In search of 'trouble free zone'.

 

The harder we try to find a place free of troubles or challenges the harder it gets. We have created 'zones' like pubs, theatres, malls and gaming arcades to spend our time to keep our worries at bay and replacing them with momentary fun. But once we leave those zones our worries come flooding back ferocious than before and push us to greater depths of depression and gloom. Alcohol, smoking and opioids are other forms of pleasures transporting us to an ecstasy world for a very short time and then promptly kicks us back to reality. Thus, the problem of pleasure can be defined this way. Every time we go back to what we thought was happiness, we have to dig our feet much deeper in the sand the next time to derive more satisfaction than in the previous attempt and it is less satisfying.

The proverbs of Solomon (the wisest king in the Bible) records, “Everything is wearisome beyond description.”. He was a king who enjoyed enormous wealth, indulged in every form of pleasure imaginable and available at his time and yet at the end of everything his analysis was that everything is wearisome beyond description. There is no ingenious invention that can guarantee a ‘constant state of happiness’ in other words there is nothing that exists called a 'no trouble zone.' Arrogant to accept this, we have created our own happiness and have become miserable failures. The fact is there are sufficient resources for happiness and man is powerful enough to purchase his definition of happiness. However, the unfortunate reality is that we will never be satisfied. We see this in the second part of the same verse mentioned in the beginning of the paragraph which says, “The eye is not satisfied by seeing or the ear filled with hearing.”. There we go! Our eye can never be satisfied by anything that we define as the source of contentment.

So where is this "no trouble zone"? Is it something that exists? My answer is yes and it begins in your mind. It's not about eliminating desire or lowering our expectations. It sounds philosophically good but discipline does not help us attain this state of mind. We are all born with innate desire to attain what we want and to enjoy luxury that comes in any form. Irrespective of all the trouble and crisis we can still have peace and contentment in our mind and heart. For that we need a Big God to fill our hearts with satisfaction. Not religion! Religion comes with varied obligations and dictates us to get satisfaction from it. The Bible says, “the fashion of this world is passing away.”. Our sinful passion can only create craving for more worldly things. Jesus says in the Bible that only an exclusive relationship with Him can transform our hunger preferences and we will have absolute joy and contentment, which “No one will take your joy from you.”.

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Demonstration of love- the Greatest influence!

I wish to continue to elaborate on the subject of influence from my previous blog. We are influenced everyday by individuals and factors. As we are all aware it is not only the rich & the powerful, the big guy who is on the top of the ladder or celebrities that influence, but also the poor and the vulnerable. We also choose to be influenced by a God and we seek by following religion. 

Steven Covey writes on influence as to ‘live the law of love’, which is a powerful influence over so many other factors. He states, ‘People are extremely tender inside, particularly those who act as if they are tough and self-sufficient. And if we’ll listen to them with the third ear, the heart, they’ll tell us so. We can gain even greater influence with them by showing love, particularly unconditional love, as this gives people a sense of intrinsic worth and security unrelated to conforming behavior or comparisons with others.”

Sincere love can only be bestowed upon by a God of love. There cannot be any greater influence than love. The Bible states, “God is love”. Jesus qualifies it by saying this, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”. He proved his power of love and forgiveness by submitting himself to the cruel death. Dr Michael Brown reminds us about the cruel punishment exercised by the Romans for the criminals. In it he states, ‘There were tens of thousands of Jews crucified by the Romans in the first century AD, but the world only knows the name of one of them today. That’s because only one was the Son of God and only one rose from the dead.’.  Jesus has, by far, the highest name recognition throughout the world. Fully one third of our world’s population – about 2.5 billion people follow Christ, because they are strongly influenced by the demonstration of His love. Let me portray from History how the crucifixion is vouched by some of the greatest historians. The influence was so much that they took a stand to record it in History.

Peruse through history, which confirms the crucifixion event. For example, the first-century Roman Cornelius Tacitus, who is considered one of the more accurate historians of the ancient world, mentions Christ who suffered under Pontius Pilate during the reign of Tiberius. Flavius Josephus is the most famous Jewish historian. In his book the "Antiquities of the Jews", he refers “that Christ appeared to people alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him.”

Julius Africanus quotes the historian Thallus in a discussion of the darkness that followed the crucifixion of Christ. The Babylonian Talmud (Sanhedrin 43a) confirms Jesus’ crucifixion on the eve of Passover and the accusations against Christ of practicing sorcery and encouraging Jewish apostasy. What can be greater for anyone than to know someone who had to undergo the cruel death by Romans and yet be resurrected on the third day. This fact confirms that the influence of this man created and promised to give life in abundance. Not only does He have the power to forgive our sins but can also transform us, is an undeniable fact. He is God and not a founder of a religion. He does not turn away anyone, who honestly call him for help.

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The power of influence!

