Self analysis on New year's eve

There are so many things in the world that we don't have. But, God has given us a few very important things for us to take care. Are we faithful in that? A few things...

1. Am I truthful to God with respect to the job He has given me?
2. Am I taking care of my spouse, children, and other family members in the way God expects me to do.?
3. Do I really strive to illustrate the image of Christ through me?
4. Do I take responsibility to grow my church?
5. Do I really have a personal relationship with Christ daily?
6. Do I desire to do His will in everything that I do?
7. Do my family and friends see the image of Christ in me?
8. Am I involved in the ministry too much that I don't have time for my family?
9. Are my thoughts and actions clean and in accordance with the word of God?

There are a lot of other things that can be added to this list, and pondered over during the closing hours of 2014. Let us take time to reflect, repent and come back to God to make 2015 a blessing for us and to others that we come across. Happy New Year 2015!

Christmas with Christ - Will you?

Welcome to the Christmas season, says the air around us. Festive spirit everywhere, commercial exploitation of the season on one side, joyful carols, Christmas trees, stars, lights, snow in western countries on the other side, we are just left perplexed with so many wonderful thoughts.

The first Christmas was a very different one, than what we see now. I would like to take you two thousand years back to a small insignificant village called Bethlehem, which is in Israel, where a baby boy was born in a very unusual situation and in an unusual place. Could anybody think of a baby being born in a cowshed in a biting cold winter night? Would any couple subject themselves to such a situation to give birth to their first child?. In the eyes of the world, these things may look stupid, but God had a marvelous plan for us, which he chose to reveal on that cold winter night.

The following things amaze me about Christmas

1. The nature of the birth : The Bible says that Jesus was born to a "virgin". Is it? Can I believe this? How come a virgin give birth to a child? Is it scientifically possible? would have been the questions asked if Jesus were to be born like that today. In this age of scientific advancement, with all the social media, and the great scientists among us, I am sure this birth would have been researched left, right and center. But, God is smarter than the smartest of the minds and he chose to keep certain things far out of the reach of scientific research. We have to "believe" that Jesus was born to a virgin, and this has to be definitely supernatural, if at all mankind should have some respect and fear of God. This has been scientifically researched too for generations, and nothing could refute this so far, and never will it be so.

2. The announcement of the birth : Do you know to whom the birth of Jesus was announced first? It was to the shepherds who were watching their flocks in their fields. It was also announced in a super natural way by an angel of God. I am again amazed by the way God chooses people to share the good news. If it was announced to somebody else, they would have applied their mind, got confused and would not have rushed to see the baby. But, the Bible says that the shepherds ran out to see and worship the child. This is a demonstration to the fact that God chooses the ordinary, downtrodden, hopeless people who live in despair and subjected to all sorts of harassment to reveal Himself more than all the learned and wise people who think they can achieve anything by their mind.

Another interesting thing is the reaction which the birth of Jesus prompted on different people. While the shepherds considered it as joyful, it brought fear, anxiety and insecurity to the King Herod, who was ruling the country at that time. He was so afraid that he would be dethroned, and he ordered all the children below two years to be executed. Wicked hearts do wicked things out of insecurity and fear. The same happens even today across the world.

There was another group to whom the birth was announced: The wise men. These were the learned scholars and scientists of those days. You know how they were led to meet the child? through a star. They had to be handheld throughout their journey towards that manger to see and worship the child, and were led away in a different direction to thwart the evil plan of Herod to kill the child. You see, God chooses to deal with the wise in a different way than the ordinary. If you see yourself to be very wise, you need to first put down that thought first, and follow God step by step if you have to meet Him. You can never find God through your mind, and it is always the heart that is near to God. The heart of the shepherds were very near to God. They had child like faith in the written word of God.

3. The purpose of the birth : The child that was born two thousand years ago had only one purpose in life, and that is to "Die for our sins". Does anyone like such a purpose? God knew that no human being can do that, and hence He had to send down His only Son to die for us. It only because of the death of this child 33 years later on the cross of Calvary, that you and me have this wonderful privilege to connect with the almighty God.

4. What is the significance today? :What is even wonderful is that the death could not stop Him. He rose again, and still lives in the hearts of his earnest seekers even today. Today, the real meaning of Christmas is not found in the Santa or the Christmas trees, or not even in the carols. It is found in the very simple fact of inviting Jesus into our hearts to set us free from the clutches of sin, and the bondage of the devil. It is a wonderful feeling to be ridden of the burden of sin and be united with God, and that is possible only by allowing the birth of Jesus in our hearts. May this Christmas reveal God's wonderful purpose in each of our lives. God bless you! Merry Christmas!



