The Great Regret!

 

The ultimate regret is to keep doing what we hate. This is more evident in those addicted to alcohol or drugs or with persons with deviant behavior. They fall into a vicious cycle of addiction and regret. Some fail even with therapy and medication. Interventions like self-control, mind control and spiritual meditations don’t stop them from relapsing. Amidst all this chaos have we ever wondered why we fail to be good but choose evil instead? If our inherent nature was good evil will become a forced action. Unfortunately, the reverse is true. This is what the Bible call as the nature of sin.

Apostle Paul in the Bible gives us the diagnoses for the problem of sin. He says, “For I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not practice what I want to do, but I do what I hate…For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do. Now f I do what I do not want, I am no longer the one that does it, but it is the sin that lives in me.”. This tug-of-war of the soul is not a Christian problem but a universal one. We advance in knowledge but regress in morality. Dr Ramesh Richard states, “Many believe that one needs to discipline himself to perform good deeds in order to master his faults and weakness. They don’t correlate except that the resources for sinning are channeled in doing good. Doing good doesn’t conquer faults which have to be handled at an entirely different level.”.  We always try to address the symptoms but never the core of the problem.

The Bible talks about the cleansing of the conscience. It says, “This is the symbol for the present time, during which gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the worshipper’s conscience. They are physical regulations and only deal with food and drink and various washings imposed until the time of the new order.” The Bible further states on the importance of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross of calvary. His blood is precious, holy and has the power to cleanse our conscience from dead works. “How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse our conscience from dead works so that we can serve the living God?”

We need our conscience to be cleansed and purified by a holy God who has the power to do so. Jesus Christ was born of a virgin birth, who led a holy life, was accused falsely, crucified on the cross, after being buried He rose again from the dead after three days from the grave and became a provision for all our sins, guilts, and failures. The failures which become our regret. The Bible states, “God treated them in the same way that he treated us. They put their faith in him, and he made their hearts pure.”. All you need to do is believe on the finished accomplishment of Jesus on the cross and say a prayer for forgiveness. He has the power to deliver you from any regret whatsoever.  May this season of Christmas draw you closer to the Savior

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THE FOUR

The “God” Identity in a Leader

 

The recent US elections witnessed the battle between Kamala Haris and Donald Trump. It was a nail-biting race for months which resulted in Donald Trump emerging as the winner. There are many layers to this election and politics is not what I intend to discuss in this blog. However, what I found interesting is the religious identity that played a major role in all this drama. During voting it is said that people from Tamil Nadu, India, offered special prayers for Kamala Haris. There’s little to distinguish the village of Thulasendrapuram from any other rural community except for its connection to Kamala Harris, a woman who was expected to become America’s first leader with South Asian roots. The temple reverberated with rhythmic Sanskrit and Tamil hymns, as a Hindu priest held a flame before the god. “Our deity is a very powerful God. If we pray well to him, he will make her victorious,” said M. Natarajan, the temple priest that led the prayers in front of the image of Hindu deity Ayyanar, a form of Lord Shiva. Well, we now know how that ended.

Interestingly, there is one more woman who is now grabbing the news, that is Tulsi Gabbard. The Indian newspaper titles, “Hindu Congresswoman appointed by Donald Trump as US intelligence director” Another news media states, “Meet the Hindu American appointed by Trump as US Director of National Intelligence”. The media is quick to highlight her religious identity rather than all her achievements and hard work that has earned her the position in the first place. Today’s world tends to segregate people based on religion and claims that you are born to be one. However, we are all aware our identity is in God and not religion.

We have one identity, ‘the image of God’. The best thing described in Human creation is when in the first book of Genesis in the Bible records, “so God created man in his own image; he created him in the image of God; he created them male and female.”.  Genesis 1:27. We do not resemble any four-footed beasts or created out of nothing. We stick to these beliefs as we do not want to be known as children of a divine sane God. The Judeo-Christian worldview is the best narration of a perfect image of a human being. The Bible states that we are created in the image of God making us His masterpiece. The religious identity doesn’t add any value to our existence. Our sanity as human and our love for brotherhood, are the ones that make the difference. 

