Thus saith the Lord

One of our sweet Indian friends on campus let me use his SIM card while we traveled around India. Evidently he is signed up for a phone service that sends daily text message with Bible verses but I wasn't aware of this and thought the Lord was speaking directly to me. =) Okay, so not really but it did surprise me the first time. As the trip went on I began to look forward to what "the Lord" would say to us that day. More often than not it was remarkably accurate. Not every day directly corresponded to what we were doing but it did happen enough to make me take notice and be reminded of the power of His Living Word. I'll show you what I mean:

The first message was received after we had just arrived in India. We had just survived Sri Lanka and didn't know what was in store for us next.
"Do not fear or be dismayed, ...for the Lord is with you. " 2 Chronicles 20:17

On the second day we were riding in the car and Beth asked if I had "heard from God" yet today. I was in the middle of telling her no when my phone beeped and there He was.

While we were driving in the car to the orphanage in Bangalore I received the following message,
"Visit orphans and widows in their trouble." James 1:27

Literally as I was using my phone calculator to figure out how many rupees I could leave as a donation to the M-work in Bangalore when my phone beeped. I backed out of the calculator mode to check my messages and this is what it read.
"When you do a charitable deed do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing." Matthew 6:3

While traveling on the train I would often receive text messages from the service providers in the various states were were passing through. It would list that particular state name and then several contact numbers and area codes. On one such day I got this message.
"I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content." Philippians 4:11

The exact moment I sat down in the pew of St. Thomas church in Mumbai to pray the phone beeped with the following.
"Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation." Psalm 5:1

And the last message we received before we left India was:
"I will speak of the glorious honor of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works." Psalm145:5

I thought this verse was quite appropriate considering all the beautiful scenery, people and kingdom work we saw in India. I guess now is the time to speak out and share it. And save that SIM card! :)