How to get your rewards as a Christian?

Lot of us are seeking our identities through various means. It could be through our jobs, talents, abilities, influences, status in the society etc. It is a never ending quest. As Christians, how are we to go about it?

Let me explain this a bit. When we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour, He has given us a "new life". Yes, a brand new life. We must first believe this. Next, this new life is hidden in Christ who is in heaven at the right side of God. But, one important thing, what happened to your old life?

You have died to the old ways of living or your "old life" is dead. Only when we understand this, we could clothe ourself with the new life. It is all about thinking and setting our minds in the right direction. We will see how we can do it.

1. Think about those things that are part of heaven rather than here on earth. Following the teaching that Christ gave through the sermon on the mount is a good place to start with.

2. Put to death all the earthly and sinful things that are hiding secretly inside you. This includes sexual impurity, lust, impurity and evil desires.

3. Clothe yourself with the new nature that consists of things like mercy, humility, gentleness, patience and kindness and above all "Love".

4. Teach and counsel other with all the wisdom that Christ gives you.

5. Forgive the faults of others as God has forgiven you.

6. Do all your work as if you are doing for God and expect a reward from Him not from this world.

All these things should be done on a daily basis and the peace that comes from Christ will rule our hearts. What is the motivating factor to do all these? It lies in Christ and the things that He will give us when he returns. As Christians, we should always hope for the rewards in heaven rather than trying hard for them here on this earth.

The greatest reward of it all is to share in the glory of Jesus Christ when He comes back. There is nothing better that can inspire a true child of God than this. Jesus Christ offers us hope beyond this life here on earth and that to us is the ultimate comfort, peace, joy and satisfaction. Every reward, accolade, fame and adoration that you get in this world is tempoary and would be gone the moment you die and leave this earth, People would forget you.

Do you want that everlasting reward? Then clothe yourself with the new life that Christ has given you. God bless you!

Will following a set of rules make us spiritually strong?

We establish a set of rules to be followed by ourselves based on what we think is "right" or "wrong". There is an impending danger and deception in it. Let us assume that we set the following three rules that we would follow very religiously

1. No lusting
2. No over eating
3. No jealousy and greed

Now, on what basis we can be sure that we would be able to follow this without compromising? If we say that it can be done through self control and will power, we may deceived. Though, people may say that they have great self control outwardly, only a person's own soul knows the pain and agony it goes through each day fighting against many of these moral and ethical obligations.

The biggest danger of it all is when we try to showcase and discern that strict observance of these rules actually gets us closer to God or in other words helps us to grow in our spiritual life.

The Bible says that in Jeremiah 17:9 that “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?"

It is a matter of the heart rather than anything outward. Jesus also said in Matthew 15:19, 20 "19 For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander. 20 These are what defile you. Eating with unwashed hands will never defile you.”

The most important point to understand is that "We cannot make ourselves good by following a set of rules that are set by ourselves and by depending on our own strengh". Unless, there is a change of heart through true repentance, we will never grow in our spiritual life.

Apostle Paul in Colossians 2: 23 says "These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires"

What is the way out? There is only one way and that is through the saving power of Jesus Christ. This is the greatest miracle of all in which a person's heart is changed and mind is renewed day by day by the power of God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It is only by accepting Him as our Lord and truly following His commands that we become spiritually mature and strong. It is more to do with renewed thinking and priorities rather than just following a few rules that may just give us a temporary feel good factor. God bless you!

God loved us even when we were sinners. Why?

Have you seen the way children with behavioral issues react on certain things? They may show some tantrums, cry or even become so aggressive and intolerent. How do we view them? We think that they do everything deliberately and try to confront them in the worst possible ways. We shout, yell and scream at them in the pretext of correcting and disciplining them. Why? Because we have not understood their thought process. We have no clue about what is going on inside them. We just try to force our views and disciplining strategies on them without even realizing their need and in abilities.

Now, imagine that each of us are people with behavioral issues and assume God would deal with us in the same way as we do with our children. How would that be? Would we be spared for the sort of atrocities we do in and out during our lives, even after getting old and think that we are "correct" in everything and have become "holier" than others? Is God trying to thrust a set of rules on us even after knowing that we have our own limitations and weaknesses? How many of us would have been spared if God had not abolished the ten commandments?

All of us have one problem or the other in our lives and all of us have our own burdens and weaknesses to carry. Only God can understand our concerns and worries as He created us. We are so precious to Him and that is the reason He doesn't get angry with us for every wrong thing we do. Instead, His grace and love covers us. It is because of His sheer grace and mercies that we are alive and are spared.

And, God expects us to do the same with others. He wants us to be people with compassion on others. God wants us to live without cheating others. God expects us to be genuine in all that we do. God doesn't want us to show partiality in anything and act otherwise on the outside.

God sees through our hearts rather than just the outside smart behaviour of us. He knows what is inside there and we can't fool him just in the way we walk fooling others around.

Let us be people who love others genorously, live without selfish motives, help others, seek and offer forgiveness and more importantly show the attitude of "Jesus Christ" to every one whom we come across.

God chose to love us even when were wicked and dead in sin. In front of this amazing love, even our best intent or works in this world would look as filthy rags. But, God honours our attitude. When we pray for someone or show our concern, love and empathy for other's problem, God honours that and He would never let you go empty handed for it.

