The Formula of Forgiving.............
I'm sure most of us, humans that we are, find it sometimes very hard to forgive certain people. Most of us have atleast 1 or 2 people who we probably haven't forgiven yet. Its not that we don't want to forgive. We want to and keep praying hard and trying hard but somehow the forgiveness hasn't happened as yet.
About 4 years back, my family had to go through a real bad phase. It was a very sad time and I felt so bad and helpless at the fact that I could not do anything for them. I did pray a lot about it but God was silent. He had allowed this in our lives with a specific purpose and He wanted us to go through this. The phase eventually did pass, and we are all happy today. But there was a person who actually was behind all that had happened to us and I was always bitter about her and was just unable to forgive her. This lady probably did what she did, because she was ignorant. Later on she was sorry about what had happened and had long since reconciled with my parents and my sister. Though I did sit and talk with her and was friendly outwardly, I hadn't forgiven her. The anger and bitterness still remained.
I have always tried and always prayed. Everytime I heard a sermon on forgiveness I would feel guilty and then make a firm resolve that I would forgive and believe firmly that I had completely forgiven. But then after sometime I would find that the bitterness, the anger and the hurt was still there. I have tried so much. I have even tried sitting and chatting with her and though things were very fine on the outside, I knew very well that I hadn't yet forgiven her from my heart.
That was Till last night.......... Till I discovered the formula of forgiving ......... :)
Last weekend I had been to one of my best friends house. Usually whenever I am at her place, we sit and chat till late night. While we were chatting last night, she revealed to me this beautiful formula. I could see her excitement as she shared this, which proved that this had worked for her.
When someone has hurt us very badly, there is both anger and hurt. We would know that we have fully forgiven the person when the anger goes. When there is no more anger at the person, we can be sure we have completely forgiven.
My friend taught me something very beautiful. She asked me if I had at any time made a decision or resolved in my heart that I would completely let go and forgive the person. I said that I had done that many times. She said - Sometimes we make a resolve to forgive but then after some time or some days, the angry and bitter thoughts are back and we begin to doubt if we have actually forgiven and realise the anger is still there and that forgiveness is yet to happen. She advised me that the next time you get the angry and the bitter thoughts about the person, just shout out the same resolve that you had taken when you decided to forgive and let go. Proclaim the resolve till the angry thoughts go away and keep at it. Keep proclaiming the resolve every time tempted to get angry and bitter.
The more you keep at it, the stronger the resolve and weaker the anger and bitterness. This goes on till the anger is completely gone. Sometimes it may be hard but God sees our sincerity and He is definitely there to help us.
Wow!!! After she told me this, I was just quiet for a minute, while the truth sank in. It was so easy. Just make a firm resolve and I didn't have to resolve again and again. I just needed to remind myself and the devil about the resolve at the right time again and again till the forgiveness was complete and I was truly free.
The only person we hurt by holding onto the bitterness and anger is ourselves. This lady I was talking about was walking about free, while I was walking about in bondage.
Just proclaim your resolve. Block out the anger and bitterness and proclaim your freedom.
The Formula to Forgiving leads to Forgiving...... And
Forgiving leads to Freedom!!!
Mark 11:25 - And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins." [ Some manuscripts sins. 26 But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your sins.]
Colossians 3:13 - Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
Matthew 6:14 - For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
Matthew 6:15 - But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Matthew 18:35 - "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."
Matthew 6:12 - Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
Monday, December 11, 2006
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Smile at the Storm - 6th Dec 2006
Last weekend a friend of mine who now lives in Washington, USA, called up for a casual chat and we were just chatting about what was going on in each other's lives. She shared an experience or rather a kinda lesson learnt which I found real interesting. She said that sometime back there was heavy rains in the place where she lived and because of that there was a huge traffic jam. People were just stuck on the road for hours together and there were people who reached home at 4am next morning.
My friend had actually rented a car that day and she had to go to the car rental office to return the car. One of the people from the rental office were supposed to drop her back home but because of this traffic jam they could not get a person to drop her right away and she had to wait for some time at the car rental office. Right from school days, she's been a very very organised person and very punctual. She's always on time and its hard to see her lazying around or just simply sitting somewhere doing nothing. I didn't find it surprising when she said that she found it very irritating to be stuck there at the rental office, not able to do anything, but wait till things got a little better and someone could drop her home.
She said that while she was waiting there, irritated and angry and wondering when she'd get home, she was just listening to the people at the rental office chatting with each other. Due to the rain and the cold weather, there was heavy mist and the road was quite slippery and skiddy, resulting in quite some accidents happening. The people at the rental office were discussing about these accidents when one of the guys who worked there said this. He said that the only way during this time to avoid accidents was to keep smiling. He said that if people tried rushing to get home or were angry or upset or irritated, it would just increase the chances of an accident happening. But if the person went through the mist and the storm and the rain, smiling, he would be safe. He said that the situation was so bad that getting upset only hurt the person itself and would not help better the situation in any way. And Smiling would help the person relax and concentrate better and hence guarantee safety.
When my friend heard this she realised what the guy had just said did make a lot of sense. She said that after that she just relaxed and instead of sitting there angry, she decided to make the best use of the time while she was there. She started admiring the scenery around - the mist, the rain.... She also spent the time calling up her family back in India and chatting up with them and then calling up her sisters. By the time she reached home, it was late night but she said that 'smiling' through the situation did help her. No matter what, she had to face the mist, the rain, the traffic jam. But going through it smiling, brought her out relaxed and happy whereas had she stayed irritated, she would have reached home tired and bitter.
This did teach me a huge lesson. I had been running around, for the last few days, trying to get some important work done and nothing seemed to be happening. I was getting upset and angry and really frustrated and discouraged. This taught me that I could not help better the situation in anyway by getting grumpy and I was just tiring myself with the way I was trying to face things. I keep reminding myself about the guy at the car rental who said 'Smiling' takes you through safely.
One of my friends has a huge poster in her room reading - 'I don't like people who don't smile'. Whenever I see that I can't help smiling. There are situations where we are completely helpless and worrying about them only brings a headache. Smile through. God loves smiling people. Smiling through a storm shows we completely trust God and know that He is in control.
Here's a song I learnt at School:
With Christ in the vessel we can smile at the storm
Smile at the storm
Smile at the storm
With Christ in the vessel we can smile at the storm
As we go sailing home.
Proverbs 15:13 - A glad heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is broken. (AMP)
Proverbs 17:22 - A happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing, but a broken spirit dries up the bones. (AMP)
My friend had actually rented a car that day and she had to go to the car rental office to return the car. One of the people from the rental office were supposed to drop her back home but because of this traffic jam they could not get a person to drop her right away and she had to wait for some time at the car rental office. Right from school days, she's been a very very organised person and very punctual. She's always on time and its hard to see her lazying around or just simply sitting somewhere doing nothing. I didn't find it surprising when she said that she found it very irritating to be stuck there at the rental office, not able to do anything, but wait till things got a little better and someone could drop her home.
She said that while she was waiting there, irritated and angry and wondering when she'd get home, she was just listening to the people at the rental office chatting with each other. Due to the rain and the cold weather, there was heavy mist and the road was quite slippery and skiddy, resulting in quite some accidents happening. The people at the rental office were discussing about these accidents when one of the guys who worked there said this. He said that the only way during this time to avoid accidents was to keep smiling. He said that if people tried rushing to get home or were angry or upset or irritated, it would just increase the chances of an accident happening. But if the person went through the mist and the storm and the rain, smiling, he would be safe. He said that the situation was so bad that getting upset only hurt the person itself and would not help better the situation in any way. And Smiling would help the person relax and concentrate better and hence guarantee safety.
When my friend heard this she realised what the guy had just said did make a lot of sense. She said that after that she just relaxed and instead of sitting there angry, she decided to make the best use of the time while she was there. She started admiring the scenery around - the mist, the rain.... She also spent the time calling up her family back in India and chatting up with them and then calling up her sisters. By the time she reached home, it was late night but she said that 'smiling' through the situation did help her. No matter what, she had to face the mist, the rain, the traffic jam. But going through it smiling, brought her out relaxed and happy whereas had she stayed irritated, she would have reached home tired and bitter.
This did teach me a huge lesson. I had been running around, for the last few days, trying to get some important work done and nothing seemed to be happening. I was getting upset and angry and really frustrated and discouraged. This taught me that I could not help better the situation in anyway by getting grumpy and I was just tiring myself with the way I was trying to face things. I keep reminding myself about the guy at the car rental who said 'Smiling' takes you through safely.
One of my friends has a huge poster in her room reading - 'I don't like people who don't smile'. Whenever I see that I can't help smiling. There are situations where we are completely helpless and worrying about them only brings a headache. Smile through. God loves smiling people. Smiling through a storm shows we completely trust God and know that He is in control.
Here's a song I learnt at School:
With Christ in the vessel we can smile at the storm
Smile at the storm
Smile at the storm
With Christ in the vessel we can smile at the storm
As we go sailing home.
Proverbs 15:13 - A glad heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is broken. (AMP)
Proverbs 17:22 - A happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing, but a broken spirit dries up the bones. (AMP)
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Big Boss Watches - 29th Nov 2006
Sometime back I was watching this reality show on the television called 'Big Boss'. In this reality show, about 13 celebrities are locked up in a house and they've got to stay there for about 3 months. There are cameras fixed almost everywhere in the house and they have mics fitted on. Everything they do is watched and every word they speak is heard. Their life is in close scrutiny.
Later that day I was thinking to myself, how careful these people would be, because they know their life is on display on the television. Every word they speak, the way they carry themselves, they way they go about things, they are very careful, constantly reminding themselves and each other that they are being watched and so they have to put on a good self. There are times one of them loses their cool and at such times the rest of them start reminding the person - remember we are being watched.
You and I are being watched as well. A Holy, Loving God watches us from above with a desire that we be as holy and as loving as Him. I need to live every minute and every second knowing My Father is watching me.
A friend of mine had sent a beautiful sms which read this way - 'Our God delights in watching His children. Live your life knowing that He will never take his eyes off you.'
I need to make sure My Father watches me with pride in His eyes and not tears in His eyes.
Remember, we are being watched.
Hebrews 4:13 - Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
P.S - Dedicated to those who keep complaining my devotionals are too long ;)
Later that day I was thinking to myself, how careful these people would be, because they know their life is on display on the television. Every word they speak, the way they carry themselves, they way they go about things, they are very careful, constantly reminding themselves and each other that they are being watched and so they have to put on a good self. There are times one of them loses their cool and at such times the rest of them start reminding the person - remember we are being watched.
You and I are being watched as well. A Holy, Loving God watches us from above with a desire that we be as holy and as loving as Him. I need to live every minute and every second knowing My Father is watching me.
A friend of mine had sent a beautiful sms which read this way - 'Our God delights in watching His children. Live your life knowing that He will never take his eyes off you.'
I need to make sure My Father watches me with pride in His eyes and not tears in His eyes.
Remember, we are being watched.
Hebrews 4:13 - Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
P.S - Dedicated to those who keep complaining my devotionals are too long ;)
Thursday, November 23, 2006
The Tutor Who Wouldn't Compromise!!! - 23rd Nov 2006
Among the other ministries that my Dad does, is the ministry of taking care of orphans. There is an orphanage of about 20 boys under him. Their food, stay and studies are sponsored by an organisation called 'Inter Mission' in Germany. Each year there are about 2-3 boys getting ready to appear for their board exam (either for 10th or 12th std). They have a tutor arranged for them each year. The tutor comes to the boys' hostel, after their school hours and helps them with their studies for a couple of hours each day.
A few years back a tutor named Jagan had been chosen to help the boys with their studies. It so happened that slowly he was introduced to the love of Jesus and wanted to know and learn more about Him. He wanted to stay in the campus and so agreed to work as the hostel warden. He began to learn and experience the love of Jesus and asked Jesus to come into his heart and accepted Jesus as his personal saviour. He began to enjoy life in Jesus but at the same time he felt bad for his friends and relatives who still didn't know the love of Jesus and lived in various bondages. He decided to tell about God's love to those who didn't know about Him and so decided to get into ministry.
In Bihar, child marriage is still practised in many places and Jagan had been married when he was still a small boy. Usually the children are married between 10 - 12 years of age and then they go back to their parents. Later on when they are between 23 - 25 years, there is another function called 'bidhaai' and after this function, the girl (bride) joins the boy and his family. It was time for Jagan's 'bidhaai' and he was excited about it as he loved his wife a lot and though they were away from each other they kept writing to each other and were waiting to be together.
But there was something nagging Jagan. He had heard about the verse - 'Do not be unequally yoked' and he was not sure if it was God's will for the 'bidhaai'. Though he loved the girl a real lot, He was willing to let go if Jesus wanted him to and if it was against God's will. He was pretty serious about this. My Dad came to know about this and then advised him saying that since they were now already married , she already was his wife and it was against God's word to let go of your wife. When we heard about it we were amazed at the extent this man was willing to go to, just to please Jesus. We all knew how much he loved this girl and how much he was looking forward to bringing her home. He was willing to do anything to make sure he didn't let anything come between God and him.
Today his wife too has accepted Jesus after experiencing His love and they are very happy in Jesus and work together for Jesus. In fact, I would say that his wife does more ministry than him and is an immense support to him. See the work of God in the lives of those who don't compromise on anything and stick onto him.
Yesterday at the carecell, we looked into the life of King Hezekiah. It is written about him that he always did what was right in the eyes of God and held fast to God and obeyed God's commands - meaning he never compromised in his relationship with God. And its recorded about him in the Bible saying - There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him (For whole story). There are so many other people who chose not to compromise and they were blessed enormously by God. Abraham, Joseph, Daniel....... so many more. They looked like losers when they didn't compromise but eventually they were blessed and lifted high.
