Reflections

Proclamation of Redemption Isaiah 35: 1-10 VS.4.“Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.” Isaiah 35:1-10 is a strikingly beautiful and powerful passage. We read of a God who is powerful enough to create streams of water in the desert, to grant sight to the blind, and to create a way in the desert for His people. We read of a faithful God that has promised to rescue His people and restore them so that joy may overtake them--away from their present sorrows and sighing. This passage is meant to be comforting and encouraging; it is a declaration of the incredible power and the loving intentions that God has for His people.    The Proclamation of Redemption Brings Power The imagery used in this passage is larger than life. God restores the ability to walk to those who were lame—and they leap for joy. God restores the ability to speak to the mute and they shout for joy. Water gushes forth ...

Forgiving Love Matthew 5:43-48  Vs 44, 45 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,  so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; We live in a world in which the words like hatred, violence, selfishness, deceit, etc. have taken over the old values such as love, care, compassion, concern, tolerance, and so on.  But all is not lost. Some of us may have read about the Good Samaritan who sacrificed his own life while attempting to rescue a couple of manual laborers who had fallen down into a manhole in Kozhikode, Kerala, India.  Such acts of kindness and concern toward others, who are caught up in trouble, are seldom if ever heard of. In the context of the ongoing violence throughout the world, the teachings of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and especially  in the verse above, become very meaningful and valuable.  It is the responsibility of each one of us to let the world know His teachings through our words...

C OMPASSIONATE LOVE AND HEALING                                                       James 5: 13-18 Vs.16 “The Prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective”  Wholesomeness or well-being is of paramount importance in the minds of people.  Illness leading to weakness or immobility is dreaded by everyone whether believer or non-believer. When sick, our thoughts are directed towards one goal i.e., get help from any one or any source including, medicine, mediums, miracles or self-help.  When everything fails we turn to God, our last resort! James 5:13-18 is a compendium on faith and healing. This perhaps is the only passage in the entire New Testament that deals with healing involving the Faith Commu...

God - Our Refuge and Strength Psalms 46: 1-5 Vs.1 "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble". On September 11th, 2001 when that darkest hour struck us, an overwhelming feeling of helplessness and anxiety went through everyone. As a country, we lost our iconic World Trade Center (WTC) that represented our financial dominance. It was destroyed in front of our eyes in matter of minutes to ashes; with it, the lives of many loved ones and friends. Fear of the unknown was in everyone’s mind including our top-level leaders. As a nation, we were under attack. 9/11 was a true test of our patriotism. As a nation, we gathered under the cross to pray for our nation and the safety of our people. Regardless of the diverse demography, all our prayers echoed the same as one nation under God. As a result of that incident our nation went to war, and ma...

Led by the Spirit Psalm 34 Vs. 8. O taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are those who take refuge in him. One of the hardest things to do in these present times is to step back from reality and receive the blessings of God. There are various moments in life when we decide to take  problems on ourselves, however, in the Bible, God tells us to cast all our burdens and worries upon Him and He will take care of all our problems. We should not have the mentality that we can overcome the difficulties without anyone’s help but by constantly consulting God, the Spirit will lead a person in times of difficulties. As Christians, what can we learn from this passage? When we look at the first four verses of Psalms 34, we can see a coherent theme, which reflects throughout the whole chapter: the idea of Worship and the guiding influence of the Spirit. If we wish to spend our after life with Him in eternity, we need to start preparing our lives while living our limited life here...

Birth of John the Baptist Luke 1:57-66 Vs 6 6 “…the hand of the Lord was with Him”. Luke is fond of the technique of inclusion. So he links the history of Jesus and birth with one of his age. Jesus’s birth is connected with the census ordered by Augustus Ceaser (Lk:2:1-2).John the Baptist's appearance is synchronized with Roman and Jewish history(Lk:3:1-2). Emphasizes the fact that Pilate recognized Lord’s innocence (Lk:23:4)We need to know the role of John the Baptist in God’s redemptive purpose. In Mark John the Baptist is portrayed as the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophesy. Here he gives more light and color to the coming of Christ or Savior. His true identity is concealed from the word; He too suffers an ignominious death. In Luke we are getting a life sketch and description of his life, that is the hand of the Lord was with him. So for Luke, birth and work of John the Baptist is an exercise in religious devotion. John the Baptist reveals the nature and attitude of Chris...

Renewal of the Church  1 Peter 1: 13-25   Vs. 13 “Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled”  Renewal of the Church begins primarily with the renewal of the individual and Peter, the disciple of Jesus, tells us how this can take place. In order to have a renewal of the Church, we, the members of the Church, have been given three imperatives in this passage: Being Holy  – “be Holy, because I am holy.”  v 16 Peter admonishes us to prepare our minds as it will require time, effort and initiative to realize holiness. Self- control, obedience and discipline is of primary importance to achieve holiness.  Because of our new birth, we can live new lives, marked by holiness. The Hebrew word here for holiness is “gadosh”, which means to be set apart, sacred, or pure. The Greek word here for holiness is “hagios”, which means to be different. We must prepare and we must dare to be different. To be holy, we need to really learn from Him an...