We create divisions using religion to gain mileage for our political advantage. This sentiment disturbs the unity among us. We tend to forget that we are God’s image bearers. We refuse to believe in Jesus Christ as He is a God who offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice for forgiveness of our sins and hope for eternity. We are apprehensive to invite Him into our heart as there is a dire need for us to change as a person once we do that. Whereas religion does not require us to change. Religion is okay with our superficiality of rituals and puts us in a spiritual coma. It does nothing to save our soul. 

The mark of true leadership will manifest itself when we have a close relationship with Jesus Christ. He was a true leader who modelled it well for us. He showed us what true sacrifice is, what it is to serve in spirit and in truth and how to be obedient to your calling. The beautiful part of following Him is that we don’t have to go to a religious place to find Him because He longs to live in our hearts and make us His temple but first to become that we need His forgiveness and truly repent of all our sins. Then He is faithful enough to live in this sanctified heart transforming you into a remarkable leader.

 

Source:

HINDUSTAN TIMES

TIMES OF INDIA

 

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THE FOUR

“I’ll do it for you, if you do it for me.”

 

Debre Fileta professional counsellor observes people’s kindness is selfish. The motto is “I’ll do it for you, if you do it for me.”. We do things for others to receive things in return. Apostle Paul in the Bible writes this important piece of advice, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus…”

Jesus is the best model as mentioned in this verse. He didn’t leverage authority for personal advantage -power, pleasure, control or comfort but took the nature of a servant. Jesus spent His time investing in others. Jesus focused His attention in helping others to the point of giving up His own life. As relationships are transactional, we don’t do anything without return. In business terms it is called ROI (Return of investment). Jesus questioned this attitude by asking, "If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; for your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High". Is this even possible? If yes, why should it matter in a world when everything is seen as an advantage? 

One can understand the dilemma if the person is conscious of his/her purpose in the light of God. Jesus states, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”. The concept of transaction is to amass profits, wealth, treasures hoping to live on earth for eternity, which is unfortunately not true. The storehouse and the treasures can be susceptible to danger including life and it profits no one. Jesus gives a higher perspective of life and eternity. 

We are going to live for eternity with Him. This is not our permanent home. Jesus said to a woman whose brother died and was buried for four days (Note: this is a true story and not a myth), “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he dies, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”. John Piper tweeted, “even though we die, we do not die. Nor will we ever die.”. There is hope in this statement because of what Jesus declared and claimed – that He is the resurrection and life. He brought Lazarus to life after he died and was buried in a cave for four days. Similarly, Jesus too rose from the dead, which we call resurrection. This gives us hope to live forever with Him. Life doesn’t have to be transactional. Instead, it can be forgiving, showing grace and mercy towards one another as Christ loved, giving us a life that is satisfying and enriching. 

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THE FOUR

The Ridiculousness of Ignorance!

Highest form of ignorance is rejecting something before you get to know about it. In this digital age where information is at your fingertips on various subjects, it is overwhelming to master in all areas of study. We have limited or superficial knowledge on a subject but to be specialized and qualified we need to do a systematic study and become certified professional. However, when it comes to religion, we are comfortable in our blissful ignorance and satisfied with hearsay.

The biggest war today is the war of religion where people are fighting against each other for their belief system and culture in utter ignorance. Bertrand Russel pointed out that, “people’s opinions are mainly designed to make them feel comfortable; truth for most people is a secondary consideration.”. People are fanatic enough to fight for their religious truth but never make the effort to know the truth of the other religion. For example, people reject the Bible without really reading it. Their information is from secondhand sources and are convinced that it is false.