There may be issues we may be compromising on. They may seem like small things to us but they actually stop God's blessings in our lives. It sometimes seems hard and almost impossible not to compromise but when we take that step for God, we show God how serious we are in our relationship with him. And that pleases him immensely. And that's when the verse - He will give more than we ask or imagine - comes true in our lives. Know why? Because He gives more than we ask or imagine according to His power that is at work within us. We tend to forget the last part of this verse. The more we give the more we receive. The more we give of our lives and ourselves to God, the more of His power we receive in our lives. And its then that we get more than we ask or imagine from God.
2 Timothy 2:15 - Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. (NIV)
2 Timothy 2:15 - Study and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved (tested by trial), a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing [rightly handling and skillfully teaching] the Word of Truth. (AMP)
2 Timothy 2:21 - If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work. (NIV)
2 Timothy 2:21 - So whoever cleanses himself [from what is ignoble and unclean, who separates himself from contact with contaminating and corrupting influences] will [then himself] be a vessel set apart and useful for honorable and noble purposes, consecrated and profitable to the Master, fit and ready for any good work. (AMP)
Ephesians 3:20 - Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, (NIV)
Ephesians 3:20 - Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams]-- (NIV)
A few years back a tutor named Jagan had been chosen to help the boys with their studies. It so happened that slowly he was introduced to the love of Jesus and wanted to know and learn more about Him. He wanted to stay in the campus and so agreed to work as the hostel warden. He began to learn and experience the love of Jesus and asked Jesus to come into his heart and accepted Jesus as his personal saviour. He began to enjoy life in Jesus but at the same time he felt bad for his friends and relatives who still didn't know the love of Jesus and lived in various bondages. He decided to tell about God's love to those who didn't know about Him and so decided to get into ministry.
In Bihar, child marriage is still practised in many places and Jagan had been married when he was still a small boy. Usually the children are married between 10 - 12 years of age and then they go back to their parents. Later on when they are between 23 - 25 years, there is another function called 'bidhaai' and after this function, the girl (bride) joins the boy and his family. It was time for Jagan's 'bidhaai' and he was excited about it as he loved his wife a lot and though they were away from each other they kept writing to each other and were waiting to be together.
But there was something nagging Jagan. He had heard about the verse - 'Do not be unequally yoked' and he was not sure if it was God's will for the 'bidhaai'. Though he loved the girl a real lot, He was willing to let go if Jesus wanted him to and if it was against God's will. He was pretty serious about this. My Dad came to know about this and then advised him saying that since they were now already married , she already was his wife and it was against God's word to let go of your wife. When we heard about it we were amazed at the extent this man was willing to go to, just to please Jesus. We all knew how much he loved this girl and how much he was looking forward to bringing her home. He was willing to do anything to make sure he didn't let anything come between God and him.
Today his wife too has accepted Jesus after experiencing His love and they are very happy in Jesus and work together for Jesus. In fact, I would say that his wife does more ministry than him and is an immense support to him. See the work of God in the lives of those who don't compromise on anything and stick onto him.
Yesterday at the carecell, we looked into the life of King Hezekiah. It is written about him that he always did what was right in the eyes of God and held fast to God and obeyed God's commands - meaning he never compromised in his relationship with God. And its recorded about him in the Bible saying - There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him (For whole story). There are so many other people who chose not to compromise and they were blessed enormously by God. Abraham, Joseph, Daniel....... so many more. They looked like losers when they didn't compromise but eventually they were blessed and lifted high.
There may be issues we may be compromising on. They may seem like small things to us but they actually stop God's blessings in our lives. It sometimes seems hard and almost impossible not to compromise but when we take that step for God, we show God how serious we are in our relationship with him. And that pleases him immensely. And that's when the verse - He will give more than we ask or imagine - comes true in our lives. Know why? Because He gives more than we ask or imagine according to His power that is at work within us. We tend to forget the last part of this verse. The more we give the more we receive. The more we give of our lives and ourselves to God, the more of His power we receive in our lives. And its then that we get more than we ask or imagine from God.
2 Timothy 2:15 - Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. (NIV)
2 Timothy 2:15 - Study and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved (tested by trial), a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing [rightly handling and skillfully teaching] the Word of Truth. (AMP)
2 Timothy 2:21 - If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work. (NIV)
2 Timothy 2:21 - So whoever cleanses himself [from what is ignoble and unclean, who separates himself from contact with contaminating and corrupting influences] will [then himself] be a vessel set apart and useful for honorable and noble purposes, consecrated and profitable to the Master, fit and ready for any good work. (AMP)
Ephesians 3:20 - Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, (NIV)
Ephesians 3:20 - Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams]-- (NIV)
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
As Strong As the Cedars of Lebanon - 22nd Nov 2006
In Bihar the electricity supply is really bad. There are times when you don't have power supply for days. When there is a power failure one would have no idea as to when the power would be back. Sometimes even when there is power, the voltage is so low that you can barely use the electricity for anything.One cannot use the TV or the music system or any kitchen appliances. The only things that would work would be the bulb and the fan. The bulb would not be bright, it would be more like a night bulb. And the fan would be so slow that you would hardly get any air from it. People usually don't depend on the electricity and instead use inverters and generators.
Sometime back I was reading through Psalm 29, I was amazed at the strength of our God. Our God is so so amazingly strong. The cedars of Lebanon are supposed to be toughest of wood. When God commanded Solomon to build a temple for him, wherever wood had to be used, cedar was used. It was so tough that it would be hard to even cut it into two. When King David built his palace, King Hiram sent him the cedars of Lebanon to be used for the building. When King Hiram sent cedars for King Solomon to build the house of God, he could not send the cedar using mules or horses, he had to float them down the sea as rafts.
About this same cedars of Lebanon, it is said in Psalm 29: 5 saying that the voice of God breaks (splinters) the cedars of Lebanon. He does not have to break or even touch it. His voice is enough to break the cedars. The whole chapter goes on about the strength of God comparing it to the mighty waters, lightning, thunder. I was discussing about the way God's strength has been described in this passage with a friend of mine and we were awed and completely completely excited and fascinated just by thinking and trying to imagine how great and how strong this God of ours is.
The most beautiful fact comes later on in the chapter, in the last verse. Here it says - God gives strength to his people. The amplified version says it more beautifully - The Lord will give [unyielding and impenetrable] strength to His people. It says Unyielding and Impenetrable strength. Its like God first describing in His word about how great His strength is and then while we are sitting awed and fascinated, he says - I will give this same strength to you. My God is just fabulous.
If I am carrying around with me the strength of my God, I will be as strong as he is. Well, when can a person's real strength be seen? Its seen during times of adversity, times of problems, times of pain, times of testing. If I get angry easily, cry easily, feel dejected, ignored, get irritated easily, feel depressed and despaired and desperate over small issues - it has just one thing to say - that my strength is definitely not coming from God.
When the bulb in Bihar gives out a small feeble light and the fan is rotating so slowly, we know for sure that its low voltage. When the voltage is good the light would be bright and the electricity would be useful. Everything runs depending on the supply it gets from its source. Its just depending on the strength of the voltage that everything runs. When the voltage is low, everything would be slow and dim. When the voltage is good, everything would run well and be bright. When the source of my strength is God, I would be strong. If I am weak, my source is in the wrong place.
If I say I have God's strength in me but cannot stand during tough times, definitely what I'm saying would not hold true. His strength is unyielding and impenetrable. Sometimes its so tough to stand firm during tough times. When we don't know why things happen the way they are happening. But that is what God wants us to do. To stand firm in His strength. To be Unyielding and Impenetrable. Don't let anyone upset, anger, irritate, offend or hurt you. Don't let the devil steal out God's strength from you. God not only promises strength to his people but He also promises to bless us with His peace.
Our strength comes from Him who created the cedars of Lebanon. Our strength comes from Him who can break the cedars of Lebanon by just talking. Our strength comes from Him who has promised to give us unyielding, impenetrable strength.
Psalm 29: 5 - The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon
Psalm 29: 11 - The Lord will give [unyielding and impenetrable] strength to His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace.
Sometime back I was reading through Psalm 29, I was amazed at the strength of our God. Our God is so so amazingly strong. The cedars of Lebanon are supposed to be toughest of wood. When God commanded Solomon to build a temple for him, wherever wood had to be used, cedar was used. It was so tough that it would be hard to even cut it into two. When King David built his palace, King Hiram sent him the cedars of Lebanon to be used for the building. When King Hiram sent cedars for King Solomon to build the house of God, he could not send the cedar using mules or horses, he had to float them down the sea as rafts.
About this same cedars of Lebanon, it is said in Psalm 29: 5 saying that the voice of God breaks (splinters) the cedars of Lebanon. He does not have to break or even touch it. His voice is enough to break the cedars. The whole chapter goes on about the strength of God comparing it to the mighty waters, lightning, thunder. I was discussing about the way God's strength has been described in this passage with a friend of mine and we were awed and completely completely excited and fascinated just by thinking and trying to imagine how great and how strong this God of ours is.
The most beautiful fact comes later on in the chapter, in the last verse. Here it says - God gives strength to his people. The amplified version says it more beautifully - The Lord will give [unyielding and impenetrable] strength to His people. It says Unyielding and Impenetrable strength. Its like God first describing in His word about how great His strength is and then while we are sitting awed and fascinated, he says - I will give this same strength to you. My God is just fabulous.
If I am carrying around with me the strength of my God, I will be as strong as he is. Well, when can a person's real strength be seen? Its seen during times of adversity, times of problems, times of pain, times of testing. If I get angry easily, cry easily, feel dejected, ignored, get irritated easily, feel depressed and despaired and desperate over small issues - it has just one thing to say - that my strength is definitely not coming from God.
When the bulb in Bihar gives out a small feeble light and the fan is rotating so slowly, we know for sure that its low voltage. When the voltage is good the light would be bright and the electricity would be useful. Everything runs depending on the supply it gets from its source. Its just depending on the strength of the voltage that everything runs. When the voltage is low, everything would be slow and dim. When the voltage is good, everything would run well and be bright. When the source of my strength is God, I would be strong. If I am weak, my source is in the wrong place.
If I say I have God's strength in me but cannot stand during tough times, definitely what I'm saying would not hold true. His strength is unyielding and impenetrable. Sometimes its so tough to stand firm during tough times. When we don't know why things happen the way they are happening. But that is what God wants us to do. To stand firm in His strength. To be Unyielding and Impenetrable. Don't let anyone upset, anger, irritate, offend or hurt you. Don't let the devil steal out God's strength from you. God not only promises strength to his people but He also promises to bless us with His peace.
Our strength comes from Him who created the cedars of Lebanon. Our strength comes from Him who can break the cedars of Lebanon by just talking. Our strength comes from Him who has promised to give us unyielding, impenetrable strength.
Psalm 29: 5 - The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon
Psalm 29: 11 - The Lord will give [unyielding and impenetrable] strength to His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace.
Friday, November 17, 2006
Driven By Love - 17th Nov 2006
Almost all my life I have been in hostels. Right from school, all through college. So the major part of my life has been around friends and teachers. But I am glad my parents were able to influence me (though they were very far away) through prayers, by writing to me regularly and also they tried to make up for what they missed out during the vacations.
My early childhood was influenced to a great extent by my teachers at school. There were rules laid down that we had to live by, which probably didn’t make sense then but then we ended up obeying them just to avoid getting into trouble over it. We had wonderful, committed teachers in my school who knew they were responsible for the kids who were under them and tried everything possible to bring us up in the best possible way, trying their best to bring us up like a parent would.
Teachers, I guess, are in the hardest profession today and Dorm wardens, in a harder one. Almost always, we realize the good they meant only after we have left the place and by then we are away and they have to deal with a whole new bunch of kids (in many cases brutes, including me J ).
Though they tried everything to take our parents place and do the best for us, there is one big difference. We obeyed them because we had to. Because when we didn’t and were caught we ended up in a soup. So just for things to go good, we obeyed, even if we didn’t want to one bit. We had to obey for the fear of getting into trouble with them.
But that was not the case with my parents. When I got back home during vacations, we had rules at home as well. I could not watch TV late night. We were not allowed to roam around in hot sun. We had to be back home by a certain time in the evenings. There were times I didn’t want to stick by these rules and wanted to do things my way. And when I rebelled, needless to say, I did get into trouble. Here’s where the difference is. I didn’t want to get into trouble with them because I loved my parents. When I was punished, it hurt them more than it hurt me and I could see that. I loved them and I knew I hurt them whenever I disobeyed. And so I mostly chose to obey because I loved.
That was not the case with my hostel wardens. I just obeyed because I had to and more with a sense of remorse. But I obeyed my parents because I loved them and I knew they were hurt when I did something wrong or when I didn’t behave the way I should have. I don’t say that I always obeyed them. I did disobey and rebel and ofcourse had to bear the after effects as well. But it was different with parents. I’m sure those of us who have been in hostels would say the same and get the feel of what I am trying to say.
One of my friends was sharing with me today what God had taught her as she was reading through Deuteronomy chapter 11. In the first verse, God says to Love God and to Obey Him. She said that she noticed that the emphasis here was on loving him and obeying Him. God didn’t say to the Israelites to just obey. He wanted a lot more than that. He wanted a relationship, a family. Where His children knew that He loved them and loved Him in return. He wanted obedience but He wanted obedience out of love.
Here are the exact words my friend had mailed – “Love and Obey. Loving God first will only lead to obedience. Even in the OT (Old Testament of the Bible) with all those laws the people were called first to love Him and then obey Him. Stress is on loving God.”
God is looking for a relationship of love with us. Probably most of us are pretty obedient and good. But what drives us? Is it just a sense of excellence or a sense of accomplishment or just to look good before others? God wants love for Him to be the driving force in our lives. Just like our parents would look on us with pride and happiness when we are obedient, He does as well. Our loving matters to Him. He does not want a warden –child relationship. He wants a parent – child relationship. A relationship where we obey Him because we love Him. Our love matters to Him.
