Dip your finger to cool my tongue!

 

There is a rich man and poor man’s story in the Bible where the rich man enjoys all the luxuries and comforts the world could provide and there was this Lazarus, a poor beggar covered in sores waiting at his gate longing to eat the crumbs falling from the rich man’s table. To cut the long story short the poor man goes to heaven and the rich man burns in hell. With parched throat he asks for a drop of water for which he was replied “…..,Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus (the poor man) received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.”.

There are people in this world who want to live a comfortable life here at all costs and continue to lead a comfortable life even after death by going to heaven. I have known people who have expressed their desire for the best place in heaven at the same time leading such a depraved life here on earth. At the end of the day, it is the comfort that is their goal but never the right standing with God. We prefer to be as wicked as we could here on earth and then somehow feel the need to bribe our way to heaven by following religious rites and rituals with our hearts as hardened as ever with sin.

We live in a world where two of every ten toddlers are starving with no food for 24 hours or one whole day and at the same time the rich and famous splurging millions of dollars for pre-wedding festivities. The interesting point is that both these statistics are from the same country. Our richness is not an excuse to do as we please with no moral obligations. God gives us resources and wealth to be good stewards. And what does it mean to be good stewards. It is wisely spending our money on issues that would break the heart of God. Think with me here, would God prefer you to gift your wealth in filling the stomach of toddlers and infants or spend obscene amounts of money for someone to perform and dance on stage? As we get rich, we lose our sense of purpose, and we think that wealth management and acquisitions are our ultimate purpose and flaunt it unashamedly when opportunity presents itself.

The Bible  has some brilliant advice on the rich and poor and I prefer to quote some of them:

·       “the rich and the poor have this in common: the Lord made them both.”.

·    “Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him.”.

·       “Whoever gives to the poor will not want, but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse.”.

·     “A righteous man knows the rights of the poor; a wicked man does not understand such knowledge.”

The crux is when we are more inclined to helping the poor from their misery, we are a blessing and honor God by doing so. If we willingly turn a blind eye, we are a cursed lot and wicked to the core. The God of the Bible has not minced His words and revealed His mind when it came to this issue. He sent His only Son Jesus to save us from our wretchedness so that our eyes will open from the blindness of our wealth and debauchery. The Heavenly Father loved us so much that He allowed His son Jesus Christ to suffer on the cross so that we repent of our sins and know His heart. His desire is to reign in our hearts and spend our lives with a heavenly purpose and that includes reaching out to the poor and releasing them of the poverty cycle. Invite this Living Water (Jesus Christ) in your heart so that you will live eternity with quenched throat. He is leaving us with the choice of whether we want to live eternity with quenched throat or parched throat. Choose wisely!

 

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References:

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Why is my hope sinking?

In general, we blame our life circumstances as cause for our hopelessness, ignorant of the fact that our hope is in being connected with God for our life matters. Moreover, if our understanding of God is distorted, then things fall apart even more. John Piper in one of his articles says, “Hoping in God does not come naturally for sinners like us. We must preach it to ourselves, and preach diligently and forcefully, or we will give way to a downcast and distressed spirit.”. The Bible gives the exact reason for why our hope is sinking. In the book of Ephesians in the Bible it is stated, “At that time you were without Christ...without hope and without god in the world.”. This is the primary reason why people struggle with hopelessness while desperately waiting for something. Did you hear in the sentence given, without god and without Christ? Yes, you heard it right. We live in a time where if you had to count all the gods worshipped in this planet earth, it will be in millions or may be more.  We don’t have a dearth for gods. Our gods are success, money, career, sex and so on. There are too many religious buildings and shrines. In a sea of gods, our sinful heart is lost plagued by restlessness and hopelessness. 

Don Wilton puts his thoughts beautifully “we have become an increasingly idolatrous people. God cannot be pleased. We worship so many of our blessings instead of simply thanking God and enjoying them. We worship sports, celebrities, clothes, money, church buildings (religious shrines), politics, positions, abilities, and capabilities. Idolatry is the worship of anything and anyone other than God.”. 

Sometimes we hope for things in which there is no hope. A car can’t bring true hope; it can bring a feeling of contentment and exhilaration, but not real hope. Financial stability can’t bring true hope; it can bring security and a level of ease, but not true hope. A spouse can’t bring true hope because a spouse’s abilities are limited to what he or she can control. True hope comes from the One who created hope: God. True hope comes by knowing a true God and trusting Christ even when circumstances are difficult. Only Christ claimed to be God and proved to be God by His incarnation. He came to this world fully human and yet without sin. The purpose of His coming is to make a provision through His sacrifice on the cross for our sinful condition so that whoever believes on Him will live now and forever. No defined formula but He proved this through His resurrection from the grave; therefore, we have hope on Him. 

