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I had an interesting conversation with on of my friends a few years back. The discussion was about Jesus. It is apparently the most controversial topic one can discuss with a friend. There are many reasons for this controversy and I will be addressing each one of them in the coming days. Here is the first part of the controversy.

My friend believes that Jesus cannot be the only way to Heaven and I believe that without Jesus, no one, including myself, can get to heaven. Ah! That’s a perfect recipe for argument. The controversy started when she realised she would be at risk if it was true if Jesus was the only way. Well, she thought it wasn’t fair for only Christians to reach heaven. After all, every Muslim and Hindu and Sikh had the same right to enter Heaven. I agree and disagree! I agree that all of us want to enter Heaven (I believe there is Heaven) but I disagree that you and I have the right to enter Heaven. The truth of the day is, none of us have the RIGHT to enter Heaven. We are all disqualified. Another point that she did not seem to understand was that she was looking at Jesus as a Christian. It is strange how man has been successful in attributing religion to even God. Jesus is universal. He is as much as to a Christian as to a Hindu or a Muslim. Jesus did not say “I came to seek the Christian”. If He did, I wouldn’t follow Him. He instead said, “I came to seek the lost”. How profound!

Okay I get it. You say that you aren’t lost and so Jesus did not come seeking you. Well, let’s just assume we are all trying find our way to Heaven. Some are even trying to find out if there is Heaven. In a sense, we are all in a quest to find the truth. We are kind of lost, unsure of whether we are headed in the right direction or not. The good news is that someone is seeking us to take us to the right place. That someone is Jesus. He came seeking you and me, who are groping around in the dark trying to find the way. He knows that it is too much for us to find our own way and thus decided to help us by reaching out to us. Jesus isn’t the God of Christians. He is the universal Saviour, the only Saviour and Hope for the lost mankind. When we take out Jesus from the Christian formula, the controversy kind of vanishes.

Stop placing Jesus into the Christian box and let Him be the Lord of your life!

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Wish you a blessed 2012!

Daisies along the pathway

God loves to talk to us and He talks only when we listen. He can talk to you just as He talks to any great prophet or a great man of God. The first step to hear God is to believe that God loves you as much as He loved the saints in the Bible. Listing to God speak requires faith and if you do not have faith, you can never hear God.

I for one always thought that God speaks to special people, people who are prophets, who know the scriptures by heart, who pray and fast all the time, who sing great and accomplish great things for God. I always had a little confidence in God willing to talk to me directly. I always had the  ”God can talk to me but I am not worthy enough” attitude. This led me to seek other people to intercede for me, asking someone else to pray for me. I always kept seeking others’ help to get me closer to God.

This kept happening until a couple of weeks back when I had the impression in my heart that God was willing to talk me directly. I brushed the thought away but my heart said God wanted to talk to me directly. As I walked that morning to work, all worried about the day’s trouble, I had no pleasant thoughts, nothing that would bring joy to my heart. I monotonously walked through the road as the wind blew past me, making me shiver with fear, doubt, worry and confusion. Just as I walked without any specific thought in my but definitely not in the best of my moods, I saw the beautiful white daisies sprinkled along either side of the path way. Immediately the following verse rang in my heart

“28 See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. ³⁰ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you” – Matthew 6:28-30

I brushed aside the tiny tear drop and then walked ahead with more determination, stuffing my head into more worry and fear and confusion. I reached work, well ahead of time. I wanted to work but my mind just wouldn’t listen to my command. “All right!”, I said out loud. “I just can’t take it anymore. I can’t work like this!”. I closed my work and opened WWW.CBN.COM, one of my favourite Christian sites. I decided to read the daily devotional titled “Weeding out fear“. I casually read through until I found this verse engraved within lines:

“And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?” Matthew 6:30

Uncontrollable tears rolled down my face, for at that moment I realized His love for me… His unconditional love with which He resolved to bring hope to me that day. Not through a prophet or through a friend praying for me but He in person talking to me through His living Word.

God speaks through His Word and to believe in voice, you need to believe in His Word and in His love for your. Have faith, God can talk to you today!

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I have heard many say that God answers in 3 different ways – ‘yes’, ‘no’, ‘not yet’. The answers ‘yes’ and ‘no’ are easy to comprehend. Although a ‘no’ from God can bring temporary pain, it is at least better than waiting without and answer! I have the experience of  getting ‘no’ as an answer for my prayers. I have asked God why, but He replies with “My grace is sufficient for you” or “Trust me.. I know best”. I have always felt comfortable with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ but ‘not yet’ always makes me feel uncomfortable.

I have been in situations where God had asked me to wait. I go to Him for help and He tells me ‘Wait, your time hasn’t come.” I ask Him “How long Lord”, for which, He tells me, “Your days are in my Hand. Your time hasn’t come”. I then start thinking that maybe, just maybe, I am outside His will and maybe my prayers aren’t right. Maybe that is why I do not get an answer. He answers with a smile and tells me, “You are well within My will, my beloved. I make you wait on a purpose. I make you wait so that you can grow and start trusting Me completely.’