Deuteronomy 11:1 - Therefore you shall love the lord your god and keep his charge, his statutes, his precepts, and his commandments always.
My early childhood was influenced to a great extent by my teachers at school. There were rules laid down that we had to live by, which probably didn’t make sense then but then we ended up obeying them just to avoid getting into trouble over it. We had wonderful, committed teachers in my school who knew they were responsible for the kids who were under them and tried everything possible to bring us up in the best possible way, trying their best to bring us up like a parent would.
Teachers, I guess, are in the hardest profession today and Dorm wardens, in a harder one. Almost always, we realize the good they meant only after we have left the place and by then we are away and they have to deal with a whole new bunch of kids (in many cases brutes, including me J ).
Though they tried everything to take our parents place and do the best for us, there is one big difference. We obeyed them because we had to. Because when we didn’t and were caught we ended up in a soup. So just for things to go good, we obeyed, even if we didn’t want to one bit. We had to obey for the fear of getting into trouble with them.
But that was not the case with my parents. When I got back home during vacations, we had rules at home as well. I could not watch TV late night. We were not allowed to roam around in hot sun. We had to be back home by a certain time in the evenings. There were times I didn’t want to stick by these rules and wanted to do things my way. And when I rebelled, needless to say, I did get into trouble. Here’s where the difference is. I didn’t want to get into trouble with them because I loved my parents. When I was punished, it hurt them more than it hurt me and I could see that. I loved them and I knew I hurt them whenever I disobeyed. And so I mostly chose to obey because I loved.
That was not the case with my hostel wardens. I just obeyed because I had to and more with a sense of remorse. But I obeyed my parents because I loved them and I knew they were hurt when I did something wrong or when I didn’t behave the way I should have. I don’t say that I always obeyed them. I did disobey and rebel and ofcourse had to bear the after effects as well. But it was different with parents. I’m sure those of us who have been in hostels would say the same and get the feel of what I am trying to say.
One of my friends was sharing with me today what God had taught her as she was reading through Deuteronomy chapter 11. In the first verse, God says to Love God and to Obey Him. She said that she noticed that the emphasis here was on loving him and obeying Him. God didn’t say to the Israelites to just obey. He wanted a lot more than that. He wanted a relationship, a family. Where His children knew that He loved them and loved Him in return. He wanted obedience but He wanted obedience out of love.
Here are the exact words my friend had mailed – “Love and Obey. Loving God first will only lead to obedience. Even in the OT (Old Testament of the Bible) with all those laws the people were called first to love Him and then obey Him. Stress is on loving God.”
God is looking for a relationship of love with us. Probably most of us are pretty obedient and good. But what drives us? Is it just a sense of excellence or a sense of accomplishment or just to look good before others? God wants love for Him to be the driving force in our lives. Just like our parents would look on us with pride and happiness when we are obedient, He does as well. Our loving matters to Him. He does not want a warden –child relationship. He wants a parent – child relationship. A relationship where we obey Him because we love Him. Our love matters to Him.
Deuteronomy 11:1 - Therefore you shall love the lord your god and keep his charge, his statutes, his precepts, and his commandments always.
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Patience Pays, Struggle Strangles - 16th Nov 2006
Sometimes when I come in early to office and no one is around I like to play the songs that are downloaded on my computer and just sing along and I kind of enjoy that. I am glad I have a Christian colleague who enjoys music as much as I do and so whenever he downloads songs on to his computer he shares them to my computer as well so that I could enjoy the songs as well. One day as I was trying to get the songs on to my computer, it was being rather slow (probably because the file size was big). I waited for sometime and when things appeared stuck, I just started clicking here and there and trying different things to sort things out, which only ended up making things more confused and stuck and a few applications had gone to the 'not responding' state.
I told about this to my colleague that I was not able to get the song files and he came over to help and saw me furiously clicking my way through and trying to sort things out. He said - " Listen, Don't do anything. Just wait and give it some time. Patience Pays ". I immediately thanked him for giving me a topic for my daily devotional :)
Though I did joke about it then, for the last few days God has been teaching me the importance of giving things over to Him and just waiting patiently for Him to act without any clicking around, or trying to sort things on my own but just waiting ON and waiting FOR Him. And His peace and His strength had been amazing. Today morning as I was reflecting on this I felt I had to write this, which could be a blessing for others.
As I waited, the files sorted itself out and things began working fine. I remember when I was in School, during our holidays Dad used to take us to meet my grandparents. I loved their village with all the green, and very clean, no traffic noise, you could hear every bird twitter and the sound of the winds (its long since I've heard that), lots of playing space, empty roads........ The whole village was one big community where everyone knew everyone and I loved going there. There was a small river which flowed through the village and my dad used to take my sister and my brothers and me there and try to teach us swimming. The first thing he taught us was - Don't Struggle. He said that if we struggled, we would only go down. He said the more we struggled and tried to keep ourselves up we would actually be only going into the water. He asked us to aim at moving forward by pushing the water backwards with our hands.
When waiting for something or stuck in some problem, its best to wait patiently for God to act. It may seem like nothing is happening but God is at work. When we struggle or try to work things out for ourselves by being frantic and getting all pressurised, arguing, fighting, slandering, we only succeed at getting things more stuck (like in my computer) or start going into the water. Joyce Meyer says that sometimes we slander under the pretext of sharing as prayer point or sharing our problem but God knows our motives. Its best to lay things at His feet and ask Him to take full control and wait for Him to act - and then go about our work praising and thanking Him because He is at work and He is in control.
Probably you are waiting for a break or a job or a much awaited promotion or a better job or an onsite opportunity or for an appraisal, or marriage, for a baby, or to be delivered from some sickness, some problem....... the list could go on and on. Give things to God. Stop struggling abd wait on God. Just wait and give it time. Its best when God acts according to His will, in His time. His will is the best for us. His time is the best for us. He is in control and definitely knows what He is doing.
So Don't forget, Struggle Strangles but Patience Pays.
Hebrews 6:15 - And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.
Romans 8:25 - But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
Psalm 37:7 - Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him
Proverbs 14:29 - A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays folly.
Romans 12:12 - Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
1 Corinthians 13:4 - Love is patient
Galatians 5:22 - But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
I told about this to my colleague that I was not able to get the song files and he came over to help and saw me furiously clicking my way through and trying to sort things out. He said - " Listen, Don't do anything. Just wait and give it some time. Patience Pays ". I immediately thanked him for giving me a topic for my daily devotional :)
Though I did joke about it then, for the last few days God has been teaching me the importance of giving things over to Him and just waiting patiently for Him to act without any clicking around, or trying to sort things on my own but just waiting ON and waiting FOR Him. And His peace and His strength had been amazing. Today morning as I was reflecting on this I felt I had to write this, which could be a blessing for others.
As I waited, the files sorted itself out and things began working fine. I remember when I was in School, during our holidays Dad used to take us to meet my grandparents. I loved their village with all the green, and very clean, no traffic noise, you could hear every bird twitter and the sound of the winds (its long since I've heard that), lots of playing space, empty roads........ The whole village was one big community where everyone knew everyone and I loved going there. There was a small river which flowed through the village and my dad used to take my sister and my brothers and me there and try to teach us swimming. The first thing he taught us was - Don't Struggle. He said that if we struggled, we would only go down. He said the more we struggled and tried to keep ourselves up we would actually be only going into the water. He asked us to aim at moving forward by pushing the water backwards with our hands.
When waiting for something or stuck in some problem, its best to wait patiently for God to act. It may seem like nothing is happening but God is at work. When we struggle or try to work things out for ourselves by being frantic and getting all pressurised, arguing, fighting, slandering, we only succeed at getting things more stuck (like in my computer) or start going into the water. Joyce Meyer says that sometimes we slander under the pretext of sharing as prayer point or sharing our problem but God knows our motives. Its best to lay things at His feet and ask Him to take full control and wait for Him to act - and then go about our work praising and thanking Him because He is at work and He is in control.
Probably you are waiting for a break or a job or a much awaited promotion or a better job or an onsite opportunity or for an appraisal, or marriage, for a baby, or to be delivered from some sickness, some problem....... the list could go on and on. Give things to God. Stop struggling abd wait on God. Just wait and give it time. Its best when God acts according to His will, in His time. His will is the best for us. His time is the best for us. He is in control and definitely knows what He is doing.
So Don't forget, Struggle Strangles but Patience Pays.
Hebrews 6:15 - And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.
Romans 8:25 - But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
Psalm 37:7 - Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him
Proverbs 14:29 - A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays folly.
Romans 12:12 - Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
1 Corinthians 13:4 - Love is patient
Galatians 5:22 - But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Being a Blessing - 15th Nov 2006
This morning I was going through a church website (NLAG) and going through their daily devotional column. The message for the day was about bearing fruit for Jesus. It was so beautifully written about how one could bear fruit. It was explained that a fruit does not exist for itself, it exists as food for others. Others eat it and are refreshed and get nutrition. It just exists to bring nutrition, health and benefit to someone else. That actually set me thinking about living a life for others. Being a blessing for others. Letting go of my comfort, my happiness, my pride, my anything to be a joy, comfort, blessing and an encouragement to someone else.
At Sis.Nishi's CareCell, she was talking about the importance of being a blessing for others. She said that she always looked for chances where she could help or be a blessing for someone. Even while driving to home or to office in her car, she said she looked around to see if she could offer a drop to someone and thereby be a blessing to them. At office, at home, at road and wherever she went, she is always on a lookout for a chance to be a blessing to others. I found that so inspiring and so beautiful. Just going through life and through everyday, looking out for chance to help someone out, to be a blessing to someone else, and thereby bearing fruit for Jesus.
Jesus lived all his life, for others, being a blessing for others and died for others (us). I'm sure he would be very happy and proud to see his children follow in his footsteps and live for others.
Last night something had happened which had disturbed me greatly and I was talking to God about it and asking him for his help to face the situation. I felt I had tried everything I could but was not able to help better the situation in any way. God said he wanted me to just give and give, expecting nothing in return. Whenever I had a chance to give help, give love, give time, give encouragement, give in any way I can, give without expecting anything in return. Give, even if it meant my sacrificing my comfort, my time, my anything, just give and choose being a blessing to others above myself.
My mother always tells me this - You never lose by giving. No matter how much you give, you never lose.
Like a Fruit, that exists for the blessing of others.
Like the sister at the carecell, always on a lookout for a chance to be a blessing to others.
Like Jesus who lived and gave everything, even his life.
Lets aim at being a blessing to others and thus bear fruit for Jesus.
John 15:16 - You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.
Colossians 1:10 - And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,
John 15:5 - "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
John 15:4 - Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
At Sis.Nishi's CareCell, she was talking about the importance of being a blessing for others. She said that she always looked for chances where she could help or be a blessing for someone. Even while driving to home or to office in her car, she said she looked around to see if she could offer a drop to someone and thereby be a blessing to them. At office, at home, at road and wherever she went, she is always on a lookout for a chance to be a blessing to others. I found that so inspiring and so beautiful. Just going through life and through everyday, looking out for chance to help someone out, to be a blessing to someone else, and thereby bearing fruit for Jesus.
Jesus lived all his life, for others, being a blessing for others and died for others (us). I'm sure he would be very happy and proud to see his children follow in his footsteps and live for others.
Last night something had happened which had disturbed me greatly and I was talking to God about it and asking him for his help to face the situation. I felt I had tried everything I could but was not able to help better the situation in any way. God said he wanted me to just give and give, expecting nothing in return. Whenever I had a chance to give help, give love, give time, give encouragement, give in any way I can, give without expecting anything in return. Give, even if it meant my sacrificing my comfort, my time, my anything, just give and choose being a blessing to others above myself.
My mother always tells me this - You never lose by giving. No matter how much you give, you never lose.
Like a Fruit, that exists for the blessing of others.
Like the sister at the carecell, always on a lookout for a chance to be a blessing to others.
Like Jesus who lived and gave everything, even his life.
Lets aim at being a blessing to others and thus bear fruit for Jesus.
John 15:16 - You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.
Colossians 1:10 - And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,
John 15:5 - "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
John 15:4 - Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Keep your FOCUS on JESUS - 14th Nov 2006
One of my friends' Dad suddenly had a severe stomach pain and was admitted in the hospital. When my friend got to know about this, he was really worried and rushed home to be with his family. They had a scan done and we were all praying to God during this time but we really didn't think it would be anything serious. Little did I now what God had in store.
The scan results came and it was found that there was a tumour the size of a fist in his Dad's liver. We were all numb with grief and shocked and very very afraid. I could not pray as well. I would just sit at God's feet and cry and cry. I could not pray. I could not understand why this was happening. Everything seemed to be going so well and even though the stomach pain had been quite severe, we really didn't think it could be anything serious. The scan reports had just shaken our secure world and had shattered everything. I used keep thinking those days - 'Nothing will be the same for us ever again'.
Through all the tears, the sadness, the anxiety, the brokenness, above all - the fear, it was amazing to see how calm my friend was. He was equally broken and shattered and very afraid. But he had a strong Faith and was looking upto God alone. We went to some of the best hospitals in the city and almost every doctor we spoke to said just one thing - start the treatment immediately. We also consulted a doctor in the family and a childhood friend of mine who is a doctor today and both again had the same thing to say - start the treatment immediately. Well, we all panicked and more than anything it was all blurry. Probably we were more afraid than sad. And fear had blocked our minds and had stopped our brains and we could not think straight.
It was amazing to see my friend at such times. He was ofcourse as sad and afraid as us but he was very clear and he was able to think clearly, unlike us. Whenever we had a look at the reports we would feel real bad and he would sit and study the reports and then he would just suddenly get up and say - Come let's pray. He would read a few verses from the Bible and then we would pray. God always spoke to us through comforting, encouraging verses. He always said that He would heal my friend's dad and that He wanted us to trust Him in this. We would feel so greatly encouraged by these verses and then just begin thanking God. But usually this was short-lived. Because we would get to hear something or the other and then we would be discouraged again. But every time we felt this way, my friend would say - Come let's see what God has to say. He would then read a few verses and then pray and I could see him literally drawing his strength by keeping his focus away from the enormity of the problem and towards the enormous miracle working power that is in Jesus.