John 15:13 says "There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends." and Jesus Christ practically demonstrated it on the cross. We are no way worthy of such an amazing love, but yet God chose to love and heal us from our sins.

Let us be people who honour this great God of ours by practicing what He preached. Let us love one another, let us help one another, let us pray for one another and in this way, God is glorified and honoured. Let us take our worries and concerns to God in prayer and also understand that He expects us to show the same kindness and love towards others. In this way, we can have a fulfilled and complete life. God bless you!

4 Steps to a successful Christian life

The human mind has the capability to conceive evil beyond our imagination and control and then forces us into sins which we would never think about. Nobody is immune to this. Is there a way out? Yes, read on...

Once, We were enemies of God and were seperated from Him through our evil thoughts and actions.This was the helpless situation of mankind from the time of Adam to Christ as there was no permanant cure for the wretched soul. But, everything changed when Jesus Christ sacrificed His life and rose up again. We were again united with God entirely through His grace, the sacrifice of His son and the unimaginable power of the Holy Spirit.

Colossians 1: 22 says "he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault"

It was not 99.9 % salvation but 100%. Jesus completed everything that we would need and thus He said "Finished" on the cross. The foundation has been laid and it is upto us to cooperate with God to build our lives on top of the foundation. We need to do the following four things to make sure that we grow consistently in our relationship with God.

1. We "must" continue to believe in this truth all the time. We should always think that Christ has won the battle and we need to march on with Him as His truthful soilders.

2. We "must" mediate on the Word of God every moment. This will help to strengthen our souls through nourishment with Spiritual food.

3. We "must" pray all the time. Prayer helps us to connect with God, submit us to His will, take all our worries to Him and receive the peace that He offers.

4. We "must" continue to grow in the fellowship of others, giving and receiving all the help that is needed to grow more and more in the image of God.

It is not in isolation that God wants the church (His people) to operate, rather each and every stone in the church should be equally strong so that it stays together in tough times.

If we truly follow the 4 steps above, we will never miss the mark as God is faithful and is ready to help all those who genuinely desire to walk in His ways. Jesus Christ is the "only" one who can change our lives. We take Him for granted many times, but we may not have the period of grace all the time. It is better to seek and find Him now than never. God bless you!

Are you going through a difficult situation in life?

It is in difficult times, that your listening ability to the voice of God increases. When everything is going on well, you create a maze around yourself that comprises of the passions and ambitions of the world. You lose interest in prayer, reading scripture and thereby you start neglecting God and pour out your time and resources to fulfill your worldly lusts and desires.

But then, our God is more loving than anyone you can imagine. He gets your attention back by ways and means that you and I cannot understand. King David become closer to God through difficult times, Apostle Paul, Daniel, Joseph, Jacob, Moses, Abraham, Peter...all of them utilized their low phases of life to come back to God strong!

If you are going through a troubled phase in life, then do one thing...come back to God. Pray and re dedicate your life! It is very simple. God will take care of the rest. Our God is a loving and merciful God. He carries you in His arms like a loving shephered! That is why King David said "The Lord is my Shephered and I shall not be in want of anything". Amen!

Romans Bible Study - Part 2

Romans Bible Study - Part 2

Towards the end of chapter 1, Paul gives a glimpse of the rotten state of human nature and on why God had left them on their own. Paul directs his attention in the beginning of chapter 2 to Jews. I suppose that all of us who claim to be traditional and orthodox Christians, who stick to certain rules and rituals, who give prominence and importance to man-made traditions than God’s law can say that these things which Paul says from Verses 1 to 11 are meant for us.  Verse 11 which says “God shows no favoritism at all” sums it up. We need to look at scriptures without prejudice so that we absorb the real intent of it.

In short, all those of us who accuse and look down on others who are into sinning ways, be it homosexuality, pride, jealousy etc..should be extra careful that  we don’t do it. Verse 3 is very clear about it “ Since you judge others for doing these things, why do you think you can avoid God’s judgment when you do the same things?” . Why God is patient with us then? Verse 4 has the answer as he is patiently waiting for us to repent and turn away from sin. We should never misuse grace or take it for granted.

Verse 5 is even more alarming as it says that if we don’t repent and continue with our own ways, we are storing up God’s wrath on ourselves. God is going to judge each one with all fairness. Those who do good will enjoy eternal life, and those who are wicked will face calamities. This applies to both Jews and gentiles.

in the contemporary setup, substitute anyone who sticks to the thought process of following a set of rules to please God for "Jews". This includes those who look down on people who are weak, teach one thing and do exactly the opposite, think that they are entrusted with some special revelations etc...you know what? God is fair and He will bring every secret motive to judgement. It doesn't matter whether we are jew or gentile, orthodox or nominal Christians. We need to be very careful. Nothing can be taken for granted. The race is still on to safeguard our salvation

I would like to place a special mention on Verse 16 which says that God will judge our secret lives too. How terrible that would be? Let us analyze and repent.

From Verse 17, Paul demonstrates that there is no point in just having the written law without following it. Even today, we say that we don’t watch TV or go out to a movie, but that is surely not enough. It is more on the intention on what are our motives and aspirations. It is all about the heart. Won’t people whom we consider as useless, but actually have a great respect and admiration for God be better than us when their motives and actions are better?

