplace, your home, or any other environment, it is very difficult to feel as if you don’t fit in. And to deal with that, the topic of today will be on how to recognize yourself in the bigger picture.

Who’s the Grand Weaver?

Life is not just a combination of chemistry, biology, physics, and chance. It’s more than that. There’s intention and design to how we work and to how the world works. It was not random.

I believe that someone weaved all of this together. Hence why I call Him the Grand Weaver. For me, I can only see Jesus Christ as my Lord, God, and Saviour. The reason being, is that He’s kind, He’s wise, He’s my guide, He cares for me, He sets a line between what’s right and what’s wrong, and He orchestrates everything with purpose.

Colossians 1:16 World English Bible (WEB)
16 For by him all things were created in the heavens and on the earth, visible things and invisible things, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things have been created through him and for him.

More specifically, there is purpose in you, there is purpose in me, there is purpose in the cross, and there’s purpose in everything that He initiates.

Even more, the Grand Weaver, God Himself, is not excluded from what He orchestrates. He’s always at work, in fact, 2000 years ago, He came in the flesh as Jesus Christ to die on the cross on behalf of you, so that the punishment of your weaknesses, mistakes, and sins would be upon Him as the Lamb of God. After three days, He rose again, and now, He is known as the Lion of Judah!

Revelation 5:5 World English Bible (WEB)
5 One of the elders said to me, “Don’t weep. Behold, the Lion who is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome: he who opens the book and its seven seals.”

Therefore, accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. That’s the best thing I’ve done in my life and I’ll never regret it. And the same goes for you, it’s the best thing you could possibly do. I talk more about it in this post.

But, the point is that you are part of a tapestry weaved by the hands of the very living God. This does not mean your sufferings are initiated by God, there are multiple reasons why we suffer at times, yet, God is never responsible for unjust suffering.

However, God, being as good as He is, desires to weave your life into a good life, and He will mend out the sufferings until they become part of the beauty of His tapestry, until they turn out for your good!

Psalm 104:24 World English Bible (WEB)
24 Yahweh, how many are your works!
    In wisdom, you have made them all.
    The earth is full of your riches.

So, your first step is recognize and acknowledge the Grand Weaver.

Recognize Yourself as He Does

Now, the next step is to recognize yourself as God does. Unfortunately, many people don’t have a good view of themselves. You ought not to compare yourself with others. You should not compare your physical appearance with those in magazines or with other people.

Deuteronomy 5:21 World English Bible (WEB)
21 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. Neither shall you desire your neighbor’s house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”

Furthermore, you should not compare yourself with other people with greater academic ability or financial power. If you compare yourself with others, it will only be disadvantageous for yourself, because it will never allow you to recognize what God has given you.

As a matter of fact, God never intended for us to compare ourselves with others in any way or manner. Moreover, the same God who made you, also made everyone else. And He has assigned different purposes along with different plans for each and every one of us.

You must recognize that He has given you something unique to do, so, do everything that you do for His glory.

He sees you as His. And that’s all which matters. As the famous poet and playwright, Oscar Wilde, said, “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken!” At the same time, I do not quote this to state you can do whatever pleasures you, as that is not the you who God intended you to be.

So, remember this, God has assigned a unique identity to you with your own personality and strengths. Trust God with everything you’ve got and recognize that you are part of His tapestry.

1 Peter 4:10 World English Bible (WEB)
10 As each has received a gift, employ it in serving one another, as good managers of the grace of God in its various forms.

Recognize Yourself In Him!

As said in the introduction, our world is full of changes. And there are many of you out there who feel like the times are changing too fast. Technology is developing, it’s impossible to keep up with cultural trends, and more.

As a matter of fact, this can be a serious issue as it affects many people, today. People who served in the army know how painful it is to fit in modern society, especially after all they’ve faced in harsh environments for lengthy period of time.

Obviously, life is not easy. But, if you have that feeling of loneliness, as you experience different but extreme changes within your environment, I want you to know there is one constant through it all.

In a life full of variables, there is always this one constant. That one constant precedes all the variables. Your relationships may change, your workplace might change, and even you might change, but there is one who will never change.