  

It is often assumed that the power to influence mostly lies with the rich, the powerful, the elite, the celebrities and the so-called spiritual gurus with large number of followers. Yes, without doubt these categories of people are looked up to and heeded to.  However, are all their influences honest, truthful, enriching, unselfish or unbiased? Is a question one should ask ourselves. If we notice, some of the influences become controversial but irrespective of the controversies the most powerful hold the power to influence.

Religion is another powerful influencing factor that we see. A nation following a particular religion with majority, exercises higher influence on people. There are also cases where countries and radical groups use religion as an influence to persecute minorities and endanger the lives of people of other faiths.

When it comes to influence, people are least bothered whether it is good or bad. All that matters is to move up the ladder of success and attain heights to be seen and heard. Good and bad are irrelevant when it's about achieving greatness and power.

Let me introduce you to a man who was seen as insignificant and humble yet created the greatest influence in history. Two thousand years ago, Jesus lived in what is today the country of Israel. He was a Jew and a carpenter by trade. He never traveled far from home, never wrote a book, never raised an army, and never served in any political office. But incredibly, He claimed to be the Messiah and Son of God. Jesus lived a perfect life, performed miracles, healed the sick and lame, gave sight to the blind, walked on water, even raised the dead, the kinds of things one would expect the real Son of God to do. There were those who considered His claims blasphemous, and thus executed Him for the same, just as it was predicted (along with the Old Testament prophets, before the birth of Jesus, centuries before). Three days later, Jesus Christ rose physically from the dead, proving convincingly that He was who He claimed to be, and that is how and why He is now our Savior. The person of the Son of God, by taking on a human body and living a perfect life, by suffering with us and dying for us, and by overcoming death itself, has reunited us with our Creator. This is truth and good news.

You don’t necessarily have to be an icon to create influence. You can make a commitment to follow the one who made history by resurrecting from the dead and has the power to transform you, make you His own to be a wider influence in the society with truth, honesty, nobility and justice.

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concealing your identify!

Two decades ago, our friends and relatives were clueless of what's happening in our lives unless we bother to connect with them and share. Digital life has flipped the scenario drastically that they know what's happening to us every minute of our life. Today, we have become "pseudo" celebrities by publishing about ourselves in the social media. In the process we have corroded our value for relationships, which were intrinsic, intentional and meaningful in the non-digital age.

Today, we have access to minute by minute update (some unwanted) about an individual through their digital platforms, but can be highly challenging to connect and have a meaningful conversation. They are literally unreachable. Unfortunately, they prefer to be incognito when you want to reach out to them personally but be extremely active in their social media platforms. If at all they do reach out to you, it's for their own personal agenda.

A conversation with one of the sisters who had lost her husband to COVID-19, told me, “Actually you see, no one has time to talk or listen to.”. So much for our support mechanisms! It is sad yet true that people have all the time to chat and update on social media but have very less or zero time to connect and talk. We see a lot of discrepancies in their digital life and social life.

Concealed identity has become a fashion and people play hide and seek when connecting with people. They can appear when they wish and disappear anytime, highlighting the shallowness of relationships. It is even more sad to know that it is present among people of all religions. The Bible pleasantly warns us with these words, “it is better to trust in the Lord, than to put confidence in man.”. Reality resounds through this verse showing how people can be unpredictable and unassuming.

Digital age has severed real time talking and making people available for us when we are at our lowest point. But the good news is that we have a God who has created us in His own image and knows what we are going through. It is said in the Bible “I have loved you with everlasting love, therefore I have continued to extend faithful love to you.”. You can reach out to Christ Jesus in prayer. I don’t intend to recommend any religion but a Savior in whom we find forgiveness for our sins and gain hope. I challenge you to speak to Him in prayer. You will find His presence near you and walk with you while you pass through a hopeless and clueless situation.

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Your existence is a miracle!

  

A fact worth reminding ourselves often is that a total of 108 billion people have lived on this planet earth throughout history of which 93% of them are dead. We are the 7% still alive. Does this statistics excite us? It should because it affirms we are God’s unique creation and we have made it irrespective of all odds. Scientists estimate the probability of a person being born is one in 400 trillion. This tells us that we were created intentionally by God. We are a miracle. But are we living up to these facts?

Let me explain this with a simple figure called the line of infinity, meaning life goes on. In the never-ending line of infinity, each of us appear somewhere. For example, red and blue vertical lines pop up at a particular timeframe and then cease to exist within a short framework of time. But is this what life is all about?

  

│-----------I---I---------I--------I--------------------

                Line of infinity Figure 1

 

To further emphasize the point, being a unique creation of God there is definitely a purpose to our living. The Bible is the only book that details the creation of the universe with all specifications and without any irregularities. We can find this in the first book of the Bible called Genesis, which provides detailed information about the entire creation, including human beings. Unfortunately, religion in most cases has been reduced to hereditary and geographical, meaning being the part of a nation. Truth becomes irrelevant and we condemn any information refuting our faith. Today people choose religion and God to live a life with zero accountability. We just have to perform our rites and religious demands and it doesn’t require us to change our behavior.

