Unpredictable Humans!

 

Often humans are unpredictable. People change based on power, money, fame, status, moods, feelings etc. Most of us have learnt to adapt to change in peoples’ behaviours and attitudes. Whereas, in the animal kingdom their characters are static, and it is easy to understand them. Even as humans there is a set of social behaviours expected from us as a sane human being. Behavioural psychologists have classified people based on Introverts, extroverts, ambiverts and further classified people to type A, B, C and D, describing how people respond and react based on their personality.

We make assumptions based on our beliefs about other people's behaviour, and most of the time people don't react based on our assumption. We rely on other people's predictability, so much so that when they fail to act the way we predicted we wonder what is wrong with them.

Though each person is predictable its more the state of the person’s heart that makes a person to behave in a certain way. Environment and other factors are only complementing factors.

To state an example, the giver assumes he/she is powerful than the receiver, though the receiver holds the right to receive the contribution. Unfortunately, the giver uses his/her power and position to manipulate or control the receiver. They are Narcissist ending up as sociopaths. Just to define sociopath in a nutshell, people with sociopathy may have little empathy and a habit of rationalizing their actions. But they are well aware of the difference between right and wrong.

This unpredictability of a person has tremendous impact on family and relationships at large. And mentioned above, when a man's heart is guilty of doing something wrong in the past or present, he/she starts operating in haphazard, reckless manner leading to unpredictability.

Jesus modelled a perfect character for all of us. It is recorded in the Bible, "So all (people) bore witness to Him and marvelled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth...". As He was a sinless God He had a consistent character of unfailing love, gentleness, compassion, which attracted people from all walks of life.

A God who predicted His own death and resurrection, He submitted Himself to shame and pain to die on the cross of calvary where He was crucified. A remarkable character is recorded in one of the verses about His nature, "He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even to death on a cross.". He did that so that the marvellous resurrection can be displayed to the entire world for finding salvation and impacting true transformation of heart. Being unpredictable in doing good is so much appreciated than being unpredictable in doing bad.

 

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Happy Father's Day!

 

Like many special days to honour, “Father’s Day” is also one among them that is observed throughout the world, today. For some of us have the privilege of being with our father and celebrating it with him but for some he has become a memory and brings nostalgic memories. Fathers are kept in high regard by their children as they look to him for answers in this baffling world. It is good to acknowledge all the sacrifices each father makes to providing his child a luxurious lifestyle and bringing up with excellent moral standing.

Some have the joy of experiencing happy father-child relationship, but some have dreadful experiences of abuse and hurt by their fathers. I would like to quote the life of Josh McDowell who experienced abusive childhood. He narrates his experience elaboratively in his book "Evidence, that demands a verdict" He says this in his book, "While I was growing up, my father was the town drunk. I hardly ever saw him sober...I would sometimes find my mother in the barn, lying in the manure behind the cows where my dad had beaten her with a hose until she couldn’t get up. My hatred seethed as I vowed to myself, “When I am strong enough, I’m going to kill him.”. It added more pain to Josh because having an irresponsible father made him vulnerable to sexual abuse by the hired cook and housekeeper from the age of six.

His troubled childhood forced him to grow up hating God, eventually to become an atheist, making all attempts to disapprove the existence of God, Jesus. He convinced other students that there is no God at all. Sadly, a miserable childhood can deconstruct the faith in God itself. However, his life story takes a turn for the best where he takes a break for 18 months to research and disprove the resurrection of Jesus. During the process he encountered the love of Christ and was completely transformed. As a conclusion to his story, he states this, "You can laugh at Christianity. You can mock and ridicule it. But it works. If you trust Christ, start watching your attitudes and actions—Jesus Christ is in the business of changing lives. Christianity is not something to be shoved down your throat or forced on you. You have your life to live, and I have mine. All I can do is tell you what I have learned and experienced. After that, what you do with Christ is your decision.”.