  

Being different in an unfavorable environment

The environment which we live may not be favorable to us all the time. There will be times where we would be put under totally un acceptable and hostile surroundings. The book of Daniel starts with one such case. I would encourage you to read the first chapter of Daniel here

We see that Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon taking over Jehoiakim, King of Judah by force. Another interesting point to note in verse 2 is that, the Lord delivered Jehoiakim into the hands of the enemy. This is very similar to the Lord delivering the Israelites into the hands of Pharoh. This shows that at times, God does allow tough and unfavorable Kings to rule us. The political climate over us today seems to be one such everywhere, and we must understand that God is in control over all these, and he would make everything to be favorable to us in the end.

Nebuchadnezzar unleashed all his pagan principles in Judah, and he wanted to pick the most handsome and efficient men of Judah, feed them well, train them by teaching them the language and literature of the Babylonians, and use them for the service of his pagan God.

Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah were selected for this service, but the important point to note is that God had already selected them to bring glory to Him by their acts. It required obedience on their part, and they were so passionate about God. The King ordered them to be fed with food and wine from his table. This was a very fabulous offer from a worldly point of view and for compromising Christians, but Daniel was a zealous person for God.

Daniel didn't want to eat the food and wine served from the King's table, as an act of extreme trust on God, and wanted to be served just vegetables. This gives us a clear indication that we need not succumb to everything that is being thrust on us by force. If we could stand for God in something, we need to be bold and go forward with it.

Once Daniel decided to take a stand, Lord granted him favor in the eyes of the chief official, and he ordered the guard to serve Daniel and the three others with vegetables. You see, when we take a bold stand for God, He just charts the path by granting favor in the most unexpected places. We see that God also provided great wisdom and understanding to the four. God does look after His uncompromising children with great care.

When the period of training was over, Nebuchadnezzar found that the four Godly men were not only healthy, but they had 10 times more understanding and wisdom than the King's magicians and enchanters.The world might have a party today with the best entertainment and luxury, but God will take care of His own children, with ordinary things that look so low to the eyes of the world. If God could make these four men who ate vegetables to surpass the others who dined with the best food and wine, He could change the ordinary that is inside you to be extraordinary in the eyes of the world.

This is how a Godly person should live in the most unfavorable circumstances, to see the hand of God lifting and lifting them up. But, these days, we don't even care to stand for God in the most favorable situations, and we just look for our own comforts and needs. This is the reason God is not able to move amongst us. We are so lukewarm, and hence there is no revival.

God needs Daniels and Elijah's not people like Lot who was a compromising Christian. Would you be the one God is looking for these last days?.

Why Easter?

In the last post, we dwelt through the reason for Jesus to undergo the cruel death on the cross, and the story did not end there. Had it ended there, then Jesus would have been just another religious leader to have lived on this earth and there is no point in going further following Him.

But I am so glad that Jesus rose again on the third day, and all the historic and scientific evidences support this fact. Not only that, the personal experiences of so many believers in Christ reveal that He exists today at the right hand of God, interceding for all who have accepted Him as their personal Savior and the Holy Spirit is the perfect evidence in each believer’s heart that we could connect with God through Jesus Christ anytime.

Now, why did Jesus rise again from death and what He accomplished through that, is worthy enough to be discussed on Easter day. Adam and Eve were created by God to live forever. There was no concept of death then. As they sinned against God, they lost the privilege to live forever with God, and a limit was placed on the number of days that they would live, and thus death came into action. This was a punishment for sin, along with losing the communion with God.

Is there a way through which human beings can get back the eternal life and live forever with God? Is such a turnaround possible? Yes, with God everything is possible. But, the way He orchestrated it is very difficult to comprehend with the limited human knowledge and wisdom. In a believers life everything is inherited from Christ. As with the death of Christ, all our sins were laid on Him, and we all died with Him (This is the faith that we need to exercise), through the resurrection of Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we all have a new Spirit in us, and it is set towards eternity. Our physical bodies are going to die one day, but our Spirit has the option to live with God forever, if we accept and believe that Jesus Christ died and rose again for us. This is the anchor of the Christian faith.

As we can see, in the life of a person who has accepted Jesus Christ, everything is very spiritual, and is completely driven by the Spirit of God (Holy Spirit). The Spirit controls the flesh and thus we can live an overcoming life. To put it simply, we will be led by the Spirit of God, and our body will cooperate towards the plans of God when we live in this world. When we die, our Spirits will be taken away from our bodies and they will rest in the paradise (a temporary state) till Jesus comes back to take us all with Him to live forever and ever in Heaven.

The resurrection of Jesus is the only source of hope in the life of a believer. If Jesus did not rise again, then there is no point in worshiping Him. But, as I said earlier, the power of death could not stop Him from rising again, and thus death was shattered when He rose again. On this day, we have the option to align back to God through welcoming Jesus into our hearts. Our priorities will change and we will venture out into a brand new experience with Jesus. But, you need to believe and put your complete faith in the risen Savior. Would you?

Why Good Friday?

