Calvary's touch International Ministries CTIM

15/05/2026

Today's Encouragement
How to stop GRUMBLING & COMPLAINING
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"And do not grumble, as some of them did-and were killed"... I Cor.10: 10.

GRUMBLING AND COMPLAINING is one thing we don't get too concerned about these days. I mean everybody grumbles about something, right? Husbands and Wives complain about each other. Kids tell each other how terrible their folks are. Christians grumble about one another- even about their leaders'!

The nation of Israel had a long history of grumbling and complaining. You can read about the misery it brought them in the first five books of the Old Testament. Read for Meditation Numbers 11:1-2.

THREE COMMON COMPLAINTS:
The Israelites' wilderness journey exposes the attitudes behind their complaints - some really serious sins! Let's look at three complaints that will get us into big trouble. Be honest and see if you find yourself in these accounts in Numbers.

1. COMPLAINTS OF THE FLESH: -
Numbers 11 gives concise picture of what God and Moses had to put up with while trying to lead the people out of Egypt into the Promised Land. Not only did Moses have to listen to their complaints, but the Lord heard all their griping as well. Ps.139: 2,4.

You can't hide bad attitudes from God. It's better to get to the root and deal with it. What was the root of their complaint? The root of their complaint was their flesh. They forgot that they didn't deserve anything!

BE CAREFUL HOW YOU PRAY!
The Lord, knowing their hearts, knew they'd rejected Him for their appetites. So He gave them what they thought they wanted. Num. 11:19-20; 31-32. God answered their complaining prayer abundantly and they added insult to injury.
There was no praise, no thanks giving, and no faith. Just greed. Many, many people died in that plague.

Don't allow your flesh to win over your spirit, carrying you into a dead faith - or worse, into outright rejection of the Lord.
(to be contd).

Be grateful!
~ A Othniel
(May 15, 2026)

14/05/2026

14/05/2026

Today's Encouragement
Do You Follow God Fully?
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While meditating on God's Word, I have been impressed with how often God calls us to complete, unconditional obedience to His word and will.
For example, we note that Caleb followed God "fully" (Numbers 14:24) and thus was able to enter the Promised Land.

When you read Psalm 119, you will find this testimony: "I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word" (Psalm 119:101). And this: "I consider all your precepts to be right; I hate every false way" (v. 128).

Then we notice King Hezekiah's statement to God: "I have walked before You in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in Your sight" (Isaiah 38:3).

Clearly, the Lord wants us to be unreservedly surrendered to His word and will. He wants us to "present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God" (Romans 12:1), to be "crucified with Christ" so we can say, "it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me" (Galatians 2:20).

Let us surrender our lives wholly to the Lord to follow Him "fully" like Caleb and enter in to possess all His promises and finally inherit the Etenral Life in Christ.

All to Jesus I surrender
All to Him I freely give
I will ever love and trust Him
In His presence daily live.

All to Jesus I surrender
Make me Saviour wholly Thine
Let me feel the Holy Spirit
Truly know that Thou art mine
I surrender all
I surrender all
All to Thee my blessed Saviour
I surrender all.

Let me be wholly Thine!
~ A Othniel
(14 May 2026)

13/05/2026

Today's Encouragement
Courage to Take A Step
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Transforming our lives means stepping out in faith, believing that God is able to turn even the watery-depths of the ocean into a pathway toward Himself and His plan for us.

We may have taken other "safe" paths in the past and found that these didn't take us where we truly longed to go spiritually, but their familiarity made us feel comfortable. But now with our eyes fixed on Jesus, we will have to face our fear of the unknown and get beyond it.

What is Courage
If we wait for all our fear to go away, before we begin to transform our lives, we will never make significant spiritual progress.
Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage means that we take advantage of the little strength we find within us, that we find little ways to encourage ourselves, and that we stubbornly follow God's direction. It means that we find enough strength to take a step in the right direction.

Walking on Water
In the account where Jesus walked on the water, the disciples were terrified when they saw Him (Matthew 14:28-31).
Peter called to Jesus, "Lord, if it's really You, tell me to come to You by walking on water." Jesus told him to come, so Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on water toward Jesus.
Peter became terrified and began to sink, but Jesus reached out His hand and lifted him up.

Peter gathered up enough courage to take one step in the Lord's direction when the Lord called to him. He ventured out into a new experience. When he got in over his head, he called out and found the help he needed. We, too, need only to summon the courage to take a step in the right direction. This doesn't mean that we won't feel fear or need help. It does mean that with God's help, we will make it if we step out in faith.