Towards the end of the chapter, we read that the change of heart is produced by the Spirit of God. This is very important. We cannot live the Christian life by our self. We cannot obey all the commandments by our self though we may preach to others about it. We all fail at various points of time in our lives. But the key is this, whether you are an orthodox or a nominal Christian, if you allow the Spirit of God to work in you, that is when you can live a life that would please God.

Let us analyze our lives and find out whether those things on which we accuse others is found in us? If so, we need to repent and turn back.

Romans Bible Study - Part 1

A clear understanding of Romans with the help of the Holy Spirit would serve as a great tool to overcome various wrong doctrines and false teachings. The first chapter of Romans starts with Paul reiterating the commission that he received to preach the good news of God, which is all about Jesus Christ.

If we just take a human view, Jesus was born into the lineage of David. It is just like how you and me have forefathers tracing back to hunderds of centuries. But, the very important fact is about Jesus's position as the Son of God. He had these two natures (David's lineage and God's seed or Spirit) in Him thus making Him perfectly human and perfectly divine.

In chapter 1, verse 4, Paul clearly shows the divine nature of Jesus. The Holy Spirit who was inside Jesus had the power to raise Him up again after His physical death. The Spirit had the power to give Him a new body and a new life. This is how it is with us believers too. We have the indwelling Holy Spirit who has raised us from our death through baptism when we first believed in Jesus. We are now dead to sin but alive in Christ to do righteous acts. This forms the central theme of Romans.

Verse 6 shows that God wanted to include the gentiles too in His plan of salvation, and Paul was called to preach the good news to Romans. He goes on talking about how he prayed for them and their needs and his willingness to meet them to be encouraged in each other's faith. This shows Paul's fervor and burden for the Romans. A real servant of God would pray earnestly for those to whom he is entrusted with sharing the gospel. Yes, Paul was a man of prayer.

In Verse 14, Paul speaks about his commission to preach the good news to both the civilized and uncivilized. This shows that the good news is the same for all, and gospel in its pure form has enough power to touch and change anyone. Paul talks about this in verse 16.

Verse 17 is a very important statement in the entire book of Romans. It puts an end to the speculation that we can please God through our efforts and make ourselves righteous. No, it is impossible. We are made righteous before God only through our "Faith". Always, be sure of this very fact. There is no other way in this world to become righteous before God than by trusting in Jesus Christ, that He gives us His righteousness to make us clean and perfect. Our every day life should be based on this glorious fact. We can never be righteous on our own apart from trusting in Jesus Christ and believing in what He has done. If we have forgetten this fact and are involved in a fruitless pursuit of self righteousness, let us stop that immediately and turn back trusting the favour of God.

From Verse 18 onwards, Paul talks about the anger and wrath of God and how people brought it on them. Whenever people supress truth with their wickedness, God is angry at them. This applies even today. In this period which we live, we can see this everywhere, The recent verdict on gay rights by the US court can be a great example of this. The truth in God's word which clearly specifies something as sin (homosexuality in this case, and for that matter is clearly showed as sin by God) is suppressed by human laws that are wicked and even justified as something which is right. This is a clear way of invoking God's anger and wrath.

You cannot think that someone does this without knowledge of God's laws, Everything is very clear to them as it is written in the word of God, the truth. But, alas wicked people supress truth by their wickedness.

Verse 21 shows that the moment you stop worshipping the true God, your mind is confused and you start acting in foolish ways, though you think that you are wise. The result, God abandons them to their own ways of their heart which is desperately wicked. You know what, human heart in itself without God is completely wicked!

The next set of verses till 30 talk about the extreme to which people were corrupted. The point to note here is that, God had given up on them and that is the reason for this chaos. When God is not there in whatever you do, only chaos will remain. Never dare to substitute the place that you need to give to God for anything else. We will be fools if we do that. This is a clear warning to each of us and need to be taken seriously every day.

Verse 31 shows that these people even went to the extreme of spoiling others around them. Today, this is very much true. People try to influence others with their foolish thinking and dubious doctrines, Be very careful as God will not spare those who wilfully continue doing it.

But, there is a remnant which God has chosen and they will never be given up by Him. This is the mystery that would be unlocked as we progress through the other chapters of Romans. You and I are priveleged as we belong to the remnant. 

Are you always defeated in your spiritual life?

There are many of us whose spiritual life is can be summarized as below

1. Feeling very good one day, and completely down the next day
2. Getting inspired when hearing a good song, a powerful sermon or hear someone share their experience and once that influence is over, we go back to the same dull and uninspired state.
3. Defeated life with lots of sin, wearing a mask by showing a different picture altogether to the outside world, whereas we struggle with so many secret sins inside.
4. An extreme condition where we are on a high for a few days and completely down and depressed on the other days.

If we closely analyze these conditions, the following reasoning can be derived upon

1. We take everything emotionally and long for an emotional high all the time.
2. We depend upon our flesh to give us an emotional high as we have not died to our flesh in reality.
3. We share our loyalty between the world and God.
4. Living only through the influence of soul and body, not giving the Spirit a chance to influence us.

How can this be solved?

