Using God and people for convenience!

 

Self-focus plagues today’s humanity. It’s all about them and use family – parents, children and relatives for personal advantage. If our heart were to be sliced, the core would be selfishness. We all strive and walk over people even though we are unclear of our destination. God also is not spared in the process. He ends up being used for our personal gratification.

Christopher Voss puts it so beautifully, “remember that people are not against you, they are for themselves. Which is why curiosity, empathy, mirroring, and labelling work like magic. It’s not about you. It never was.”. When you ponder over the statement it convinces us to be selfish and self-centered. The old age barter system is used in relationships also. 

When we study the life of Jesus we see His selfless behavior. He was God in human form who never desired the pleasures of life for lust, and kingdom expansion. He had a divine purpose, i.e. to die on the cross shedding his blood for the ransom of man’s sins. He came to make a provision for your sin and my sin. He didn’t die on the cross because He was helpless. He who rose people from the dead also rose Himself from the dead. He was that powerful, yet He gave Himself as a sacrifice so that you and I can experience forgiveness of our sins and lead a guilt free life. He wanted us to enjoy life after death in eternity with Him. 

Once a student questions Karl Barth the theologian by asking a question,

Student: “Sir, don’t you think that God has revealed himself in other religions and not only in Christianity?”

Barth: “No, God has not revealed himself in any religion including Christianity. He has revealed himself in his Son, Jesus”. 

It may look like an arrogant statement, but it is so true my dear friends. The Bible states in 1 John 5:12-13, “The one who has son has life. The one who does not have the son of God does not have life. I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”. Most of us are clueless. We are stuck with religiosity or hold on to mythological gods. We compartmentalize ourselves based on religion and blind ourselves from the truth.

The truth is in Christ Jesus who rose from death and made a way for mankind.  Stop assuming gods are for our convenience. To a larger extent this has become true because making gods is a multi-million-dollar business. We become gods because we have crafted them ourselves based on the unverified stories and imagination. Rather I urge you today to take an effort to know the truth and treat yourself and others the right way.   

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The Shape of your Soul!

Everything that exists has a particular shape and form. Shape and form today has become an integral part of human existence defining our brand and identity, and our recognition depends on it. However, have we ever given thought of the shape of our soul. We hear people say, "he/she is a lovely soul". Though it sounds heavenly, how do they draw that conclusion? One thing that is made clear is that a physically toned body can only attract a longing for intimacy but it is the pure love, warmth, care, kindness and brotherhood that sets apart the soul in the divine realm. It is far more eternal than temporary.

We hear it philosophically that man is composed of body, spirit and soul. However, only the body is open to diagnosis and treatment, whereas the soul is connected with its maker. Today, soul has become a matter of philosophy and is subjected to each one's interpretation. The Bible is specific in this matter and describes appropriately. You can rely on it because it is absolutely non contradictory and simultaneously completely cohesive. In the narrative of human creation the Bible states "the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.".

The supreme creator of heaven and earth did two things in creating man. First, He formed him from the very dust of the ground, and, second, He breathed His own breath into the nostrils of Adam. This distinguished man from all of God’s other creatures. This one passage contains three significant facts about man’s creation.

 

1. God alone created man. Man did not evolve under the influence of blind, meaningless forces.

2. We are made in His image,

3. He created us male and female as stated in the Bible. "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.".

We vainly spend a lot of our energy, time and resources to build our physical body; philosophically and ritually connect with religion for our identity. Our efforts to build our body deteriorates with age and it succumbs to mortality. The recent news of the world’s ‘most monstrous’ bodybuilder Illia Yefimchyk who died of a heart attack at age 36 shows the amount of fitness he could gain but yet all the efforts could sustain him only so long.  It’s our soul that connects with our creator, eventually shaping us not only to be a good person but also to have faith in Jesus Christ qualifying us to be with Him, i.e. in Heaven. You need to read the Bible once before you reject the God of the Bible. Atheist Friedrich Nietzsche wrote,“If one were to prove this God of the Christians to us, we should be even less able to believe in him” ; and “It is our preference that decides against Christianity, not arguments.” . Obviously, Nietzsche’s disbelief was based on his will, not just his intellect. 

