The Scripture says so 📖

When I was a child, I loved to play in the sand. I and my friends had this game where we would dig out the sand as deep as possible, leave our legs into the hole and cover it up with the dug out soil. We would then see if we are strong enough to pull our legs out of the soil without using any sort of help. Since we were kids, our deepest dig was somewhere around 1 or 2 feet and we had no trouble to pull our legs out of the loose soil. Sometimes, the boys would pretend that they are struggling to pull out their legs, causing the rest of us to giggle. As an adult I have realized that even today a lot of stand with our legs stuck in soil. But the difference is, we believe that our legs are stuck firmly in the loose soil. We believe that we cannot move because something is holding us down. We don’t even try to move because we feel we cannot escape. The past that torments you is like this loose soil. You cannot run away from it, yes. But at the same time, it cannot hold you down ei...

Mercy is for the weak, says a proverb. You don’t need mercy if you are strong. And in Christian terms, you don’t need mercy if you are righteous. But the statement is wrong. We need mercy every day of our lives. We need his mercy to even touch our index finger with our thumb. Not even one of us is pure and sinless but all of us have been sinful since birth. And that is exactly why we need his mercy because we are all short of the glory of God. There is a huge difference between Grace and Mercy. Grace is when you are redeemed by the blood and given a new life to live. In grace, you are blessed. Mercy is when you are forgiven and set free even when you are at fault. In mercy, you are delivered from judgement. Lot lived among the sinners in Sodom. Nobody made him do that. It was his own choice. While although he was righteous, he didn’t make any effort to live in a better place. He chose Sodom for its prosperity. And now, the lord plans to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. He divulg...

So many girls want to marry the ‘perfect’ guy. The list of the qualities of the ‘perfect’ man is endless. No matter how much girls preach that the perfect man doesn’t exist, they secretly harbor a secret fantasy about the perfect man. The only difference is that the list varies from one girl to other. Some of the most common traits that every girl has in her list are:  V   Loyalty (That goes without saying)  V   Good looks (even if you don’t have good looks, a little effort to appear your best is what girls want)  V   Undying love (not “till death” but even after death. Come on, can’t we find someone like Landon from ‘a walk to remember’?)  V   The ability to make her feel blessed (includes complimenting and paying constant attention)  V   Dying for her (we dream at least once in our lifetime about a handsome guy dying for us) The list goes on…. It also includes a bit of Christian Grey traits (but I am going to igno...

One of my favourite past time includes curling up (on bed, couch or floor) and worrying over all my problems, including those that don’t exist. And the anxiety is usually double when I’m PMS-ing. I am very good at stressing myself with things that are out of my control. And that bad part is, nobody asked me to do all of this! No one asked me to find solutions for things not in my control. But nevertheless, I do it like it’s my favourite homework. We all face problems the size of huge armies frequently in our lives. And whether we pray about it or not, we worry to death over it. Sometimes we think that the problem is there because we have failed to pray properly. So, we immediately start binge-praying for the problem to go away. At other times we try to find various human solutions. Whatever we do, our aim is one thought: Make That Problem Go Away. What we forget is that the problem is here in the first place because God allowed it. And he allowed it to either strengthe...

In the book of 2 Timothy, Paul warns Timothy against various kinds of vile people. He tells them that they will be narcissistic, money-minded, disobedient, unholy etc. But he goes on to tell that these people are actually the ones “having a form of godliness but denying its power”. The Living bible explains in simpler terms by saying, “They will go to church but don’t believe anything they hear” (2 Tim 3:5). It is heartbreaking to see so many people fall under this category even today. Today, people go to church to find fault with the Pastor, scripture, believers, infrastructure etc. In fact, many people love to criticize and put forth conspiring theories about the Word of God. They go to church, yes. But their faith is rooted elsewhere. This is not the kind of faith God requires from us. He wants us to offer our whole hearts to him. He wants us to offer every part of our daily life to him. You cannot offer him your afternoon arguments or drunken brawls! He won’t be plea...

One of my favorite indulgences is accessories. I constantly worry about what bracelet suits my dress the most. And if I come across some accessory with bells in it, my self-control runs out of the shop. But even after buying so many earrings and bracelets, I still felt unsatisfactory…until I came to the feet of the Lord. There, I found what I was seeking. I found contentment and happiness finally. It took me a long time to understand that the beauty of a woman does not lie in her appearance but in her spirit. The morals and truth she carries in her spirits is what defines her. “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and wearing the gold jewellery and fine clothes.  Instead it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit.”     ~1 Peter 3:3, 4 Instead of trying to paint our faces and hiding under layers of pancaked makeup, can’t we instead work on our hearts?  As a woman, ...

There are three types of people whom we usually face in times of troubles: { The Believer or the Encourager { The Doubter { The Critic who discourages us 2Kings 6:24 – 7 explains what happens to these people based on their actions. Let’s see what happens in those chapters: There is a severe famine in Samaria because the King of Aram, Ben Hadad II had sieged the city. The head of a donkey, the least edible part of an unclean animal was sold for about 1 kilogram (2 pounds) of silver. The Samaritans clearly disregarded the laws concerning unclean foods. The famine was so severe that a mother is forced to eat their own child to survive. The sacred love of motherhood has lost its meaning. This breaks the heart of King Joram and accuses the Lord and Elisha. When he comes to Elisha he says, “This disaster is from the Lord, why should I wait for the Lord any longer?” To which Elisha prophesies that “About this time tomorrow, a seah of flour will sell for a shekel an...