May you get this courage in these days of uncertainty to step out and take many steps of faith to go from wave to wave in realizing your dreams and goals for God's glory.

Be Encouraged!
~ A Othniel
(May 13, 2026)

12/05/2026

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12/05/2026

Today's Fresh Manna
Repairing our Boundaries
(2 Chronicles 32:1-19)
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Boundaries are limits that we set for ourselves and others for our protection. As we grow spiritually, we need to continually make sure our boudnaries are in good shape because the limits we set help to protect and preserve our spiritual growth.
Maintaining our boundaries may involve repairing or building healthy boundaries where they have becoms weak, defective or torn down.

In Bible times each city was fortified by boundary walls that served as protection from outside enemies. If these walls were weak or broken,there was grave danger of invasion and destruction.

At one point in Israel's history, an enemy was threatening to attack Jerusalem, so king Hezekiah "stremgthened his defenses by repairing the wall wherever it was broken down and by adding to the fortifications and constructing a second wall outside the first" ( 2 Chronicles 32:5).

Then Hezekiah encouraged the people by saying, "Be strong and courageous! We have the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles for us" (2 Chronicles 32:7-8).

Some of our boundaries may have slowly deteriorated as we have let down our guard against our areas of weakness to sin.
We may have let our commitments to live a balanced life slip so that we find ourselves exhausted or overtaxed.

We need to check and repair our boundaries as a way to preserve our spiritual gain.
We can also construct a second wall of defense by developing a strong support network around us.

In all this we must remember that no matter what enemies we face, our God is with us, and He is far greater. This should bring us great encouragement.

How are your boundary walls? Are they in place and upto date, repaired and strong? Check now and do the needful before the enemy gains a foothold or takes a stronghold (Ephesians 4:26-27; 2 Corinthians 10:4).

Secure your boundaries!
~ A Othniel
(May 12, 2026)

11/05/2026

Today's Encouragement:
*Hope in Hard Times*
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Dear Friend,
We are in challenging times that we had never seen before in our lifetime! The rising economic struggle for many countries due to the war in the Middle East and the problem of terrorism that is killing millions of inncoent people, and so many unexpected tragedies happening that break our hearts!.

You might not know the name Horatio G. Spafford, but I bet you know the hymn he wrote after losing his four daughters to a shipwreck in 1873.
Its first line promises serenity: “When peace like a river attendeth my way.”
But its second line quickly turns to the brutal reality of suffering: “When sorrows like sea billows roll.”

In this season, have your “sea billows” rolled?
Have your hard times seemed unending?
Are you having difficulty agreeing with Spafford’s resolution in his first chorus: “Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, ‘It is well, it is well, with my soul’”?

Hope in hard times
Spafford did not deny the reality of his suffering. He reportedly wrote “It Is Well” after the ship he was on sailed over the site where his greatest tragedy occurred.
But neither did he deny the reality of his Savior’s love.

Spafford knew what we can know today: our hope is in Jesus.
Not in our present circumstances, but in His certain return.
Not in where we are, but in who He is.

In the days ahead, I pray that you look up to God and then out to the world around you. Ask how God can use you where you are for His greater purposes. And believe that He desires to accomplish His will through you.

John 16:33
*“I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”*

Our hope in hard times rests in Jesus. It is only through His love, His plans, and His will that we can all agree with Spafford: “It is well with my soul.”
Is it?

Be Encouraged!
~ A Othniel
(May 11, 2026)

10/05/2026

Today's Encouragement
Storms of Life-2
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"Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up”. Jonah 1: 4.
"Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat..." Mat. 8:24. (Jn. 6: 16- 21). Mark 4:35-37.

We have seen that our life is like a boat in the sea that faces all sorts of storms. There are two storms of life we all face in this world.
1. Storms of Correction

2. Storms of Perfection: -
In response to the Lord's prompting the disciples went into a boat and started to go to the other side. They were obedient to the Lord. Yet the storm arose and they were struggling to save themselves because the wind was against them (Mark 6: 48).

Yes, when we obey the Lord and start out to do what is pleasing to Him, we begin to face oppositions from various sides, and it becomes very difficult to continue. It appears everything is against us and feel we are all alone in such storms of life.

However, there is so much comfort and peace in the heart when we know that these storms are to make us perfect - that we may be established in the faith, be strong and effective witnesses for His glory.

Finally, we see how in the midst of this storm the Lord gave them a fuller & wonderful revelation of His power and person that the disciples entered into a higher spiritual experience with Him. Therefore, whenever we are faced with similar storms in our lives because of our obedience to the Lord, we'll have the assurance & peace in our heart if we remember these truths i.e.