Year after year, Good Friday comes and goes, and has become a custom for many of us, but there is a great treasure hidden in it which very few would recognize. The aim of this post is to unlock it. Christ died for everyone not only for Christians, and any body could connect with Him by accepting Him anytime.

Good Friday and its significance

The sin, curse and death, that we inherited from Adam, through his willful disobedience and submission into the hands of Satan, was negated and taken away by the willful obedience and submission of Jesus Christ into the hands of God, even unto the point of giving up His life on the cross for each individual who would live on this earth. The Savior, who gave up His life for you and me, the reason behind the greatest sacrifice to be ever made in the history, is important more than mere religious sentiments and customs that surround it.

What Christ accomplished on the cross?

The greatest problem in the world today is not economic turmoil, political instability, sickness, poverty or unemployment. It is more moral than temporal. In short, it is “Sin” that destroys each and every person and every other evil in the world is an outcome of it. Nobody can escape the power of sin by any of our best efforts including self-discipline, self-control, sacrifices, charity or good deeds. It is far beyond all our best efforts to remain good. I hope that all of you will agree with me on this point, that we can never get rid of the sin in us by “our self”.

We sin because we have the nature of “sin” in us. It is part of our DNA, the inheritance that we have from Adam. Each individual who is born of a father and mother is a sinner, and that is the reason why another “human” can never remove the sinful nature from us.

One person (Adam) sinned, and through inheritance, all who were born with his nature are sinners, and became enemies to God. If we are enemies of God, then we would be clueless in this world that He had created, and would be surrounded by the power of darkness. How could we become united with God again, and the nature of sin plucked out from us? Read on….

What does that mean to me?

Adam was born into this world “without” sin as God made him with His hands, and sent His life giving Spirit into him. The life is nothing but “Spirit”. God sent Jesus into this world by being born of the Spirit without human intervention (The birth of Jesus). Adam fell into the trap of the devil and sinned, but Jesus Christ, as a human being in flesh overcame sin by living such a righteous life before God, that counter balanced the effect of Adam’s sin. Everything was set back to square one. The glorious state of living which Adam and Eve had lost, was regained again by the unselfish life and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He was brutally killed even though He did not commit a single sin (it simply means that he didn’t even have a bad thought or a motive). Through Adam, everyone became sinners and were separated, and through Jesus Christ, everybody can become righteous and be united with God.

The turmoil that Jesus had to go through on the cross, was for all the sins committed by each and every person on this world. It was not simple, it was pain, sweat, blood and above all Jesus was looked upon as a sinner by God when He underwent that cruel punishment. The heavy burden of sin of the entire world was on His shoulders. As Jesus was God’s only Son being coequal with God, He had the power to crush all His oppressors. At the snap of His fingers, He could have brought in armies and armies of angels who would have swept the world away. But, He chose not to do it as He remembered your and my state of chaos and helplessness.

What can I do about it?

Today, the offer to become friends with God is in front of us, and again we need to take a decision. We can choose life by accepting that Jesus died on the cross for my sins, and to give me a new life. We can accept Him through faith, and ask Him to come into our life. Jesus is the only way to God, and there is no other way. Believe me, it is a great feeling to discern that our sins are taken away and we have a new life in Christ.

This Good Friday, would you try Jesus? You might have tried so many things in your life to bring about a change in your life only to see further degradation. Why don’t you give a try by accepting Jesus? You have nothing to lose by doing this, everything is there to be gained. 

I can personally say that Jesus loves you more than you deserve. He will never turn you away. I can also say that He has the power to change you completely. You can become a new person with a new character, new personality and a complete brand new life. The story doesn't end with the death of Jesus, He rose again, and continues to live today and through eternity. I will share more about that on the Easter day.

Would you pray the following prayer with me if you want to invite Jesus into your hearts? I request you to say each and every word from your heart.

"Dear God I know I'm a sinner, I know I am not where I want to be, and I want your forgiveness!  I believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay the price for my sins. Please wash me clean from all sin, shame, and guilt, come into my life Jesus to be my Lord and Savior.  I ask this in your name Jesus.”

The substitution of curse

 Galatians 3:13

"But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”

The above verse has a profound message in it, and a clear understanding of it will give us utmost hope and clarity of thought on what Christ accomplished on the cross. For many of us, the days of lent, Good Friday, and Easter are just a routine. But, these days are very important in our lives, as it is when the son of God, bore our sins on Himself and sacrificed His life for us, and thereby redeeming us.

What is so special about it? . The Mosaic law failed to liberate us from sin, and in fact, it made the grip of sin to be much stronger on us. Deuteronomy 28 gives a detailed account of the blessings that would be on us if we follow the law, followed by the curses if the law is broken. It makes me tremble with fear even to just read through the curses mentioned there. Yes, I mean the curses are so terrible.