1. Clearly understand the needs of the Spirit, soul and body
2. Always bring the soul and body under the control of the Spirit.
3. Defeat the desires of flesh like lust, extreme worldly passions, gluttony etc and exalt the Spirit by giving importance to Prayer, Bible reading and by using the parts of our body for righteousness

The story of Rahab - Some insights

I have been always fascinated by the story of Rahab. Though she was a prostitute, she had a noble and gentle heart. I had written about her story in another article. Today, I tried to analyze this from a different angle with the help of the Holy Spirit. I am summarizing my study through this article.

First and foremost, why should the spies enter the house of Rahab when there could have been many other options that were available before them. Isn't it odd that the men sent by Joshua to spy around Jericho chose to enter the house of a prostitute and stay there for a night? I think it was a divine plan to demonstrate the fact that God even honors a prostitute who is being trampled by the society. We can compare this with Jesus's conversation with the Samaritan woman who had illicit affairs. God never rejects anyone, even though the society might seclude them.

Rahab didn't treat these two men as her customers. She was very thoughtful of the situation and wanted to save them from the wrath of the King who sent his men to search for them. Rahab hid them in her home and lied to the King's messengers that they had left already.

The final thought is based on verse 2:9. It shows that Rahab was scared that the Israelites would destroy the people of Jericho as God had given that land to them. She wanted to escape this destruction along with her family members. Hence, she is requesting the spies to spare her and the family in return to the gesture that she had offered them.

It was Rahab's desire to live and not to be destroyed, along with the divine plan to honor her that made the spies enter her house, and she in turn was saved from the destruction through the scarlet cord which she had used to send the spies out to safety.

God can use anybody from the society to fulfill his plans, and they need not be accepted by the society. Even at the cross, Jesus saved the thief who was remorseful. Jesus honored the sinful Mary Magadelene as well as the woman who was accused of adultery. Take heart then, if you are in a situation being rejected by your family, friends and the society. God can give you a brand new life if you decide to follow Him!

Life's purposes from Bible characters

1. The purpose of John the Baptist's life was to reveal Jesus to the world. He fulfilled it through baptizing Him
2. The purpose of Apostle Paul's life was to proclaim the gospel to the jews and the gentiles. He did this successfully and was able to say that "I finished the race"
3. The purpose of Jesus's 12 disciples (of course Judas failed in this and was doomed) was to take the gospel throughout the world. They indeed went throughout the world proclaiming it and were martyred.
4. The purpose of Moses's life was to lead the Israelites out of Egypt to Canaan and proclaim the Ten commandments. He did not enter Cannan because of an act of small disobedience but passed on the Ten commandments to the people of Israel
5. The purpose of Abraham's life was to help God bring out the promised inheritance by giving birth to Isaac. Abraham was successful in this even though he had his own doubts about giving birth to a son in ripe old age.
6. The purpose of David's life was to serve as a starting point to the lineage of Jesus and build God's temple at Jerusalem. He failed in the later purpose as his hands shed innocent blood, and his son Solomon fulfilled it.

These are the primary purposes of their lives according to me. I will continue with the life purposes of other characters in the Bible in the next post. The idea is to analyze and see if we are on course with the purpose for which God created us.

Three things to learn from the miracle at Cana

The miracle at Cana teaches us the following things
1. Water and stone jars are such ordinary things. But, Jesus used them to bring out the best tasting wine which amazed the master of ceremonies. The same can be applied to our lives. We may be just insignificant and worthless in the eyes of the world. But, we need to always remember that Jesus can change our lives into an extraordinary one for the benefit of those around us.
2. Jesus tells His mother that His appointed time has not yet come to do a miracle. But, Mary doesn't listen to that and went on instructing the servants to do what Jesus would say and Jesus obliged. Jesus could have easily revolted and put Mary to utmost shame. But, the greatness of our Saviour is such that He never lets anyone down, even when people go against Him
3. This miracle helped Jesus to reveal His glory and His disciples started to trust in Him. The same Jesus can do miracles in our lives today to reveal His glory and to increase our faith.

The valley experience in a Christian life

"One sees great things from the valley; only small things from the peak." - G.K Chesterton

There is a profound meaning hidden in this quote. We sometimes question God on why we feel low, saddened, depressed, helpless when situations bring us down to our lowest possible state. The question is this...Do you want to see great things or small things?

From a mountain peak, you could see only small things as the grandeur of the mountain hides everything, but if you venture to a valley, you could see everything "big". Why? because you have reached the lowest possible state, and everything is clear in front of you.

In life there will be times when you feel like you are at the top of the world. Praise God during that time. When you are down and depressed, thank God even more because He wants to see you bigger things which others would miss out. Job's valley experience made him realize the greatness of God and so it was with Jacob, David, Abraham, Moses and every other saint in the Bible. They saw the greatness of God in their walk through the valley.

Today, you might be going through a great turmoil inside, but outside you may look alright. Call unto God and ask Him to show you greater things in your life. May God bless you!

The Power of Christian fellowships

The real depth of a Christian living lies in the fellowship of believers. I don't know how many of us really understand the importance of fellowships. We should never forget that we have been united in Christ as one body. I can think of the following fellowships that are very common and well known to us.

1. Fellowship between family members and relatives. This could be our daily gathering at home for prayer and Bible reading, or a weekly gathering in a relative or friend's home
2. Fellowship in the local church. This comprises of the youth, women, men and the other fellowships that happen after the church service.
3. Independent fellowships outside the church. This could be at the workplace, hospitals and other places where people gather during the weekdays, maybe during their lunch break.
4. Fellowships in various missionary organizations. This is where people involved with the missionary organizations, gather in small groups at various places, preferably near to their home.