Isaiah 41:10 World English Bible (WEB)
10 Don’t you be afraid, for I am with you.
    Don’t be dismayed, for I am your God.
    I will strengthen you.
    Yes, I will help you.
    Yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness.

Moreover, that one constant is God. He is with you through the storm and through it all. Subsequently, you don’t need to feel lonely, just be still, and know that you are never alone. He is with you through all of the changes around you.

Hebrews 13:8 World English Bible (WEB)
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Enjoying the Beauty of the Grand Weaver’s Tapestry

So, take a step back, and soak in the beauty of His tapestry. As God, the mastermind behind it all, weaves your life into His big picture. Be what He calls you to be, love others and love Him with all of who you are.

Matthew 22:36-40 King James Version (KJV)
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Furthermore, your life should not center upon self-esteem, it should center upon how much you esteem God in you. He is the Grand Weaver, and every relationship, every person, every gift that He puts in your life is a blessing to thank Him for. And each situation He provides for you, is an opportunity to show that God-given love to others, to not act selfishly, but to act out of sacrificial love.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 World English Bible (WEB)
4 Love is patient and is kind. Love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud, 5 doesn’t behave itself inappropriately, doesn’t seek its own way, is not provoked, takes no account of evil; 6 doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.

In conclusion, do not forget His kindness, but instead, count your blessings, and commune with Him. Read the Word of God (start with the New Testament first, because that’s what He says to you as part of His Church), discover what He says about you, and spend some time in prayer.

Luke 11:11-13 World English Bible (WEB)
11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he won’t give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, he won’t give him a scorpion, will he? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”

By Andre Wijesekera

Posted on

Adjust and Adapt to the Carpenter’s Vision

We're part of His heart!

In this blog post on Latter Rain, we’ll explore the importance of obedience as to how you grow and change. A magnificently large portion of your mental health relates to your spiritual health. Purpose, lifestyle, and feelings are all connections between your spiritual health and your mental health. How you view certain aspects of life as a spiritual being impacts the way you experience life in your mental health. So, if you want to learn why you should adjust and adapt to how God calls you to live, continue reading.

Visiting the Carpenter

First of all, you must know what is a carpenter. A carpenter is someone who constructs and repairs wooden structures. They envision a wooden structure like a table or a chair, and then, they set out to build the thing. And the unique thing about carpenters is that they first start out with nothing but with some materials. At the beginning, there’s no table, no chair, there’s nothing, but, there’s a vision of a chair or table in their head.

Now, God came in the flesh as Jesus Christ and before He started His ministry with signs, wonders, and miracles, He worked as a carpenter.

Mark 6:3 World English Bible (WEB)
3 Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judah, and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” So they were offended at him.

As Jesus Christ’s ministry unfolded, the crowd in the above verse could not understand who stood before them! Unfortunately, they did not realize that Jesus Christ was a carpenter to prove a certain point.

1 Corinthians 15:46 World English Bible (WEB)
46 However that which is spiritual isn’t first, but that which is natural, then that which is spiritual.

Why did He do it? I’ll tell you why, He did it to let you know that God can take your nothing and make it into His something. Moreover, God was proving a point through the natural means as a carpenter so that He might prepare them for the spiritual means. He’d shown Himself as a physical carpenter so that He might prepare them to behold Him as the spiritual Carpenter of carpenters, soon enough.

Just as a carpenter starts out with nothing but a vision and some materials to bring about something useful, God only needs a vision to make you into something glorious! That’s just the way God gets things done.

And there isn’t a single person who can get in His way until He’s done what He’s set out to do.

Isaiah 22:22 World English Bible (WEB)
22 I will lay the key of David’s house on his shoulder. He will open, and no one will shut. He will shut, and no one will open.

When a carpenter pulls up his sleeves, bears the pinches of splinters in his palms, and gets to work with his hammer, that pile of wood ought to become what the carpenter wants. In a similar but heightened manner, the Carpenter of carpenters, Jesus Christ, pulled up His sleeves, carried a wooden cross, let the splinters of hell tear at his back, and bore the flesh-splitting pinch of nails in His hands and feet. Your life ought to become what He sees in His vision for you.

