Reflections

Jesus Christ Who Stops at Human Cries          Hebrews 11:1-12 Devotion Living a Godly life is becoming more and more cumbersome in today’s world, because of all the distractions and tensions around us. Even true believers started asking the question “why God, why” when faced with situations that are out of the norm. Paul in his letter to the Hebrews refers to the basics of Christian faith as a divine discipline that is unwavering. That discipline is compared to running a race of faith with others, keeping your path strait, without losing the goal. Faith is the core of Christian living. As stated in Proverbs chapter 3, trusting in the Lord with all your heart and not leaning on your own wisdom is critical, when it comes to running a Christian race. Remember the encounter Jesus’s disciples met, when they were faced with a heavy storm on the water (Mark 4: 35-41) while Jesus was asleep in the same boat. Even when Jesus presence is with you, storms could occur. The...

  Jesus Christ Who Liberates                 Psalm 20 “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God” (Psalm 20:7) Devotion I am always awe struck by athletes who glorify God by way of the sign of the cross, a short prayer or pointing upwards and giving thanks.  Their countercultural action is antithesis to the self-exalting behavior that is promoted in society.  Our innate desire to build our own tower-of-Babel to glorify ourselves is a pride driven, human centric approach that seeks to leave God out.  In Genesis 11 we have read that, man, upon discovering brick-making, set out to build a tower to the heavens to make a name for himself.  Today, we are no different in thinking that our intellect, wealth, power and technology will sustain, provide, secure and save us.  Our desire for this pride-filled arrogance is a path to eventual ruin. Jesus Christ, liberates us from this se...

           Jesus Christ Who Liberates                 Luke  13:10-17 When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened  up and praised God” (v.12,13) Devotion Dear friends, in today's Gospel reading, we see Jesus' powerful act of liberation. For eighteen long years, a dear sister had been bound by the chains of infirmity, unable to stand tall. But Jesus, the Great Liberator, saw her, called her forth, and declared her freedom! With a compassionate touch, he broke the shackles of oppression, restoring her to wholeness and praise. This incident is unique to Luke, and it deals with the healing of a crippled woman and the subsequent cruel reaction to it. This healing episode, which is effectively a piece of teaching, is set against a synagogue worship and is the blending of a miracle, a conflict...

           Jesus Christ Who Liberates                 Philippians  1:12-20 “I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.”  Philippians  1:18-19 . Devotion Paul wrote the letter to the Philippians while he was in prison in Rome.  Earlier in Paul’s ministry, God had called him to preach the gospel in Rome (see Acts  23:11 ), but this call eventually resulted in Paul’s imprisonment by the Roman officials.  However, throughout Paul’s time in prison, he continued to preach the gospel with joy and fervor.  Paul’s decision to place unwavering faith in God despite his difficult circumstances proved enormously fruitful in the long run, not just for Paul, but also for the other believers in the early Church.  Like Paul, when we find ourselves in the midst of hard...

  Jesus Christ Liberates Biblical Passage: Acts 25:9-25 But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; .... (Acts 25:22)” …”  Devotion The passage taken for today's devotion speaks about the journey of Apostle Paul sailing for Rome. Our life has striking semblance to the story of centurion shown here in the book of Acts. The centurion decided to go ahead with the journey even though Apostle Paul had suggested him not to proceed because of stormy seas. The centurion depended more on the voice of the experts which in this case were the ships master and owner of the ship.  We in our life are like this Centurion where most of our guidance in life depends on the masters of the world. With emergence of social media and Artificial Intelligence, we are more and more trusting the wordly trends. These have become our new masters of the ship. When we have a problem, we don't go to the Lord and ask for his guidance or listen to the word from Lord's c...

  Jesus Christ Who Liberates                 Mark 8:34 "Deny yourself and take up the cross and follow me.” Devotion As we reach the mid-way of this season, we need to pause and assess ‘Does the Lenten season make a difference in my life?’ Do I remain a ‘so-called’ Christian or a reformed Christian striving to give greater importance to God?  Our Lord has given us clear instructions on how to follow the way of the cross ( 8:34 ). And Satan tries to sway us in different ways. Are our thoughts or social surroundings pressurizing us from following his way, or are we, with our faith in God, capable of surpassing such challenges? ( 8:35  - For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it).  Are we ashamed to be identified as Christians in our daily lives by others? We are part of a more confusing and difficult world. Many times, we compromise our words, thoughts a...

  Jesus Christ Liberates Biblical Passage: Exo 3:1-15 God said to Moses, “I am who I am……”  Devotion Britannica defines the word liberation as the act of freeing someone from someone’s control. The book of Exodus describes the whole story of how God has marvelously liberated his people from slavery to a promised land that he had envisioned for them. Exodus chapter 2 and 3 talks about how God is intervening and liberating their leader – Moses, that He has picked for His people’s liberation. All through the life of Moses, we can see that how God has liberated him from the time of his birth by delivering him from the death imposed by Pharoh, protecting him during his escape from Egypt by giving him a family and intervening at the right time and revealing the purpose of his life. There are times when we all question about our life’s God given purpose when we go through the daily grind. In Exodus Ch:3-15 we can see how God is intervening and liberating Moses from the daily mundane ...