To me, one should be part of at least two of the fellowships mentioned above. I would say point 1 is mandatory, and we can choose another one from among the other three options. In Matthew 18:19, 20 Jesus says "19 Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven" 20" For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them"

If we go through the New Testament, and for that matter even in the Old Testament, we could see how fellowships played a key role in strengthening the believers in various ways. A good fellowship would root us deep in the word of God, encourage us to pray for each other and for all the community needs, provide an opportunity to share our testimonies for the glory of God, group together and undertake some initiatives that would benefit the community, fight for the cause of the oppressed and the deprived etc. We could include more points to this list, that would help one to grow more in the Lord, have a great relationship with fellow believers, and work towards that betterment of the community.

I strongly think that there is a huge need for each of us to be involved in fellowships and actively participate in it. The spiritual dryness that we tend to face quite often could be overcome by the sharing and caring that takes place when we meet as a group. When the fellowships are strong, the local church will be strong and when the church is strong, many marvellous things can be accomplished for Christ through His body. Let us not underestimate the remarkable power of the fellowships.

The End of the Old, and the Beginning of the New - Don't miss out

I was reading through Viktor Frankl's famous book "Man's search for meaning", which contains a gripping account of the cruel persecution meted out to the jews by the Nazi regime during the Holocaust. Millions of innocent jews were plundered by the Nazis for a very strange reason that is to "stop the jews from gaining prominence in world affairs" especially in the German state.
Millions of innocent people including children and pregnant women were massacred in the cruelest way by being fed into the gas chambers that were waiting to choke and devour them. Yes, it was one of the greatest tragedies that would bring out a few tears if not more from anyone who would think about it with an emotional connect.
Hold on, I want to take you to yet another gruelling death which another Jew, the One who was THE representative of the entire mankind underwent at Golgotha, a place just outside Jerusalem. The reason for this death, fellow jews could not tolerate Jesus claiming to be the Messiah and God whom they were anticipating for a long time according to what was foretold by the prophets throughout the ages. They were anticipating that the Messiah would come and put an end to all their miseries.
It was an extraordinary death for an extraordinary Person, who was born with only one purpose in His life, that is to "die for the sins of mankind". But, why should someone die to save us from sin? Wasn't there any other option for God to handle this, rather than deciding Himself to come into this world in the flesh and subjecting Himself to be crucified?
God created human beings with only one purpose - "To live with Him for eternity and to enjoy His fellowship". That means, when God created Adam and Eve, they were destined to live forever along with God. They were part of a family with God as their head, a happy and satisfied family, one should say. A perfect state of affairs without any immorality, disease, death and most importantly, a state without sin.
The greatest tragedy was that Adam and Eve lost this state of paradise by giving themselves up to the guile and deceit of the evil one. The plan of God was thwarted by the devil. It was a rebellion that started in the garden of Eden where mankind chose to misuse the free will that was granted to them. The reason - They wanted instant knowledge to know everything that only the infinite wisdom of God could comprehend. Lucifer tricked them saying that he would help them to attain it.
As a result of this tragedy, mankind was subjected to two kinds of death; moral and physical. The privilege to live forever in this world without facing death was lost along with the ability to be in relationship with God - A terrible dual blow was inflicted by the devil on that eventful day in the garden of Eden.
But, God is full of love, He could not bear this agony of losing the fellowship of His children. But, there was one thing that prevented Him to get things back immediately, His nature of a righteous judge. He would not do anything outside His judicial framework by giving heed to his feelings.
God took one important decision on that day, He resolved to get back His children through an act which human mind cannot comprehend. God challenged the devil that in due course of time, he would be wiped off, step by step.  He phased the entire plan in four important steps
1. Coming into this world in flesh through a virgin - Christmas
2. Giving up His life on the cross - Good Friday
3. Taking His life back again and going up to Heaven - Easter
4. Coming back from Heaven to collect back His children - Second coming and judgement
It is the second step that we are dealing with here today. The innocent blood of Jesus had to be shed on the cross for the mankind to connect back to God. This was inevitable and Jesus perfectly fulfilled this plan in front of the jeering Roman soldiers - God will never turn back from His plan, Isn't He?
The death of Jesus on the cross cancelled the death sentence for sin that was looming large over the mankind. The foolish act of Adam and Eve were neutralised by the sacrifice of their Maker. Now, we are taken back to the original state which Adam and Eve had before the fall. But, there is one requirement, simple and profound - Anyone who wants to get back into a relationship with God and live for eternity should "believe" that He died and rose again for two things as follows
1. He died to cancel the debt of sin and reconciling us back to Him
2. He rose again to give us the eternal life
Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Atheists and everyone who live on this earth "must" believe these absolute facts to become "Children of God". It is an offer that is still open and can be claimed by a simple act confession through faith. It can be done wherever you are without subjecting to any gruesome rituals.
May I request you to try this offer by doing the following
1. Realize your moral condition - So many corrupt thoughts, temptations, illicit relationships, greed, jealousy etc
2. Realize that there is life after death - The physical death on this earth is not the end. There is hope that is offered by Jesus.
3. Realize your need for God, the true One and offer yourself to relate back to Him by saying the following prayer from the bottom of your heart with true repentance and utter each word from the depth of your heart, soul and spirit.
"Father, I know that I have broken your laws and my sins have separated me from you. I am truly sorry, and now I want to turn away from my past sinful life toward you. Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again. I believe that your son, Jesus Christ died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer. I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of my life. In Jesus' name, I pray, Amen."
If you had sincerely offered this prayer, I am sure that you are at peace with God and your life now. It doesn't matter if you are a traditional Christian or an atheist or somebody who belong to any other religion; It doesn't matter at all for the Bible says clearly "All have sinned and are short of the Glory of God" and "There is no one who is right, not even one". God's offer of salvation and hope is still open, and why don't we try it this time?
Good Friday, is not a day to be mourning, rather a day where we need to reflect and align ourselves with the plan of God. It has everything to do with the inside, rather than mere observance of the tradition. God Bless You!

