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Month: May 2011 Page 2 of 3

Proverbial Relationships with Kings :: Humility

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On May 17, 2011

In Christian, Relationships

Proverbs 25:1-7 gives counsel on how one must behave before kings. Often in our day to day lives, we seek to position ourselves to be in the best spot, especially before those with authority like our managers (i.e., rulers or kings), seeking recognition, prominence and preeminence, for the next promotion or pay raise.

The Bible is however very clear and explicit on how to behave in front of people with authority (i.e., managers, rulers, kings, etc). It should be with a humble heart and mind, lest we are abased and brought to shame.  Contextual to relationship with kings and rulers and people of prominence, the Bible unequivocally states that whoever humbles himself shall be exalted but whoever exalts himself shall be abased (Luke 14: 11).

Jesus, who deserves to be in the best spot, before God the Father, and the King of kings, did not seek recognition, prominence or preeminence. Instead, he made himself of no reputation (Philippians 2:7-8) and humbled Himself, from being God to man, to in fact being a dead man; so God, promoted Him to be a ruler over all, exalting Him over all and gave Him a Name that is above all names (Philippians 2:9).

Point(s) to ponder:
1. What is your/mine attitude before our rulers? Is it one that is reflective of a humble Spirit, like that of Jesus Christ, who made himself of no reputation?

Proverbs 25:6-7 (KJV)
6 Put not forth thyself in the presence of the king, and stand not in the place of great men:
7 For better it is that it be said unto thee, Come up hither; than that thou shouldest be put lower in the presence of the prince whom thine eyes have seen.

God’s station naturally

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On May 16, 2011

In Christian

George Washington Carver, Inventor and Naturalist, who was known as God’s scientist and dubbed as the Black Leonardo by Time Magazine, is attributed to have quoted “I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.”

The very first verse in the Bible, that our five year old, Reuben, is being taught in Sunday School is about God being the Creator, for Genesis 1:1 states, In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.  The Psalmist exclaims that the heavens declare the glory of God and the skies sheweth forth his handiwork (Psalm 19:1).

Point(s) to ponder:
1. God’s creation MUST reflect the glory of the Creator.
2. Are you/I tuned into God’s station? If the inanimate heavens and skies declare God’s glory, how much more should we, animated created beings, who are made in the very image of God.
3. Do you/I declare the glory of God, that is in Christ Jesus, proclaiming and showing forth his handiwork (in our lives)?

Psalm 19:1 (KJV)
1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

Shining as Diamonds

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On May 13, 2011

In Christian

On our 10 year anniversary, Sangeetha and I pondered over the past decade and were thankful to God for His faithfulness throughout our married life. She said that in every situation of our life, we could clearly see God’s fingerprint and handiwork. She continued “When we start out as Christians, we start out like a diamond in the rough, big and lackluster in our character and with each situation (good or bad, success or failure, especially in our failures), God chips away the character that displeases him to make us more like Him.” Just as a diamond that is not cut, is not considered to be very valuable, so is our life that is untouched and unshaped by God. But when the diamond is cut and shaped, it becomes precious and very valuable. God cuts the bad in us, each time we repent upon our failures and develops in us a character that is reflective of His essence, making us precious and priceless.

It is the clarity of a diamond, that comes with repeated cutting, that gives it, its value. Similarly, it is the clarity (blamelessness) of our lives that matter. We realized that it is better to be a cut and shining diamond in God’s hand, than to be a diamond in the rough, big and lackluster.

Matthew 5:16 (KJV)
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

A decade of LOVE of and in my life

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On May 12, 2011

In Christian, Poetic Prompts

Ten years have passed, to this day, since Sangeetha and I made a covenant before God and man, to become one flesh. We were married by Pastor Steve Hanchett in Berry Road Baptist Church in Norman, Oklahoma on May 12, 2001. The following poem resulted as I reminisced on this decade past, and wondered about what I could say of these ten short years.

A decade of my life
now shared with Sangeetha, my wife
has not been without defect,
but certainly perfect
because Jesus Christ our Lord,
has been the third-fold in the cord,
showering GRACE and Love
abundantly from heaven above!

Flipping through my life’s bookshelf
blessed and rich I find myself
for ten years have passed
wherein love has been amassed.
I pray as many more is forecast
our life to Christ Jesus, we cast
to love each other and to love God
as ten more together, we hope to trod.

Song of Solomon 7:10 (KJV)
10 I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (NIV)
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs
6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth;
7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails:

Faith, Hope and Love in Christian Life

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On May 11, 2011

In Christian

A Christian life is about the three things that remain; Faith, Hope and Love.

The Past in a Christian’s life is about turning to God (1 Thessalonians 1:9), which is an EVIDENCE of FAITH. The Present in a Christian’s life is about serving the living and true God (1 Thessalonians 1:9), which is an EXPRESSION of LOVE. The Future for a Christian’s life is to wait for Jesus, God’s Son from heaven to come (1 Thessalonians 1:10), which is the EXPECTATION of HOPE.

Points to ponder:
And of the three that remain; faith, hope and love; the greatest of these is Love i.e., the greatest commandment was to Love the LORD; to express our Love for Him. How can we express our love? We can do so by serving the living and true God. How are you/I expressing our Love? Are/Am you/I serving Him, as we await His return having been saved by grace through faith?

1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 (KJV)
9 For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;
10 And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

Always Holding Someone Up

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On May 10, 2011

In Christian

Always Holding Someone UpThe man, whom renowned Christian evangelist, Billy Graham expressed “I think he had personally touched more lives than anybody that I have ever known” is Dawson Trotman, founder of the Christian organization, The Navigators, whose focus is “to know Christ Jesus and to make Him known.” But Dawson Trotman is not only known for his life but for his death as well.