1) The Lord has led us into such situation (Mk. 6: 45);
>> Ref.Job, Peter in Luke 22:32.
2) He is praying for us (Vs 46);
3) He knows and sees our problems / struggles (Vs 48);
4) He comes to us (Vs 48b);
5) He assures us not to fear because He is with us (Vs 50);
6) He leads us safely to the shore (Jn 6 : 21); and
7) He enlightens our understanding of His power and person in a deeper way - to strengthen & enlarge our faith (Mt. 8 : 26,27).

Oh! What a wonderful & challenging experience it is to go through the storm with Jesus in our boat, as we sing the chorus –
With Christ in the vessel we can smile at the storm, as we go sailing home.’

Perfection:
Isa.26:3; Matt.5:48; 19:21; Col.1:28; James 1:4; 2 Tim.3:16-17.

Be encouraged!
~ A Othniel
(May 10, 2026)

09/05/2026

Welcome to Biblestudy & Fellowship
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*BIBLICAL DISCERNMENT-3*
~ *Living in Discernment*
*Sunday, May 10, 2026 at 6.30pm IST*
(Ask for the joining link in the comments below)
*All Christians are welcome to Join*
Invite your friends to join too. Thank you.

09/05/2026

Today's Encouragement.
*Storms of Life*
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*"Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up”. Jonah 1: 4.*
"Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat..." Mat. 8:24. (Jn. 6: 16- 21). Mark 4:35-37.

Our life in this world is like a ship in the sea. In our voyage we face difficult conditions, opposing wind currents, and sometimes dangerous and life-threatening storms. There'll be times when we feel our ship is sinking and lose all hope, not knowing what to do.

As we study the Holy Scriptures thoroughly, we notice two kinds of storms. The first kind comes when we fail to obey God and don’t do His will - they're the ‘Storms of Correction’ and the second kind are the ones we face when we do obey God and want to do His will - they're the ‘ Storms of Perfection’. Let's see in brief what they mean to our practical lives today.

1. Storms of Correction: -
When Jonah was not happy to go & do what God commanded, he faced the storm while going against God's intended plan. But God was not willing His servant to go against His will and also because He doesn't want the Ninevites to perish. He wanted to correct Jonah & bring him back into His plan. And that's why He sent a storm & a big fish to save Jonah.

Similarly, sometimes when we rebel against God & go according to our own way, we face problems, sicknesses, sorrows & dangers which are not meant to destroy us but to correct us.
As a father disciplines his son, (Heb.l2: 5,6) so we are disciplined and chastised by our Heavenly Father that we may realize and repent from our disobedience and submit to His will.

We have to be sensitive to God's dealings with us and respond to His corrections to build us up. It is for our good that "Storms of correction" are sent when we fail Him and become unfaithful.

Correction:
Job 5:17; Prov. 1:24-30; 15:12; Jer. 5:3; Heb.12:5.
(to be contd)

Be open to correction!
~ A Othniel
(May 9, 2026)

07/05/2026

Today's Encouragement
You Can! If You Persevere!
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"But the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day." Proverbs 4: 18.

Some men see things as they are and ask "why". Others dream things that never were and ask "why not", said George Bernard Shaw.

Success and achievement begin with the right frame of mind.
It is said that no dream should be considered too small to be ignored or too big to be fulfilled.

Many a times vision can help one attain success in life.
While most people have a vision to achieve a particular goal in life, it is observed that their visions are usually not completed with actions.

We need to remember that every individual has the potential to make his or her dream come true. All that is required is the confidence to act. And a few firm steps in that direction can help one realize a vision.

God has deposited many great and wonderful seeds into our lives. All we need to do is to cultivate them. Do you feel there is a lot more in you, but you've not quite found the key to release it?
The effort and attitude employed when striving towards a certain goal is also important. Here are some examples of people who achieved great things in life because they did not quit due to failures but persevered till they achieved their goals in life.
So, do not easily give up trying. Aim high! There is no virtue in easy victory.

Impossibilities are not converted to possibilities through a fluke, but through persistence. Someone aptly said, "Our era of instant gratification syndrome robs us of life's greatest benefits because these come from persistence."

Whether it's growing a garden, founding a business, developing a skill, or creating a meaningful relationship, persistence is the key. So, keep on following Jesus and He will make everything beautiful in His time!

"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. But let perseverance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." James 1:2-4. Amen.

Hold On! Press On!
~ A Othniel
(May 7, 2026)