As human beings, we were never able to satisfy the law, and the inheritance of the curses were looming large on us, as Romans 3:10 says "No one is righteous, not even one". Oh, what a pitiable state for anybody to be in. This is where we need to understand the greatness of Christ, and His accomplishment for us. The burden of the entire sin of the world was laid upon Him, and He had to undergo the punishment for all of it on our behalf. There was a substitution of sin and curse. All our sins and curses were laid upon Jesus, and we became eligible to inherit His righteousness and blessings. How was this possible? By the willful submission of our Lord Jesus Christ into the hands of the Roman soldiers to be crucified on that old rugged cross.

Never think lightly of what Jesus did for you and me. It was agony and pain, physical, mental and a huge separation from His father was what He had to undergo for us. I bet the best of our friends or anybody for that matter would dare to do such an unselfish act for us. Christ died on the cross for us when we were still sinners, so that we could be made righteous.

Now, if this message has touched you, would you rededicate your life to Jesus? and start loving Him with all your heart? Would you start following His commands? He is still speaking on our behalf to God. Those secret sins of yours, those lustful looks and thoughts, that ego that you have, and many more things that you do everyday has to be advocated by Christ, and He is continuously doing it for you and me.

Today is the day of salvation. There is no tomorrow. Would you come back to Jesus? The choice is yours, and there is no compulsion. 

John study series - Part 1(Word becomes Flesh)

A good understanding of the book of John is very important for a successful Christian life. It doesn't mean that it is superior to the other books in the Bible, but the simple way in which John reveals deep spiritual insights, will be useful for the new believer as well as for the seasoned one.

John begins his gospel from a different angle than the other gospel writers Matthew, Mark and Luke. John doesn't give much details regarding the birth of Jesus, but he in fact goes very much before, to the beginning of the world. The book of John starts with the word "In the beginning". It is very interesting to note that the book of Genesis also starts with the word "In the beginning".

John gives utmost importance to the "Word". Who is this "Word"?. He illustrates it clearly by saying that the Word existed from infinity, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. We can clearly understand that the "Word" is none other than "Jesus", and He was the One who was instrumental in all the creative work which Good undertook. In other words, the entire creative power was given to Jesus Christ, and He was the one who created the entire universe, all the living beings, and of course His master piece, the human beings.

In verse 4, we read that life of Jesus gave light to everyone. The life is in the spirit, and when God breathed down the nostrils of Adam, His spirit was imputed into Adam, and the spirit of God gave life to him and he became a living creature. The spirit of God is always good and is the leading light of our lives. Verse 5 talks about the fall of man due to sin, and the nature of Satan, darkness being introduced into the world and that the darkness constantly tries to overpower the light, only to be unsuccessful forever and ever.

This struggle was on since the time of Adam, and every one had to constantly depend on God each day to over power the darkness. People who failed to do so, perished to the power of darkness. So, from the time of Adam, the onus to be peaceful with God, was on the people and they had to depend on themselves, to make sure that they don't disobey the ten commandments, and if they sin, they had to make the sacrifices on time to escape the wrath of God. It was a terrible period of time. But, God made sure that the darkness never overpowered the people who chose to depend on God, and we have great examples in the Bible for that starting from Abraham, Moses, David, Daniel and a vast number of others who stood as people of light.

Now, Jesus was observing all these from the heaven, and God decided that enough is enough, and there is no way that people are going to save themselves from the grip of sin, and Satan was letting loose his cunning tactics, which the people couldn't bear. God decided that the only way to save the world is by Himself coming into the physical world. God is a Spirit, and He needed to come to the world as a human being in flesh. This is the miracle that took place in Bethlehem in Judea, the almighty God becoming completely Human and coming to the world that He had created. Verse 14 clearly says that Jesus came into the world in a completely human form, as you and me. The almighty and powerful "Word" had to become "Flesh", to be transformed from a Spirit into a Human Being.

Summary: Jesus is God and is part of the Trinity. The entire world was created by Jesus and belongs to Jesus. Jesus also existed as a Spirit (Word) from the beginning. As the destructive power of darkness was doing so much harm to God's created beings, The Spirit became Flesh in order to come into the world as a tiny baby in the womb of Mary, by the power of the Holy Spirit, without any human intervention.

The Beatitude Series - Part 5 (Pure heart, Peace makers and enduring persecution)

This is the last part of the series on beatitudes, which Jesus preached on the Mountain. If you want to read the earlier posts on this, please start with Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.

Let us try to understand what Jesus conveyed through the below verses.

⁸ God blesses those whose hearts are pure,
    for they will see God.
⁹ God blesses those who work for peace,
    for they will be called the children of God.
¹⁰ God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right,
    for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

The blessing of God are upon those whose hearts are pure, and they will see God. What is meant by having a "Pure heart"?. It means that those whose hearts are purified by the cleansing act of the Holy Spirit. It is not something that we try to do. It is not abstaining from certain things for keeping our hearts pure, though the Holy Spirit will however keep us away from those, when we yield to Him.
So, when we surrender our everything including our hearts to the Holy Spirit, He cleanses it, and prepares it in such a way that God would like to reside in it. Seeing God means, We would be able to see God through our Spiritual eyes, which is faith. Surrendering to the Holy Sprit leads to purification of our hearts, which in turn imparts the needed faith to commune with God in our spirits, which is a blessing.

