The Christmas message

Luke 2:10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

Luke 2:11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

I am so glad that I am writing this post to share with you the message of Christmas. The festive season of Christmas brings great joy and enthusiasm in every part of this world. We see places glimmering with colorful lights, stars and the Christmas trees while the Santa enthralls the little children with so many wonderful gifts. Wow, welcome to the Christmas Season!.

I would like to share the reason behind Christmas to the benefit of those who may want to know about it. For others who are so familiar with Christmas, I would like this to be just a reminder to realign themselves to the values of Christ.

Though there are lot of theories floating around the creation of world, The Bible tells us that God created the universe out of nothing by his word. The word was so powerful that when God just pronounced let there be light, there was light and when He called for animals and birds, they were created. The huge mountains and the vast seas are created by Him. He just flung the entire solar constellations into existence and earth was one of His grand plans. Satan was one of the angels who rebelled against God, and he was thrown out of Heaven before the creation of the earth.

The Bible tells us that Jesus was the one who created everything in this universe. He was the creating agent, and used by God to create everything that came into existence. Then, why should he come to the world very later into the world as a tiny babe in the lowest of the circumstances wrapped in a swaddle cloth and in a manger?. I would like you to kindly read the rest of this post to understand it.

Though God created everything in this world through His word (Jesus), He created Adam and Eve with His own hands and like Him. The Bible says that each of us are created in the image of God. The DNA of Adam is what each of us carry. God gave them a free will and gave the entire dominion of the world to them. God did not want them to be just like robots and angels just obeying Him. He gave them the option to choose good or evil, and it will not be influenced by God.

So, What went wrong?. Adam and Eve chose evil instead of good as they were trapped into a lie by Satan and thus Adam became a sinner, and all of us who share his DNA are sinners by birth. Notice the term "by birth". It doesn't matter whether you are doing good or bad. By birth, we all are bad because of the act of our forefather Adam.

The world got corrupted to the core and there was all sorts of evil things happening all over the world. Lust, murders, wars, greed, corruption and all the evil things that you could possibly imagine was so common everywhere in the world. The burden of guilt became so heavy and impossible for human beings to bear. I want to note that among all the troubles that we encounter in this world, the sense of sin or the burden of guilt is the most difficult to bear. In a nutshell, peace was alienated from the world.Again, remember that the beautiful world that God created as a good one was lost to the devil by Adam's action, and in no way God influenced it.

God was very concerned about us and He loved us so much. He wanted to identify Himself equally with the lowest and the richest people on the earth, because He loved sinners. God made this wonderful plan to purchase us back into the original state when He created Adam. He is a just God and not partial with anyone. Though He could have just destroyed evil in a single word, He wanted to do it in a very practical way. He wanted to destroy death and evil through Jesus Christ, and sent Him into the world as a little baby with no traces of sin as He was conceived in His mothers womb by the power of God without the intervention of a man. You know why Jesus came to this world?. To die for you and me!. 

Yes, only by living a clean and righteous life in this same fallen world very much in flesh and blood, and later dying as a culprit in the cross, and then springing back to life after three days by the power of God, Jesus was able to save each one of us from the clutches of sin and satan. This is how our corrupted DNA through a single man Adam was replaced by a Holy DNA by one Man and Jesus Christ did this by becoming a human being though he was 100% God.

Today, on this Christmas day, each of us can experience great joy and peace in our lives by choosing to follow Jesus Christ and believing that He died for each of our sins, and when we choose to believe Him and accept Him as our Lord and Saviour, We are set into a great relationship with God forever. Now, how amazing that is?. I would say there is nothing in this world that would surpass this wonderful feeling of the burden of sin being lifted and peace overflowing in our hearts forever because JESUS is Prince of peace!.

If you choose to believe and accept Jesus from today and forever, Please pray this prayer with all your heart.
"Dear Lord, I am a sinner, I confess all my sins and believe that Jesus Christ died for all my sins once forever. I accept Him as my Lord and Saviour and want to live according to His plan and will. I commit myself into His care. I ask this in Jesus name, Amen."