A Vision and A Purpose

As a person, made in the image of God, God has a vision and plan set out for your life. You do not need to fall into depression or extreme lows, because God went to the lowest possible point of human experience to give you the greatest experience a human being could ever enjoy!

So, whatever trauma you’ve been through, whatever hell you’ve experienced, Jesus knows it all! He knows it to an extent you could never dream of imagining.

Isaiah 53:3 King James Version (KJV)
3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Jesus experienced social rejection, He experienced physical pain of the highest order, and He died on that rugged, wooden cross. As a matter of fact, when you look at the above verse, they called Jesus Christ, “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.”

According to the verse, people associated grief and suffering with Jesus Christ. He suffered to such an inhumane extent that whenever people would think of the person of Jesus Christ, they’d have to think about suffering, too. But, you see…

He had a vision.

This vision was not anything to laugh at. This vision was pulling Him to embrace His suffering and to keep on going. He didn’t die on a wooden cross, humiliated and despised for nothing. I’ll tell you what He saw… It was you.

Hebrews 12:2 King James Version (KJV)
2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

He saw you as you were called to be, as a victorious, blessed, joyful child of God. There ain’t a carpenter like Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:17 World English Bible (WEB)
17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new.

Adjust and Adapt to His Vision

Jesus Christ died on the cross so that by His suffering, you would not have to suffer as He did. No one but Jesus Christ is perfect. We’ve all lied, we’ve all stolen, we’ve all done things which are far from moral perfection.

Romans 3:23 King James Version (KJV)
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Furthermore, the only way for a morally perfect and upright God to excuse us from the punishment that awaited us, was to unleash His fury upon a perfect individual. That perfect individual was Jesus Christ, God Himself, in the flesh as a human being!

If you still do not comprehend as to why Jesus Christ died on the cross for you, visit this post, which might shed more light on the matter.

But, for those of you who do understand, and who have not accepted Him already, I urge you to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour.

Matthew 11:29-30 World English Bible (WEB)
29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

For those of you struggling with depression, God deeply cares for you and wants you to listen to His plan for your life. To those struggling with suicidal thoughts, Jesus Christ died and rose again for you; His will is for you to live for Him. For those of you who can’t seem to take your mind off grief and trauma, I advise you, to think about the suffering Christ whose suffering makes you whole. And to those who are happy with their life as it is, I tell you that without Jesus Christ, your life will never be complete.

Your life is not meaningless, it is not purposeless, it is not the by-product of a purely naturalistic reality. There is meaning within you. Your life is His and His alone.

Ephesians 2:10 World English Bible (WEB)
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.

Therefore…

Allow the Carpenter of carpenters
to bring about His vision
so that the life you indeed hold
will become something glorious to behold!

By Andre Wijesekera

Posted on

The King Who Wipes Away Thy Tears

The King of Kings reaches out to you.

As humans, we all face times when we’re sad or just heart-broken. Sometimes, a feeling of sadness can just overwhelm you and you don’t know what to do with the rest of the day. Whether it be past memories of failures or current situations at your workplace, there are many reasons to become sad. Don’t confuse this with depression, as depression and sadness are very different in that depression is a much more severe and consistent issue than sadness (I talk more about depression in this post). But, in this post, we’ll be discussing how to overcome sadness and how to stay happy instead of sad, because of the King of Kings.

Grief and Sorrow

To start off, when you are in a time of crisis or a period of sorrow, you must first realize that God values your tears. Now, I’m not saying to cry like a wimp over meaningless issues such as a preference over a meal or a lack of time to play video games.

The sorrow that I’m talking about concerns issues which actually challenge you, such as the loss of a loved one or a rough break-up. These are all things where people tend to find it hard to move on from. And even King David, a man from over 3000 years ago, asked questions similar to what you’re asking within your heart.

Psalm 13:2 World English Bible (WEB)
2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
    having sorrow in my heart every day?
    How long shall my enemy triumph over me?