The July 2, 1956 issue of the Time Magazine in its opening paragraph of the article entitled “Religion: The Navigator” was as follows – “Dawson Trotman clambered back into a motorboat one day last week after two hours of waterskiing on Schroon Lake, N.Y. He was dog-tired, but before he settled down he asked one of the two girls in the boat, Allene Beck, if she could swim; when she shook her head, he traded places with her so she would be in a safer spot. Minutes later the speeding boat bounced on a wave, and both of them, the 50-year-old man and the girl, shot into the water. He swam to her and held her head above water until the boat could circle back and she was hauled aboard. But as hands reached down to seize Trotman’s hand, he sank out of sight.” Dawson Trotman died by drowning, as he saved the life of another in the throes of death. The caption under his picture in the article appropriately summed up his life as it read “Always Holding Someone Up.” The article also aptly concluded with “He lived to save others” and “His death was just the way he would have planned it.”

Dawson’s life and death emulated the mind of Christ as expressed in Philippians 2. Jesus lived and died to save others; you and me and he expects us to do the same. The expression of great love is where one lays down his life for another. True love is expressed in not allowing others to sink into the miry pit of sin and death, but holding them up so that they can be reconciled with God. True and great love is summarily “Always Holding Someone Up.”

Points to ponder
1. Can it be said of our life, that we lived to save others?
2. Can it be said of you and me, that we are “Always Holding Someone Up?”

John 15:13 (KJV)
13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Glance or Gaze – Where is our focus?

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On May 9, 2011

In Christian

The most important thing for a row boat to make it back to shore, when it is in the middle of the sea, is for the boatman to have his eyes fixed on the lighthouse and not on the waves in the sea. Many a times, when we are surrounded by the storms of life, we focus our attention on the ups and downs of our life, instead of fixing our eyes on the calmer of all storms – Jesus Christ.

We intently gaze on our problems while merely glancing on God (the storm calmer). The Bible counsels us otherwise. Our heart should be like that of king David, who desired, one thing, which was to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord, all the days of his life (Psalm 27:4). We must fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). We need not even merely glance on our problems but we must intently and solely gaze on God. Jesus Christ is the guiding Light and when we fix our focus on Him, only then can we be assured of reaching the other shore, over the buffeting effects of life.

Points to ponder:
1. Where is your/my glance?
2. Where is your/my gaze?

Psalm 27:4 (KJV)
4 One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.

Hebrews 12:2 (KJV)
2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

The other side of obedience …

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On May 6, 2011

In Christian, To obey or not to obey

When the people of Israel renewed their commitment to the LORD as Joshua addressed them, after they were set free from the physical bondage of Egypt, they told Joshua, that they will obey the voice of the LORD and Him they will serve (Joshua 24:24).

If obedience to the LORD is one side of the coin, the other side is service. Service goes hand in hand with obedience. There are many of us who serve but not obey and there are others who obey but not serve. Jesus served God the Father in obedience to the will of God the Father. Just as one cannot serve without obeying, one cannot obey without serving.

Points to ponder:
Now, we who have been set free from the spiritual bondage of sin and the power of death, is our response the same as that of the Israelities – dual in its function, which is to obey AND serve. “To obey or not to obey” is synonymous to “To serve or not to serve.” For even Jesus Christ, came to serve (obey) and not to be served; how much more should we emulate that same attitude!

Joshua 24:24 (KJV)
24 And the people said unto Joshua, The LORD our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey.

To obey means …

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On May 5, 2011

In Christian, To obey or not to obey

The Bible mandates that we ought to obey the Lord and keep his commands. It also informs us that those who do not obey will perish (Proverbs 36:12). So what does this mean? What does it mean to obey? The Bible gives us the answer in John 3:16 which states “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him, shall not perish, but have eternal life.” This establishes the fact that when one believes in Jesus Christ, he/she will NOT perish.

One will perish if they disobey (Proverbs 36:12). One will not perish if they believe (John 3:16). This implies that disobedience is the antonym of believing. Today if you hear God’s voice (asking you to believe in Him), do not harden your hearts, but obey His voice. Today is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2). Just believe. In other words, Obey!

Point to ponder:
To not perish or to perish? is synonymous to “To believe or not to believe” which is synonymous to “To obey or not to obey?”

Obedience bring camaraderie and credence

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On May 4, 2011

In Christian, To obey or not to obey

The Bible instructs believers of Jesus Christ that when another believer walks disorderly, eating without working, not obeying the word, then one must have no company with this person so that he/she may be ashamed, but this must be done in brotherly admonition and not as an enemy (2 Thessalonians 3:6-15). So if disobedience brings separation (no company) and shame, then obedience must bring camaraderie and credence. Camaraderie is a spirit of good friendship and fellowship, synonymous with brotherhood. Credence is synonymous with trust or acceptance; an acknowledgment of one’s worthiness of belief.

Point(s) to ponder:
The questions that remains are
1. Would God and his people consider you/me to be a comrade?
2. Would they consider you/me to be worthy of belief, trustworthy and accepted?.

In other words, are we in obedience to the word of God, working for His kingdom so that we can eat?

Jesus said, his meat (food) was to do the will of God the Father, who sent Him and to finish His work (John 4:34).
What is yours and mine?

Let us not be busybodies, whose reward is not camaraderie or credence, but separation and shame!

2 Thessalonians 3:6-15 (KJV)
6 Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.
7 For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us: for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you;
8 Neither did we eat any man’s bread for nought; but wrought with labour and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you:
9 Not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an ensample unto you to follow us.
10 For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.
11 For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies.
12 Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.
13 But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing.
14 And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed.
15 Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.

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