This happened everytime we spoke to a doctor and felt discouraged, everytime we studied the reports and we were discouraged, everytime we saw the family broken and in tears, at all such times, he would say - Let's see what Jesus says. And I should say that that is what kept us sane. The more we began relying on God and the more we began trusting Him, the thing only got worse. The news was just getting real bad. But my friend would continue to keep his focus on God. Trusting God during bad times is one thing but continuing to trust Him even when things are getting worse and not seeing God act calls for heavenly strength and immense trust.
This went on for about a couple of months. There was no improvement in Dad's health and we hadn't started the medication yet. The doctor had said that if we didn't admit him in the hospital right away, things would get really bad within 6 months and it would be too late by then. We were just calling on God, praising, thanking and just holding onto Him, like holding onto something for life. We were literally clinging to Him, afraid to look at the situation. I remember those days clearly when we would sing together - "Trust Trust in the Lord, lean not on your understanding" (by Jaci) and the hymn "How great thou art" over and over again, trying to think of each word in the song and draw strength from it and bring it live in Dad's life and our own as well. We would sing these songs with tears running down our eyes, our hearts contracted with fear and grief. Dad's weight was still going down, his appetite as well was going bad, he still had pain in his stomach but God still continued to speak through his word and through his children to us in various ways asking us to Trust Him.
After about two months, Dad's weight suddenly began increasing - very slowly - but yes, it was definitely increasing. His appetite started getting back to normal. No more pain. He was beginning to look good as well - the tired, old look had gone. God is true to his promises and faithful to his children. Last month we had a scan done and the doctor was very surprised - the tumour had just stopped growing and was beginning to shrink. The doctor was very surprised. He had told us in 6 months, it would be too late and here he was seeing that the tumour was actually shrinking. Praise God!!
Someday I will write about this journey of fear and faith, tears and trust and growing in Jesus through these six months. These six months taught us the valuable lesson of learning to keep our focus on God. Just looking at his promises and holding on to his word and calling on him and looking to him for help. Asking no 'WHYs', instead trusting him wholeheartedly.
I'm glad Jesus had Peter as one of his disciples. I seem to relate a lot with him. When walking on the water, as long his focus was on the storm and the furious waves around he began to sink, but as long as he looked at Jesus, he was walking closer and closer and closer to Jesus. (For the whole story)
Don't look at the waves around. The devil wants us to sink and tries to move our focus away from Jesus and towards the problems. But don't let him win. We, as humans, don't have the strength to keep walking, focussing on the storm. We would definitely sink in depression, self pity, bitterness, anger. Keep your focus on Jesus. Believe me, its not easy. But keep trying and keep making an effort to focus on Jesus alone.
As long as our focus is on the storm, we would sink. As long as our focus is on Jesus, we would be walking closer and closer and closer (even if small slow steps) and closer to Jesus.
Psalm 28:7 - The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song
Psalm 56:3 - When I am afraid, I will trust in you.
John 14:1 - "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God ; trust also in me.
The scan results came and it was found that there was a tumour the size of a fist in his Dad's liver. We were all numb with grief and shocked and very very afraid. I could not pray as well. I would just sit at God's feet and cry and cry. I could not pray. I could not understand why this was happening. Everything seemed to be going so well and even though the stomach pain had been quite severe, we really didn't think it could be anything serious. The scan reports had just shaken our secure world and had shattered everything. I used keep thinking those days - 'Nothing will be the same for us ever again'.
Through all the tears, the sadness, the anxiety, the brokenness, above all - the fear, it was amazing to see how calm my friend was. He was equally broken and shattered and very afraid. But he had a strong Faith and was looking upto God alone. We went to some of the best hospitals in the city and almost every doctor we spoke to said just one thing - start the treatment immediately. We also consulted a doctor in the family and a childhood friend of mine who is a doctor today and both again had the same thing to say - start the treatment immediately. Well, we all panicked and more than anything it was all blurry. Probably we were more afraid than sad. And fear had blocked our minds and had stopped our brains and we could not think straight.
It was amazing to see my friend at such times. He was ofcourse as sad and afraid as us but he was very clear and he was able to think clearly, unlike us. Whenever we had a look at the reports we would feel real bad and he would sit and study the reports and then he would just suddenly get up and say - Come let's pray. He would read a few verses from the Bible and then we would pray. God always spoke to us through comforting, encouraging verses. He always said that He would heal my friend's dad and that He wanted us to trust Him in this. We would feel so greatly encouraged by these verses and then just begin thanking God. But usually this was short-lived. Because we would get to hear something or the other and then we would be discouraged again. But every time we felt this way, my friend would say - Come let's see what God has to say. He would then read a few verses and then pray and I could see him literally drawing his strength by keeping his focus away from the enormity of the problem and towards the enormous miracle working power that is in Jesus.
This happened everytime we spoke to a doctor and felt discouraged, everytime we studied the reports and we were discouraged, everytime we saw the family broken and in tears, at all such times, he would say - Let's see what Jesus says. And I should say that that is what kept us sane. The more we began relying on God and the more we began trusting Him, the thing only got worse. The news was just getting real bad. But my friend would continue to keep his focus on God. Trusting God during bad times is one thing but continuing to trust Him even when things are getting worse and not seeing God act calls for heavenly strength and immense trust.
This went on for about a couple of months. There was no improvement in Dad's health and we hadn't started the medication yet. The doctor had said that if we didn't admit him in the hospital right away, things would get really bad within 6 months and it would be too late by then. We were just calling on God, praising, thanking and just holding onto Him, like holding onto something for life. We were literally clinging to Him, afraid to look at the situation. I remember those days clearly when we would sing together - "Trust Trust in the Lord, lean not on your understanding" (by Jaci) and the hymn "How great thou art" over and over again, trying to think of each word in the song and draw strength from it and bring it live in Dad's life and our own as well. We would sing these songs with tears running down our eyes, our hearts contracted with fear and grief. Dad's weight was still going down, his appetite as well was going bad, he still had pain in his stomach but God still continued to speak through his word and through his children to us in various ways asking us to Trust Him.
After about two months, Dad's weight suddenly began increasing - very slowly - but yes, it was definitely increasing. His appetite started getting back to normal. No more pain. He was beginning to look good as well - the tired, old look had gone. God is true to his promises and faithful to his children. Last month we had a scan done and the doctor was very surprised - the tumour had just stopped growing and was beginning to shrink. The doctor was very surprised. He had told us in 6 months, it would be too late and here he was seeing that the tumour was actually shrinking. Praise God!!
Someday I will write about this journey of fear and faith, tears and trust and growing in Jesus through these six months. These six months taught us the valuable lesson of learning to keep our focus on God. Just looking at his promises and holding on to his word and calling on him and looking to him for help. Asking no 'WHYs', instead trusting him wholeheartedly.
I'm glad Jesus had Peter as one of his disciples. I seem to relate a lot with him. When walking on the water, as long his focus was on the storm and the furious waves around he began to sink, but as long as he looked at Jesus, he was walking closer and closer and closer to Jesus. (For the whole story)
Don't look at the waves around. The devil wants us to sink and tries to move our focus away from Jesus and towards the problems. But don't let him win. We, as humans, don't have the strength to keep walking, focussing on the storm. We would definitely sink in depression, self pity, bitterness, anger. Keep your focus on Jesus. Believe me, its not easy. But keep trying and keep making an effort to focus on Jesus alone.
As long as our focus is on the storm, we would sink. As long as our focus is on Jesus, we would be walking closer and closer and closer (even if small slow steps) and closer to Jesus.
Psalm 28:7 - The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song
Psalm 56:3 - When I am afraid, I will trust in you.
John 14:1 - "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God ; trust also in me.
Monday, November 13, 2006
Praise Pauses - 13th Nov 2006
I happen to be a huge fan of Joyce Meyer. I like reading her books and am try collecting all of them. I find her very practical, honest and very genuine which makes her books and her sermons reach out to me in a very special way. I've always found her books and messages very useful.
Last week I was watching her on God TV and she said something which was so wonderful and so true. Its something that I always knew but now when she put it in a slightly different way, it was enlightening and kind of like showing an easy way out and very inspiring too. She was talking about the importance of praising and worshipping God. Not just on Sundays or just before beginning my day, but all through the way - all through the day. The importance of linking my thoughts with God's all through the day and taking time to look up and say to Him, " I Love you God. Thank you, God". She says to keep praising God. Look out for points and things I can thank God for and praise him for. It keeps me connected to Him and there's another thing - the devil cannot stand a praising child of God.
She says that the devil was incharge of the praise and worship when he was in heaven and he became so proud that he wanted all the praises and worship for himself. Whenever he sees our God being praised and worshipped, he just cannot stand it. When you make an effort to try starting to praise and worship God you would have your own obstacles and problems and now you know where they would come from. Just keep at praising him and worshipping him no matter what you are going through, no matter how sad or happy you are, no matter how much of a turmoil or how peaceful you are.
She gave a beautiful illustration from the Bible wherein the children of Judah lead by King Jehoshaphat face a huge army and are afraid. But then they decide to praise God. A choir goes ahead of the army praising God and singing songs to Him and the result is amazing - the enemies began to kill and destroy one another. Though King Jehoshaphat had a small army, when he decided to praise God, he was victorious. (For the whole story)
When I had been to Sis. Nishie's carecell she was talking about how she likes to take several 'Praise Pauses' through out the day. She makes it a point to just leave her work and go somewhere where she can stretch her hands towards heaven and just look upto Jesus and just Praise Him. She says that it keep her in Jesus and helped her go through her work with God's blessing and strength. Know What?? God loves praises. His word says - He lives within the praises of his people. He dwells in praises.
The place that God has created for his home - Heaven - is filled with praises and worship. We always keep what we like the best in our homes. My room is full of soft toys. One of my relatives house has all kinds of trees and plants around the house. A family friend I know has several dogs. God's house is full of praises and worships. That shows how much he loves praise and worship. Delighting him would definitely mean praising him. And praising him during tough times would mean even more because God would know how hurt and sad and upset we are and yet, we have chosen to praise him and worship him. God definitely values that.
Last Saturday I met a Pastor. Andrews who was talking about the Widow of Zarephath to whose house the Prophet Elijah goes. Their house is blessed because of the Prophet's presence in the house and they have enough to eat all through the famine and they have tasted and seen God's goodness. Inspite of that when the widow's son dies, she cries to Elijah saying - "Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?" (For the whole story )
Pastor. Andrews says that so many times this is how we behave. We all have tasted God's goodness and love in our lives and when we have a problem we instead cry to God and sometimes blame him and think he does not care. But what we actually need to do is to reflect on his goodness and trust in him and just keep praising and thanking and worshipping him. It brings God into our problems. He will give us the strength to go on and He definitely has a solution to any situation in life because He is in full control.
When we take our 'Praise Pauses' often and reflect on his goodness and as we keep thanking and praising we surround ourselves with his praises and we kind of build a small heaven around us for God to dwell.
Last week I was watching her on God TV and she said something which was so wonderful and so true. Its something that I always knew but now when she put it in a slightly different way, it was enlightening and kind of like showing an easy way out and very inspiring too. She was talking about the importance of praising and worshipping God. Not just on Sundays or just before beginning my day, but all through the way - all through the day. The importance of linking my thoughts with God's all through the day and taking time to look up and say to Him, " I Love you God. Thank you, God". She says to keep praising God. Look out for points and things I can thank God for and praise him for. It keeps me connected to Him and there's another thing - the devil cannot stand a praising child of God.
She says that the devil was incharge of the praise and worship when he was in heaven and he became so proud that he wanted all the praises and worship for himself. Whenever he sees our God being praised and worshipped, he just cannot stand it. When you make an effort to try starting to praise and worship God you would have your own obstacles and problems and now you know where they would come from. Just keep at praising him and worshipping him no matter what you are going through, no matter how sad or happy you are, no matter how much of a turmoil or how peaceful you are.
She gave a beautiful illustration from the Bible wherein the children of Judah lead by King Jehoshaphat face a huge army and are afraid. But then they decide to praise God. A choir goes ahead of the army praising God and singing songs to Him and the result is amazing - the enemies began to kill and destroy one another. Though King Jehoshaphat had a small army, when he decided to praise God, he was victorious. (For the whole story)
When I had been to Sis. Nishie's carecell she was talking about how she likes to take several 'Praise Pauses' through out the day. She makes it a point to just leave her work and go somewhere where she can stretch her hands towards heaven and just look upto Jesus and just Praise Him. She says that it keep her in Jesus and helped her go through her work with God's blessing and strength. Know What?? God loves praises. His word says - He lives within the praises of his people. He dwells in praises.
The place that God has created for his home - Heaven - is filled with praises and worship. We always keep what we like the best in our homes. My room is full of soft toys. One of my relatives house has all kinds of trees and plants around the house. A family friend I know has several dogs. God's house is full of praises and worships. That shows how much he loves praise and worship. Delighting him would definitely mean praising him. And praising him during tough times would mean even more because God would know how hurt and sad and upset we are and yet, we have chosen to praise him and worship him. God definitely values that.
Last Saturday I met a Pastor. Andrews who was talking about the Widow of Zarephath to whose house the Prophet Elijah goes. Their house is blessed because of the Prophet's presence in the house and they have enough to eat all through the famine and they have tasted and seen God's goodness. Inspite of that when the widow's son dies, she cries to Elijah saying - "Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?" (For the whole story )
Pastor. Andrews says that so many times this is how we behave. We all have tasted God's goodness and love in our lives and when we have a problem we instead cry to God and sometimes blame him and think he does not care. But what we actually need to do is to reflect on his goodness and trust in him and just keep praising and thanking and worshipping him. It brings God into our problems. He will give us the strength to go on and He definitely has a solution to any situation in life because He is in full control.
