Reflections

The Commission of God Numbers 11:23-30     “I wish all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them” (29)   In the book of Numbers, Moses writes an account of the 40 long years it took for the Jews to travel from Egypt to Israel. During this time, the ancient Jews were often disobedient to God’s words, wanted their own selfish ways, complained, were stubborn, never satisfied, lacked faith and failed to trust in their leader.   This behavior from a few, caught on like wild fire and all the people began to complain at camp.   In Chapter 11, the people complain about their God given manna.   Their taste buds have become tired of eating the same food, day in and day out.   They remember the variety of delicious food they were able to consume in Egypt and are craving some of the same in the desert.   They bring these complaints to their leader, Moses.   Moses then prays to the lord and asks why he has been chosen as their leader at such a diffic

Perfect faith Hebrews 11: 1-40 “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (1) Just as vision is one of the five physical senses that gives us evidence of the world we live in, faith is the sense that gives us confidence in the unseen spiritual realm. Hebrews 11 is known as the Hall of Faith and lists the giants of faith, spanning from creation to the time of the early Christians. It becomes clear that faith is not merely a belief but is the willingness to trust and cling to the Author of our faith. Faith is a gift from the Creator but it is paradoxical in that it requires an action on the part of the recipient to be manifest. Faith moved Abel to worship God; he worshiped Him by offering Him his best. Faith led Enoch to walk with God; a walk that pleased God so much that He took him away. “.. He rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (Verse 6)Faith urged Noah to work for God; he took action by faith and built an ark at the risk of ridicul

The Commission of God John. 21: 15-17        “Feed my sheep”   In John chapter 21, the story is all about Jesus’ appearing to the seven disciples by the sea of Tiberias. After having a powerful experience with Jesus, disciples retreated hopelessly to their old profession and ordinary life. Here again the risen Jesus illumined their ordinary life to a rich and lively one. Disciples’ new understanding about Jesus   “Cast out the net over the right side of the boat”. They made a cast and took so many fish; they could hardly haul the net. What is the deeper meaning of this event? It is now that Jesus having entered in to their lives and illumined them to raise to a new pitch. Now they caught everything. He raised their ordinary life, ordinary task, and family life. When risen Christ enters in to our lives   He will raise it to a new level. John the beloved disciple shouts out “it is the Lord”. John recognized Jesus in this new elevation of Life. So when we obey the commissio

Take a Closer Look 1 Timothy 1:12-17 The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.        When was the last time you took a good look at yourself? No, I don't mean the couple of minutes you spend daily basking in your own beauty! Rather, a look at your past, present, and future? Where you were, how you got to where you are, and how you plan on getting to the places you want to be? In this passage we can see Paul is doing just that, taking a good look at himself.         The Past: Many times Christians do an excellent job of remembering... to forget our past. We avoid this time of our lives because we feel shame or guilt for thinking, saying, and doing the things we did. For some, ignoring the past may allow us to create an illusion that these events never occurred. While for some, the past is a recurrent stumbling block which prohibits forward progress. Here we can see Paul looking back on his days as Sa

Gospel to the Estranged Matthew 12:22-37 “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” What is gospel? The Gospel is the teaching of the revelation of Christ, the absolute truth. And the word estranged means no longer close or affectionate, the alienated.             The word Pharisee in Hebrew means “the separated ones.” These were a group of people that were known to be very pious. They knew the word and kept the law. But when the word came to them they hardened their hearts and were too blind to accept the word. Little did they know that the prophecies were being fulfilled right in front of their eyes? They were so strict on following the law that it drew them further and further away from God. Not only did they separate themselves from God, but they also separated themselves from other people. Are we like the Pharisees? Are we simply following a set of rules? Some people believe that being a Christian is simply following a

Gospel to the Estranged Revelation 3:1-6 Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God.   (2)                     Revelation chapter 2 and 3 are Jesus' message to the seven churches in Asia Minor. These were intended to strengthen the churches in that time but they are relevant    in our contexts today. The passage which we are meditating today was addressed to the    church in Sardis. Sardis was a wealthy township. They had a name and reputation but they were imperfect and dead in Gods perspective. According to Bible 'death 'also can also be defined as the separation from God; alienated/estranged. This can be seen in the Garden of Eden and in the parable of prodigal son.           God gives strong commands to the estranged. They are commanded to wake up and strengthen their spiritual life. They have to live according to the messages they received from God. It requires a confessing and re

God’s faithfulness Psalms. 89   “but I will not take My love from him, nor will I ever betray My faithfulness. I will not violate My covenant or alter what My lips have uttered.” – Psalm 89: 33-34 In this Psalm, written by Ethan the Ezrahite, the main emphasis is on God’s faithfulness throughout the generations. The psalm is broken up into five sections that reflect the writer’s thoughts as he expresses the following: 1) his awe and admiration for God’s faithfulness, character and promises (vs. 1-18); 2) an example of God’s faithful promises to King David (vs. 19-29); 3) God’s character as being just and holy and subsequently, the consequences of disobedience of His commands (vs. 30-45); 4) his pleading for God to remember His promises and provide restoration of His great love (vs. 46-51); and finally 5) an affirmation of praise to the Lord (vs. 52). Throughout the Psalm, the writer continually emphasizes the pervasive nature of God’s faithfulness. God’s faithfulness is so

Witnessing Christ 2 Tim. 4. 9-18  “But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth” (17) This verse gives us a glimpse of the hardship that Apostle Paul endured in bringing the gospel to the Gentile world of the first century. He was pulled out of the jaws of death several times, including the instance mentioned here. The early Church that Paul and other Apostles planted grew throughout the ancient world, despite severe persecution at the hand of Roman government, through the witnessing of individual believers. We do not face the kind of peril that Paul and the early Christians faced. However, witnessing the gospel is a challenging task today also. Most people do not feel comfortable discussing their faith. Religion is considered a personal matter and often portrayed as a source of social conflicts. As a result, believers feel considerab

‘Put Out’ Genesis 3: 1 - 9 “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.” (3: 6) One might title the overarching theme of Genesis 3 to be ‘Put Out’, in that we see here that the relationship between God and man, between man and woman, and between humanity and nature (the earth and the animals) were all ‘put out’ by one act of disobedience.   Till this point in time, humanity (Adam and Eve) were the ‘perfect or flawless’ creation of a ‘perfect’ God, who lived in a ‘perfect or flawless’ world up to this point and enjoyed a ‘perfect’ relationship with God, each other and nature.   However, with this one act of disobedience, we see what humanity chose to become, an imperfect creation of a ‘perfect’ Creator, now making the world around him or her, ‘imperfect’ as well. Put Out From God:   It seems but a

Risen Jesus’ third appearance to his disciples John. 21. 1-13   “After this Jesus revealed himself again to the sea of Tiberias….” (1) Resurrection narratives help us to find out the presence of risen Christ in every human situation. The first three accounts of resurrection in John’s Gospel depict Jesus’ appearance in different mental conditions of a person. Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene, when she was sad and was in a condition where she felt that the most precious in her life was lost.   Then Jesus appeared to the disciples who were filled with fear and in closed doors. The third mental condition in which Jesus revealed himself was before the doubtful heart of Thomas. Risen Jesus’ presence in the work place From the beginning of humanity, God appoints suitable work place for human race. (Genesis 2:15). Even though Jesus appeared to the disciples two times, they weren’t entrusted a specific mission. Mathew Henry describes the situation of disciples, “they knew not w