Archives For Discipleship

In a small Midwestern town, a fierce ice storm raged. The howling of the frigid winds was suddenly joined by the piercing ringing of a telephone. In the wee hours of the morning, the phone call informed a family that they needed to come to the hospital immediately.

Because their car was not working, a police car took them to the hospital. As they walked into the hospital room, a far greater storm began to rage in their souls. Lying there on the hospital bed was my dad dead of an apparent heart attack. Seeing him dead, our world suddenly fell apart.

The immense sorrow of that time was accompanied by times of longing and dreaming that somehow, someday, I would see my dad again. But, our sorrow was without hope because none of us were believers at that time.

As I did for many years after my dad died in 1982, many in this world sorrow without hope for their dead loved ones. Praise God that He does not want believers to sorrow without hope for their believing loved ones who have died:

1Th 4:13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

 15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

This passages teaches us that in order for us to sorrow not without hope for our loved ones who have died, four things must be true.

1. We must believe that Jesus died and rose again (1 Thess. 4:14a).

2. Our loved ones must believe that Jesus died and rose again, so that when they die, they will be asleep in Jesus (1 Thess. 4:14b; cf. Acts 7:60; 1 Cor. 15:6, 18, 51).

3. We as believers must not be ignorant concerning those who are asleep in Jesus (1 Thess. 4:13a).

4. We as believers must comfort one another concerning the dead in Christ so that we will not sorrow for them without hope (1 Thess. 4:18).

Brethren, let us sorrow not without hope for our loves ones who sleep in Jesus!

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

I began 2012 with a great longing to read the Psalms again and made it through the book by January 17. I made it through the book again by February 29, which was the first time I had read the book through two months in a row.

In March, God laid a burden upon me to immerse myself in the book for the rest of the year. Having read the book through 25 times before this year, I decided that I would try to read the book 25 times this year to get to 50 times through the book in my lifetime.

By the end of June, I had read the book 10 times, and it seemed that getting to 25 times through would not be possible. At the end of August, I was at 14 times through and thought that I was not going to make it.

I almost gave up on this project more than once this year. Still, God worked to make me persevere.

This morning, God allowed me to finish my twenty-fifth time through the Psalms this year, including one time through the book in the LXX and once in the RVR60 Spanish Bible! Praise God!

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

Due to a heavy work schedule and sickness, I haven’t posted anything for a while. Here is new guitar music for the Spanish Christmas hymn, Velid, fieles todos. Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

O Holy Night! is my favorite song of all time. Recently, I have had the privilege of ministering that song in a guitar-cello duet for two church services.

Lord willing, tomorrow morning I will be ministering Santa la noche, the Spanish translation of this song, in a guitar-cello duet for a Spanish service. This PDF provides the guitar chords and the first stanza for ministering this wonderful song.

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

Writers often use repetition to emphasize an idea. The author of Psalm 47 highly stresses that all nations (cf. Ps. 47:1) must sing praises to God by repeating the same command five times in rapid succession:

Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises unto our King, sing praises. For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding (Ps. 47:6-7).

Furthermore, two references to God as King in these verses and the use of for at the beginning of verse 7 emphasize that they must sing praises to Him because He is the King of all the earth.

David writes of the day when God will receive such universal worship:

All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O LORD, when they hear the words of thy mouth. Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the LORD: for great is the glory of the LORD (Ps. 138:4-5).

He teaches here that all the supreme leaders of all the nations will one day sing praises to God because of the greatness of His glory.

Correlating the teaching of these Psalms with Matthew 28:18-20 points to a vital truth: We are to disciple all nations to sing praise to God, the King of all the earth!

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

Jesus taught that the first and greatest commandment was to love God with all one’s being (Matt. 22:37-38). Because He made known that loving God properly is the greatest priority of all, believers must focus foremost on loving God in their lives.

In keeping with that supreme priority and based on much Scriptural teaching, contemporary theology, preaching, teaching, and music all highly stress loving God because of what He has done and is doing to provide salvation for sinners through the work of His Son, Jesus Christ. Similarly, believers today highly emphasize loving God for His care for His own.

Although appreciation for God’s providing salvation for sinners and for His caring for His own are both certainly reasons that we should love God, they are not the only reasons we should do so. To understand why, we must consider a key command that David gave to all believers:

O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer” (Ps. 31:23).

David here does command all believers to love God because He preserves the faithful (31:23a-b). He, however, does not stop there; he adds that all believers must love God also because He plentifully rewards the proud doer (31:23c).

To understand further this teaching from God, we must consider a closely related statement in the Psalms:

Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud (94:2).

Psalm 94:2 makes clear that God is the Judge who rewards the proud by judging them.[1] Based on the teaching, therefore, of Psalms 31:23 and 94:2, every believer must love God for His work as the Judge who fully repays proud doers!

Psalm 31:23 thus provides us with a vital insight into an essential aspect of our loving God. Because God gives us this truth in His inspired hymnbook, the Psalms, we must adjust our music so that we teach believers this truth through our singing.

Our theology, preaching, and teaching must also be adjusted so that we properly instruct all believers that loving God properly involves loving Him both for caring for His own and for judging the proud (cf. Paul’s love for the appearing of the Lord, the righteous Judge [2 Tim. 4:8]). Doing so, we will help disciple them fully to be the saints that Jesus wants them to be (Matt. 28:18-20).

Let us all love God properly by loving Him because He is the Judge who plentifully rewards the proud doer.



[1] Many other passages confirm that His doing so is His judging. For examples, see Leviticus 26:19; 1 Samuel 2:3-10; 2 Samuel 22:28; 2 Chronicles 32:25; Psalms 75:7-10; Proverbs 15:25; Isaiah 2:11; Daniel 5:20; and Luke 1:51.