Theodore Roosevelt once said, “When you’re at the end of your rope, tie a knot and hold on.”  So how do you know if you have put your hope in God or on something else? By looking at what you have tied yourself to, in life, as your primary security source. How do you react when the rope gets cut to that source? That reveals how much hope you have placed in that versus in God. Can you find a Bible to know who Christ is in your life? As stated earlier in this blog, when you start knowing Christ and accepting Him in your life, then your perspective and your life changes forever and you see how God is guiding you and navigating you through the winding roads of life. The Bible states, “There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.”.

 

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Hearty delight!

 

“Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” is one of the sayings in the Bible which is supported by Thomas Manton where he says, “What a man delighteth he will be talking about.”. All it takes is to listen to what a person talks about often and soon you will get to know the delight of his/her heart. There are exceptions where people manipulate in such a way to impress people and camouflage their delights. But here we are referring to people’s general area of interest.

Now the question is, what are your delights? Your delights are not mere entertainment but the reflection of your heart that steers the purpose of your life. A person’s delight and the state of your heart are one and the same. If your heart is noble and pure you will delight in things that are pure and noble, if you heart is evil and wicked it will delight in pursuing harmful things that can destroy one’s life. R C Sproul states, “At the moment I sin, I desire the sin more than I desire to please God.”. Our delight in sin is not satisfied with one sin but urges as to do more and more. It’s a vicious cycle.

Once you set your heart right your delights will be well within the norm of a Godly person. The Bible says, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man ‘unclean'.”. When we are willing to get rid of our sinful behavior by confessing to Lord Jesus and experiencing forgiveness and deliverance, the state of our heart changes. It transforms to having good desires, the desire to know God and live with sanity. Desire or delights are placed by God in our heart, but it is for doing that which delights Him. It was never meant to fulfill the self. Our life on earth is a short phase. Eternity is not a mythology but a reality. Jesus who was resurrected and has ascended, has promised a place for those who delight to live in His presence. Do you want to change your delights now? Follow Christ and see the transformation.

 

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Resources:

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The Secret Track!

 

“The simplest and most accessible key to our self-neglected liberation lies right here: Personal non-participation in lies.” Solzhenitsyn penned this essay in 1974 and it circulated among Moscow’s intellectuals at the time. It is dated Feb. 12, the same day that secret police broke into his apartment and arrested him. The next day he was exiled to West Germany. The essay is a call to moral courage and serves as light to all who value truth. 

Most of the individuals walk on two parallel roads in their life journey. One which is transparent with straight goals and the other, the plan known only to self.  Solzhenitsyn is so right in his statement made in his essay, people participate in one or other lies to accomplish their personal secret plan that usually travel along with their main path of life. The shortcuts, the double life, the lies the person believes and uses, obstructs their life journey. And when they find they are going in circles they end up blaming themselves, everyone including God. Man’s wants; the selfish and the wrong ones hinders and causes pain. Thank God we are all blessed with the conscience, the inner voice that guides and prompts us when we are doing something wrong. Usually when we fight to fit things to what we want then we are willing to walk over the conscience and ignore the inner voice that talks to us and prompts us. Carl Jung statement is such a reminder, ‘Deep down, below the surface of the average man’s conscience, he hears a voice whispering, “There is something not right,” no matter how much rightness is supported by public opinion or moral code.’

C S Lewis while putting his observation states this, “Humans are very seldom either totally sincere or totally hypocritical. Their moods change, their motives are mixed, and they are often themselves quite mistaken as to what their motives are.”. Unless one is willing to give up his secret agenda and the lies of the heart, life journey will continue to go in a haphazard manner. Good and evil both increases at compound interest. That is why the little decisions people make every day are of such infinite importance. 

The right choices depend on keeping your soul pure. When you are surrendering your personal will and agenda in the hands of Lord Jesus and be truthful to Him then your entire life is transformed with hope and meaning in life. Stop assuming you can use your trump card at the end and achieve what you want.  Life does not depend upon how tactful you can be to make your way. Your decision in the personal non-participation of lies in any form can unlock God’s blessing at all levels in your life. You can do it with the help of Christ Jesus who is willing to forgive your intentions and transform you. Even though we consistently violate His laws, He still is willing to grant us pardon. We can either accept the pardon and be released, or we can penalty ourselves. It is our choice. You can decide to find help from Him by confessing your folly and sin and find His grace and His provision in abundance.

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