And especially, if you’ve lost a loved one, it’s very difficult to move on. The feat almost seems impossible.

Job 3:1 World English Bible (WEB)
1 After this Job opened his mouth, and cursed the day of his birth.

Job is the book of the Bible which talks about how a guy named”Job” dealt with severe grief and tragedy. All on the same day, thieves stole his livestock (that was his source of income) and all his children died as a tornado struck their house. To top it off, he then caught a painful disease which really pushed him to the brink of his sanity. That’s why he regretted being born in the above verse.

The man was devastated, and you may be, too. But, as Job found hope even in the midst of such disaster, so also, I want you to find hope in the midst of your tragedy.

The Incredible Value of Tears in the King’s Eyes

So, what do you do when you face these feelings? Well, first of all, you recognize that God loves you. And that means a lot, because what that means is that there’s hope for the future.

A hope for the future is definitely a reason to be happy. But, as you read the book of Job, it is very hard to pinpoint God’s love until God reveals Himself to Job nearer to the end of the book.

Nevertheless, God loves you so much that He values ever tear drop that leaves your eyes.

Psalm 56:8 World English Bible (WEB)
8 You count my wanderings.
    You put my tears into your container.
    Aren’t they in your book?

He collects your tears not because He has an obsession over tears but because He values and cherishes the one who’s crying. God is a loving God. It’s intrinsic to His nature to really love you. And if you’re going through tremendous hardship, there may be only one shoulder to cry on and that shoulder belongs to God.

Jesus loves you and that’s not just some cheap phrase coined by Christians to spread a religion. It’s meaningful, it holds such purpose and whatever tragedy has set itself upon you, you’ve got to know that the King of Kings is calling you out of the sorrow and into His love.

Revelation 21:4 World English Bible (WEB)
4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more. The first things have passed away.”

In the above verse, God is prophetically talking about those in Heaven who’d cry and how He wipes away their tears. So, if God does it over there, of course, He’s here to be with you as the King who wipes away your tears.

Showing the World There’s a Reason to Be Happy

Please, read the below passage, word by word.

Luke 7:11-15 World English Bible (WEB)
11 Soon afterwards, he went to a city called Nain. Many of his disciples, along with a great multitude, went with him. 12 Now when he came near to the gate of the city, behold, one who was dead was carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. Many people of the city were with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said to her, “Don’t cry.” 14 He came near and touched the coffin, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I tell you, arise!” 15 He who was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he gave him to his mother.

Jesus saw this lady, crying and distressed. She had lost her husband, she had now lost her son. And the Bible says that when Jesus saw her, He had compassion on her. He knew that the son would be happy in Heaven, but, His heart could not ignore the sorrow of the grieving mother.

And so, Jesus told her, “Don’t cry.”

After that, He raised the dead man back to life because Jesus is the King of Kings.

If you’ve been crying your eyes out of their sockets, Jesus is telling you, “Don’t cry.” And I’m telling you that you ought to listen to what He says because He’s planning for a miracle in your life. For the widow, He raised her dead son back to life. For you, I don’t know what God’s planned, but He’s planning to give you a testimony.

God’s Not Done Yet

All I know is this, God loves you and He plans to bless you. Even with the catastrophe you’re facing, the King of Kings will bring about good from it. So, listen to Jesus’s plea as He tenderly tells you, “Don’t cry.”

Romans 8:28 World English Bible (WEB)
28 We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose.

If you haven’t already and you want to show God that you love Him as it says in the above verse, then, accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. Jesus Christ died on the cross 2000 years ago and rose again from the dead so that as soon as you accept Him as your Lord and Saviour, His empowering, graceful Holy Spirit would live within you where you can have a relationship with God. I talk more about it in this post.

When you commit your life to God, He commits to you, too!

Therefore, come out of your grief and sorrow to witness the love of God just as Job did when He declares this in the verse below.

Job 19:25 World English Bible (WEB)
25 But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives.
    In the end, he will stand upon the earth.

God even gave Job double of what He lost and restored Him to the point of where we now read the book of Job as a testimony!