Verse 9 speaks about a very common universal subject called "Peace". Everybody likes and wants peace. We need peace inside us (our hearts) and around us (in the world). The internal peace is something which is given by the Holy Spirit, when we yield to Him. But, the peace mentioned in this context is about the peaceful atmosphere in the whole world, and we are called to work towards that state. Each and every believer should make sure that peace is upheld in their families, neighborhood, workplace and in every place and circumstances. We need to be very conscious about this, and make sure that we are peace makers and not peace breakers. Be friendly and kind with others, love everybody irrespective of all the differing factors. Be merciful to everybody around. Avoid gossip and backbiting, and this list can go on and on.... When we work towards setting up a peaceful world, We would be called the Children of God. God always desires peace, and wants His children to spread peace and avoid hatred and enmity.

Verse 10 speaks about the persecution that we should undergo for doing right. Why should somebody be persecuted for doing right?. It is because we live in a fallen world, and there is evil everywhere. When we try to do things in the right way, there will be opposition and tribulation for sure. All the apostles and missionaries were persecuted when they tried to do good things, because the world didn't understand their good intentions as Satan has blinded them. For example, we may take a stand that we will not bribe somebody to get something done. This is a righteous stand. But, we may not be welcomed for this, as the worldly standard doesn't consider bribe as a sin. We may try to start a movement to root out corruption only to see that we become enemies to many, and even may be threatened or killed. Why should we endure all this?. Because, as the children of God, We don't belong to this world. We are part of the Kingdom of God. We are a different people who worship the almighty God and live according to His standards.

May God give us the grace to put all the teachings of Jesus in the beatitudes to practice in our daily lives. It will really transform us into people who radiate the characteristics of God in this world.

 

The Peace of Christ

We all have read the 4th chapter of Philippians so many times, and should be very familiar with the following verse.

6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

The question is, have we ever taken this to our heart and applied it in our lives?. I have come across this so many times, but when I was reading this today, a new sense of meaning prevailed over me. I would like to share it with you, and would be happy if you can read this with prayer.

In the Bible, all the promises of God come with a condition. None of the promises are free and can never be taken for granted. It is no wonder that we are not able to feel the liberation after proclaiming the promises so many times, as most of the times, we would not have obeyed the command preceding it.

If you read the above verses carefully, Verse 6 is a command, and it should be strictly followed. Then, for sure the promise in verse 7 will come to pass in our lives. Let us take some time and analyze the commands in verse 6. It can be explained as below

1. We should never worry about "anything", but pray about "everything". We are called to take everything to God in prayer, and once prayed about, We should just leave it to God, and should not worry about it anymore.

2. We should thank God for whatever He has done so far in our lives.

Clearly, We would have always failed to follow these two commands, and that is the reason, the promise of "God's peace guarding our hearts and minds" is not fulfilled in our lives. We talk about peace all the time, and never experience it fully. I would request you to try this. Just put all your requests to God, thank Him for all His goodness in your lives, and leave all your worries to Him. When I say "forget" the worries, we should forget it completely. No half measures with God. 

God bless you and fill you with His peace. 

The power of the Holy Spirit

One of the most important things in our lives as Christians, is to yield to the Holy Spirit, and to allow Him to empower and transform us. Do we believe in the power of the Holy Spirit?. Do we seriously think about what He can do for us?. The Holy Spirit is always present inside a believer, from the moment he is saved through faith in Jesus Christ. But, the Holy Spirit can work only when we allow Him. If we suppress Him by giving importance to our flesh and worldly desires, the Holy Spirit is grieved and He cannot operate in us. It is very important to understand that the Holy Spirit is God, and He has a personality and feelings. What are the things that the Holy Spirit does for us?. Please read on with a prayerful mind.

In our life on the earth, the Holy Spirit is the one who makes us strong followers of God. He binds our hearts with love towards God and other people. When we place our faith in Christ, He will live in our hearts through the Holy Spirit. The power of the Holy Spirit inside us will do more than whatever we can ask or imagine. Believe in this wonderful and astonishing fact today, and allow the Holy Spirit to work inside you, and you will see His power manifested in your lives. All your sorrows, troubles and worries will crumble in front of that mighty manifestation of Power and Strength.

Also, remember that we need to lead a life worthy of our calling in Christ, and the Holy Spirit helps us in doing that. The Holy Spirit also makes us humble, gentle and peace loving. The Holy Spirit unites us with other believers and works through all of us. We read about all these in Ephesians Chapter 3:14 - 4:10. The most important action of the Holy Spirit is that He works in all of us to help us build the Kingdom of God, and to live according to its principles here on the earth.

