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Yoked to Jesus

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“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” †  Mathew 11: 28-30  What is the labour and burden that Jesus is asking me to deal with? Perhaps I have to let go of the compulsive burden (or is it a sort of entitlement?) that my spouse and children should choose a spiritual path that I know to be right. Jesus accompanied Judas Iscariot to the very end but never deprived him of his freedom to choose his own destiny. Jesus on the other hand, uninterrupted by Judas's choice to reject him, continues to accomplish his mission. He does become a victim of Judas's betrayal but he seldom takes on the victim's identity. In divine wisdom, Jesus chooses to die in our place (and that of Judas) in a redeeming act of love. Rather than being compelled to fix those whom God has entrusted to my headship by m

I never knew you

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Prophesying, casting out demons and working miracles are signs of a true Christian. Jesus said these signs will follow those who believe (Mark 16:17-18). Yet in Mathew 7:22-23, we confront an angry, unruly Jesus who declares to the many believers who performed these signs in His name “I never knew you; depart from me evil doers”. They were denied entry into his kingdom despite the signs that followed their ministry. Two questions arise here; first, why did Jesus say that He did not know these men when the truth is that God is all knowing? Second, why did Jesus not permit them into His kingdom even though their ministry was accompanied by these signs? Did not Jesus know anything about these men? Off-course he did. In fact Jesus knew everything about them and that is precisely why He declares “I never knew you". To enter heaven we should be known by Jesus. Here the word ‘knowing’ does not mean just an awareness or knowledge rather a higher level of relationship. It po

Plunging into the unknown

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What if the Aston Martin Vantage GT12 is convinced that it is just a pull cart and lives like one, never knowing its power or potential. As a larva that does not know the fascinating butterfly it will soon become, man also does not know his own greatness or what he is destined to become. He lives in ignorance of what he is actually capable of. All that he is able to think up with his so called advanced intellect is so limited. It seldom measure up to the reality of who he really is or what he is capable of. Man can only find himself fully in God - his creator. Man does not become great by addition but by subtraction. Man tries to become great by adding to him degrees, possessions, wealth, health, superficial beauty, name, fame etc. He thinks he is the sum total of the value of all that he processes. He becomes great by letting go... His greatness lies within himself. Because he isn't humble enough to look upto God, he fails look into himself and find the treasure. Godles

Six lane highways are not for all

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Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Mathew 7:14 Those who have not submitted themselves under the authority of the Gospel is not guided by the Truth but are tossed around by their own decietful desires. Such are faced with unlimited options as far the direction of their life's journey is concerned. They are guided by too many dim and dull lights. Everywhere there are mega offers and jackpots to entice the pleasure seeker. Their journey is wayward and aimless. They sway in all directions like drunkards. Their road thus is wide and entrance is wider. They will not reach any destination for they have none. The road they traverse is illusory and deceptive. They are trapped and are headed to eternal nothingness. No passengers in this extra wide highway care about each other. They are utterly selfish and

Is your wife beautiful?

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We live in a culture where beauty of the human body is falsely defined by pornography. So if you are a person who grew up with pornographic influence, it is almost certain that you have not liked your wife's body when you saw her naked for the first time. And it would be no different even now unless you have learned in the hard way to love her for who she really is. The pornographic culture has deceived us to seek beauty in the body divorced from the person. Beauty of the person though perceived in the body, lies in the soul. Every person that God created is beautiful. If I'm unable to see my wife's real beauty, the problem lies in my heart. The effective tool to measure ones love for his wife is his ability to see and foster his wife’s beauty (TOB 92:4).  The onus is totally upon the husband to make his wife aware of her beauty by loving her - body and soul. A husband must find out where his wife doubts her own beauty, it is precisely there he should love her te

Resisting Sin

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Sin destroys joy and freedom. It leaves us in fear and loneliness. Slowly but surely, we loose our self worth. The questions is how can we safeguard ourselves from the devastating consequences of sin and live joyfully and victoriously? Merely asking God to protect us from sin would not be enough because it requires our participation. It would be like asking a doctor to heal us and waiting to be healed doing nothing. In our daily struggle against sin, God expects us 'to do' a few things so that effort becomes effective and fruitful. And only in doing these things we cooperate with God's glorious plan for our redemption and eternal life. Our situations may be unique and our vulnerabilities different. Yet it may be possible to draw out few guidelines that are applicable to all. Resisting sin effectively requires the following: 1) Great desire and will Most of the time we fall into sin because we do not really want to avoid sin. If you are taking

When whip and thorns show up again!

Rough edges are there to smoothen me Pointed ones to poke me deep They exist in my life to remind me Of the distance I must tread to be good Don't I know I'm Gods work in progress Becoming the maker more or less These are tools my maker uses To chip off parts not in his plan Holy will I be if I permit and not resist Redeemed be my heart bit by bit Purifying me in the furnace of love Untill He sees his face shine in mine Thank you Lord for the many gifts given That makes me sad but makes me wise They purge my still ungodly side To abide totally as branch in the vine Pain and suffering are there to spare me From the surging fires of purging pyre Love cannot hate so I'm never alone Always by me is the shepherd so good Your chastisement is a sweet medicine That makes me chaste and cleanses sin Never let me forget thy care and desire When thy whip and thorns show up again

The joy of Lent

The words we generally associate with Lent are the unpleasant ones like, desert, heat, dryness, wilderness, fear, beasts, hunger, thirst, loneliness etc. We may think, for Jesus, the forty days he spent in the wilderness was an unpleasant experience. But on the contrary, it may well be the best forty days in his life, spent in deep relationship with the father. Jesus' victory over the crafty schemes of the devil at the end of his fast, is the proof of the immense strength one receives in prayer (dwelling in the presence of God). Lent begins with a very powerful scripture passage where Jesus, soon after his baptism is lead by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil. Jesus, with extreme clarity, conviction and determination destroys every one of the temptations and commands the devil to get away and at once he does. The devil presents before Jesus, practical sounding, too good to be true worldly promises, suggestions and challenges, while attempting to tempt him. Complying to devi