Now, if you had truly prayed this prayer, God has already touched you and made you His friend. Now, that is the heart of Christmas. Wish you a Merry Christmas!

All things through Christ

Philippians 4:13 says "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". This is an amazing verse. It gives so much confidence to anyone who reads it instantly. Let us delve deeper into this verse and see what it speaks about. Apostle Paul was someone who always wrote about practical things. All his writings help us in our daily life. Paul's writings cover a wide variety of topics ranging from salvation to simple things like what we can eat and how we can talk.

Philippians is a letter written by Paul possibly from a prison in Rome under difficult circumstances. Paul's life was always surrounded by hardships. He faced hunger, ship wrecks, beatings as part of his missionary journeys, yet there was not even an instance where we see him seeking self pity or murmuring about it. In order to understand Philippians 4:13, it is very much essential to read the verses before it. Let us read through the verses leading into 4:13

"I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want"

Paul says that he learned the secret of being content under all the circumstances, and he further says that he was able to do this because of the strengh of Christ. What a revealation!. The secret of a victorious Christian life is contentment. Today, we see many Christians going through numerous frustrations because of greed and the want for more. They go after everything forgetting God, and thereby allowing the evil one to get hold of their lives.

Let us learn from Paul the art of being content under all the circumstances. It is very much important in our lives. Whether it is regarding job, money, family life or whatever it be, let us thank God and ask Him to help us accept the realities in life and endure them through the strength which He gives. Through our own efforts, we can never be satisfied. Only the power of God through the Holy Spirit can create in us, a heart of contentment. This is what Paul reveals in this famous verse.

Anyone reading this with a confused state of mind, take a moment to meditate on this verse. If God helped Paul to be comfortable and content in every situation, I am sure He could help us too, as He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Amen.

Love for money

"For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.
1 Timothy 6:10 (NLT)"

It is said that the love of money drives people crazy. People are ready to do anything to earn money and by any means. Bribe, theft, scams and all the crooked things that we see in the world is because of the madness that we have over money. Most of the problems in families are due to matters related to money. If this situation continues, our lives will become miserable over a period of time. We will be left with nothing but only disappointments.

Well, as children of God, what is our perspective on money?. Are we any different than others in this world who run after money?. Sadly, as Christians, most of us are also behind money and we are no better from the world. I am not denying the fact that we need enough money and even we read in the Bible that there were lot of wealthy people. Job was a very wealthy man, but was he after money all the time?. Read through Job and find out what a simple and God fearing man he was and how he behaved when his wealth was taken away from him...no wonder God was very close to him and Satan cannot change Job's nature. You see, it all depends on our attitude. Outwardly, we may show ourselves to be noble, but what is your motive behind money?.

Abraham was a very wealthy man but what was his attitude towards wealth when God called him to forsake everything and set on a journey?. Moses was raised in all wealth and splendour in a palace, but when God called him for his service, what was his attitude?. I encourage you to read through all these instances in Bible and find out why God blessed these people abunduntly and they have secured greatness.

A simple anaylsis would show this very important trait. All these people knew that they had to serve God and not money. They were ready to be detached from the stronghold of money. They were ready to bring down their lifestyles. They weren't worried about what their neighbours will say of them when they had to obey God. They weren't worried about their prestige and power. They weren't worried about the fame and prominence. They were ready to "forsake" the love of money. It is a very difficuilt thing to do..believe me, but they did it for God.

Now, how about us?. Are we spending all the time thinking how to make money forgetting our families and more importantly God?, Are we never satisfied with what we have?, Are we desiring luxury fame, respect and power at the cost of obeying God?. Are we dreaming about making money sitting in the church?. What is our attitude on Sunday, where God wants us to rest from everything?. These are some very important questions that needs honest answers.

Friend, it is very simple. We cannot server two masters. As Christians, our master is God and we must serve God only. If we are true to this, we will never be tempted by money and be destroyed by its influence. Do you want to change your attitude towards money and lead a life pleasing to God?. I want to tell you that it is possible right away if you would turn to Jesus and surrender your life. You need to be honest in your dealings with God. No namesake surrenders for once and doing the same old thing again. God is too powerful for us to cheat Him.