When we take our 'Praise Pauses' often and reflect on his goodness and as we keep thanking and praising we surround ourselves with his praises and we kind of build a small heaven around us for God to dwell.
Psalm 150
1PRAISE THE Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in the heavens of His power!2Praise Him for His mighty acts; praise Him according to the abundance of His greatness!(A)
3Praise Him with trumpet sound; praise Him with lute and harp!
4Praise Him with tambourine and [single or group] dance; praise Him with stringed and wind instruments or flutes!
5Praise Him with resounding cymbals; praise Him with loud clashing cymbals!
6Let everything that has breath and every breath of life praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
Friday, November 10, 2006
Lesson learnt from Harry Potter - 10th Nov 2006
One of my favorite Harry Potter movies and books happens to be ‘Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban’. Okay, I’m not going to be telling that story now but yeah, I did want to explain the Prison of Azkaban a little bit as the lesson I learnt is related to this.
The story is actually a war between the good and the evil. Harry Potter, you rightly guessed is a part of the good and there is the Evil Voldemort and his Followers, who are the evil in this story. So everytime anybody who is Evil is caught and imprisoned by the Good, they are put in the Prison of Azkaban. Now about the Prison of Azkaban – there is no torture or pain or beatings or anything bad done here. But there are prison guards here who are called Dementors. The whole of the Prison of Azkaban is full of these Dementors.
Now what these Dementors do is, they suck all the happiness, all the happy moments, all the positive thoughts and all the positive memories out of the minds and lives of these prisoners. They actually feed on all the happy memories and positive thoughts. So the prisoners are left with no happiness and only the sad thoughts and the sad memories. This makes their lives miserable. Most of them go mad. The few sane people left just wish to die. It makes them depressed and sad and anxious and yeah…… finally Mad.
As I was watching this movie I remembered something I had read long back in a book, the author of which I don’t happen to remember now (highly probable to be Joyce Meyer). The author had written stating that, the Bible says that -The joy of the Lord is my strength. And it actually means that. My strength depends on how happy and joyful I am. The author had written stating that when the devil wants to attack a person, he first attacks their joy. He works at removing the joy from their lives (much like the Dementors). Once the person’s joy is gone or lessened, the person is now weak and so now becomes an easy prey to the devil’s arrows and weapons.
Now what we need to focus on here is that no matter what, we should not let go of the joy we have in our Lord. No matter what happens, even if we are upset or angered or worried, remember our strength comes from being happy in the Lord and so choose to start thinking of all the happy thoughts and the happy memories and positive thoughts and start praying and praising and rejoicing.
Another wonderful thing about joy is that, it’s not a feeling. Happiness is a feeling. But joy is not a feeling. It’s a choice I make to stay that way, being grateful and reflecting on everything God has done for me and choosing to look back on the past with gratitude and look forward to the future with trust, knowing my God is able to and will do the best for his children. As long as I am joyful in God, the devil will find me a tough prey. Ever wondered why most of the fights happen just before going to church on Sunday, this is just so that we miss out on the blessings as we lose out on our joy and our minds become an easy prey for the devil.
The more I feed on happy thoughts and happy memories and reflect on the good and am joyful, the stronger l am. The more I think negative, sad thoughts about how people have wronged me and about the past sad memories, the weaker I become and it actually does not stop with that. It’s just the beginning. Making us weak is the devil’s first step and there would more of his weapons and problems to face if we allow him to succeed in his first step.
So, the next time you feel sad about something, just pray about the issue and choose, that is make a conscious effort to think about something positive and something good and something happy and CHOOSE to be joyful. There are so many ways turn our focus away from our problem and towards God and his joy. Think of something joyful, sing your favorite happy songs, call up a friend who’s very humorous and spend some time chatting, speak to your siblings, put your favorite kind of music on full blast and dance away your sorrows. God knows when his children make an effort and He would be there to help. So always CHOOSE to do away with your sadness or problems after committing them to Jesus. And then Be Joyful. Remember, it’s so rightly said – The JOY of the LORD is our STRENGTH.
Nehemiah 8:10 - And be not grieved and depressed, for the joy of the Lord is your strength and stronghold.
The story is actually a war between the good and the evil. Harry Potter, you rightly guessed is a part of the good and there is the Evil Voldemort and his Followers, who are the evil in this story. So everytime anybody who is Evil is caught and imprisoned by the Good, they are put in the Prison of Azkaban. Now about the Prison of Azkaban – there is no torture or pain or beatings or anything bad done here. But there are prison guards here who are called Dementors. The whole of the Prison of Azkaban is full of these Dementors.
Now what these Dementors do is, they suck all the happiness, all the happy moments, all the positive thoughts and all the positive memories out of the minds and lives of these prisoners. They actually feed on all the happy memories and positive thoughts. So the prisoners are left with no happiness and only the sad thoughts and the sad memories. This makes their lives miserable. Most of them go mad. The few sane people left just wish to die. It makes them depressed and sad and anxious and yeah…… finally Mad.
As I was watching this movie I remembered something I had read long back in a book, the author of which I don’t happen to remember now (highly probable to be Joyce Meyer). The author had written stating that, the Bible says that -The joy of the Lord is my strength. And it actually means that. My strength depends on how happy and joyful I am. The author had written stating that when the devil wants to attack a person, he first attacks their joy. He works at removing the joy from their lives (much like the Dementors). Once the person’s joy is gone or lessened, the person is now weak and so now becomes an easy prey to the devil’s arrows and weapons.
Now what we need to focus on here is that no matter what, we should not let go of the joy we have in our Lord. No matter what happens, even if we are upset or angered or worried, remember our strength comes from being happy in the Lord and so choose to start thinking of all the happy thoughts and the happy memories and positive thoughts and start praying and praising and rejoicing.
Another wonderful thing about joy is that, it’s not a feeling. Happiness is a feeling. But joy is not a feeling. It’s a choice I make to stay that way, being grateful and reflecting on everything God has done for me and choosing to look back on the past with gratitude and look forward to the future with trust, knowing my God is able to and will do the best for his children. As long as I am joyful in God, the devil will find me a tough prey. Ever wondered why most of the fights happen just before going to church on Sunday, this is just so that we miss out on the blessings as we lose out on our joy and our minds become an easy prey for the devil.
The more I feed on happy thoughts and happy memories and reflect on the good and am joyful, the stronger l am. The more I think negative, sad thoughts about how people have wronged me and about the past sad memories, the weaker I become and it actually does not stop with that. It’s just the beginning. Making us weak is the devil’s first step and there would more of his weapons and problems to face if we allow him to succeed in his first step.
So, the next time you feel sad about something, just pray about the issue and choose, that is make a conscious effort to think about something positive and something good and something happy and CHOOSE to be joyful. There are so many ways turn our focus away from our problem and towards God and his joy. Think of something joyful, sing your favorite happy songs, call up a friend who’s very humorous and spend some time chatting, speak to your siblings, put your favorite kind of music on full blast and dance away your sorrows. God knows when his children make an effort and He would be there to help. So always CHOOSE to do away with your sadness or problems after committing them to Jesus. And then Be Joyful. Remember, it’s so rightly said – The JOY of the LORD is our STRENGTH.
Nehemiah 8:10 - And be not grieved and depressed, for the joy of the Lord is your strength and stronghold.
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Give Your Drop - 9th Nov 2006
Yesterday I had been to one of the Care Cells which is a part of our church. It was a small gathering of a few of us who believe and love the LORD and it was wonderful, joyful and refreshing to be with God's people worshiping the greatness of our God. The Care Cell is conducted by Sis. Nishie and meets at her house. We had a few minutes of worship and then Sis. Nishie shared with us God's Word from John 6, where Jesus feeds the five thousand.
Sis. Nishie spoke about how God could turn the 5 loaves of bread and the 2 fishes into a huge blessing which fed five thousand people and there was left over as well. About the boy who had little but gave the little away to God. The boy definitely saw the huge crowd. He knew the 5 loaves and 2 fishes would never be enough. It would be just a drop in the ocean to feed this huge crowd. Though he knew what he gave was very little, yet he gave. God converted that to bless so many. Jesus could do the miracle because the small boy decided to give. Though a drop, all that mattered to God was the boy giving, and not how much the boy gave.
Two of my friends, Prince and his beautiful wife, Idaline, along with a few friends organise a Christian Camp kind of program for kids every year. They call it 'Jesus Kids 2006'. They don't have any organisation backing them. This is something these young people come together and plan and organise and pray about and do for Jesus. They put in their time and money and prayer and sow in the lives of these children so that the kids have a strong foundation in Jesus, which would help them stay strong on the Rock all through their lives. They are all ordinary people, in their teens and early 20s, working just like us and some them are just in college. Its love for Jesus and desire to do something for him that brings them together this way.
They need huge finances to conduct this program and a mail had been sent out to all our friends asking to pool in and help support the kids program. This month, I had committed to help a sick missionary, and so I had decided that I would not be able to help them financially, though I would surely pray for them. As Sis. Nishie spoke about the small boy who gave the little he had, God spoke to me about this kids camp. He said that it didn't matter to him how much I gave. What mattered to him was that I should give my drop, so that God could feed the five thousand. If the boy hadn't given, we probably would not have had one of the biggest miracles that happened on earth. If I didn't give, I would probably stop a miracle. Even if what I gave was very little, God wanted me to give. He said - Give your drop.
Giving our Small Drops to a Big God would result in Huge Miracles, the results of which we would see someday when we stand before God's throne. Don't miss out on your opportunity to give for God. Whenever you come across a chance to give for Him, give, even if what you are giving is just a drop. Its 'giving' that matters and not how much we give.
Mark 9:41 - I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward.
Luke 6:38 - Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
2 Corinthians 9:7 - Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
P.S - Don't miss out on giving your drop for the 'Jesus Kids 2006'. Call Prince on 09447971699 or mail him on princeidalin@gmail.com.
Sis. Nishie spoke about how God could turn the 5 loaves of bread and the 2 fishes into a huge blessing which fed five thousand people and there was left over as well. About the boy who had little but gave the little away to God. The boy definitely saw the huge crowd. He knew the 5 loaves and 2 fishes would never be enough. It would be just a drop in the ocean to feed this huge crowd. Though he knew what he gave was very little, yet he gave. God converted that to bless so many. Jesus could do the miracle because the small boy decided to give. Though a drop, all that mattered to God was the boy giving, and not how much the boy gave.
Two of my friends, Prince and his beautiful wife, Idaline, along with a few friends organise a Christian Camp kind of program for kids every year. They call it 'Jesus Kids 2006'. They don't have any organisation backing them. This is something these young people come together and plan and organise and pray about and do for Jesus. They put in their time and money and prayer and sow in the lives of these children so that the kids have a strong foundation in Jesus, which would help them stay strong on the Rock all through their lives. They are all ordinary people, in their teens and early 20s, working just like us and some them are just in college. Its love for Jesus and desire to do something for him that brings them together this way.
They need huge finances to conduct this program and a mail had been sent out to all our friends asking to pool in and help support the kids program. This month, I had committed to help a sick missionary, and so I had decided that I would not be able to help them financially, though I would surely pray for them. As Sis. Nishie spoke about the small boy who gave the little he had, God spoke to me about this kids camp. He said that it didn't matter to him how much I gave. What mattered to him was that I should give my drop, so that God could feed the five thousand. If the boy hadn't given, we probably would not have had one of the biggest miracles that happened on earth. If I didn't give, I would probably stop a miracle. Even if what I gave was very little, God wanted me to give. He said - Give your drop.
Giving our Small Drops to a Big God would result in Huge Miracles, the results of which we would see someday when we stand before God's throne. Don't miss out on your opportunity to give for God. Whenever you come across a chance to give for Him, give, even if what you are giving is just a drop. Its 'giving' that matters and not how much we give.
Mark 9:41 - I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward.
Luke 6:38 - Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
2 Corinthians 9:7 - Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
P.S - Don't miss out on giving your drop for the 'Jesus Kids 2006'. Call Prince on 09447971699 or mail him on princeidalin@gmail.com.
"Sirs, What must I do to be saved?" - 23rd May 2006
"Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
Acts 16:30 has this verse where a jailor comes trembling and falling before two prisoners asking this question - Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
Well, what in the world would have caused a jailor to fall before a prisoner asking (of everything in this world) this question about how he could be saved. To me it would make more sense if the prisoner was asking the jailor for a way to be saved. But here the scenario is the other way round.
This jailor had been ordered to keep a close watch on these prisoners. This jailor was aware of the fact tht these prisoners had been stripped and beaten earlier that day. This jailor was also aware of the fact that these very prisoners were severely flogged. Probably the jailor had watched them as they were stripped and beaten and flogged. Well, he was surely there when they threw these prisoners in the prison. Probably the jailor had helped in the throwing part. This jailor had made sure that the prisoners were locked in the inner cell (special cell for bad prisoners, i guess). This jailor with his own hands had fastened the prisoners' feet in the stocks.
From the looks of it, it sounds like the jailor eyed them as pretty dangerous. Well, what caused the turn of events?? The prisoners seemed to be in a pretty tight spot with no way of escape and the jailor had no intention of ever letting them get away unless he wanted to lose his job. And the jailor has no such wish cos he had a family back home to support and he wasnt going to do anything that would come in the way of keeping the orders that he had got from the higher authorities.
Well, the big question here is what made the hunter the hunted? Well, this is something that really intrigues me and baffles me and most of all - challenges me, and my prayer as i write this is that it challenges you too.