Job 42:10 King James Version (KJV)
10 And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.

By Andre Wijesekera

Posted on

The God Who Lovingly Comforts His Own

The God Who Lovingly Comforts His Own

We’ve all had heartbreaks in various forms. These emotionally devastating situations such as the loss of a loved one or scenes of betrayal are capable of crippling people and making them feel helpless. Excessive sorrow kills motivation and crushes the heart. But, that is why you need someone to comfort you. And this is why I’m going to talk about the God who lovingly comforts His own.

The Devastating Fall

1 Peter 5:8 World English Bible (WEB)
8 Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

Whatever devastation you’ve experienced, whatever grief seized your heart, do not let it be a foothold for the devil. The Bible clearly talks about a wicked spiritual being known as the devil who walks about, seeking someone to deceive.

He comes about like a lion, but he can only be like a lion, he’s a liar; he can only devour because people believe he’s the real deal. The lie he may be telling you is that there is no one but you facing this horrendous situation and that you’ve nothing to do but to be depressed and doomed.

The worst imaginable fall from glory is displayed in the case of Adam and Eve. God made them for His glory and He literally gave them Heaven on Earth. But, they listened to the voice of the devil in the form of a snake and gave the devil all their privileges.

Genesis 3:13 World English Bible (WEB)
13 Yahweh God said to the woman, “What have you done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

The devil’s deceit seized Adam and Eve of all their privileges so that things would never be the same for them.

Even If We’re Unfaithful, He’s faithful

There has never been such a devastation as terrible as Adam’s fall because that fall allowed sin, death, and suffering to enter the world. And yet, God could not help but manifest His goodness.

God is such a good Father that even if we don’t always stay true to Him, He will always stay faithful to us. So, let His faithfulness be your strength, let His goodness and tender love comfort you.

He had to sacrifice an animal so He could clothe Adam and Eve. He comforted them even after their biggest mistake and this is why I know He is the God who comforts His own.

Genesis 3:21 World English Bible (WEB)
21 Yahweh God made garments of animal skins for Adam and for his wife, and clothed them.

Moreover, God did not just stop there. Once Adam and Eve failed, He did not just comfort them and leave them to be. He gave Adam and Eve a hint of His future plan for the human race. He assured them that He is going to make things right even though He doesn’t have to.

When God sacrificed that animal so He could clothe His own, He hinted at how one day, He would sacrifice the Lamb of God to comfort and restore His children. That Lamb of God is none other than Jesus Christ who died on the cross and took your failures upon Himself so He could put hope in you.

2 Timothy 2:13 World English Bible (WEB)
13 If we are faithless,
    he remains faithful;
    for he can’t deny himself.”

The Spirit of God Who Comforts His Children

If you feel discouraged or devastated, there is one thing you must absolutely remember! It is that the spirit of Jesus is within you and He promises to comfort you.

John 14:16-17 King James Version (KJV)
16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

Jesus was talking to His disciples as He knew that He was going to be betrayed and handed over to be crucified, soon. He was preparing them so they would know why He’s doing what He’s doing.

He said that through His relationship with the Father, He will give us the Comforter. Jesus also calls the Comforter as the Spirit of truth. The Comforter is the spirit of Jesus and we know this because Jesus is the truth and he tells the disciples that He is with them and soon, He will be in them.

When you accept Jesus, His finished work on the cross, and His glorious resurrection, you allow His wonderful Spirit to reside in you. He is the God who comforts His own. If there’s no one to comfort you, remember, He is at your side and shall always be with you.

John 16:7 King James Version (KJV)
7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

Even if you are grieved over something which is your fault, God wants to comfort you and make all things work out for your good. From the very beginning till now, God has been comforting and guiding His children; if you want to experience His divine love and comforting grace, put your trust in Jesus.

Isaiah 51:3 World English Bible (WEB)
3 For Yahweh has comforted Zion.
    He has comforted all her waste places,
    and has made her wilderness like Eden,
    and her desert like the garden of Yahweh.
Joy and gladness will be found in them,
    thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.

He will turn your disaster into a testimony, just trust Him.