I want to close this with these two beautiful verses through which God will speak to us.

"Give me neither poverty nor riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs, Proverbs 30:8"

"Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need, Matthew 6:33"

Want to be successful?

Proverbs 22: 29

"Do you see those who are skilled in their work? They will serve before kings; they will not serve before officials of low rank. "

1 Samuel 18:14

"In everything he did he had great success, because the LORD was with him"

Let us set before us these two verses and meditate on them. These beautiful verses teach us more than what we could ever learn from the best of the books on success and personality development, and thus the word of God is so powerful beyond our imagination.

In today's world, being successful is not very easy. The competion is so high and it is obvious why people look for shortcuts for success. We are on the lookout of someone who would make us successful, may be a workshop that could be life changing!. Believe me, people are ready to give what ever it takes to succeed and are ready even to take short cuts.

Well, as Christians and children of God, how are we to look at it and conduct ourselves to be successful?. Do I need favour from men?, Do I need to toil hard, Do I need to do this, that...Oh! the list is endless. But sometimes for very complex questions, the answer is even simple. This applies to this context perfectly.

David was a very successful man, for that matter every God fearing person in the Bible was successful. But let us take David as an example and apply two of his key qualities in our lives.

First, David was skilled at his work. We know he was a shephered and he was so much skilled in rearing sheeps. David was skilled in fighting battles too.We could do a big study on thess qualities of David but let's reserve it for another day. Secondly, David feared and loved God, and hence God was with him in whatever he did.

God was with him when he reared the sheeps as well as when he ruled Israel and hence David was successful. Dear friends, the same unchanging God is still helping those look up to Him for success in their workplaces, business and in whatever they do. But one important thing, God expects to put some efforts to be skilled in our work. God will never help a person who is not willing to put effort. Today,may be you are reading this and you have a deep desire to be successful in whatever field you are and success seems to be far from you, I have a good news for you.

Would you invite Jesus Christ into your heart and commit your life to Him? and the next thing, do an analysis of what skills you lack to be successful and take efforts to improve it. I can assure you, if you do both these things, you will see a change in your life. I can guarantee it as I have seen that change in myself. May be you are hurt, frustrated, always seen failures, there is no body to lift you up or motivate, you feel that you lack wisdom...Why don't you try Jesus today?.

The importance of God in our life

Have you ever been at the cross roads with the thought "Should I depend on God" or "Should I toil myself to succeed". I have had these thoughts sweeping me many times. There have been times when I thought God would do everything, and there were also times when I thought that only if I sweat it out, I could succeed.

Whenever we keep God aside and start doing things on our own, We would see ourselves busy doing many things, but at the end everything would seem to be a vanity. We would get many ideas, inspiration and confidence when we look at the things of this world. This could go on well for some time, but after that there won't be any substance in that.

I believe it is only when we sense our purpose, we could have meaning in our life and the purpose of our lives are laid out by God. This is the missing link and it could never be found out if we keep God away from us. When God purposes something in our life, we wont have any confusions and contradictory thoughts. We would succeed in everything that we do. On the contrary, without God also people succeed. But there is a difference. If you are doing it yourself, you might venture out in 10 things and succeed in only one. But with God, you might venture into only one thing, but you will be at the top in that. Got the difference?. When God proposes, nobody on this earth can dispose His plan.

The Bible says in Proverbs 19:21 "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails." This is an amazing verse. Read this many times and you will get the answer. For a wordly person, there would be many plans in his heart. He need to work his way for it. But for a child of God, it is only the purpose of God that prevails, no matter what happens.

Dear friend, It is so comforting to hear these things. All that we need to do to know the purpose of our lives is to go to God with a humble heart, confess our sins before Him and ask for His directions in our life. We need to do this each moment in our lives. The rest of the things He will take care in a way that would be beyond our imaginations!.