The prisoners after having been made a public spectacle............ guess i forgot to mention that they had been beaten up and attacked by the public before the stripping and flogging by the authorities in the place................... well after all the beating, flogging, the insult and the pain, these two prisoners in their inner cell with their feet in the stock start praying and singing hymns. Well, this makes no sense does it? I mean imagine a difficult situation i have been, like I just wake up to find my alarm hasnt gone and Im late, I go running to bus stop and find out that the bus has just left and then i get a call from my team lead who is upset that ive just got late. Would i sit and start praying and singing hymns?? Well, if ive not been doing this so far, I better begin. because this is what makes the hunted the hunter. This is what turns the situation 180 degrees.
In a hard time, in the midst of a tough situation if i can turn my focus from the situation i am in towards God, well, that is what can make a difference both in my life and in the lives of those around me (including the jailors in my life!!).
Well, back to what happened with the jailor and the two prisoners, what happened next is history. There was a earthquake so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken. The prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose. The jailor is so sure that the prisoners and he is so upset about what the consequences would be that he decides to take his life and just as he is going to kill himslef he hears Paul, who is one of the prisoner shout - "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!". And this causes the jailor to come trembling and on his knees to the two prisoners who were two disciples of Jesus asking - "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
It seemed like the disciplea were loosing. They seemed to be in a defeated situation. But they decide to turn their focus on God and start praying and singing songs and God intervenes and the situation turns around and out into a victorious one. In a tough situation, in a sad situation, in an uncomfortable situation, in an annoying situation, in an irritated situation................. turn your focus towards situation.......... just realise its start praying and singing hymns and God would intervene to turn the situation into a victorious one. Dont be discouraged if the situation does not turn according to your timing. Through all the attack, the stripping, the flogging, the beating, even as things get worse and you are thrown to the inner cell, just keep on keeping your focus on God and keep on praying and singing hymns and God will definitely intervene to make the situation into a victorious one.
Before I end there is something that i want to mention. God has blessed me with a wonderful mom who is both very God fearing and very understanding and at any time of the day i can call her with any problem I have and she reminds me of two things very often. One, Nothing happens in the lives of God's children without God's permission. Two, if God has permitted this to happen in my life he would definitely turn it for my good (because everything works for good in the lives of those who love God and are called according to his purpose).
So, always remember to TURN YOUR FOCUS TO JESUS cos he is always in control and He Is Always On The Throne!!!
Acts 16:30 has this verse where a jailor comes trembling and falling before two prisoners asking this question - Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
Well, what in the world would have caused a jailor to fall before a prisoner asking (of everything in this world) this question about how he could be saved. To me it would make more sense if the prisoner was asking the jailor for a way to be saved. But here the scenario is the other way round.
This jailor had been ordered to keep a close watch on these prisoners. This jailor was aware of the fact tht these prisoners had been stripped and beaten earlier that day. This jailor was also aware of the fact that these very prisoners were severely flogged. Probably the jailor had watched them as they were stripped and beaten and flogged. Well, he was surely there when they threw these prisoners in the prison. Probably the jailor had helped in the throwing part. This jailor had made sure that the prisoners were locked in the inner cell (special cell for bad prisoners, i guess). This jailor with his own hands had fastened the prisoners' feet in the stocks.
From the looks of it, it sounds like the jailor eyed them as pretty dangerous. Well, what caused the turn of events?? The prisoners seemed to be in a pretty tight spot with no way of escape and the jailor had no intention of ever letting them get away unless he wanted to lose his job. And the jailor has no such wish cos he had a family back home to support and he wasnt going to do anything that would come in the way of keeping the orders that he had got from the higher authorities.
Well, the big question here is what made the hunter the hunted? Well, this is something that really intrigues me and baffles me and most of all - challenges me, and my prayer as i write this is that it challenges you too.
The prisoners after having been made a public spectacle............ guess i forgot to mention that they had been beaten up and attacked by the public before the stripping and flogging by the authorities in the place................... well after all the beating, flogging, the insult and the pain, these two prisoners in their inner cell with their feet in the stock start praying and singing hymns. Well, this makes no sense does it? I mean imagine a difficult situation i have been, like I just wake up to find my alarm hasnt gone and Im late, I go running to bus stop and find out that the bus has just left and then i get a call from my team lead who is upset that ive just got late. Would i sit and start praying and singing hymns?? Well, if ive not been doing this so far, I better begin. because this is what makes the hunted the hunter. This is what turns the situation 180 degrees.
In a hard time, in the midst of a tough situation if i can turn my focus from the situation i am in towards God, well, that is what can make a difference both in my life and in the lives of those around me (including the jailors in my life!!).
Well, back to what happened with the jailor and the two prisoners, what happened next is history. There was a earthquake so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken. The prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose. The jailor is so sure that the prisoners and he is so upset about what the consequences would be that he decides to take his life and just as he is going to kill himslef he hears Paul, who is one of the prisoner shout - "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!". And this causes the jailor to come trembling and on his knees to the two prisoners who were two disciples of Jesus asking - "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
It seemed like the disciplea were loosing. They seemed to be in a defeated situation. But they decide to turn their focus on God and start praying and singing songs and God intervenes and the situation turns around and out into a victorious one. In a tough situation, in a sad situation, in an uncomfortable situation, in an annoying situation, in an irritated situation................. turn your focus towards situation.......... just realise its start praying and singing hymns and God would intervene to turn the situation into a victorious one. Dont be discouraged if the situation does not turn according to your timing. Through all the attack, the stripping, the flogging, the beating, even as things get worse and you are thrown to the inner cell, just keep on keeping your focus on God and keep on praying and singing hymns and God will definitely intervene to make the situation into a victorious one.
Before I end there is something that i want to mention. God has blessed me with a wonderful mom who is both very God fearing and very understanding and at any time of the day i can call her with any problem I have and she reminds me of two things very often. One, Nothing happens in the lives of God's children without God's permission. Two, if God has permitted this to happen in my life he would definitely turn it for my good (because everything works for good in the lives of those who love God and are called according to his purpose).
So, always remember to TURN YOUR FOCUS TO JESUS cos he is always in control and He Is Always On The Throne!!!
Lesson learnt on a Muddy n Slushy Road - 20th June
Last night will probably will be one of the most memorable part of my life. My mom had come down to spend a few days with me and she had to leave today early morning and because of the very close relationship that my mom and I share we had actually thought of staying up the whole night and just talking and chatting. We were at my brother’s place so that it would be easy to pack off to the railway station the next day early morning. What happened was that my brothers and a few friends too joined in and we were all sitting with mattresses spread on the floor and some on the cot chatting away – relishing every moment together as a family, sharing all those childhood days stories, the embarrassing moments we’d been through, pulling each others legs……. In short we were all having a real wonderful time when all of a sudden one of us noticed that water was coming in through the front door to our drawing room. It was then that we realized the heavy outpour of rain on the outside.
For about 30 seconds we just didn’t know what to do and all of a sudden there were different feelings in the room. A few were annoyed and irritated, a few just started running up and down trying to get everything to a safe place out of the reach of the water cos the water had started flowing in a lot faster now and before we even realized our feets were already submerged in water. My brothers, who had grown in a place deprived of any beach, waterfalls, lake, or for that matter any water kind of fun, were really excited and had started having fun inspite of the dirty water. After about 5 minutes when everyone realized that we were stuck this way till it stopped raining, the scenario changed and everyone decided to make the best of it and so began the fun by taking snaps and acting like in a sea and when everything we could think of was done, everyone huddled in the remaining available spaces (cos all the places above water level were filled with things we wanted to save from the dirty water) and started chatting again till finally I guess mom and I dozed off.
Today morning when I got ready to leave for office and went to the bus stop to catch my company bus, I found that the road from the house to the main road was awful. One look at the road and I was unsure if I would make it to the bus stop in time to catch the bus. It was all slushy and muddy and watery here and there, slippery at some places too. As long as I looked at the road all the way till the main road it was discouraging – very discouraging, specially after a night of no sleep and in a tired mood. Was even tempted to just go back home and get into a warm blanket and go back to sleep.
Then carefully making sure I stepped on the driest area possible I took one step and then another and then another…….. very carefully was taking care that I don’t get my trouser dirty or slip anywhere…… it didn’t seem that bad as long as my mind was just focused on that next step. After about 5-6 steps when I again looked up at the road it was again back with all its dirt and making me feel if I would again reach in time. Something clicked then……………
I realized that as long as I was focused on just taking the next step I was doing fine and was even moving forward. But whenever my focus shifted to the entire way till the road I stopped and started contemplating going back home and sleeping. I just decided to focus on the next step after that. While just walking this way I realized a greater truth. There are so many times when some challenge or some problem or some decision that I’ve taken would seem like this road to me. There are so many times when God wants me to take a path and I would look at it just the way I looked at the road. I would just look and wonder and look and wonder and just stand there thinking – Should I just leave all of this and just go back?? There are times I’ve easily decided something only to find myself looking at the decision just the way I was looking at this road. Through the walk through the muddy, slushy road God taught me a lesson to just learn to take a step at a time. To take a step is not as hard as facing the whole challenge or the whole problem. And so just take the next step. Let your focus be on that next step.
There’s a song I’m reminded of. It goes this way
Step by Step to the glory land
My Saviour guides with his loving hand……………
For Step by Step he will lead me
Hebrews 10:36 - You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised
Hebrews 10:39 - But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.
And yeah, I did catch the bus on time :)
For about 30 seconds we just didn’t know what to do and all of a sudden there were different feelings in the room. A few were annoyed and irritated, a few just started running up and down trying to get everything to a safe place out of the reach of the water cos the water had started flowing in a lot faster now and before we even realized our feets were already submerged in water. My brothers, who had grown in a place deprived of any beach, waterfalls, lake, or for that matter any water kind of fun, were really excited and had started having fun inspite of the dirty water. After about 5 minutes when everyone realized that we were stuck this way till it stopped raining, the scenario changed and everyone decided to make the best of it and so began the fun by taking snaps and acting like in a sea and when everything we could think of was done, everyone huddled in the remaining available spaces (cos all the places above water level were filled with things we wanted to save from the dirty water) and started chatting again till finally I guess mom and I dozed off.
Today morning when I got ready to leave for office and went to the bus stop to catch my company bus, I found that the road from the house to the main road was awful. One look at the road and I was unsure if I would make it to the bus stop in time to catch the bus. It was all slushy and muddy and watery here and there, slippery at some places too. As long as I looked at the road all the way till the main road it was discouraging – very discouraging, specially after a night of no sleep and in a tired mood. Was even tempted to just go back home and get into a warm blanket and go back to sleep.
Then carefully making sure I stepped on the driest area possible I took one step and then another and then another…….. very carefully was taking care that I don’t get my trouser dirty or slip anywhere…… it didn’t seem that bad as long as my mind was just focused on that next step. After about 5-6 steps when I again looked up at the road it was again back with all its dirt and making me feel if I would again reach in time. Something clicked then……………
I realized that as long as I was focused on just taking the next step I was doing fine and was even moving forward. But whenever my focus shifted to the entire way till the road I stopped and started contemplating going back home and sleeping. I just decided to focus on the next step after that. While just walking this way I realized a greater truth. There are so many times when some challenge or some problem or some decision that I’ve taken would seem like this road to me. There are so many times when God wants me to take a path and I would look at it just the way I looked at the road. I would just look and wonder and look and wonder and just stand there thinking – Should I just leave all of this and just go back?? There are times I’ve easily decided something only to find myself looking at the decision just the way I was looking at this road. Through the walk through the muddy, slushy road God taught me a lesson to just learn to take a step at a time. To take a step is not as hard as facing the whole challenge or the whole problem. And so just take the next step. Let your focus be on that next step.
There’s a song I’m reminded of. It goes this way
Step by Step to the glory land
My Saviour guides with his loving hand……………
For Step by Step he will lead me
Hebrews 10:36 - You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised
Hebrews 10:39 - But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.
And yeah, I did catch the bus on time :)
Let Go!! Let God!! - 2nd Aug 2006
During one of the tiffs that I had with a person really close to me, God taught me the importance and the beauty of deciding not to dwell on the bad done or the hurt caused and to move forward. The importance of blocking all the negative thoughts and choosing to forgive. The joy in knowing that I was able to forgive just like that – even when the person probably wasn’t sorry.
But the story doesn’t end there. Whenever I thought back about this incident, there was a kind of pride that began seeping into me. I really felt I had done a big favour to the person who had wronged me by not thinking about the wrong done or the hurt caused and by choosing to forgive. I even spoke about this about 2-3 times to the person itself (This is heights, isn’t it?). There was joy, oh yes, but there was pride as well. I was proud and more than pride it was probably the feeling of having done someone a huge favor. Like as if I was the good one. Probably I didn’t consider the person I had forgiven bad but yes, I did feel I was the better one………
Till one day God spoke to me something very beautiful which actually made me sit and write this one down. I was reading this book called “Me and my big mouth” by Joyce Meyer and I came across something wonderful there. Joyce says that devil treats our minds like a garbage dump by offering us negative, hurting, sad and angry thoughts. That was a revelation. I kind of felt I had the right to actually go back and think about the hurt I had been through and the way people had hurt me and think about it and feel more and more bad (that’s what it causes) and that me deciding to let go was like the generous me doing a great favour. But that wasn’t one bit true……..
All along the devil was treating my mind as his garbage dump and I was happily and willingly taking all the dump he was offering me thinking tht I was the victim and so I had the right to do so. I had been fooled. And when I chose to let go and forgive without harboring anything, the person to whom I did the biggest favor was to myself J. This revelation was just amazing. So it was not a choice about doing good to someone else but about doing good to myself. No wonder I felt so much of relief and joy at just letting go and blocking out all the negative thoughts.
Don’t ever let the devil fool you into having any angry thoughts about your irritating colleague, or your bossy Team lead, or your nosy neighbour……. ( the list is endless). Whenever tempted to have such thoughts just remember the devil is trying to offer you garbage and make you his dump. And this actually leaves yu feeling bitter, angry, upset……. And this affects no one but you. And so please don’t take his dump…….. and remember, you are doing yourself a big favor……….. J
May the words of my mouth and every meditation of my heart be an offering…….. to God be all glory!!