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

Sexton on Friendship

November 27, 2012

Friendship is one of God’s special gifts to the human race. It is more precious than we can imagine. Friendship begins with God. Most of us have the idea that people can be friends and never know the Lord Jesus Christ. But the truest friendship must begin with the Lord. . . .

Friendship is of divine design. It is the free (given without charge), spontaneous outflow of the heart, and it is a gift from the great Giver of our souls. It is never something we demand of another human being. It comes to us as a gift, and it must be cultivated in lovingkindness.

—Clarence Sexton, The Gift of Friendship, 7

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

Here are PDFs of the guitar chords and first lines for eight spanish hymns in my guitar format! If you have friends who play guitar and like to sing Spanish hymns, please let them know of these new resources on my site.

A Cristo coronad

A los pies de Jesucristo

Allá en el pesebre

Cristo me ama

Noche de Paz

Oh pueblecito de Belén

Qué me puede dar perdón

Sagrado es el amor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

This morning, I read Psalms 102-118. Tonight, I read Psalms 119-150.

The Lord has now allowed me to read through the book 20 times this year, including once in the LXX and once in the Reina-Valera. I am now 80% done with my goal for this year—reading through Psalms 25 times.

Praise the Lord!


Update: Praise God that I made it through the Psalms 25 times in 2012!

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

The outcome of the recent elections has left many dedicated, honest people who love their country greatly disheartened. Psalm 62 provides some biblical counsel for such people.

Assailed by murderous (62:3), lying opponents (62:4), David counseled both himself (62:5) and others (62:8, 10) about who and what to turn to in such times of trouble. His counsel may be summarized in the following points:

1. Wait in silence for God alone to save you (62:1, 5)

David begins the Psalm by declaring that he was waiting in silence for help from God (62:1a) because his salvation was from God (62:1b), who alone was his rock, salvation, and stronghold (62:2a). In light of these realities, he was confident that he would not be greatly shaken (62:2b).

After inquiring of his enemies about how long they intended wickedly to assail him (62:3-4), he challenged himself to do the very thing that he had already been doing—wait silently for God only (62:5a). He understood that he should do so because his hope was in God (62:5b), who alone was his rock, salvation, and stronghold (62:6a). Being mindful of these truths, he assured himself that he would not be shaken (62:6b).

Repeating these truths in the psalm (62:1-2; 5-6), David emphasized their importance. He then added that his salvation and glory were resting on God (62:7a). His refuge, the “rock of his strength,” was in God (62:7b).

Believers should wait confidently and in quite repose for God’s deliverance. Despite the advancement of evil that is taking place, God is on the throne, and He alone is worthy of our hope and trust. In His time and way, He is going to deal righteously with the vicious, lying people who are assailing ordinary, God-fearing people with their media propaganda and pernicious policies.

2. Trust in God at all times (62:8a)

Based on God’s being both David’s refuge (62:7) and a refuge for His people (62:8a), they are to put their trust in Him at all times. Whether we experience political defeat or victory, our trust must be in Him. Now is the time for us to turn to God all the more.

3. Pour out your heart before Him (62:8b)

David conjoined trust in God with praying earnestly to Him with our whole heart. We need now to turn to God in prayer individually and corporately like we never have before. He is our only hope in these dark times.

4. Counsel yourself to think properly about people (62:9)

David reminded himself that both lowly men, who are only vanity, and men of high rank, who are a lie, are ultimately vain beings who are hopelessly underweight on God’s balances; in fact, both individually and corporately, they are lighter than breath (62:9). The recent advancement of many people to positions of power and influence, many of whom sadly will likely prove to be unrighteous public officials, should not deceive us into thinking more of them than is fitting. God is in control, and we should turn our entire focus towards His exaltation over all men, righteous and unrighteous, poor or rich, lowly or powerful.

5. Do not put your trust or hope in any evil means of earthly advancement (62:10)

David warns us not to trust in oppression, robbery, or increasing wealth. Although many oppressors are prospering materially in our day, their earthly advancement through unrighteous means is vain and will not be lasting. In a time when temptations to be unrighteous in our dealings with other people will undoubtedly increase, we must resolve that we will only advance in godly ways that display that our hearts are trusting wholly on God as our hope.

6. Hear what God has repeatedly spoken about His power and lovingkindness to repay every man according to his work (62:11-12)

Repeatedly hearing God’s speaking to him, David was solidly grounded in key ultimate realities: both power and lovingkindness are God’s because He is the Lord who is over all (62:11-12a). Because He righteously repays every man in keeping with his deeds, lovingkindess is His (62:12b).

Although evil men may advance in power, they do so only because God’s power has put them there for His own purposes. He will repay them for all that they do in their exercise of their God-given authority.

Similarly, when the righteous do not advance politically, they can yet be assured that God will repay them for their righteousness in spite of His not advancing them in that sphere. His lovingkindness will not allow them to be ashamed ultimately of their trust in Him.

God’s Counsel for Our Times

In the midst of the increasingly trying circumstances that righteous people will undoubtedly face as a result of the outcome of the recent elections, we must entrust ourselves wholly to the supreme power and lovingkindness of our God. No evil man will ultimately prosper because God the righteous Judge of all will repay him for his evil.

Moreover, no righteous man will ultimately fail to prosper because our Judge’s power and lovingkindness will repay us for our trust and hope in Him. Our God reigns—let us take heart, trust, pray, and do good to all men, especially our brethren, until our Lord comes.

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.