Universe was never meant to be with such brokenness. The first man violated the freedom God gave to him. He thought probably he can make a better choice than God and invited the punishment on entire human beings. Life is impacted and impeded as it is now and we have become a limited edition on this earth but definitely not in the life to come, i.e. eternal life. Life is fulfilling and meant to be eternal with God. Let us trust in a God who is real and not a mythological character, accepting Him as our Savior and live our life with hope and blessing. The bold and proven statement of Jesus in the Bible is I live therefore you will live also live. It is also a statement of hope.  We live in this life and in the life to come, i.e. eternity.

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Happy Father's Day!

At the outset, wishing you all a happy Father’s Day!

Fatherhood does not define just masculinity but a sacred responsibility to shape and impact a generation. Fathers often are not too explicit in their actions like mothers, but quite profound in their influence over their children. They are their children's role model. It doesn’t matter if the fathers are vibrant or dormant, nevertheless they are active in their influences.

Fathers primary focus is to provide for their children’s need and ensure that they do not lack anything. In the Bible it says so aptly, “A good man leaves an inheritance to his grandchildren…”. However, the question here is how do we define ‘A good man’? Secondly, what ‘an inheritance’ exactly should mean for our children? A good man or in other words, ‘a good father’ is not just relative and customized according to culture and status as we understand. A good father is one who not only provides for his children but also leaves a good example and a legacy to follow. For a good human being, to know the earthly father and the Eternal Father is very crucial.

When a father in today's culture fails to provide for his children, he is called abusive and uncaring. In many countries the courts often force such rogue fathers to pay child support, attaching their wages to assure that their children's needs are properly met. In the court of public opinion the father's actions would be branded as blatant child abuse.

The renowned prayer Jesus taught us to pray starts as, “Our father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name....deliver us from all evil.". A sincere prayer to recognize the Father in heaven and a request to keep us from any forms of evil. I believe every child would want their father to be there for them and extend their protection from any evil. But what if the fathers are abusive in nature? That is where the problem begins. But thank God there are mothers to pitch in and try to do their best to provide safety and protection. Many have lost their father and their mother becomes everything to them. Be assured, we all have a Heavenly Father to guide us and provide for us. This is not a religiously made philosophical statement but a fact.

Jesus in the Bible talks about the father where He says, “What father among you, if his son asks for a fish will give him a snake instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?” He further asserts His fatherly character by saying, "If you then who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father know what the need is and provide for them." Best of all, the Lord Jesus Himself asserts by declaring this, His unselfish purpose for coming to planet earth, ". . I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." A good life is a gift from our generous father. It is both abundant life now on earth and eternal life throughout the endless ages. It is important to thank our earthly fathers here and acknowledge our eternal Father in heaven.

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The Power of Gratitude!

 

 In recent times, there is a culture shift where people have no time to be bothered by what is happening around them. The overwhelming pressure, personal challenges and daily commitments keep them on their heels. Added to it, smart phones have become a key player in sucking all our attention to an extent that life has become unimaginable without it. So much so that it has become a one stop solution for all our problems. We are slowly moving towards self-sufficiency, contended with technologies, satisfied with possessions, yet feeling utterly empty deep inside.

Over the ages, sensitivity towards one another and the environment has decreased drastically. A decade ago, few deaths and minor disasters would shake our very existence, but with passing time only large disasters with numerous casualties draw our attention and stir our feelings of sympathy. Somehow, we became the center of attention with life revolving only around us.

Today, this pandemic has intruded and brought life to the edge. Every day to breathe and to be able to see a new day are miracles in themselves. We are not sure if we would still meet the person we last spoke to. Are we really thankful to God for adding a new day in our lives? Are we grateful to many good hearts who extend their love and care to us? We the human race are forgetting to be thankful and express gratitude to God who has created us and to so many people who are showering us with love and care. Basic etiquettes and ethics have eroded from our human race as selfishness is seeping in. With the pandemic and various other crisis setting in, we are not sure what to appreciate and be thankful for and what to overlook.

There is a verse in the Bible which says, “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift”. God is not pleased by our mere religious rituals and a visit to the religious places. This is done purely for our satisfaction. Thanking God for the life, thanking people around us and showing gratitude to the ones who stand with us silently, are the need of the hour. Let us find opportunity to thank all those who have contributed something in our lives. Take this into consideration that God is drawing the attention of all the people of the entire human race towards Him in this crisis. Christ's death and resurrection are the demonstration of His Love. Let us be thankful for His sacrifice and turn to God for help. If you are alive, it just means that God is not done with you yet. Trust the Savior, find abundant life and express gratitude to God and to people.

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