Psalm 19:14: May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer
But the story doesn’t end there. Whenever I thought back about this incident, there was a kind of pride that began seeping into me. I really felt I had done a big favour to the person who had wronged me by not thinking about the wrong done or the hurt caused and by choosing to forgive. I even spoke about this about 2-3 times to the person itself (This is heights, isn’t it?). There was joy, oh yes, but there was pride as well. I was proud and more than pride it was probably the feeling of having done someone a huge favor. Like as if I was the good one. Probably I didn’t consider the person I had forgiven bad but yes, I did feel I was the better one………
Till one day God spoke to me something very beautiful which actually made me sit and write this one down. I was reading this book called “Me and my big mouth” by Joyce Meyer and I came across something wonderful there. Joyce says that devil treats our minds like a garbage dump by offering us negative, hurting, sad and angry thoughts. That was a revelation. I kind of felt I had the right to actually go back and think about the hurt I had been through and the way people had hurt me and think about it and feel more and more bad (that’s what it causes) and that me deciding to let go was like the generous me doing a great favour. But that wasn’t one bit true……..
All along the devil was treating my mind as his garbage dump and I was happily and willingly taking all the dump he was offering me thinking tht I was the victim and so I had the right to do so. I had been fooled. And when I chose to let go and forgive without harboring anything, the person to whom I did the biggest favor was to myself J. This revelation was just amazing. So it was not a choice about doing good to someone else but about doing good to myself. No wonder I felt so much of relief and joy at just letting go and blocking out all the negative thoughts.
Don’t ever let the devil fool you into having any angry thoughts about your irritating colleague, or your bossy Team lead, or your nosy neighbour……. ( the list is endless). Whenever tempted to have such thoughts just remember the devil is trying to offer you garbage and make you his dump. And this actually leaves yu feeling bitter, angry, upset……. And this affects no one but you. And so please don’t take his dump…….. and remember, you are doing yourself a big favor……….. J
May the words of my mouth and every meditation of my heart be an offering…….. to God be all glory!!
Psalm 19:14: May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer
Mr. Good - An Auto Driver in Bangalore - 4th Aug 2006
I just happened to ask a few of my friends in Bangalore this question – what is the first word that comes to your mind when I say Bangalore auto drivers? Here are a few answers I received – Rash Driving, Rude, Tampered auto meters, asking for higher rate than meter, always will take wrong route if the person traveling does not know the way………. For those who have lived in Bangalore for some part of your life, well, you would need no explanation.
I work in electronic city which is about 13 -14 km away from where I stay and usually either the auto drivers are just not ready to come there or they demand a higher rate (upto double the usual meter). It came as a surprise then when one day I come out to catch a rick to go to office and I find an auto driver parked there by the road. Lets call this man Mr. Good. So I walked upto Mr. Good and asked him if he would drop me to electronic city and Surprise! he said - Yes, without any argument, with a smile on his face and for no extra charge. And while traveling as well he took the correct route, no roaming around the town making the meter run high and hence no extra meter, no extra charge. He wasn’t rude. He was polite and courteous. And to the bangaloreans who don’t believe this – I’m not exaggerating.
On the inside of the auto I found picture of Jesus on one side and a few other Christian pictures on the auto which made me realize Mr. Good was a Christian. Wow!! This was amazing. I’m sure no person traveled on this auto without admiring Christianity. This man told the gospel in the best way, he lived the gospel. I remember thinking as I sat there – how I wish everyone who came in contact with me felt just the way I was feeling then. That would be my Father’s name glorified.
The world is such that everything you and I do will point to our creator. Every good we do will bring glory to him and every bad we do will dishonour him. There is something I am reminded of here. Most of my relatives are very conservative. There are so many things which wouldn’t seem wrong to me but would be like a very big wrong to them. I never used to care about what they said or felt till I realized that they were actually pointing their fingers at my parents. They didn’t blame me or my siblings, they were blaming my parents. That changed my entire look or stand. Now am very careful when am among them, to do things their way. I do that just so that they speak good about my parents. Because what they say about my parents matters to me. Every good thing about me would earn good points for my parents and every bad about me would earn bad points for my parents. Its hard roaming in a silk saree for a function in a place as hot as Chennai in mid afternoon but it’s a small price to pay when compared to what I reap in return.
Isnt life a lot just like that? Ive heard a lot of people say this – Christians are the worst hypocrites. Its upto us to make a change. Its time we stood and took care to see that our Father isn’t blamed. Seeing to it that my Father gets only good points. Living my life carefully so that everyone who sees us or contacts us would leave with a wonderful feeling and that is our Father’s name glorified. Being careful in what I talk, in how I behave, trying hard to be perfect in everything. In a world of darkness our Father’s light needs to shine through. In darkness, light (no matter how faint) will definitely be noticed. Just like in a city of rash and rude drivers, Mr. Good definitely stood apart.
Whatever stands apart is noticed. And remember, every good we do earns good points for our Father in heaven and every bad we do dishonours him.
Matthew 5:14-16:14You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.
15Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a peck measure, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.
16Let your light so shine before men that they may see your [a]moral excellence and your praiseworthy, noble, and good deeds and [b]recognize and honor and praise and glorify your Father Who is in heaven.
I work in electronic city which is about 13 -14 km away from where I stay and usually either the auto drivers are just not ready to come there or they demand a higher rate (upto double the usual meter). It came as a surprise then when one day I come out to catch a rick to go to office and I find an auto driver parked there by the road. Lets call this man Mr. Good. So I walked upto Mr. Good and asked him if he would drop me to electronic city and Surprise! he said - Yes, without any argument, with a smile on his face and for no extra charge. And while traveling as well he took the correct route, no roaming around the town making the meter run high and hence no extra meter, no extra charge. He wasn’t rude. He was polite and courteous. And to the bangaloreans who don’t believe this – I’m not exaggerating.
On the inside of the auto I found picture of Jesus on one side and a few other Christian pictures on the auto which made me realize Mr. Good was a Christian. Wow!! This was amazing. I’m sure no person traveled on this auto without admiring Christianity. This man told the gospel in the best way, he lived the gospel. I remember thinking as I sat there – how I wish everyone who came in contact with me felt just the way I was feeling then. That would be my Father’s name glorified.
The world is such that everything you and I do will point to our creator. Every good we do will bring glory to him and every bad we do will dishonour him. There is something I am reminded of here. Most of my relatives are very conservative. There are so many things which wouldn’t seem wrong to me but would be like a very big wrong to them. I never used to care about what they said or felt till I realized that they were actually pointing their fingers at my parents. They didn’t blame me or my siblings, they were blaming my parents. That changed my entire look or stand. Now am very careful when am among them, to do things their way. I do that just so that they speak good about my parents. Because what they say about my parents matters to me. Every good thing about me would earn good points for my parents and every bad about me would earn bad points for my parents. Its hard roaming in a silk saree for a function in a place as hot as Chennai in mid afternoon but it’s a small price to pay when compared to what I reap in return.
Isnt life a lot just like that? Ive heard a lot of people say this – Christians are the worst hypocrites. Its upto us to make a change. Its time we stood and took care to see that our Father isn’t blamed. Seeing to it that my Father gets only good points. Living my life carefully so that everyone who sees us or contacts us would leave with a wonderful feeling and that is our Father’s name glorified. Being careful in what I talk, in how I behave, trying hard to be perfect in everything. In a world of darkness our Father’s light needs to shine through. In darkness, light (no matter how faint) will definitely be noticed. Just like in a city of rash and rude drivers, Mr. Good definitely stood apart.
Whatever stands apart is noticed. And remember, every good we do earns good points for our Father in heaven and every bad we do dishonours him.
Matthew 5:14-16:14You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.
15Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a peck measure, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.
16Let your light so shine before men that they may see your [a]moral excellence and your praiseworthy, noble, and good deeds and [b]recognize and honor and praise and glorify your Father Who is in heaven.
Giving = Loving - 5th Aug 2006
Soft toys is something I’m absolutely crazy about. I treasure them and have a whole collection of them on one side of my bed. Probably it’s the collection I treasure the most. And another thing I treasure a lot is – whatever Dad and Mom have bought me after I started to earn. Probably its because of the love attached with it. They know they don’t have to get things for me anymore but yet they do that. And it means a lot to me.
Last weekend my Dad bought me a very cute soft toy. Now this toy had a special attachment because first of all, it’s a soft toy and secondly because dad bought it for me. And I was so excited about this one. I had bragged and boasted about this so much to my friends. And then the next day God tells me that he wants me to give this soft toy away. Now that had just one answer – No ways, God. Don’t even think about it.
Let me fill you on the background. I had been reading this book “Reduce me to Love” by Joyce Meyer. This book says that the best way we can show someone we love them is by giving to them and this holds true for God as well. The best I can show God that I love him is by giving to him. Joyce says that she practiced to be a giver to show God that she loves him. I had decided then that I too was going to practice to be a giver. I made a mental note of all the clothes, shoes, makeups, things, I don’t use anymore and decided I would give them away. Now God was asking me to give away this soft toy, which was close to my heart, saying that this was an opportunity to show him that I love him.
So finally I decided I would give it away but then there was this feeling of loss, like I had just lost something. And then I remembered something else Joyce writes in the same book – when you give, give gladly and willingly, not in despair, but joyfully. God wanted me to give, and to do so gladly and willingly. I told myself – I better do it joyfully cos definitely God would return it back in double measure or probably 10 times more. Yeah, now I was glad to give. But then God told me something – ‘what if I don’t give you anything in return? I want you to give gladly, expecting nothing in return, with just the motive of showing me that you love me’. Well, now that was something. To make a long story short, I did give the soft toy away, but I felt an abundant joy in me the moment I gave it away. Like my heart would burst with all the happiness in me. That was quite contrary to what I had expected to feel.
There are probably so many things in our closet and in our shelves that we don’t use anymore. Things shoved under our cots or pushed on the top shelf or on the attic. We keep them thinking it would be useful at some point. My friends and I have decided to collect all the things we don’t use anymore, thinking we would use them sometime and we have decided to give them away. We have planned to get a cardboard and collect everything in it and give it away to some orphanage or to some slum nearby or to someone who needs them. Probably you could try that as well. I can’t promise you what you get in return but yes, I can promise you the same kind of joy that I felt that day. And its worth anything.
I wish I could end this saying that I got a soft toy 10 times the size of the one I gave away but No. I waited for 2 days but that didn’t happen. But yes I know I’ve taken a step closer to reaching the place God wants me to reach in my walk with him. And that to me is worth all the soft toys in this world.
2 Corinthians 9:7 - God loves a cheerful giver.
Last weekend my Dad bought me a very cute soft toy. Now this toy had a special attachment because first of all, it’s a soft toy and secondly because dad bought it for me. And I was so excited about this one. I had bragged and boasted about this so much to my friends. And then the next day God tells me that he wants me to give this soft toy away. Now that had just one answer – No ways, God. Don’t even think about it.
Let me fill you on the background. I had been reading this book “Reduce me to Love” by Joyce Meyer. This book says that the best way we can show someone we love them is by giving to them and this holds true for God as well. The best I can show God that I love him is by giving to him. Joyce says that she practiced to be a giver to show God that she loves him. I had decided then that I too was going to practice to be a giver. I made a mental note of all the clothes, shoes, makeups, things, I don’t use anymore and decided I would give them away. Now God was asking me to give away this soft toy, which was close to my heart, saying that this was an opportunity to show him that I love him.
So finally I decided I would give it away but then there was this feeling of loss, like I had just lost something. And then I remembered something else Joyce writes in the same book – when you give, give gladly and willingly, not in despair, but joyfully. God wanted me to give, and to do so gladly and willingly. I told myself – I better do it joyfully cos definitely God would return it back in double measure or probably 10 times more. Yeah, now I was glad to give. But then God told me something – ‘what if I don’t give you anything in return? I want you to give gladly, expecting nothing in return, with just the motive of showing me that you love me’. Well, now that was something. To make a long story short, I did give the soft toy away, but I felt an abundant joy in me the moment I gave it away. Like my heart would burst with all the happiness in me. That was quite contrary to what I had expected to feel.
There are probably so many things in our closet and in our shelves that we don’t use anymore. Things shoved under our cots or pushed on the top shelf or on the attic. We keep them thinking it would be useful at some point. My friends and I have decided to collect all the things we don’t use anymore, thinking we would use them sometime and we have decided to give them away. We have planned to get a cardboard and collect everything in it and give it away to some orphanage or to some slum nearby or to someone who needs them. Probably you could try that as well. I can’t promise you what you get in return but yes, I can promise you the same kind of joy that I felt that day. And its worth anything.
I wish I could end this saying that I got a soft toy 10 times the size of the one I gave away but No. I waited for 2 days but that didn’t happen. But yes I know I’ve taken a step closer to reaching the place God wants me to reach in my walk with him. And that to me is worth all the soft toys in this world.
2 Corinthians 9:7 - God loves a cheerful giver.
Happy Friendship Day!! - Aug 8th 2006
Happy Friendship Day, Folks……….
I know this comes 2 days late. But like they say – Better late than never J.
Last weekend I had been to one of my relatives house. I just love the way their house has been built with ample space both in the front and the back of their house, with so many trees. They have a banana tree in their backyard and when I had been to their house last weekend the banana tree had this huge bunch of bananas on it. Wow!! There would have been more than a 100 bananas in that bunch. The bunch was so heavy that the tree was bending under the load. What had to be done was – a strong stick had to be tied to give support to the tree and thereby help in carrying that load. If not for that stick the tree would probably bend so much that the branch carrying the bunch of bananas would break under the load. If not for that stick we would probably not have delicious bananas to eat. J
Probably that stick seemed so insignificant but the banana tree could not bear fruit without it. In my life, so any times there have been friends who have served as a supporting stick. Probably something they said or something they did (insignificant though it seemed) has encouraged me so much and made me go on and go forth and bear fruits for God. Probably the world would have noticed the stick at the sight of the fruit. But God above sees the stick and values it.