The Beatitude series - Part 4 (The righteous and merciful people)

We have been trying to understand the sermon on the mount, and applying it in our daily lives. So far, we have covered three sessions on it. If you would like to read it, please start from Part 1. Today, We will cover two of the important things that Jesus mentioned in the sermon, and we will base our study on the two verses below from Matthew chapter 5, verses 6 and 7

6 God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice,
    for they will be satisfied.
7 God blesses those who are merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy. (NLT)

The word "Justice" is also denoted as "Righteousness" in some translations. In today's world, people are depending on the courts, and other lawmakers for their justice. But, Jesus was not speaking about this justice. It is about the Justice of God, the righteousness which God desires. In simple words we can say that "You will be blessed, if you put your heart and soul in understanding the righteousness of God revealed through the Lord Jesus Christ". If you desire for it, as a deer pants for water, you will be truly blessed. We can never attain the standard of righteousness, set by God by any of our best efforts. It is only through placing our faith on the finished work of Jesus, We become righteous. So, our thirst and hunger should be to read the word of God, and depending on the Holy Spirit to put what we learn into action in our lives. This way, we will inherit the blessings of God, and not by doing things that we think would bring us blessings.

The next verse speaks about "Mercy". It is very clear that if you want God's mercy, you need to demonstrate mercy towards others. Jesus also teaches this in the Lord's prayer, as "Forgive us as we forgive others". From these things, We can understand that we can receive God's mercy by being merciful on others. This would also include being merciful to our enemies, people who hate us, people who envy us, and the others whom the world hates and sidelines. Christ had a special place for all the adulterers, drunkards, and all others who were drenched in sin, but we as Christians look down on such people most of the time. Have we ever shown mercy to someone whom we don't like?. Have we ever shown mercy to someone whom others don't like to associate with?. Let us resolve in our minds today, that we will show mercy to others every day. Let people see our mercy and come to the light of Jesus Christ. In today's world, mercy is the most sought after virtue, but yet, many of us never think about it. Let us be merciful, and receive the blessing of God, and His everlasting mercies.


⁶ 

Bible Study - Exodus, Chapters 3,4

In the last post, we read about the birth of Moses, and how he was protected through unusual ways, as God wanted him to lead the Israelite's out of Egypt. Moses had escaped from Egypt, for the fear of the King, and landed in Midian. Moses also got married to Zipporah, the daughter of the priest of Media, Jethro (also known as Reuel). In this post, we shall see, how God called Moses to do His work, and the events there after. If you would like to read it for yourself, please follow this link http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=exodus+3&version=NLT

We see that Moses is a hard worker, as he was tending the sheep of his father-in-law, Jethro. He led the sheep far into the wilderness into the mountain of God. This shows that he is devoted and dedicated to the task that was given to him. He never did anything just for the sake of doing it. He put his heart and soul into it, and this is a very important characteristics which God expects from somebody who wants to be a leader. As Moses was dedicated in leading the sheep, God entrusted the mightier task of leading His own people out of Egypt.

We read that God met Moses through the burning bush in the mountain of God, and communicated him about the plan to lead the Israelite's out of Egypt. Moses was very naive and hesitated to undertake the task. But, God strengthened Him through signs and wonders, and made him to accept the task. This is very important to understand. It is always God who chooses people to accomplish His tasks, and when the time comes, even our worst hesitations won't let God to leave us from doing it. We will see how many times Moses tried to withdraw from this task, and how God lovingly empowered him to do it.

Moses magnified all his weaknesses and highlighted them to God, and to convince Him that he cannot go in front of either the Pharoh or the people of Israel, and inform about the plan of God. He also said that he was a stammerer and he cannot speak properly. He highlighted his emotional as well as his physical weakness to God. But, God encouraged him that He will be with him always and never leave or forsake him. This shows the amazing kindness of God, and how He treats the people whom He has chosen to do His work. "God strengthened an ordinary man like Moses, to face a mighty king like Pharoh". Today, We may be scared to face some things beyond our capability, but remember that the God who was with Moses is still with us, and He will help us to face any obstacles in our life.

Also, we see that the part of Moses was just to obey the instructions of God, then and there, and there was nothing that he had to devise. Even today, while doing God's work, we have to rely completely on Him to guide us, and we have to just obey what He says. We just need to be useful "tools" in the hands of God to accomplish His work.

In Chapter 4, we read about God explaining the various signs and wonders that He would do in front of Pharoh. Moses was resistant even to this point, and he was arguing with God that he could not speak before people and the King. God decided to give Aaron as a helper to Moses, and to speak on his behalf. This shows that if we are not able to do something by ourselves, God will help us by bringing other people to help us out. This also demonstrates the importance of partnerships in life, and how each of us should compliment others in doing God's work.

