Prayer Letter - January 2010

In the beginning God created…..God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. Gen 1:1,31
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God 2 Cor 5:17,18

It is the time of the year when we think about everything new. We wish people Happy New Year, we make New Year resolutions etc. There is a general air of “newness” around. Makes me think of Genesis 1 when everything was new. It was a brand new world! Created out of nothing. You and I were dust before the Creator took us in His hand and formed us – breathing the breath of life into us – fashioning us in His image. Just imagine humanity and the environment we were placed in. My vocabulary would be far too inadequate to describe it.  Some words I would use are beauty, harmony, love, joy, laughter, unbelievable peace, contentment, abundance, sheer poetry, freedom and blessing. I suppose the word “Wholeness” would summarize it well. But can mere words describe Genesis 1 and 2? What about words like hatred, bitterness, discord, anxiety, selfishness, avariciousness, greed, discontent, ugliness, crying, pollution, pain, guilt, bondage and fear? These are not nice words and we wish they were not in our dictionary. But they are.

And how tragic that man’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden caused it all? Some ask – would the mere eating of the forbidden fruit cause so much pain and suffering? Are we talking about a loving God? But we must beware of trivializing the story! Genesis 1-3 is among the deepest sections of Scripture. Its emphasis on humanity’s relationship with God, of being made in His image and likeness, and the centrality of humankind in the creation story is the key to understanding God’s love for us. The separation of man from God and the resulting human experience must rank as the saddest event in human history.

Jesus’ words in John 10:10 -  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full now has more meaning for me. Hatred, bitterness, discord, anxiety, selfishness, avariciousness, greed, discontent, ugliness, crying, pollution, pain, guilt, fear and all those nasty words are a result of “the thief” that came to (an still comes to) kill, steal and destroy. You and I were robbed of the “wholeness” that was rightly ours. I am diminished as a person because I am alienated from the One who created me in love! But God want us to have life – the kind of wholeness that is described in ancient Greek as zoe (pronounced dzo-ay). That is the kind of life God desires for us because of a restored relationship with Him. A life full of beauty, harmony, love, joy, laughter, unbelievable peace, contentment, abundance, poetry, freedom and blessing . That is the kind of life Jesus promises in the second part of Jn 10:10. Zoe –life  that comes from Him and Him alone and that too – in abundance!

In my living room hangs a picture painted by my daughter titled Zoe. The painting is reproduced for you in this prayer letter. Look at it carefully. At the bottom left hand corner, you see a cross with blood streaming from it. From the cross you see an emanation of vibrant colors, flowers and birds signifying beauty, harmony and freedom. That is the artist’s visualization of zoe-life in all its abundance. The kind that comes because God gave Himself for us on the cross so that, that which separated us from Him might be taken away. The Apostle Paul articulates this well for us:  Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. (Rom 5:1 NLT). What a declaration! Peace with God!! You know what that means and implies? It means that I become once more the person God created me to be. To enjoy zoe – life with a never-before kind of “wholeness”

So as we step into the New Year together, let us revisit the creation language used by Paul in 2 Cor 5:17. Yes my brothers and sisters. Embrace the cross. Be washed in the blood of Jesus Christ, Enjoy the zoe-life that He promised. You are a new creation. Forget the past! Live in anticipation of the future that is already here!! Of course, we still have to wait for the Revelation 20-22 state of perfection. But we are getting there. Enjoy the blessing of God’s abiding presence in your life throughout 2010!

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Praise God For

• Successful completion of National Staff Meet & Prayer Day, Brain storming meeting on strategic issues and concluded with our National Board of Directors Meet dated 9th to 12th Dec’09.
• Fruitful visits of Mr. Donald Pant to Compassion India in Central Region where a state seminar planned for their senior staff for the coming months.
• Promotional visit by Mr. Vijaykumar Sasane to Mumbai.
• The seminars conducted in the month of December: Southern Region: Yercaud; AP Region: Dupadu; Central: Gorakhpur; North –East: Matchakolgre.

Please Pray For:

• Mrs. Usha Abraham wife of Mr. Thomas Abraham- Regional Director for South Region who is unwell.
• The bereaved family of Mr. P. K. D. Lee’s Mother – in – Law went to be with the Lord on 7th Jan’10.
• Funds for Haggai Institute National Ministry.
• Elections scheduled for Cuttack Alumni Associations dated on 30th Jan’10. 
• God’s wisdom upon the leadership of the State as decisions are made regarding its future.
• Suitable candidates for the posts of Regional Director for Western Region & Area Manager for Northeast Region.
  

National Staff Meet & Prayer Day Meet 9th & 10thth Dec’09	Brain storming meeting with Board of Directors and Special Invitees on 11th Dec’09

NS – National Seminar, SLS – Special Leadership Seminar, SLSD– SLS for Doctors,
In-house - seminar fee is not disclosed as it is a sponsored seminar.

Please Note: We seek your prayer support for all these National Level seminars coming up. We also solicit your assistance in the recruitment of suitable candidates for these seminars. For more information regarding these seminars please feel free to call us at 040 27131209, 27141221 & 32928823 or email at hiindia@haggai-india.com also browse our website: www.haggai-india.com

Seminars in January 2010

Note 1: Please be informed that you can now deposit your donation Cheques/DD’s favouring ‘Haggai Institute’ directly with our account # 01262560000416 in any branch of HDFC Bank. Please do intimate our office the deposit details indicating your name, the amount and the date of deposit.

Note 2: We would appreciate if you intimate our National Office of any changes in your postal address, phone numbers and email id’s. Our contact details mentioned above.

Yours in Him,
Paul Balasundaram