Take heed to natural Barriers!

We live in a time where the chances of fulfilling our desire, whatever they may be, extremely high. The huge availability of options, alternative solutions, AI enhanced technologies, well connected friends, influential circle are all a possibility, today. Using one’s discretion doesn’t need much thought as options and resources are easily available. This is dangerous. We count it lucky by being well connected but the scary part is that it blurs our moral judgement of right and wrong. This is the very reason famous, powerful, and highly connected people are convicted guilty by the court of law.

Variety and accessibility of options has made man extremely arrogant and considers oneself so powerful that he/she cannot be touched. The first thing power makes you do is to silence the conscience that urges you to do the right thing. Dr Bobby Conway puts this beautifully, "If you don't know already, your conscience is an immaterial moral operating system that God created in your soul to help you make decisions.". The Bible states, God has set written moral law in our hearts that has the potential to guide and lead us, but because of our self-centeredness we want to be a self-governed human being. Follow the excerpt by Mark Sayers who describes the progressive vision of the world as "the kingdom without the King." we want all of God’s blessings- without submitting to his loving rule and reign. We want progress without his presence. We want justice without justification. We want horizontal implications of the gospel for society -without the vertical reconciliations of sinners with God. We want society to conform to our standard of moral purity-without God's standard of personal holiness. This can be dangerous because if every individual looks to himself as a standard then not only he/she messes life operating system but contributes to a chaotic family and a society.

Timothy Keller states this, "modern culture insists that we should "be ourselves", but what feels most natural to a person might be both wrong and disastrous. We need a moral norm and standard outside ourselves to show us what we should express and what we should not.". And the best person is Christ Jesus the Saviour, one who claimed to be the only way to God the father. Jesus is God indeed, not because this blog claims so but because He claimed it and He proved by all He did that which includes His historical death and His resurrection. Once we find the forgiveness and commit to His sovereign rule, He protects from all evil and dangers. Most of the time natural barriers and hindrances in some form appear when we are ready to take wrong steps. Usually, we tend to overcome and do it our way. But the best thing is to abandon the wrong priorities and follow the cue to avoid every form of evil. And to do so you can talk to the Saviour, He will help you and keep you from all evil and dangers and protect your soul

  

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Belongingness!

 

A sense of belonging is a beautiful thing. We belong to parents, a spouse, a family, a clan, or a community. It gives solace, confidence, and comfort we can count on our loved ones. Yet there are others who are orphans and live alone. They have no one to call as family, probably clinging on to friends who become their priceless possession, establishing a bonding and belongingness with them. Maybe at a later stage in life after marriage they move that sense of connection to their spouse.

The relationships don’t need constant reminding when it comes to our parents or spouse. We agree with the connection and value the same. The same principle can be applied to religion too. People identify with gods depending on their belief system that followed through ages by their forefathers. When it is a matter of faith religion enforces us to perform rites and rituals, visiting holy places, to identify and belong to their religious belief system. The confusion increases when some intrude into other faith system and demand them to follow what they follow and believe what they think is true.

In logical sense, you don't do things to prove you belong to your parents or do the parents find the need to assure each day that you belong to them. Likewise, you belong to a true living God. You don't have to do things to draw the attention of God. It all works based on truth and facts followed by belongingness based on faith.

Today, people are carried away by doing things to display their religious identity. And that is why some people will do almost anything for their religion, they will argue, write, and even fight for it. They will do almost anything except live for it.  If you must do things to show your religion then, there is a serious problem in the belief system. As much as you don't have to do things to show you belong to your parents, in a similar way your good works don't matter to God. The faith leaders / gurus emphasize on 'works' for the religious institutions to exist and become a place of attraction.  But the Bible pointing to the process of salvation emphasizes on the faith on Christ Jesus. It says, "For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God's gift- not from works, so that no one can boast.".  Through His sacrifice on the cross, His death and resurrection, we have salvation and forgiveness from all our sins. All that is needed is to accept the gift of salvation by faith and experience the abundant life. Anything that relates to a set of rules and duties people are ready to do, however do not forget this, your belongingness cannot be based on your works to prove who you are identified with. You just need to put your faith on the Saviour. Your life will be completely transformed, and your eternal destination will be different.

 

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A Fluid Relationship!

Relationship is one of the most powerful earnings and possession in life. We are all surrounded by family, friends, colleagues, and community. Relationship is not confined to profit, benefits and returns yet it can be soothing, and enriching. Today relationships are little different than the past decade or two. The virtual world is slowly replacing true genuine relationships. People love to open up and pour their hearts to virtual friends than cherishing with people they are surrounded with. The social media tool has so many options that enables a person to play hide and seek or worse to be in a ghost relationship without really being there.  

Relationships are too short-lived today. The one we depend on the most can be the one deserting us. Unless your relationship is intact with the true God, you end up being fluid with the people around you. People are busy making money and staying private as they fear relationships will cost them. We are all chasing wealth more than relationship even though we know it’s fleeting. When we leave this earth. we leave all our best possession behind. It is relationships that impact lives.

John C Maxwell known for his writings on leadership draws our attention in one of his books “Ethics 101” asks us to ponder on the following:

 · Can we name five wealthiest people in the world? Or ten people who have won the Noble prize or name half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress and the last decade’s World Series winners?

· How well you do? How many names did you know?

 Now if we have to take another quiz which has these set of Question:

· If we have to name three teachers who helped us to achieve in school, three friends who helped us through a difficult time, five people who have taught us something worthwhile, three people who made us feel appreciate and special. I am sure we will do better. Maxwell says we may have not scored 100 percent in the second quiz but definitely better than the first.