We also read the carelessness of Moses in not circumcising his son, and God trying to kill him. His wife was swift enough to immediately circumcise the child, and thereby delivering her husband out of God's anger. This shows two things.

1. Even while doing God's work, we should not neglect our individual responsibilities towards God
2. Husband and wife should compliment each other in spiritual matters.

Summary :It is God, who chooses somebody to do "His" work, and it is His plan from the start to the end. God will also prepare us, and enable us to do His work. God is also compassionate on His chosen ones and endures till the end to help them accomplish His work.

Bible study - Exodus, chapter 2

In the second chapter of Exodus, we see the birth of the man whom God chose to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. God always plans what somebody should accomplish in their life time and molds them accordingly. The life of Moses is an excellent demonstration of this fact. If you want to read the chapter for yourself, please follow this link http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=exodus+2&version=NLT

 

Moses was born in a Levite family. Towards the end of the first chapter, we read that the king ordered all the new born Hebrew boys must be thrown in the river Nile. But, God wanted to bring out a leader amidst this, and made sure that Moses was protected in a very unique way through being placed in a basket on the river Nile. The basket is what kept him alive. God shielded Moses through the basket, and in the same way, we are shielded from the flood of struggles in the world through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

What is even more amazing is that God made sure that the princess of Egypt looked at the baby with compassion, and adopted him as her child. Only God can change situations like this. Even today, God will grant us favor in the eyes of those who matter, to get things done and to protect us.

 

The next important thing is that God created a dislike in Moses towards the royal life, and created a passion and thirst for His own people. This is again a very important act of God. We also read about Moses's zeal towards his fellow people and how he risked his life to protect them.

 

Towards the end of the chapter we read about the Israelites crying out to God to rescue them from the hardships in Egypt, and the Bible says that their cries reached God. We see here, that the ultimate need was the liberation of Israelites from Egypt, but before that, God wanted to prepare somebody for this task, and picked up Moses in the most unusual way.

 

Summary: Even today, God has chosen and is preparing you and me for bringing thousands and thousands of people from the bondages of sin, and the lure of this world, into the Heavenly Kingdom that He has prepared. But, Do we have the same zeal and passion as Moses towards God's work?. We will see more about the events in the life of Moses in the next post.

Bible Study - Exodus, Chapter 1

The key to understand Exodus, is to go a little behind and understand why the Israelites ended up in Egypt. Joseph's brothers conspired against him, as they thought their father Jacob is partial to towards Joseph and they sold him to the slaves, and thereby he landed up in Egypt. Joseph found favor in the eyes of God, and he rose through the ranks in Egypt and became the governor. Now, there was a severe famine in Canaan, and all of Joseph's brothers along with his father Jacob, had to move to Egypt to escape the famine. Eventually, after the death of Jacob, they all settled in Egypt, multiplied and filled the land. The first 6 verses explain about this. If you would like to read the first chapter of Exodus, please follow this link http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=exodus+1&version=NLT

This became a big concern for the Egyptians and their King was threatened by the massive upsurge of the Israelites. The present King of Egypt was unaware of what Joseph did for Egypt, and he started viewing the Israelites as a potential threat. He started humiliating and oppressing the people of Israel by giving them very tough work and also appointed brutal slave drives to oversee them. But, the more he persecuted, the Israelites grew in number and they became strong. This has a clear resemblance to today's world. God's people are persecuted in so many parts of the world, but all these are leading to greater revival throughout the world, and the gospel is being proclaimed aggressively. This also demonstrates that when we are in God's plan and when He is with us, even when are subjected to cruel and brutal treatment from the world, God's blessing will always be with us, and we will always grow. We can read about this from verses 11 through 14.

In verse 15, We see the King doing something very cruel. He ordered the midwives who help the Hebrew women in delivery to kill all the male child. This is very much a move to stop the multiplication. But, again God made the midwives to look with favor on the Hebrew women. They didn't obey the king's command and didn't kill the male children. This demonstrates the incredible obedience of such very ordinary and simple people. They risked their lives and obeyed God's word. Now, How many of us can do that?. These are really some eye openers for us that God can do what He wants to do through very ordinary people, and He doesn't want any super stars for that. God was kind to the midwives and He blessed them and gave them families on their own.

The king was very furious to see his plan failing, and he came up with another plan of throwing all the new born male children into the Nile river, which sets the context for the second chapter of Exodus, where we can see the wonderful plan of God in bringing up a mighty leader from a small basket in the Nile river.

Summary : When we are in the plan of God, even when we are persecuted by the worldly system and people, we will always be blessed by God, and He will give us strength to over come it. God will dispose His favor to us through the eyes of people at the right places and at the right time.