Abdu Murray in his book ‘Grand Central Question’ states that only Christian worldview has the best plausible explanation to the life centralized questions, and they are as follows:

1. What explains existence? Or is there a God? 

2. Is there an objective purpose and value to human existence? 

3. What accounts for the human condition? 

4. Is there a better life or a salvation from our present state?

The Bible is the only unique historical book recorded with no errors and contradictions whatsoever. One can find the best explanation to these important life questions and experience salvation. We are wretched in our spiritual condition and with human effort it is merely impossible to reach God. In knowing our condition God has made a provision through His son Jesus. It is ridiculous to reject Him or what is written about Him in the Bible.  Jesus claimed that He is the way, the truth and the life, which He modelled hundred percent in this chaotic world.

The flaw of pantheistic worldview is anything and everything is God making the whole premise on God to fall. G K. Chesterton states, “When a man stops believing in God, he doesn't believe in nothing, he believes in anything”.  There are some gods whose morals are worse than us humans, yet we ignorantly worship them with reverence. This quote beautifully summarizes this reality, ‘you either die a hypocrite or live long enough to see yourself become a hypocrite.’.

A new spirituality has overtaken the world which dictates that with discipline and practice one can achieve Holistic well-being. It is obsessed with good health, mastery of the mind, realization of inner divinity leading to wellness of body, mind and soul. We fail to understand our life is in God’s hands and we need a living Savior to steer the course of our life. You have the answers to life questions in Jesus who is alive and not a dead legend. He came to this earth, died and rose again so that we can truly enjoy a close relationship and renewed fellowship with Him not just in this life but for eternity.

  

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THE FOUR

The Trap of Moral Decline!

 

Technology, politics, education and materialism have all overpromised and underdelivered. These have only worsened the human conditions of anxiety, depression, restlessness, loneliness and suicidal thoughts. People strive to be wealthy, comfortable and in absolute control of their life. Satisfaction becomes relative and keeps pushing the boundary with every satiated desire. When the heart is restless it finds everything legitimate. In the process the person hurts himself and others.  The author of the book of Proverbs in the Bible, King Solomon states, ‘a wicked person desires evil; he has no consideration for his neighbor.’. 

The moral degradation in this modern era is unimaginable. Describing about the culmination of evil in human history, the Bible states, “evil people and imposters will become worse, deceiving and being deceived.”. It says, they will become bad to worse. Deceiving and being deceived becomes part of lifestyle of many. We see people are becoming less human and alarmingly godless. Hannah Arendt puts this beautifully, “The sad truth of the matter is that most evil is done by people who never made up their minds to be or do either evil or good.”.

Those that go with the flow, accommodate whatever comes their way, giving in to their instincts with no moral standard. They end up faltering again and again. The Bible describes about such people, “They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.”. If we read the verse carefully, it does not say accommodate evil due to ignorance, but it is due to the hardening of their hearts.

Howard Thurman states, “the real target of evil is to corrupt the spirit of man and to give his soul the contagion of inner disintegration.”. It is true that once the spirit of man is corrupted, the person goes from bad to worse. There is little hope for him to come to sanity. Man by nature inclines to do bad unless his heart is conscious and sensitive towards good and evil. This does not however come naturally or by any religious influence, because religion by design exists for its own purpose. We are all imperfect beings and will be facing judgement determining whether we will inherit heaven or hell eternally. But then, God has already made a provision for forgiveness of our sins and has perfected us by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross of calvary. The greatest joy one can derive is through the transformed heart and assurance in Him.  You can make a choice to follow Christ and ask for forgiveness from all the sins you have committed and be set free to be good and do good. No wonder Jesus always emphasized on a clean pure heart rather than an approved religious person. He makes all the difference in your faith life, and you can receive Him by faith. 

 

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THE FOUR

Everything is a boat!

C S Lewis uses ship as an analogy to clarify the purpose of human being. He stated when a ship is on the high seas, it must answer three important questions. 

• First is how to keep from sinking which refers to ‘personal ethics.’ 
• Second is how to keep from bumping into other ships referring to the ‘social ethics.’ 
• Third, why the ship is out on the high seas in the first place which refers to the ‘essence of ethics.

How true! We all must ensure that regardless of being a ship or boat, it should stay afloat. This means we must take care to keep it in a sailing state and then the other two follow.

