An incident that took place in my life long back, about 7 years back came back to my mind this afternoon very powerfully. Something that could otherwise be dismissed and even forgotten as a daily occurence in India has, for whatever reason, been etched in my mind's memory forever.

It was May 2003. I had gone to India for my sister's wedding. All preparations for the wedding were going on in full swing and just a couple of days before the wedding, I had gone to a men's clothing outlet, Raymonds, to buy my dad a nice suit for the occasion. I was in the rear seat of our car, simply looking out the window while the driver we had employed for the occasion was driving the car.

We stopped at these traffic lights in the Basheer Bagh area and suddenly there came, as if from nowhere, this old beggar, perhaps in his late 70s or early 80s, stooped low and his stomach almost bent in. It was very evident that this man had not eaten for days. He came and with desperate tears in his eyes earnestly begged for something and said that he hadn't eaten anything for a long time. All the while, the driver of our car was simply scolding this old beggar, telling him off and to not bother us. But something within me just couldn't dismiss him. My heart went out to this old beggar. Those tears in his eyes, that pleading and desperate look, his frame bent low and stomach turned in, I haven't forgotten that sight till this day. I simply took what I had in my shirt pocket, a 5 rupee coin and gave it to him. His face immediately lighted up, and this time it was tears of joy in his eyes. He said to me many times, over and over, "devudu ninnu challagunchuthaadu, devudu ninnu  deevisthaadu babu (God will bless you son)". Those words are ringing in my ears till this day. 

I have always wondered if he was the one Jesus was referring to when he said in Matthew 25:35 "For I was hungry, and you gave me food...".

Obviously I have no idea if that old man is even alive now or has fallen victim to his hunger pangs eventually. But those words of blessing from an old beggar has meant a lot to me. God bless his heart, if he is still alive.

This morning, I was so encouraged and lifted up in my spirit thinking upon the precious rich assurances that God gave me regarding my salvation in the recent past. These words that He spoke to me just assured and soothed my troubled mind and put to rest all my anxieties and worries. Just thought I'd post these precious promises of God to me.

Fear not: for I have redeemed you, I have called you by your name; you are mine. When thou pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you: when thou walk through the fire, you shall not be burnt; neither shall the flame kindle upon you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour - Isaiah 43:1-3

I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, your transgressions, and, as a cloud, your sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed you. - Isaiah 44:22

I, even I, am he that blotteth out your transgressions for my own sake, and will not remember your sins. - Isaiah 43:25

I chose to adopt you into my family before the foundation of the world - Paraphrase of Ephesians 1:4-5

Wow! Long before this world was even created and brought into existence, God had already thought about me. I was in His thoughts, He determined that I should be saved and brought into His family. He has forgiven me all of my sins and transgressions, He wiped the slate clean so that right now, I stand before Him in pristine whiteness and purity because the blood of Jesus Christ His son has cleansed me of all sin.

I belong to God and He is my God and Father forever.

Just wanted to express how frustrated, angry and sad I am at the whole state of affairs in Andhra Pradesh. I seriously wonder if there is really going to be any benefit at all in forming a separate state with the Telangana districts. The Maoists are going to take over and it would become another Bihar in the south.

All that I have, everything good, everything right, everything noble, everything righteous, everything truly profitable, everything worthy of praise is from God. I did not form or create myself, I did not bring myself into this world, I came into this world not of my own choosing, and neither am I leaving this world of my own choosing. I was brought into this world without being asked and I will be leaving this world without being asked. So what am I that I should boast about myself?

Give God the glory for He alone deserves ALL the glory and honor and praise. For the world is His and all that is in it. For He alone is the one who formed you, brought you into this world, sustained you and sustains you still and gives you life evermore if only you will place your trust in Him.

First of all, I want to say upfront that this is not something written by me. This short but powerful article was written by one, Mr. Carlos Garcia and I found this article posted in turn by someone else in their website. But I myself also liked it so much that I thought I'd post it too here. I couldn't find the original article or the website of the author. So, will all due credit to Mr. Carlos Garcia, I post his article here with the sincere hope and desire that someone else visiting my blog may also be blessed by this article as I myself have been.

 

Have you ever found that the prayers you have before God have gone unanswered? Have you ever wondered what it could be that is holding back the answer to your petition? After spending some time in fasting in prayer the Lord revealed to me five hindrances to receiving prayers answered, they are the following: sin, fear, self, time and disorder. Today, I’ll be discussing the first point, sin.

God’s word says that without obedience there is no blessing. Disobedience to God’s word is sin. We may be faithful in tithing and church attendance, but if we are not walking according to God’s word, we are in disobedience and sin.

We may want to become angry with God for not answering our prayer, but if we walking in disobedience to God then we are hindering ourselves from receiving a blessing.