 Perhaps the prayer I prayed will help you: “Lord Jesus, I need you. Thank you for dying on the cross for me. Forgive me and cleanse me. Right this moment I trust you as my Savior and Lord. Make me the type of person you created me to be. In Christ’s name, Amen.”. Accepting Jesus in his life helped Josh to forgive his father and share the love of Jesus, that his father too was fully transformed and radically changed. You too can have your life transformed if you ask Jesus to work in you. He is our best father, a God who resurrected and lives to be the best eternal Father one can have. But as responsible earthly fathers, can we all live to raise our children with all respect and be a great role model they ever had?

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What's the thorn that's bothering you?

 

Each of us have a thorn in our life we tolerate. We wish to have absolute control over all situations we encounter in life. A great dream but a distant one. None of us live a perfect scenario of a hurt-free life. Thorns are a gift which remind us of our finitude and that we are mere breath. There are some who hold power and money and assume they are free to abuse and hurt many along the way. Each of us have different thorns that hurt us. I am not sure what pain you are living with or what is that one thing that you are not able to get rid of despite all the good things you have. I am referring to that one thing that drains your energy and makes you question your very existence.

The thorn can be sickness, constant financial crunches, loan, spouse, colleague, current job, boss etc.,. As ridiculous as it may sound, some of these thorns can actually shape us to be a better person and help us to be more reliant on God. Those who inspire others through their talks on meaning and purpose in life, usually have a life transforming story to share filled with thorns.

The Bible talks of a person called Paul, who once persecuted and executed the followers of Jesus. One day, he encounters Jesus in a vision. His life is totally transformed, and he ended up becoming a witness for Jesus. He was a real person who makes this statement, "even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh... to torment me and keep me from becoming proud." And he says this, "three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, "My Grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness."

I like this powerful statement made by J J Vasquez, "If you can’t find peace and purpose in anonymity and poverty, don’t look for it in fame and fortune.". We always misinterpret success, fame, and fortune as game changers for a transformed life, leading to lasting success. Those who used these to move up the ladder in their life were destroyed and brought down by the very same. Jesus Christ, who is an all-powerful God, became powerless before His enemies to fulfil the greater purpose of offering forgiveness and salvation to mankind and rescue us from our wretchedness by being crucified and resurrected. Your thorn is not to destroy you but for you to thrive in the purpose for which you were created. Talk to the God who fulfils your purpose through you pain and struggle. Jesus lives in us. Invite Him into your heart. He is waiting to strengthen you and be with you in your journey in this earth.

 

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When dry season drains you!

 

When someone feels empty, disconnected and depleted, enters through a dry season that quickly pushes the person to live with pain and regrets.  Irrespective of having surrounded by friends, holding to a secure job, family, and relationships, the heart longs for something the mind cannot define it. The current blessings seem to be foggy. Charles Spurgeon puts it this way, "our anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its strength, but only empties today of its strength.". You need daily strength to exist and that includes not only your physical energy, resources for the day, but to have enough emotional and spiritual strength too.  Augustine rightly pointed this out, "because God has made us for Himself, our hearts are restless until they find they rest in Him.".  Our spiritual needs are always misunderstood as physical crisis.  If we could only understand that our physical, emotional, and socio-economic problems are deep rooted in spiritual issues.

People generally expect things to happen in a particular way based on their expectation and get disappointed when it doesn’t happen that way.  And eventually such people get emotionally tired and go through a dry season. Our heart misleads, misinterprets the good things we have and increases the regret over broken expectations and failed opportunities. What is one supposed to do in times like this? Count your blessings, find out what you have that sustains you this long, and learn to trust GOD who can see your future. The writer in one of the books in the Bible raises this question, “What do you have that God hasn’t given you? …” Everything we have including life is God’s gift.