 

The shape of your soul is the vibe that your family, friends and people around you feel it and find the hope that you have in this life and in the life to come. When your soul is intact with the saviour Christ Jesus, life becomes meaningful and purposeful. You are not under the whims and fancies of the so called religion but your faith rests on the fact and evidence in Jesus Christ. The shape of your soul takes the image of Christ the savior.

 

 

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The Complex Nature of Sin!

If the concepts of right and wrong are non-existent, it gives us the boundless freedom to live the way we want by divine design. We are bound by a moral law having moral boundaries. The Constitution, judiciary system, law enforcement and the military are institutions that exist to protect the moral boundaries and help maintain peace and harmony in a country. We justify our moral depravity to the influence of society, culture, modernity, people, friends, families etc. This is a false belief.  

Heinrich Bullinger states beautifully, “sin is not only a voluntary action, but also a hereditary corruption or depravation that comes by inheritance.”. We don’t teach young kids to selfishly grab things, use tantrum to get what they want, hide things, etc. However, when it comes to doing what is right, even the simplest thing, we must teach a child to distinguish between right and wrong. Children left on their own are the ones who grow up deviant hurting themselves, their families and societies. 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer states, “the ultimate test of moral society is the kind of world that it leaves to its Children.”. Today there is so much of confusion in terms of assessing their gender, right to abort a baby, gay relationships etc. Every decade, in fact even a year compared to the past is more harmful for our children than what it was during our growing up years. Man is just becoming a beast. He has the power to violate the rights and sanctity of women and children. The intensity of a crime is unimaginable.

Nothing is helping people. Religion which is believed to influence a godly lifestyle is making people more aggressive and divisive. Some scholars say that there are 4,300 religions in the world. Other scholars believe that there are as many as 10,000 distinct religions. Every group of people have made a god for themselves. The so called many “god stories” are much more immoral than people living or dead. For example, some religion gives the right to treat wives as slaves, divorce their wives on flimsy grounds and wage war in the name of god. William Boekestien states this so beautifully, “We don’t need a God who is mostly like us. We need a God who is mostly unlike us, who is able to fix our mess as no one else could.”.

How could we reconcile this? Laws cannot transform us for sure. The Bible says, “this is a symbol of present time, during which gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the worshipper’s conscience. They are physical regulations that only deal with food, drink, and various washings imposed…”. Never consider the religious realm holy because it speaks easily of God. You need a holy God who demonstrated holiness, powerful enough to heal the sick, raise the dead, power over nature, and most importantly conquered death. I challenge you to read the Bible and learn about Jesus. He is the answer for our human wretchedness and has a power to forgive us our sins. All that you need to do is know this resurrected Savior and give your life to Christ. You will be transformed as a new person having hope to live a victorious life not only here on earth but also inherit the eternal life in heaven.

 

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Hope Filled Thoughts in a Worrisome World!

It's common that individuals talk to themselves, but it is more a hidden thing. The mental monologue is usually negative hindering our happiness and effectiveness. Studies say that an average man will have anything between 40 to 50,000 thoughts in a day, out of which 60% are usually negative. Bible states, “…As he thinks in his heart, so is he…”. There are some repetitive thoughts which are the real cause for worry. This blog aims to highlight a few of them.

 

1.        What others think about you. 

People overwhelm themselves by living up to the expectation of others not realizing that people’s expectations differ with circumstances and from person to person. This leads to guilt within us for not being the person others want us to be. Unfortunately, we never consider how we should live to the expectation of our maker.  If we have got the purpose of our life right then our prayers would be meaningful as Lysa Terkeurst shared her model prayer to God, “Lord make my thoughts more like your thoughts, make my words more filled with grace and compassion. Make my plans more in line with your purpose.”.