Its really nice to have friends who sit around and chat and joke with us and go out with us for dinner and parties. Its wonderful to have someone to talk for hours with and share every secret. But its more wonderful to have someone who supports me during the tough time. Some who can pick me up and encourage me and stand by me, pray with me and help me bear fruits for God. Paul says in one of his letters to always encourage one another in the Lord. It may be a small word of hope, a small act of love, a small deed done in kindness……… which may seem insignificant to us…… but would help the person stand tall and strong and bear fruits for God.
One of my friends sent me this sms - ‘when you are in trouble and I find myself in a place where I can’t do anything for you, I will pray for you’. I have decided this friendship day that I am going to start praying for my friends. During the travel to office, during the time we cook, when standing in the queue to get my lunch……….. even while brushing, instead of keeping my mind blank I could pick out a friend and just prasy for them. It may be for a couple of minutes or maybe even for just 30 seconds but (insignificant though it may seem to you) it will serve as a supporting stick for someone to stay tall and stay strong and bear fruits for God.
When we start praying for each other we are united as a big family of God. And when we are united, it’s the beginning of a revival. See where a small act leads to……. J
Jesus himself neededfriends who prayed for him, and called 3 of them with him to Gethsemane. How much more we!! The best thing we can do for a friend is to pray for them. Pray for me and I will pray for you.
There’s this song by Point of Grace tht I really love. It goes this way –
We were made to love and be lovedBut the price this world demands will cost you far too muchI spent so many years just trying to fit inNow Ive found a place in this circle of friendsIn a circle of friends we have one fatherIn a circle of friends we share this prayerThat every orphaned soul will knowAnd all will enter inTo the shelter of this circle of friendsIf you weep, I will weep with youIf you sing for joy the rest of us will lift our voices tooBut no matter what you feel inside theres no need to pretendThats the way it is in this circle of friendsIn a circle of friendsWe have one fatherIn a circle of friends we share this prayerThat well gather together no matter how the highway bendsI will not lose this circle of friendsAmong the nations, tribes and tongues we have sisters and brothersAnd when we meet in heaven we will recognize each otherWith joy so deep and love so sweetOh well celebrate these friendsAnd a life that never endsIn a prayerThat will not be long beforeAll will enter inTo the shelter of this circle of friendsThat it will not be long beforeAll will enter inTo the shelter of this circle of friends
Proverbs 18:24 - there is [Prov 17:17; John 15:14, 15] a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
I know this comes 2 days late. But like they say – Better late than never J.
Last weekend I had been to one of my relatives house. I just love the way their house has been built with ample space both in the front and the back of their house, with so many trees. They have a banana tree in their backyard and when I had been to their house last weekend the banana tree had this huge bunch of bananas on it. Wow!! There would have been more than a 100 bananas in that bunch. The bunch was so heavy that the tree was bending under the load. What had to be done was – a strong stick had to be tied to give support to the tree and thereby help in carrying that load. If not for that stick the tree would probably bend so much that the branch carrying the bunch of bananas would break under the load. If not for that stick we would probably not have delicious bananas to eat. J
Probably that stick seemed so insignificant but the banana tree could not bear fruit without it. In my life, so any times there have been friends who have served as a supporting stick. Probably something they said or something they did (insignificant though it seemed) has encouraged me so much and made me go on and go forth and bear fruits for God. Probably the world would have noticed the stick at the sight of the fruit. But God above sees the stick and values it.
Its really nice to have friends who sit around and chat and joke with us and go out with us for dinner and parties. Its wonderful to have someone to talk for hours with and share every secret. But its more wonderful to have someone who supports me during the tough time. Some who can pick me up and encourage me and stand by me, pray with me and help me bear fruits for God. Paul says in one of his letters to always encourage one another in the Lord. It may be a small word of hope, a small act of love, a small deed done in kindness……… which may seem insignificant to us…… but would help the person stand tall and strong and bear fruits for God.
One of my friends sent me this sms - ‘when you are in trouble and I find myself in a place where I can’t do anything for you, I will pray for you’. I have decided this friendship day that I am going to start praying for my friends. During the travel to office, during the time we cook, when standing in the queue to get my lunch……….. even while brushing, instead of keeping my mind blank I could pick out a friend and just prasy for them. It may be for a couple of minutes or maybe even for just 30 seconds but (insignificant though it may seem to you) it will serve as a supporting stick for someone to stay tall and stay strong and bear fruits for God.
When we start praying for each other we are united as a big family of God. And when we are united, it’s the beginning of a revival. See where a small act leads to……. J
Jesus himself neededfriends who prayed for him, and called 3 of them with him to Gethsemane. How much more we!! The best thing we can do for a friend is to pray for them. Pray for me and I will pray for you.
There’s this song by Point of Grace tht I really love. It goes this way –
We were made to love and be lovedBut the price this world demands will cost you far too muchI spent so many years just trying to fit inNow Ive found a place in this circle of friendsIn a circle of friends we have one fatherIn a circle of friends we share this prayerThat every orphaned soul will knowAnd all will enter inTo the shelter of this circle of friendsIf you weep, I will weep with youIf you sing for joy the rest of us will lift our voices tooBut no matter what you feel inside theres no need to pretendThats the way it is in this circle of friendsIn a circle of friendsWe have one fatherIn a circle of friends we share this prayerThat well gather together no matter how the highway bendsI will not lose this circle of friendsAmong the nations, tribes and tongues we have sisters and brothersAnd when we meet in heaven we will recognize each otherWith joy so deep and love so sweetOh well celebrate these friendsAnd a life that never endsIn a prayerThat will not be long beforeAll will enter inTo the shelter of this circle of friendsThat it will not be long beforeAll will enter inTo the shelter of this circle of friends
Proverbs 18:24 - there is [Prov 17:17; John 15:14, 15] a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
Begin Your Day Right - 9th Aug 2006
Today as I rushed to have a hurried breakfast before leaving to office, I found to my dismay that there was nothing at home. No bread, no eggs, no fruits, no milk........ there was no time to make parathas or anything as such. I very badly wanted to have something but it was time to rush to office. The first thing I did as soon as I got here was to have my breakfast. Its only after I had my first bite that I started feeling good. while having my breakfast I remembered something that had happened long time back during my school days.
I was in my 12th and our board exams were going on. That day, for some reason I hadn't had my breakfast and had gone for the exam. While waiting to get into the exam hall, I felt so faint. I actually almost fainted. This somehow reached my warden and then the principal. By the way, I was in a hostel, and not having breakfast was like a big thing for which people used to even be punished :) . so, the principal sent for me and he happens to be a zoology teacher. He gave a long teaching about how our body functions and how important breakfast is to the body, especially for growing children. To start the day right and to keep me going I had to have a proper breakfast. Though I wouldn't see any big effect on the outside, my body actually needed food badly otherwise the acids would harm and cause ulcer. So grave are the effects.
At school every morning and night we had 30 minutes of prayer time, where a few songs would be sung and one of the staffs would share a thought and then a prayer would be said. This happened everyday. Probably at that time, since things were spoon fed I really didn't realize the importance of it. In college, things weren't compulsory. I could join the prayer if I wanted to and I used to join whenever I felt like it. After college when I started working, I had just no time for God. No time for praying or for reading God's word. I didn't see any effect on the outside but yes, inside my spirit was crying for God as the acids had started to eat. I'm glad God pulled me to him at the right time.
Now I know how important breakfast is for me to stay healthy and Yes, I know how important it is for me to take time to spend with God everyday before I start my day, to keep myself healthy in him. The body acids start creating a problem only if constantly not given food or when the body has become weak. But the devil is not going to wait for a weak moment. He would use every chance he gets. The Bible says - Be careful, the devil roams around like a prowling lion seeking for someone to devour. We need to be very careful to spend time with God everyday before we start the day. It keeps us healthy in him, gives us the strength to face problems, gives us the wisdom to choose the right, the courage to stand for him, the power to overcome sin, and peace, joy to see us through the day effectively for God and so much more...... Without some time with Jesus we would not be properly equipped to face the day in a successful way.
There is so much of evil in this world, we as humans cannot face the world on our own. We need something more to face the world as victors, as masters of everything (just like how God planned it to be in the beginning of creation). And for this we need to spend some time with our creator. In the superman movie, every time superman needed power to conquer evil power, he had to go to the sun to receive power from it. So much like that. We need to spend time with the Sun of Righteousness to be endowed with nhis power to conquer evil and live as victorious children of God. The more time I am with him, the more of his power I have in my life.
Not just every morning but every evening too, before we end the day as well, to thank him for the day and to commit ourselves once again to him. Though it may not seem important to you, I've seen how much it actually means to God and the difference it makes in the spiritual realm. Its an act of gratitude when we come before him before we end our day.and its an act of trust when we come before him before we begin our day.
Lets start and end our day right..........
1 Chronicles 23:30
They are also to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord, and likewise at evening,
I was in my 12th and our board exams were going on. That day, for some reason I hadn't had my breakfast and had gone for the exam. While waiting to get into the exam hall, I felt so faint. I actually almost fainted. This somehow reached my warden and then the principal. By the way, I was in a hostel, and not having breakfast was like a big thing for which people used to even be punished :) . so, the principal sent for me and he happens to be a zoology teacher. He gave a long teaching about how our body functions and how important breakfast is to the body, especially for growing children. To start the day right and to keep me going I had to have a proper breakfast. Though I wouldn't see any big effect on the outside, my body actually needed food badly otherwise the acids would harm and cause ulcer. So grave are the effects.
At school every morning and night we had 30 minutes of prayer time, where a few songs would be sung and one of the staffs would share a thought and then a prayer would be said. This happened everyday. Probably at that time, since things were spoon fed I really didn't realize the importance of it. In college, things weren't compulsory. I could join the prayer if I wanted to and I used to join whenever I felt like it. After college when I started working, I had just no time for God. No time for praying or for reading God's word. I didn't see any effect on the outside but yes, inside my spirit was crying for God as the acids had started to eat. I'm glad God pulled me to him at the right time.
Now I know how important breakfast is for me to stay healthy and Yes, I know how important it is for me to take time to spend with God everyday before I start my day, to keep myself healthy in him. The body acids start creating a problem only if constantly not given food or when the body has become weak. But the devil is not going to wait for a weak moment. He would use every chance he gets. The Bible says - Be careful, the devil roams around like a prowling lion seeking for someone to devour. We need to be very careful to spend time with God everyday before we start the day. It keeps us healthy in him, gives us the strength to face problems, gives us the wisdom to choose the right, the courage to stand for him, the power to overcome sin, and peace, joy to see us through the day effectively for God and so much more...... Without some time with Jesus we would not be properly equipped to face the day in a successful way.
There is so much of evil in this world, we as humans cannot face the world on our own. We need something more to face the world as victors, as masters of everything (just like how God planned it to be in the beginning of creation). And for this we need to spend some time with our creator. In the superman movie, every time superman needed power to conquer evil power, he had to go to the sun to receive power from it. So much like that. We need to spend time with the Sun of Righteousness to be endowed with nhis power to conquer evil and live as victorious children of God. The more time I am with him, the more of his power I have in my life.
Not just every morning but every evening too, before we end the day as well, to thank him for the day and to commit ourselves once again to him. Though it may not seem important to you, I've seen how much it actually means to God and the difference it makes in the spiritual realm. Its an act of gratitude when we come before him before we end our day.and its an act of trust when we come before him before we begin our day.
Lets start and end our day right..........
1 Chronicles 23:30
They are also to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord, and likewise at evening,
What A Friend - 10th Aug 2006
Last Sunday, being friendship day, after the service was over, the music group sang the song, “What a friend we have in Jesus”. My friend and I usually sit singing the last song along with the music group and we leave only after the they are done and are packing to leave. As we sat singing the song along with them, I realized the immense meaning behind the song.
It was like the Lord telling me – you guys unnecessarily carru your burdens and your worries around. As a child of God I have this great privilege of casting everything on to God. He actually wants us to do that. To cast all our worries and cares on him. This is the privilege I have as being a child of God.
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer!
Next time you are reminded about something sad in your life or some problem, be wise enough to use this privilege. Not using it is like having a bank balance of 1000 bucks and applying for a loan of 100 bucks. Well, dnno if the illustration quite captured what I tried to ut across but its like having a great way of solving something but still having the problem with me and keeping on worrying, which doesn’t help a bit.
Paul says – don’t worry about anything. Just present your reuest before God with thanksgiving and his peace will rule out hearts and our minds. Kool, isn’t it!!
And like the song goes:
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer.
How true this is most of the times. Well, the next time you feel bad about something, sing this song.
~What A Friend
This was written by a young man for his mother who was ill. He tried to comfort and encourage her, and intended the poem just for her. No one knew about the words of this beloved hymn until a neighbor was visiting and found it.
Born in Ireland, Joseph Scriven graduated from college and was engaged to a beautiful girl. On the eve of their wedding, the girl drowned. Overwhelmed with grief, he came to Canada and devoted his life to helping the underprivileged, giving them clothes and sharing his food. If anyone could afford his service, he would not work for them.
In 1875, Sankey put up Gospel Hymns No. 1 and included it as the last one in the collection. But later, the last hymn became one of his favorites.
++++++++++
What a Friend We Have in Jesus
(1) What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer.
(2) Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged-
Take it to the Lord in prayer!
Can we find a friend so faithful,
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness-
Take it to the Lord in prayer!
(3) Are we weak and heavy-laden,
Cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge-
Take it to the Lord in prayer!
Do thy friends despise, forsake theee?
Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In His arms He'll take and shield thee-
Thou wilt find a solace there.
Phillipians 4:6,7 - 6Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition ([b]definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God.
7And God's peace [shall be yours, that [c]tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which transcends all understanding shall [d]garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
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