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Showing posts from June, 2012

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

The winter is past, the rains are gone

Do I have love enough within to love You to my hearts fill? Like a well with water almost dried up, I feel so barren. How will I give to those who come to draw from me water for a drink? My kneeling and praying does not fill me much. The words I speak to you has no resonance. My sins weigh me down. Handles and hooks that lead me to wretchedness surface everywhere I lay down to rest. I feel them to be more real than you Lord, though I know they are like mirage that actually not there. Help my week vigour and zeal. My bones so frail they cant help me stand and hope, I stumble and sway off to fall. I need a helping hand, would you reach out my lovely one? I know you are near. Your hands surround me, holding me tight, wiping my tears dry, helping my bones to walk again. Inside of me a voice rise, I love you, I really love you. Restore me beloved, my soul forlorn. I hear my love, see how he comes leaping on the mountains, bounding over the hills, My love is like a gazelle, like a you

The invisible rope of faith

I often prayed, Lord please let me experience pleasure that is greater than the pleasure of sin that I might not succumb to what is temporary and detrimental, but seek to satisfy me with what is supremely pleasurable and eternal. I now understand the folly and the impudence of that statement (prayer) which denied my own strength in Christ and challenged the nature of God itself. Imagine ourselves to be in a deep pit filled with dung and we are wading in it; some deep inside,  some neck deep , some barely avoiding the top layer holding on to some twig by the wall, others attempting climb up in vain, yet few others strenuously yet joyfully climbing up, holding on to an invisible rope (of faith) as though with some special power (grace). This invisible rope, yet visible though the eye of faith, is the path of salvation Christ lowered for us into the pit after breaking open the door which sealed the pit and separated us from what was Divine. The light has come into the pit and we can se

To sin no more!

While we are in sin, we pray to God, "please do not let me sin again" as if God himself is the reason we sin against Him. By the merit of Christ's redemptive act, Grace is available freely to everyone but that does not exempt us from acting on the grace, believing in the power of grace and taking the first crucial step to refuse sin and its pleasures. Jesus said to the man who was completely paralyzed "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk" [John 5:8]. While you and I are in Sin, Jesus tells us "Get up and walk in holiness". We ought to "believe", get up and begin to walk in holiness by the merit of Jesus' suffering, death and resurrection. God's grace readily becomes a transforming force within us when we believe and act accordingly. When I pray, Lord, please don’t let me sin again, I'm actually saying I'm not responsible for my sin,I’m beyond redemption and I do not believe in your forgiveness. I expect some magical powers to