2.        The fear of worst thing can happen to you.

Zig Ziglar states, “The fear of failure leads to failure”. When we stare at the face of fearful situations like job loss, sickness, break up of relationship, we engage in temporary solutions to overcome this fear. However, we never quiet our hearts which comes out of hope in God. The reason being people are more familiar with rites and rituals than with God. Hence, reality is marred and terrorizing.

3.        What we don’t have.

What we don’t have is what bothers us a lot. Once we get what we want we realize that’s not what we need. This quest of wanting and not wanting is the sign of longing of our soul. When the soul is looking for its Savior, its creator, we feel restless, and we wrongly end up replacing God with religiosity. When we are overwhelmed with sadness we find meaning in friends, entertainment and addiction to be free of the numbing pain of loneliness. Man hardly considers the solution in God and relies on the counterfeit concept of religion.

4.        Past mistakes

Mistakes result in guilt making a person weak without energy. Man in his religious rituals relies on it as a business deal. Visiting a shrine, following a spiritual guru, taking a dip in a river, making an image or an idol and offering prayers to it on a regular basis are some of the ways one tries to receive forgiveness for the past mistakes but what the soul needs is forgiveness from God. If you are struggling with any guilt, you have hope in Jesus.  Jesus is the way, and He has the full authority to forgive the sins of mankind. He is bigger than all the humankind and gods we can make or fantasize. He spoke about repentance and forgiveness and even while He was on the cross, He said, “Lord forgives them for they know not what they do”. He is truly the son of God, and the Bible says, He is given the authority to forgive the sins of the people.  

You have the possibility to see your life transformed and to live a life with freedom, hope, joy and purpose. If the above thought processes are bothering you then ask Jesus to help you as it is written “cast your burden for He cares for you.”. Maybe you can say a model prayer to Him and decide to know Him more. “Dear Lord Jesus, Today, I pray that in your mercy, you’d help me get rid of all fears and worries, problems, doubts, guilt, and disappointment, that seems to be filling my heart and every chaotic, wild spirit that’s out of control in my life.”.

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The Attractive Package of Free Privileges!

 

Life is wrongly defined as acquiring possessions, being rich, having limitless pleasure, holding power and so on. This has skewed our philosophies to the point of “do what makes you happy”, “find all the pleasures that satisfies your heart”, “if something channelizes money it’s ok to benefit out of it”. Every privilege is considered as a coincidence and a pleasant surprise.

The Bible talks about three things which the world constantly suggests. “For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”. These are ever demanding and consuming to the point of stripping and robbing our dignity. The craving for worldly things starts at a very young age. Youth of today have exposure to adult information leading them to be sucked into the world of evil. Any benefit that comes for them free is a luxury brand. Most of us are victims because someone had an opportunity for doing wrong offered freely. That which the Bible calls as sin is never considered dirty or an abomination. It’s wrapped in an attractive package and once its opened, the person becomes a slave to it forever.

Most of the privileges and unexpected surprises turned  out to be a fishing hook that has completely entrapped them as prisoners.  Such people are struggling to free themselves only to realize that it has taken deep roots, and they are in their way to complete destruction.  In today’s world, visual stimulation through smart phones have converted lust into action. One of the authors of the Bible says, “we too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we are by nature children under wrath as the others were also. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that that he had for us, made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!”. 

God’s grace is available until one is willing to confess all the wrongdoings to the resurrected Savior Christ Jesus and find complete freedom. Your religious rituals are not going to save you because its purpose is money and power. However, it is weak to deliver you from addictions or bondages. Beware of free privileges that come along your way. There are thousands of ways evil is ready to deceive and entrap you. Your only hope to deliverance is looking to the savior to find hope, deliverance and abundant life, which Jesus has offered freely to all.

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