 

Bible study - Galatians, Chapter 6

I would like to list some important points that I learned in the 6th chapter of Galatians. If you would like to read it for yourself, please follow this link http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=galatians+6&version=NLT

Right in the beginning, Paul explains how to treat another believer who is overcome by "some" sin. In our churches, we see many people who are down with certain sinful habits. Be it smoking, drinking, adultery or any other sin, we have a natural tendency to look down on them. This is absolutely wrong according to the Bible. The word of God teaches that if we are Godly, we would gently and humbly help them to come out of that sin. Now, how many of us really have the attitude to help someone caught up in a terrible sin?. Friends, this is what we are called for, that is to take care of other believers and to help them when they are morally, spiritually and physically down. If we don't have such and attitude so far, let us ask God to give us that. Another important point is that, when helping someone to come out of sin, we should be strong in prayer and make sure that we don't fall into that. So, it is basically a matter of relying on the strength of God to help that person.

Also, in verse 4 we see that, it is our "actions" that truly reflect whom we are, rather than what we "think" about our self. As true followers of our Lord Jesus Christ, we should imitate Him by being practical in helping others and winning their souls by our conduct.

Verse 7 explains about the outcome of our actions. It is very clear that if we use our "resources" to satisfy the world and flesh, we will reap only "destruction". We should always use our worldly resources to help others, and win souls for Christ. As Christians, we should not indulge in lavish and luxurious living which make others turn away from us. We should be very careful in our conduct. When we use our resources to please the Holy Spirit, We will reap eternal life. We will be known as faithful and good servants of God.

We should always do "good" to others whenever we get an opportunity. We should never procrastinate and turn away from an opportunity to help poor people with our money, or counseling somebody who is spiritually down or using our influence to help somebody to get a favor. God is watching over each and every thing that we do with the resources that He has given us.

Verse 12 speaks about the "easy" Christians who just want to show off themselves to others, by their outward appearances and by their artificial life. You can never purchase salvation, by any of your own efforts. However, there are some people who think that they can be saved by their actions. This is wrong, and the Bible clearly says that we are saved only by the act which Jesus Christ did on the Cross.

Finally, we are called to be transformed into new creations and never indulge in worldly passions. We should never try to be artificial and live to please others and seeking for their accolades. We should daily be renewed by the power of the Holy Spirit, and live a life which Pleases God. If there is anything that we can be proud of, it is the act of Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary. Always remember this when you are proud and arrogant.

 

The test of Abraham

In Genesis chapter 22, We read about God putting Abraham to one of the most difficult tests of his life. The first verse of the chapter clearly shows us that God "tested" Abraham's "faith". Now, why should God test Abraham's faith? by asking him to sacrifice his son Isaac, when it is very much evident that Abraham always obeyed God, right from the time when God asked him to leave his own place and start on a journey as a wanderer.

God always wants any true worshipper to have Him as the central point of life. Nothing should take the place of God in a believer's life. As Isaac was born to Abraham when he was 100 years old, Abraham's focus might have moved a little away from God towards Isaac. The important thing to note here is that Isaac is absolutely God's gift to Abraham, and there was nothing that Abraham and Sarah did on their part. They had even laughed in disbelief when the promise was made. But, when God fulfilled the promise, their heart changed, and Sarah even went to the extent of mistreating Hagar by driving her away mercilessly.

This is a clear picture of mistreating grace. When God gives us something, we need to be always thankful and focused on God, and at the same time, pride and arrogance should never get the better of us. God wanted to drive this point to Abraham, thereby preparing him for a greater walk with Him. Abraham immediately obeyed God,  and he in fact made all the arrangements and reached the top of the mountain and was about to slay Isaac, when the angel of God interrupted him, and asked him to stop it. We must spare a thought for this man Abraham, as how he must have felt when he was put under this intriguing test. But, Abraham was a true worshipper, and he wanted to be on God's side at any cost even if it means losing his son. This is true "faith", and the kind which God marvels at.

The result of this great act of faith is that, God spoke with Abraham and promised a greater multiplication of his offspring. The following verse illustrates it.

Because you have obeyed me and have not withheld even your son, your only son, I swear by my own name that ¹⁷ I will certainly bless you. I will multiply your descendants^[a] beyond number, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will conquer the cities of their enemies. ¹⁸ And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed me.”

In our lives, God gives us lot of un imaginable blessings. We must always remember that He also tests us, to ensure that we give Him the first and foremost place in our lives. We should be ready to part with anything to obey God. In Luke 17: 33 we read "If you cling to your life, you will lose it, and if you let your life go, you will save it."

Dear friend, do you hold on to anything that makes you to wander away from God? Do you love anybody or anything more than Him?, if it is so, I request you to re-organize your priorities, and set God as the central point of your life. Never move Him out of that position. Always remember that it is God who gives you everything. The same God who tested and blessed Abraham is watching over us even today. Let us pray that we have the attitude of Abraham in obedience and faith. Truly, God will make us to prosper. God bless you!