We usually expect things should happen quickly to the speed of our anticipation. And our expectations are generally based on what we can see and how far we could see. But we fail to comprehend that it doesn’t work that way all the time. The Bible emphasises on  faith and trust in God. It says, "For we walk by faith, not by sight.".  The moment one thinks that he/she is losing years waiting and longing for things to happen, disappointment grows, and faith becomes a silly exercise.

It's not worth trying to waste all our energy and resources to achieve our losses today, hoping it will save the future. The standard of good life is erratic. It will never be stable, as long as we live on this earth. The needs and demands shift every time and keep increasing always.

Find your purpose and the means will follow. When your purpose is to know God and have a meaningful fellowship with Him then you will find clarity, peace, happiness in where you are and in what you do. Most of us always misunderstand the purpose of living to things that we can hardly hold on to for a longer period of time. People define a basic good life to their current situation and expectations hoping that will last but when that exhausts, they pursue the next level of their anticipation. Hold on! Trust God. Jesus, calls to all those who are tired is constant all the time. He said, “come to me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”. One of the scriptures speaks about God's faithfulness profoundly, "the Lord will fulfil his purpose for me...". You are in His hands. Synchronize your thoughts find your purpose. These words in the scripture is not only soothing and assuring but leading too.

 

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Active Religion, Absent relationship!

According to some estimates, there are over 4,000 religions, faiths groups, and denominations that exist around the world today. Researchers and academicians generally categorize the world's religions into five major groups: Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Judaism. This blog is not intended to portray religion based on rank, but it intends to bring a paradigm shift to a relationship with the one true God. Today, religions are gauged based on the number of followers, number of shrines present in a particular state or the country and the general country census. More often than not, in the name of religion hatred, antagonism, and war are promoted dividing people.

Any religion that cannot facilitate love, brotherhood, harmony, and oneness should be re-examined to know where lies the gap. You can check my blog titled, “Are you a Protector? where I have mentioned that we are trying to protect God and religion. I keep reiterating that people’s sentiments to shrines and places exceeds actual belief in God. Religion demands a few hours in a particular day of the week, for that matter every religion has special auspicious days and people comply by visiting the religious buildings on that day as part of their duty. But Jesus’ teaching only focuses on relationship with God. Jesus from the Bible deconstructed the idea of religious building.  Jesus in one of His conversations said this, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”.

Jesus’ teaching was not just about good moral values, but a true depiction of His character. His sermon and preaching always referred to the kingdom of God. His famous sayings were this, “repent because the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”. He did not refer to an afterlife with new incarnation but being with Him in eternity. I refer and claim His saying for the fact that He is the only person in entire human history who rose from the dead. This is the game changer for me personally. People’s lives are transformed including dangerous criminals. They find hope in Him probably more so on His teaching.

During my conversation with people with an honest quest to find the truth, I have requested them to read the Bible at least once with an open mind to know the truth. Let me echo with Josh McDowell who said this, “there are non-Christian sources of information about Jesus, such as Suetonius, Celsus and Thallus, but Tacitus and Josephus alone suffice to establish Jesus’ historicity.”.  You may browse or refer to their testimonials regarding their claims about Him. Today, in many parts of our Country, Christians schools and hospitals who do noble service are condemned of converting. The act of love and charity are used by fanatics to blame them. I believe what Christians are attempting are to follow the great commandments said by Jesus, i.e., to love God with all our soul, heart, mind, and strength and love our neighbour as oneself. Another fascinating truth from the Bible says, “Don’t you yourselves know that you are God’s temple and that the spirit of God lives in you?”  Keep your heart clean for the living God to live in you and transform you.

 

 

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Reference:

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/cp/visualizing-religions-worldwide/#:~:text=According%20to%20some%20estimates%2C%20there,Buddhism%2C%20Hinduism%2C%20and%20Judaism.

Is self-reliant sufficient?

 

We live in a time where we are impacted by situations either good or bad, like political atmosphere, environmental changes, social conditions, financial turmoil, inflation, religious worldviews and job pressure. Sometimes it is just impossible to hold on to one place or position. The external pressure is too high to resist the change.