Daniel character study - part 4

This is the last part of this series on the study of Daniel's character. If you would like to take a look at the earlier postings on this series, please refer the below links

Part 1 - http://www.seeklifepurpose.org/2015/02/daniel-character-study-part-1.html
Part 2 - http://www.seeklifepurpose.org/2015/02/daniel-character-study-part-2.html
Part 3 - http://www.seeklifepurpose.org/2015/02/daniel-character-study-part-3.html

We will base today's study on chapter 6, and this chapter conveys one of the most daring acts of Daniel. Now, Darius is the king, the third king to reign during Daniel's life after Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar. Darius seems to be good in terms of his governance, as we see him dividing his kingdom into 120 provinces and appointing officials to govern each of these provinces. Surely, the account that we see about Darius seems to show us that he is a better king than Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar as the earlier two were very haughty and may be very self seeking.

Daniel's capability

Darius made Daniel and two others as administrators to oversee the other  officials who were appointed over the 120 provinces. It should be because Darius saw Daniel as a very capable person, and he lived according to the expectations of the king as we see in verse 3 "Daniel soon proved himself more capable than all the other administrators and high officers. Because of Daniel’s great ability, the king made plans to place him over the entire empire." 

This very clearly shows that Daniel had a complete personality when we consider his character as a whole through our previous episodes of study. He was God fearing, fearless, tactful, diplomatic and highly capable. It is a mixture of all these qualities that helped Daniel to succeed in front of kings, and here we see that he was about to be elevated to head the entire empire, a true testament to his ability. We should remind ourselves that we should  be doing our professional responsibilities in an impeccable manner, as God is very much interested in such qualities.

Many of us think that it is enough to have faith in God alone, and everything will fall in place. This is a wrong attitude, as God expects us to apply all the wisdom and knowledge that He gives, into our day to day responsibilities.

Daniel's colleagues scheming against him 

Now we come to the most important event in Daniel's life. We should be thinking that Daniel had a very smooth life after his initial exploits. But, let us see a major trial that he underwent for no fault of his. Daniel's counterparts could not tolerate his scintillating rise through the ranks of the kingdom governance. Moreover, they could not find any fault with Daniel's professional dealings, as we see in verse 4 "Then the other administrators and high officers began searching for some fault in the way Daniel was handling government affairs, but they couldn’t find anything to criticize or condemn. He was faithful, always responsible, and completely trustworthy."

Now, as they could not find any fault on Daniel's professional front, they sought to frame him through his religious beliefs, a cowardly act we should say. Daniel was on the verge of being tested for his unflinching devotion to his God. In verse 5, we see the other administrators scheming among themselves to frame Daniel on the grounds of his religious principles, one which was more vulnerable those days, and no wonder it still remains as a strong ground for persecution even today. We could see this happening to many God fearing and sincere officers everywhere in the world.

King trying to save Daniel

To cut the long story short, the administrators forced the king to issue an order to throw anyone who doesn't worship the king into a den of lions. The king was not at all happy to do this, as he knew that the true and living God was with Daniel, a truth which even Pilate knew when he hesitated to crucify Jesus. On both the occasions, the evil men prevailed over justice by their oppressive voices, and the rulers could not do much about it.

Finally, the king agreed to throw Daniel into the den of lions, and they bound Daniel tightly and threw him away into the cage where those ferocious creatures were waiting to prey upon him. But, the king was restless and he could not sleep. This would be the case for any ruler who plays to people's demands and does injustice to His chosen ones.

Daniel is saved from the lions

The king rushes to the den the next morning, and gasping for breath shouts in anguish and checks whether Daniel was still alive. There came Daniel's reply, "Yes King, I am alive and my God sent His angels to save me". The king was overjoyed and he praised God for saving Daniel, and towards the end of the chapter we see Daniel prospering during the reign of the king. All his enemies were thrown into the same den, and the Bible says that even before they touched the ground, the lions ripped them apart. This is what would happen to anyone who schemes against the truthful servants of God. Let us always be brave and bold, and always be in remembrance of the fact that we serve a living God.

Chapter 7 onward, we could see Daniel's visions and dreams, which provide a very important foresight into the new testament revelations.