Oh, Now I get it!! When I turn back and look, every time I have waited, I have had bloomed and blossomed. Waiting has produced beautiful virtues – patience, perseverance, faith… Waiting has taught me to trust God alone,  to let go of all human help, to not lean on my own understanding and knowledge. He makes me wait till I humble myself before the Lord, willing to be led, willing to surrender, willing to sacrifice.

‘Not yet’ is the most beautiful answer to a prayer. It means God cares for you and He is waiting for just that perfect moment – when the self dies and God’s glory shines through the answered prayer.

Gates to green park – Buckingham Palace

It’s been a long time having written any posts to my blog. Having got a leisure Sunday, I did not want to miss the opportunity to write few interesting things that I have encountered in my walk with the Lord.

In the past few months, according to James 4:8, I have drawn closer to God and God has been faithful in drawing close to me. I can call that I am in God’s training camp, as God teaches me how to experience His presence and how to hear His still small voice. It has been a faith exercise and I am glad God has started this with me. God has been good to me and He keeps telling me that He loves me. He tells me He is passionate about me. Is that something to boast about, or is that an achievement? No. The truth is God loves everyone the same way. He is passionate about each and every person in this world. He would go to any ends, to reveal His love to us, if only we are willing to accept the love He is willing to offer us. It is matter of how much we are willing to let God into our lives. I have come to know that God loves to take up the seat of honour in our lives, if and only if we give Him honour and love Him more than anything else in the world. If we decide not to let Him into our personal lives, God also knows to step down from His seat of honour and take a back seat… I have realized that giving God the best seat doesn’t only make Him happy, but also makes our life more complete. I want to share with you one such God encounter, where God gladly took His seat of honour, filled me with complete joy, a joy that no human tongue can ever explain.

It was a damp day in England – steady showers, and I knew the weather was bad for going out. But I resolved to go out anyway. It was my first planned to visit famous places in England and I wouldn’t let the weather steal my plan away. That morning, during my daily prayer, I said “Lord, I want you in every part of my life, in every area of my life. I want you even in my recreation, my hobbies and my fun. Come with me as I go out today and bless my day.”

I went to Buckingham palace, the royal palace of the queen of England.  A beautiful place with many gigantic statues and huge gates. The rain was gentle and steady, making it impossible to stand without an umbrella. But I was determined to make the most of the trip anyway. I started walking around, inspecting every little thing and standing under each and every statue to study its beauty, size and the intricate details. Later, I walked along the green park that has huge gates. The gates were painted in black, with many intricate carvings, painted or gilded in gold. The carvings mostly represented angels, cherubs, lions, flowers, vines, royal crown and the things of the like. I was amazed by the detailed carving, a work of art in itself. Just when I came to one of those beautiful gates, I exclaimed within myself, “Wow! Amazing!” and immediately heard a still small voice that said, “Are you amazed at this? What will you say if you saw the gates in Heaven?” I started praising God, singing songs of joy. The joy within me was so complete, so soft, so soothing, so real, so unbelievably good. This God encounter made one thing clear – God loves to be part of everything in our lives, even recreation, and enjoys to reveal Himself to us. The challenge is, are we willing to seek His love and presence?

Image by JaulaDeArdilla via Flickr

 

One of my friends recently got hurt by her own sister. She felt betrayed and she was in tears. “How could she do that to me? Doesn’t she love me? This isn’t the first time she is doing this. She does this all the time and I end up forgiving her. This time I do not want to forgive her. What she has done to me is beyond forgiveness.” Her hurt and emotions were natural and justified. She had every right to hate her sister. She was betrayed and she felt hurt. From every point of view, her anger seemed right and I couldn’t say a word. In fact, I felt the same anger inside. I could feel the heat. I felt she shouldn’t forgive her sister for the way she had wronged her. After all, this wasn’t the first time, she had been 

 Perhaps Peter felt the same way. In Matthew 18:21 we read about Peter’s question to Jesus on forgiveness.

Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?”

Maybe Peter thought his Lord would be happy if he could just forgive seven times. Maybe Peter was betrayed by his brother or sister many times and he had this question nagging in his head- “How many times do I forgive my brother? He just doesn’t deserve it. I’ll ask the Lord. I bet He will be happy if I could just forgive 7 times. After all, 7 isn’t a bad number, is it?”

What did the Lord say? Read Matthew 18:22

“No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!”

What did Jesus mean by seventy times seven? Are we to count till we reach the seventy times seven and then step back and say, hey brother, I have reached my target. This is it. I am not going to fogive you anymore? No! Jesus meant forgive as long as you live. Just as your Heavenly Father is merciful, be merciful to your neighbours, your friends, your brothers and sisters. I have seen many people who attend the church, who sing praises to God, who tithe, who lift their hands in prayer, who claim themselves to be “righteous” , fail in just one thing – “Forgiveness”. They do not want to forgive those who wrong them. How can they expect God to forgive their sins without willing to forgive their brother or sister?

 Matthew 18:35 says

“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

Before you go before God for forgiveness, forgive your brother. God expects that! My friend is reconcilled to her sister – again and she is happy she forgave her. She feels a heavy load off her shoulders.