True relationship inspires, motivates and influences genuinely. Relationship stands on the pillar of love and true love is grounded in the true living God. The Bible when narrating on the nature of God states, “God is love”. The love that transcends human heart will spread love, happiness and kindle our spirits. When describing about Jesus, the Bible narrates about His sacrifice with these words, “no one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends.”. And who are the friends you think He was referring to; He continues by saying, “You are my friends if you do what I command you.”. 

The great commandment is simple to love God with all our heart and extend love to the neighbor. Today, we all struggle to maintain a steady relationship. Probably some are hurt and are unwilling to trust anyone. Don’t feel discouraged! If your heart is hurting and you are struggling to love, then you may need to reach out to Jesus for help. Ask Him in prayer to help you. I guarantee that your relationship with Him will be satisfying and enriching. You can trust God.

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100 ways to deceive!

 

Have you noticed how some people repeatedly make the same mistakes in a hundred different ways. The power of deception cleverly keeps your conscience at bay keeping you guilt-free. We humans are good at camouflaging our debaucheries as clean acts. In any crime story you watch or hear, you will notice that the culprit seldom feels guilty about the crime he/she commits. The prime reason being that we tend to perceive things only from our point of view, narcissistically.

Every time when someone does wrong, he/she finds convincing explanations as to why it was done. The blame is projected on life’s circumstances, peer pressure taking the focus away from us. We are consciously aware of the fact that the wrong that we are doing has the potential to ruin our career, reputation, and family. To cover up the complexity, we start blaming people or external causes to defend our self-image and fail to admit the fact that there is something wrong with them as a person.

We are living in an age where evil is made to look good. One Preacher puts this beautifully, "Satan will change the name of sin to make sin more adaptable to accept. So instead of changing our ways, we will change the wording. Instead of paedophilia, we'll call it minor-attracted people. Instead of sexual exploitation let's call it adult entertainment. Instead of sex cults, where we bump and grind, we'll just call them music clubs. Instead of cults, we'll call them clubs. Instead of adultery, we'll call them swinging and open marriages. Instead of mental illness let's call it gender dysphoria. Instead of gender mutilation, let's call it gender transitioning. Instead of fornication let's call it intimacy. Instead of lust let's call it love. Instead of calling it a spiritual battle of good and evil, let's calls it political. Let's call it phobia. Let's call it hate speech. Call it something else. We are not called baby killers; we're called abortionists. It's no longer sin; it's complex. It's an addiction. It's a disorder. It's an obsession. so we don't feel bad about our sins, we change the name of them and when we hear the truth preached, we feel conviction but we condemn the preacher as hate speech."

The purpose of Jesus coming to the earth was to offer salvation through His sacrifice. Salvation is not about our own efforts, trying to look to people, speaking to the portrayals or images created by us, being ritualistic (every time an improvised one), visiting the shrines calling it holy place or holy land to cleanse our self-created mess. Our sin problem can only be solved by accepting the forgiveness Jesus has offered to mankind. If you notice from all that He preached, He only emphasized the condition of the human heart by saying, "Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand.". And He offered a complete forgiveness when we approach Him by faith and prayer. There is only one way to do the right thing and that is when our heart embodies the truth of repentance. I am sure we don't want to regret when we stand before the judgement of God.  Let me close with the quote from the Bible, "For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, so that each may be repaid for what he has done in the body whether good or evil.". Afterlife is for sure and may we set our priorities right, here on earth. He is close to all who call upon Him for help.

 

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Be Real!

 

Being authentic is the state of our heart. Our efforts to hide our true self and portray us differently will lead to people eventually calling us out. Have you had experience with people who are unconcerned and unbothered, yet act as though they are with you in the conversation? Or probably when you asked them for help and received sympathy, only to forget all about the issue the next day? We are living in a cruel world that resembles a circus ring, making us resemble beasts.

There are many reasons for people being fake. Let’s analyse a few.

Materialism

Materialism tops the list. People value money over relationship, things over people, opinions over fact, majority over truth. We live in a society where people are also valued based on their status, power, and wealth. The big divide between the rich and the poor, white and black, high and low caste (as classified by people) also stand as reasons. 

Living up to a false image:

Many times, you meet a fake person you scratch the surface and see that they’re trying to live up to a false image. They have seen stereotypes in the media, among their peers, or other places that they feel they want to “be” like them and adopt the mannerisms, accents, style, and beliefs of a certain “type.”

Desire for Conformity:

The desire for conformity can make people fake. They repeat opinions they know are popular and “good.”.  Such people look for constant approval and applause. Most people become fake pawns in a fake system ending up with miserable self-hate. They cling to the illusion believing, following what they were told is “normal” will save them. Unfortunately, it will not. 

Trapped in Transactional Relationships:

People here only want to interact with or be involved with you in any way to get something.  Benefits and profits become the motive and intention. Therefore, they follow this philosophy, “You scratch my back, I will scratch yours.”

Brene Brown states, “Authenticity is a collection of choices that we have to make every day. It’s about the choice to show up and be real. The choice to be honest. The choice to let our true self be seen.”.  Choices depend upon our identity in God.  Everything and everyone are not gods as some religion supports the view of Pantheism. There is one creator and one God. A loving God who is in the business of transforming human hearts. Human heart is the prime integral part of human being where the soul is imbibed in it. When our heart is holy and pure all that emerges are real and holy. Jesus stated, "for from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, slander.".  Motivating people to be real, inspirational speeches are good, but they have little control over the human heart. A clean heart depends upon forgiveness from our sins and enabling to live holy and genuine life.  Modern identity is too fragile. Trust the Saviour and be true to God with a clean conscience.

 

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