The skills and knowledge that made a difference once, have become outdated now. People are struggling to cope up with high demands in career, jobs, and industries that are part of one’s day to day lives. Career developments, career counselling, social agencies and job agencies claim to have solutions for people’s insecurities. In pursuit of finding a way to be compatible, self-reliant and self-sufficient, we think we can survive.

We hope our best efforts brings success and eventually be on our own. We assume all the factors including God should support our idea of life and enable us to be self-reliant and self-sufficient. King Solomon one of the writers in the book in the Bible states, “I have observed something else under the sun. The fastest runner doesn’t always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn’t always win the battle. The wise sometimes go hungry, and the skilful are not necessarily wealthy. And those who are educated don’t always lead successful lives. It is all decided by chance, be being in the right place at the right time.” (Ecclesiastes 9:11 NLT Bible). We would agree that the above fact is a reality. The self-reliant and self-sufficient person is not always the one who is successful.

Talking about right place in this context just means that one remains in the center of the will of the creator. What we usually tend to assume when referred to god is our religious identity and the religious building. I am referring to knowing the one true God in a pluralistic worldview. People tend to assume what they believe is right and can lead them to the creator.

Finding truth has become a matter of preference for many. This person, God incarnated, Jesus claimed, “I am the way the truth and the life...” And this was proved by His miraculous virgin birth, the life He led, His death and resurrection. Trusting on Him changes the course of our lives. Sometimes it is a blessing to be able to rely on the savior for the insignificant details of our life. He holds our future, though it may look like we are self-reliant and self-sufficient with our wealth, position and confident we can find anything for ourselves. But this is far from the truth. If you are forced to depend on God and trust Him in your today and tomorrows, then it is surely a blessing.

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You will never go unnoticed!

It is innate human desire to be noticed, counted, looked upon all the time. And to this purpose people struggle and strive to keep themselves in the spotlight. People fear that if they do not constantly stay at top leadership or always succeed, they will soon be forgotten, lose their value and be worthless. This becomes our driving factor to define ourselves with accomplishments, successes and improving our social status. Unfortunately, religions of our age have also contributed to division and hierarchies that spotlight some and ignores or demeans the others. We find our position in our homes, society and in the place we identify ourselves the most. In this pursuit, we inadvertently end up disturbing the balance of peace and harmony.

If there is one thing this article wants to reassure you is that you can never go unnoticed by the sovereign God who has created you. If this truth seems absurd, it could be because of your clouded idea of God today, which is hiding Him from you. Due to contradictory and conflicting stories we have about God we seem to become more superficial today. Most of the stories of God have become the source of man’s creation and imagination which is why there are so many different versions of the same story and some need censoring as they can never be taught or introduced to children. Jesus is the only story not only of the fact that His existence is authenticated by history and archaeologists, but also that He rose from dead and promised to prepare a place for us and return to take us where He is. That is the core message of the Bible. However, we tend to discard truth if we do not wish to belong to it, even if its 100% genuine.

When Jesus’s story is truth then let me reiterate this, you can never be forgotten, and you will never go unnoticed. You don’t have to try finding God. He has found you already. He knows your condition and brokenness and is always available if you would like to call Him for help. I can relate with this truth in my life because for some years I was available for people who were in need, who were broken and who needed comfort. I never had the guarantees of the world, especially a regular income. But my needs were never unnoticed by my God and my creator. When we are in deep sorrow and feel lonely, our God is closer to us. As Jennifer Rothschild states this, “No matter what your situation is, God sees your tears. He hears your cry. He is mindful of what scares you, stresses you, and saddens you. He not only notices your tears, He knows why they’re falling—and He always responds with concern and care.”. Stop looking up to gods created by mere human beings. You may continue believing but in the end you will be disappointed. Jesus’ resurrection is the problem solver for the entire world. Would you like to try Him?

 

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