On 24th, right from 3:00 PM the YMCA Royapettah ground started filling with enthusiastic people of all age. The crowd was electrifying and Don Moen personally felt that the audience was amazing. Don Moen and his team played many of their popular numbers including – Give thanks, God will make a way, God is God, Mi Corazon,  Be Magnified, Shout to the Lord and many more.

On 25th, the worship seminar was a peep into the Don Moen band. They taught us on how to approach worship and how to form a band that is God centered and that can connect to the audience. Don Moen kept the crowd enthralled with his interesting personal experiences. The each of the band member shared how they approach worship and what makes a successful worship band.

The heat was scorching, and both the band and the audience were drenched in sweat, however, the concert was a huge success. Glory be to God!

Note: The photos have been used from the official Don Moen at Chennai site.

In my previous post, I wrote on how Peter became the only other man in human history, besides Jesus, to walk on water and how all the other disciples missed out on a wonderful opportunity. In this post, I wanted to remind you that “Off the Boat” approach is one of God’s favorite approach and that we need to be prepared, when God calls us to walk on the waters.

In the recent past, I have come across many Christians who seem to have restricted God and have become comfortable in the cozy little boat. One Christian remarked, “All that sounds great, but this doesn’t sound practical. I do not want to do anything that is not practical. ‘Spirituality is practicality.’” This is now the new tag-line for many Christians. In essence, people have come to believe that “because walking on water is not practical, it is not possible and thus, stay back in that old boat”. I decided to ponder on that tag-line for sometime and find out what God wanted to tell me. I ended up collecting so many Biblical incidents that contradict the “Spirituality is practicality” tag-line. Here we go:

1. Practically speaking, Noah should have done what the popular majority did. Instead, he built a huge ark and ended up saving his entire family and the entire animal kingdom. All the humans existing today are descendants of Noah!

2. Practically speaking, Abraham shouldn’t have left his kith and kin and moved on to a foreign land. He obeyed God’s voice and became the father of a huge nation.

3. Practically speaking, Moses should have been killed with all the other male children. His mother decided to go against practicality and hid Moses. Moses later saved the entire nation from slavery.

4. Practically speaking, Moses should have stayed back as the king of Egypt, but forsook his kingdom for the sake of his people. He ended up being called the “Friend of God” and the biggest prophet ever in the Biblical History.

5. Practically speaking, David should have stayed a shepherd boy, but he, with the power of God, decided to overcome Goliath. He ended up becoming Israel’s King.

6. Practically speaking, Mary should not have accepted to bear a child when she was still a virgin and betrothed to a handsome young man. She went against the popular view, conceived before marriage, and ended becoming the mother of the Messiah.

7. Practically speaking, Joseph should have rejected Mary for getting conceived outside marriage. He followed God’s command and took Mary to be his wife. He is remembered to this day, as the Messiah’s earthly father.

8. Practically speaking, the disciples shouldn’t have left behind their livelihood to follow Jesus. They did, and ended up becoming the trusted friends of the Messiah and the messengers of Good News.

9. Practically speaking, Peter should have stayed back in that boat, but he gave up his comfort and ended up being the only other man in human history to walk on water.

10. Practically speaking, Jesus Christ shouldn’t have accepted to take up the cross for the corrupt human beings. He decided to come down to earth to redeem filthy sinners like us. He shed His blood and died and then rose up from the dead on the 3rd day. He is the most popular personality in the history and the Only One who can be called Redeemer and Savior. He sits on the right Hand of the Father.

There are many other “out of the boat” incidents in the Bible, but to list them would be like re-writing the entire Bible. All the Biblical heroes have done out of the boat stuff to get their names on the Bible. Dear friend, are you hesitant or afraid to take a step of faith? Open your Bible and look at the Biblical heroes. They took the risk and went out of the normal. They did not think about practicality! They thought about what God can do, not what they can do.  It is easy to swim with the current. No faith is required to do that. Stretch your faith and try to swim against the popular current. Do what the Lord has called you to do. The Lord is faithful to keep you safe even if you walk on the waters. Now please stop being practical and get off that boat!!!

Peter set his foot on the raging waters and walked as if he was walking on dry ground. Peter became the only person, other than Jesus, the Son of God, to walk on water.

How often do you get out of that boat and do the unthinkable with faith? Or do you get comfortable with the old rugged boat when God has a higher purpose for your life? You get too concerned about what little you have, that you stop seeing the bigger picture. The other 11 disciples had the same opportunity as Peter, but they wouldn’t get out of their comfort zone. Peter stepped out in faith, while the other’s sat there thinking about practicality. We are like the other 11 disciples most of the times. We think about practicality instead of thinking about God’s purpose for our lives. We lock ourselves and our God into a box and claim that we are being practical. If we have faith, we can defy practicality just like Peter. Besides, its better to be on the water with Jesus than to be inside the “safe” boat without Jesus. Has God given you a purpose or has He called you to do an ”out of the boat” thing? Don’t hesitate! Get off that boat right now!

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