Samson was a great warrior in the bible. He was the strongest man ever. Before Samson was born, his mother was barren. His parents were then visited upon by an angel who prophesied about Samson’s birth and gave instructions regarding his upbringing. During that time, the angel says clearly that the boy’s hair must never be cut and that he is to be set apart to the Lord from his birth. His parents were faithful in following the instructions and Samson grew up well. But later, we see that his moral character is corrupted.     1)      He wanted to marry a philistine. Even though it was the Lord’s plan, Samson’s weak morale is evident as he breaks the law forbidding marriage with foreigners. Here is an example of how the Lord will use even the sinful nature of men to accomplish his purpose. Had Samson been more upright, the Lord would have chosen a better way to get even with philistines. But the bible doesn’t record Samson praying or seekin...

After the first two temptations failed, the devil took Jesus and showed him the whole world and agreed to give it all to Jesus if he would fall down and worship him. The biggest irony was that the world already belonged to Jesus, not the devil. What was he offering then? He offered Kingdoms of people in its entire splendor. The devil knew that Jesus has come to lead the lost sheep back to the Father. He also knew that not everyone will be willing to listen to Jesus. Though the whole earth is the Lord’s, the people were stooped in sin and were slaves to it. The devil agreed (or pretended to agree) to give them all, people and riches, to Jesus if he would fall down and worship him. “Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”  ~Matthew 4:8, 9 Very tempting, if you ask me. He wasn’t just offering an easy way to gain crowds, but a...

According to the Gospel of Matthew 4: 5-7, Jesus was tempted by being taken to Jerusalem and made to stand on the highest point of the temple. Then the devil challenges him to throw himself down since the scriptures say that angels will protect him from any harm. But Jesus refuses by saying that he will not test God, his father. “Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “Throw yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone’.” Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to test.’ ” ~Matthew 4:5 - 7 The temple on which Jesus stood on was built by King Herod. It was almost 15 stories high and had a huge courtyard, where people roamed throughout the day. Jesus stood on the pinnacle from which trumpets were sounded to draw th...

It is well known from the Scriptures what the first temptation of Jesus Christ is: “After fasting forty days and forty nights, Jesus was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’.”                                       ~ Matthew 4:2 – 4.        Let me brief a bit, Jesus was in the desert for forty days. During the forty days, he ate nothing and fasted. At the end, he was hungry when the Devil tries to tempt him in his moment of human weakness. He asks Jesus to change stones into bread and satisfy his hunger.  Had it been us, I am sure that we wouldn’t have giv...

In the book of I Kings 15:9-24 and II Chronicles 14-16, we can find the account of King Asa of Judah. Now, King Asa was a good king and did right in the eyes of the Lord. He was consumed with so much zeal for the Lord that he destroyed sacred stones and foreign altars. He even went to the length of deposing his grandmother Maacah from the throne for making an Asherah pole. All this went good and proper and the Lord was pleased with king Asa. And then trouble strikes. Baasha, King of Israel fortified Ramah, a territory of King Asa. Being a King of Judah, Asa should have prayed to the Lord for help as David would have. Or he should have consulted through the High priest before acting. But on the face of calamity, Asa took his own decision. He took up the gold and silver from the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and sent it to Ben-Hadad, the King of Aram, asking for help. And so, Aram broke off treaty with Israel by attacking its towns. The Israel king immediately focus...

“I think it’s OK to get drunk and have fun. What’s the big deal about it?” “I am a Christian but I am also a 21 year old. I have the right to enjoy my life anyway I want” “I don’t care what the Pastor says. It’s just a one-night stand. Jeez! Man, it is 2017! Do you still believe in all that?” A lot of us would have heard such and many more comments like these. ‘In my opinion’ is one phrasing we all use to validate and justify our actions. But what we tend to ignore most of the time is God’s opinion. “We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ”- 2 Corinthians 10:5 Paul has written clearly that as a Christian, we are supposed to take all our thoughts captive to Christ . Meaning, there is no such thing as free thinking in Christ.  Now, don’t go nuclear on me. I’m not telling you that you have no opinion at all. You do have your say in all matters. But it is important for you to answer this one question before you decide your judgment on a...

As Christians, we are mostly familiar with the Genesis 22: 1-19 where God tests  Abraham's faith by asking him to sacrifice his son. Now, we know how Abraham must have been anguished by that request. Why the All-knowing heavenly Father would need to know about Abraham’s faith, if he can know our minds and thoughts? God tested Abraham to make sure that his gift (Issac) did not interfere with Abraham’s relationship with God. The whole test was also a lesson to us, that we must love and fear the Lord, more than his gifts to us. How many times have we cut short our prayers and bible reading time to attend that piano or swimming class? How many times have we skipped praying so that we could prepare for that final examination better? (Of course, some of us don’t study at exams at all and start praying in hope to pass that subject for which we bunked classes all the time... that’s a different story 😁) What we usually over look is the fact that our special talents o...