Sin seems to develop in stages, A) Thoughts, B) Words, and C) Action. The Scriptures state, “as a man *THINKS in his heart, so is he.” If the thoughts of your heart are angry, lustful, jealous, and the like, then it is an indication of whom we are, even if it is not whom we want or claim to be. (cf. II Co 10:3-5)

As Christians we must strive to keep our thoughts pure and in line with the word of God. Philippians 4:8 challenges the Believer, “Whatsoever things are holy, … pure, … and of good report …think [meditate] on these things.”

If we keep our thoughts on the Lord, we will be much more effective in keeping our thoughts pure. And since our objective as Christians is to be more like Jesus, we must meditate (keep our thoughts) on the Lord so we can become more like Him. And if we walk in obedience we will be at a place to receive the blessing we have petitioned God.

The Bible state, “the power of life and death is in the tongue” and we will eat the fruit of those words. For example, if we are asking God for a financial blessing, but on our “non-prayer” time we keep speaking doubtful or negative words, we will eat the “fruit” of our doubt and miss the blessing of our prayers.

Action speaks to what we live and walk out in our day-to-day lives. There are believers who have the misconception that because we “talk the talk,” behind close door we are not obligated to “walk the walk.” Yet, in Galatians 6: 7-8 it states plainly, “God is not mocked…he that soweth to the flesh…will reap destruction.” We cannot look to blame others for our lack of blessings.

In essence, if we live life as if God is not omnipresent [present in all places] and omniscient [all knowing], than we deceive ourselves. Our Christianity is not only about words, but it’s about actions. As it says in the book of James, “Faith without works [actions] is dead.”

If we desire the blessing of the Lord, we must walk in line with His word. If we walk in obedience we will be in the place to receive God’s blessing.

 

It's been a while since I posted something here. So, I thought I'll just post some of my thoughts as I was meditating on the scripture passages in Mark 3:22-30 and Matthew 12:24-32.

Here is where we see Jesus talk about the "sin against the Holy Spirit" or "blasphemy against the Holy Ghost", something which theologians and bible scholars wrestled with for centuries since the time of the early church.

So, I thought that I will add my name to this illustrious list of eminent men and women by posting my own thoughts on the matter. :-) But lest I make the list no more a list of eminent men and women by adding my own name to it, I thought I'd add my thoughts to my own blog. :-) So here we go.

Q) What was the essence of the scribes' or the Pharisees' sin?

A) They saw the miracles Jesus was doing and they attributed those miracles to the devil.

Taking it a level deeper, they saw the work God was doing, but attributed it to the devil.

They saw and knew the truth, but were so caught up in their own sins (legalism, self-righteousness, pride, envy, lust for power) that they willingly blinded themselves to the truth and were willfully rejecting the truth.

Q) But what made their sin different from the sin of the other people who also rejected Jesus and His teachings? What made the Pharisees' sin one that was categorically branded as the sin against the Holy Ghost?

A) There were surely a lot of people who did reject Jesus as the messiah, but stopped at that. They did not so brazenly and defiantly rise up against the Almighty God Himself as did Lucifer and the one third of the fallen angels when the first great fall happened in the heavens. These scribes and Pharisees were not only rejecting Jesus as the messiah, but not content with that, they also willfully and actively turned against God and started making charges (yes, here's where blasphemy comes into the picture) saying that the whole thing was the work of the devil. In short they called the Holy Spirit of God....I will not even dare to write this.

Q) How do you know that they did indeed recognize it (though they weren't acknowledging it) as the work of the Holy Spirit?
A) When Jesus asked them the question in Matthew 12:27 "And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out?", He asked it because He knew that they knew where the power to cast out demons comes from. In essence, He was exposing not just their foolishness, but much more their sin (with a high hand).

Just thinking about the whole thing shakes me up and fills me with fear. Wasn't this attitude and behavior of the Pharisees the very essence of something that can never be forgiven? Remember, not all sins are the same. There are degrees to sin and there are different kinds of sin. Yes, every sin is worthy of eternal condemnation, but what sets each sin apart from the others is the brazenness and the defiance with which it is committed against God, which is why Jesus didn't say that murder was the unpardonable sin or rape was the unpardonable sin, as heinous as these may be. It's not so much the act itself as it is the willful and active rebellion in the heart against Almighty God Himself.
Salvation is at it's very deepest level not deliverance from the eternal fires of hell and neither is it deliverance even from sin. At it's root, salvation is deliverance from the Almighty God Himself. Why? Because it is deliverance from the fierce wrath and fury of the Almighty God which is poured out upon the unrepentant wicked (like the Pharisees in this passage) which is what makes hell, hell. So, when one goes up against the very God who's supposed to save Him, what is he doing, but literally running headlong into the wrath and fury of the Almighty God, which is nothing but eternal condemnation?

So friends, if you are saved already by the grace and the mercy of God, thank God with me for saving us and giving us such a beautiful salvation. But, if you are not saved by the blood of Jesus, please repent of the sins in your life, cast them away at once and put your faith in the Savior who died for you taking your sins upon Himself on the cross so that you could have eternal life.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved" - John 3:16,17