Everything that exist serves a particular purpose. If you carefully observe all the non-living things in your house serve a specific purpose. At any point it fails to serve the purpose it is discarded. How do we understand this in connection to life’s purpose? If non-living things can serve a specific purpose, then how much the purpose of God. We are all created for a purpose. The Bible states that we are God’s masterpiece because we are made in His image. 

Gunder Gunderson states this in plain poetical lines so profoundly referring life to a boat. 

“Everything's a boat.

We all know buying a boat is a big deal because boats take lots of upkeep

But everything's a boat.

Everything we buy takes storage, or attention, or security, or maintenance, or upgrades.

Seneca said the things we own, own us.

Everything's a boat.

May our first concern be our purity, not our publicity; our depth, not our reach; faithfulness, and never fame.” 

If you compare your life’s philosophy to a boat, then you would realise you have to be careful in what you choose because at the end it is going to take the space in the boat.  You may find the need of getting everything you see but it can risk the boat. The boat of many people is overloaded and in a verge of sinking, maybe some boats have sunk already due to, too many unnecessary things that has taken the space. How are you going to choose the right thing for you? 

Let us not forget that we are not just the body, but a soul too, that longs to connect with the GOD of heavens and the earth, the Savior who has the power to forgive the sins of the mankind and in whom we also have resurrection. Sadly, as we fill our boats with our own the gods - the god of money, possession, pleasure, power, fans, etc., none makes an impact on our soul and the way we ought to live. Like the writer who stated, ‘Everything is a Boat’, today we live in a society and culture where everything is a god or for that matter anytime someone can be made god. Truth most often is a missing element. 

I urge you to carefully choose the essentials that will help us survive well without sinking. Jesus stated, “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?” The component of soul is an integral and the important element imbibed in human body. What you choose from this materialistic world can make you helpless. You need a Savior, a God in whom you can find meaning in life and hope in eternal life. Jesus is the only way if you believe and accept Him as Savior to find forgiveness from sins, hope in this world and for eternity. Remember, Jesus is the only God who conquered death and was resurrected. This will change your entire course of life journey. Would you consider knowing Him more? 

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THE FOUR

Social Media – The Emotional Crutch of This World!

“To be heard” is a cry of every soul amidst frustration, disappointment and loneliness. To fill this dependency, social media has been converted to a crutch that the world is leaning upon. It helps us to express our emotions, find acceptance, get approvals to justify our beliefs and thoughts. This acceptance also fulfills our sense of greatness and provides a way of escaping reality. People fail to understand that hours spent on social media isolating oneself to escape reality is a false refuge. A book in the Bible called Proverbs states, “Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgement.”

An apostle called Paul in the Bible states, “am I trying to win the approval of other people or of God?”. Life is not about how people respond, react and complement what you do. It is more than that as crisply put by John MacArthur, “Sin is what you do when you’re not satisfied with God.”. Allow me to illustrate an incident in the Bible which proves that social media existed 2000 years ago. The same Apostle Paul logically reasoned with the people of a city about the living God and was helping people to understand that gods made by hands cannot save them. A silversmith and craftsmen who crafted gods started a stir against Paul and his friends as they feared that if people believed in a living God, they would run out of business. There was a great commotion to get rid of Paul and his friends. The Bible states, “some were shouting one thing, and some another.’ It was an utter chaos very much like our present social media.

People are becoming extremely lonely, looking for something to gratify them. It is usually said, ‘the lonelier you are, the more addicted you’d be to social media.’.  You may feel this crutch is your companion to soothe you. But temporary gratification will not help you. This does not mean your career, friends, money or even religion can become your alternatives either. Unfortunately, these are also pursued for our own satisfaction and security. You need to find the truth that can fill the void in your soul. Your heart will find absolute peace when it knows the true God. It is Jesus who promised that peace to all of us “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”. 

To receive this peace, you need forgiveness from all your sins. First you need to confess them and ask Jesus to transform you. This will change your sense of dependency on the world to a living God. He will be a solid rock on which you can stand rather than leaning on fragile crutches of this world. You may check on the link below and find an online Bible to start reading to know more about Him. 

 

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