Daniel Character study - Part 3

This is the third part of the character study of Daniel. The first two parts can be read using the following links

Part 1 - http://www.seeklifepurpose.org/2015/02/daniel-character-study-part-1.html
Part 2 - http://www.seeklifepurpose.org/2015/02/daniel-character-study-part-2.html

We will base our study for today on Daniel chapter 5. Towards the end of the 4th chapter we see that Nebuchadnezzar returned to his senses, and he praised and glorified the Lord. In the 5th chapter, we see that Belshazzar has replaced Nebuchadnezzar, and he also seems to be a wicked king as he wanted to use the vessels taken from the temple in Jerusalem to drink wine with his nobles, wives and concubines. We see that while they were drinking, a human hand wrote something on the wall, and the king was terrified and wanted to know what was written there.

The king summoned the enchanters, astrologers and fortune-tellers and declared three rewards for the one who could explain the writing. The rewards consisted of a purple robe, golden chain, and the third highest position in the kingdom. It was a fascinating set of rewards for anyone. The summoned folks could not explain anything about the writing, and hence Daniel was again summoned by the king, and he asked him to help in understanding the writing.

The king was trying to motivate and entice Daniel by informing about the rewards upfront, but Daniel gave an amazing reply to the king as we see in 5: 17 "Keep your gifts or give them to someone else, but I will tell you what the writing means".

Yes, Daniel always chose to honor God instead of seeking rewards from people who were in fact defiling God. This is a very important lesson for us, as we should be ready to forfeit anything that would bring down the glory of God.

We see Daniel boldly speaking to the king about his predecessor Nebuchadnezzar's sufferings for being proud, and also charges king Belshazzar of pride, a very daring act indeed. This could be found from verses 18 to 24. One very important thing to notice here is that Daniel's attitude was the same in front of both the kings.

He was not scared perturbed before the kings as he knew God was with him. In verse 25, we see Daniel  explaining the meaning of the writing, and the king honored Daniel with all the three rewards as he had announced. Now, Daniel became the third highest ruler in the kingdom, a God given position for an amazing man of God. What a lesson for us to understand that if we choose to honor God, and keep Him first in everything, He will make us sit before kings and rulers!. Chapter 5 ends with the death of king Belshazzar.

Daniel character study - part 2

Let us continue with our study of the character of this wonderful God fearing man, Daniel. For part 1 of the study, please refer here

Chapter 3 doesn't speak of anything about Daniel, as it revolves around Daniel's God fearing friends Shadraach, Meshaach and Abed Nego. We will base today's study on chapter 4, where Nebuchadnezzar is confronted with another dream.

It is very encouraging to see the way the character of Daniel is recorded in the Bible in the most realistic form as possible. Chapter 4:19 shows that Daniel had all the normal human emotions as we have. Here we see that he was scared once he listened to Nebuchadnezzar's dream. He should have been afraid on two things here. One, on the things that were going to happen to Nebuchadnezzar, and two, on how he is going to convey about these dreadful things to the king.

Tactful handling

It is very interesting to see how Daniel handled this difficult situation. Towards the end of verse 19, we see Daniel wisely saying to the king that he wished the events in the dream happens to the king's enemies. And, as Nebuchadnezzar was already perplexed by the dream, Daniel in a masterful way slowly conveys the reality to the king straight on his face. We see in verse 22, where Daniel says "That tree, your Majesty is you", and through verses 24 and 25, he communicates everything very straightforward about the dream.

In verse 27, in a daring act of boldness, Daniel confronts the king in a way, as only people of the likes of Elijah, Moses and John, the Baptist could do. The true prophets of God speak the mind of God, never worrying about their recognition or safety. We are left astonished to see Daniel saying "King Nebuchadnezzar, please accept my advice. Stop sinning and do what is right. Break from your wicked past and be merciful to the poor. Perhaps then you will continue to prosper"

This shows that we should be very diplomatic and wise when conveying details to others regarding their affairs, and at the same time should convey it in a direct and helpful manner without beating around the bush.

We will continue with the study of this fascinating man of God in the next post.

Daniel Character study - Part 1

I am basing this study on the chapters 1 and 2 from the book of Daniel (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Daniel+1&version=NLT)

I would request you to read through the passage, to understand this better. This is not an exhaustive study, but one which I hope would give us a glimpse into the character, attitude and the personality of Daniel.

A zealous stand for God:

Verse 1:8 "Daniel was determined not to defile himself by eating the food and wine given to them by the king". We see that Daniel was ready to take a stand for God in the most unfavorable conditions. He refused the royal food offered by the king. This could be due to his thinking that it would have been defiled, because of being offered to Pagan Gods, and also he wanted to set an example for his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah to follow, which later induced them to be zealous for God. Would we be in a position to deny the pleasures of this world, if we see the potential danger of defiling the name of God through our actions?

A diplomatic deliberation :

Daniel was very diplomatic in dealing with the situation, as he didn't do anything foolishly and in a haste. He approached the chief of the staff, and put forth his request in a very amicable way. He was also very clever to negotiate with the chief of the staff and his attendant to supply him and his friends with vegetables and water for 10 days. A very viable option, isn't it?. He was confident on God's ways and at the same time, he had concern on the King's staff too, as they would be subjected to punishment from the king for acting against his orders of offering food and wine. Verse 9 is very important as it says that God gave Daniel grace and favor in the eyes of the chief of staff. Why? Because Daniel was bold enough to take a stand for God.

Verse 21 says that Daniel remained in the royal service till the first year of the reign of King Cyrus, and hence we can understand that Daniel should have been very sincere in his work too.

An unflinching trust in God

In the 2nd chapter, we read about Nebuchadnezzar's dream and the inability of his wise men and sorcerers to interpret it. As the king ordered all the wise men to be put to death, Daniel was also on the verge of execution. But, he was not disturbed by it, as he knew that the God whom he served would be able to give him information about the king's dream and the interpretation of it. See, this requires extreme faith in the abilities of God, and only a person who knows God personally can think like this.

Collaborative instinct

Daniel was always accommodating his friends in whatever he did. In chapter 2:17, we see that he asked his friends to join him in asking God to reveal the dream. He knew the power of prayer, when two or three gathered in "His" name. A great reminder for us to accommodate other in God's work.

Thankful heart

Daniel thanked God after the dream was revealed to him. Verses 20 to 23 show the amazing thanksgiving prayer that he prayed with an attitude of gratitude towards God.

Selfless nature

In verse 30, Daniel says to Nebuchadnezzar, that it was not as he was wiser or special, that God chose to reveal the dream to him, but the most important thing is that God wanted to reveal the dream and its meaning to the king through someone, and he chose Daniel for that. Daniel know that everything happened through God's plan and for God's glory, and he was just used as an instrument.

We will continue with the other details of Daniel's character in the next post.

The rich man vs Zaccheaus

The rich man in the Bible was confident that his strict observance of the traditions would save him, but Jesus asked him to sell all his "possessions" (things that are surplus than what is needed to live) and give it to the poor, and thus he will have treasures in heaven. You know what, the rich man was not ready to part with his possessions, and thus cannot be saved. Today, we have so many "possessions" that are very close to our hearts and we are not ready to part with them. We want to hold on desperately to them. It could be our ego, pride, materialistic ambitions, religious superiority, spiritual pride, traditional reliance and so many other planks that keep us away from really being saved. Would we think about this for a moment, and analyze our lives?.

There was another man called Zacchaeus, who had the desire to follow Jesus, and more importantly was ready to give back all his "possessions" (what he unlawfully grabbed from them) to the poor. He was saved on that very day.

Are we ready to completely surrender "everything" to Jesus?

Being sincere in small things

We all want to accomplish big things in life. We desperately plan for many endeavors, to carve out an identity for ourselves through them. Though effort is a vital part of success, attitude is even important. The question to ask ourselves is this, would we show the same intensity and focus in the smaller things of our life as well?.

 Be it those menial errands that we are expected to do at our home, or those responsible tasks that we have been entrusted with at our workplace. It could be with things even as simple as paying our bills, managing our accounts, honoring a commitment with a friend. In all these things, we could be lethargic or procrastinate and both are equally bad. We should never take anything for granted and be thankful to God for giving it to us, when there are millions of others to take care of it.

Luke 16 : 10-12 goes like this "10 If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.
 11 And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? 
12 And if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own?"

Let us analyze our lives and see if we are faithful in whatever we do, and let us take sincere effort to fix those areas where we are not doing as our Lord wants us to do. Always remember that the first step needs to be taken in order to accomplish a journey of thousand miles.

The inward change and the outward radiance

A new year, and a new chance. It is a special feeling to cross from one year to another, and that too in the midst of all the chaos happening all over the world. The terrorist attacks, the accidents, the natural calamities and the dreaded diseases all around, makes us to wonder as to why God should protect us from all these, when thousands of people, better than us in all aspects are snapped away from this world in a whisker.

We will be the biggest fools if we think that we continue to live in this world because of our goodness and our intelligence. It is worthwhile to think about the long suffering nature of God, and His grace that has spared us from a possible end to our earthly life, and thus offering a hope to change for good.

Yes, it is another chance that God gives us in His sovereignty so that we draw closer to Him, and do start doing His will on this earth. We speak about changing the society and the culture, At times, we even go to the extent of fighting evil tooth for tooth, and fist for fist. We think we can change every single thing by our own strength and efforts without recognizing the implicit danger of us being swindled away from God, as we start giving more importance to our cause than for God.

The first and foremost transformation that should take place is inside us. We should be regenerated in our spirits. Assurance of salvation is still a question mark for many. Once we are transformed, our renewed nature will force our family members to shift their thinking towards us, and thereby they will be transformed. This then permeates to the society and out to everywhere. People will be attracted to Christ through our actions, and by the way we portray Christ through our personal, family and professional lives.

If you are a slacker in your job, though you speak hours about Christ, nobody would care to listen. If you are not in good terms with your family members, none of your neighbors would be interested in our preaching and our efforts to proclaim Christ. This new year, I would request each of you reading this to give real importance to the following three points.

1. Are you really saved? Try to answer this question from the bottom of your heart. If you still continue to hold on to those secret sins, then you need to repent and come back to God
2. How is your relationship with your spouse and other family members? Is there somebody that you have hurt so much, that you need to apologize to them, or is there someone who has hurt and you need to forgive them?
3. What is your attitude towards your work? Do you treat your work as a blessing from God, and do everything as if doing for Him?

God is as interested in even the smallest of the things in our life to see if we are faithful to Him. If we fail in these small things, we can be sure that God is not interested in giving us higher responsibilities whether in ministry or in the secular world. Will we think and change this year?