Reflections

Read: Luke 19               Today is the day before New Year and we all very eager to enter into a new year. All of us have gone through the most varied experiences last year and we all have been responsible the way we lived our lives in the year 2012. But as we enter the new year, I am sure that we all have a prayer that we would want the new year to be blessed and much less burdensome or problem-less or crisis-less new year. But if we examine our life, many of the issues that we faced this year were basically related to the way we have ordered our lives. Some of the questions that we need to ask ourselves are what is the driving force in our life or what values drive our life? What do we do  in our life to make us happy?, What were some of the life goals that we pursued, which were successful and those in which we failed?. One of things that drive people in this land is the materialistic fervor. Round the year, y...

REMEMBER YOUR LORD Deuteronomy 8 Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him.  For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land… (Deut.8:6,7a An eventful year is passing by. When we look back, a host of memories,  good and bad come to our minds. Year ending is a time of stocktaking and clearance. The passage for our meditation is Moses’ final words to the people of Israel who are encamped at the plains of Moab, just about to enter the Promised Land. Recollecting their life in the wilderness, these exhortations and warnings are given as a guidebook to the people of God to live in a new land. Their prospects in the new land will be determined by their faithfulness to the Lord. They are to remember how the Lord their God led them all their ways in the desert during the past forty years. They have to examine their life and rededicate their life before entering the Promised Land. We should remember ...

WELL DONE, GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT Matthew: 25: 14-30. " His master said to him, well done good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master." (Matthew: 25: 21) In the famous parable of the talents, Jesus speaks of three people who  were given something to invest; each according to his ability. Please note  that God will give us only according to the ability to handle. If we did not get the same talents as our neighbor, don't worry; just use what He gave us. The first man doubled the talents entrusted to him by the master. The second also did the same. But the third one feared to handle his talent and buried it.  Fear is our number one enemy. It freezes our faith and cripples our creativity. Our money, time, talent, love etc., are seeds that must be sown. Everything God gives us is meant to be multiplied. By failing to do so we eventually lose it. Christ's parable ends with...

Read; John 4. Luke 13: 10-20                  It is a sad day today for all of us, to all those who claim that they are Indians. A day when we hang our head in shame. A day when I feel angry, hurt and anguished. The reason for this anger and pain, the death of a 23 year old girl, at the hands of some of the most sadistic elements living today in the society. A nation that prayed so fervently for a girl who was fighting a losing battle not only with respect to her health but also the laws of the land and a corrupt system. A girl who at her death bed tells her parents that she wanted to live, but it was fight against hope. I believe we all are in one way responsible for her death. Thus as she lay battling for her life, first in a hospital in Delhi and later in the multispecialty hospital in Singapore, it was millions of Indians also battling not only with the law enforcement agencies, politicians and male...

Read: Luke 2: 41-52                   One of the hallmarks today in the life of many individuals is the journey to religious places. Christians all over the world plan the holy land tours and there are people including clergy and pastors who has taken upon themselves of arranging holy land tour as a part of their vocation. People of every religion wants to undertake a pilgrimage journey where they visit sites that has significance to their religious beliefs.  The news agency Huffington Post has released a list of places that people love to visit as a part of their spiritual pilgrimage throughout the world. The places are the following. The visit to the Ganges in India is the first on the list. It is believed that about 20 million people vast the Ganges river, as they consider that this river represents life, purity and goodness. The second pilgrimage site is Mecca, where approximately about 13 m...

OUR GENERATION Luke 11:  29 – 32 When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. (Luke 1129) In the given passage we read the need for this particular generation to  want a sign to know that the Christ was coming.   The answer Christ gives  shows us his Grace and how we should trust in him all ways, “…except the  sign of Jonah. The generation in this Bible passage was evil but now we must ask the question, is my generation in the year 2013 evil and what would Jesus say about it?  When we turn on our television for news or look on the Internet for stories the first items that come up deal with the negativity in our society.  It ranges from never-ending wars, brutal murders of people, including little children, stealing of money and other spectrums dealing with how our opinions or idea should match with a particular co...

A FIRE WITHIN Revelation 3:14-22 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! (Rev. 3:15) In this passage, we see John speaking to the Church of Laodicea.  The members had become apathetic in their relationship with God. They had become self-sufficient, not allowing God to work in their lives and they were more focused on living a life based on their own merits. And in that background John goes is saying that living like this is filth in the eyes of the Lord. We are so blessed to have a Father who loves us so much that He would sacrifice His one and only Son for our sins. We are sinful beings and still God loves us so much. And what does God expect from us? All that God wants from us is to obey him, by living a Christ centered life and to have an intimate relationship with Him. He cherishes each and every moment that we spend with Him. In verse 15-16 you see the words “I know your deeds you are nei...

Read: Galatians 6            With the tragedy occurring in Newtown, the grieving families are being helped by a number of mental health professionals and other spiritual care givers to handle and overcome their deep crisis. Various organizations and counseling personnel’s were working with a number of families of not only the victims but also everyone who was going through trauma. But in the midst of these deep crisis it was not just human beings who were caregivers to the grieving families of Newtown, but also some specially trained dogs. Yes specially trained canines were pressed into  counseling and care giving ministry during the time of grief and trauma. The Lutheran church has a ministry of operation called as K-9 Parish comfort dogs of Addisson, III, where there are five specially trained dogs and who with their handlers who came to Newtown a week ago to help people to deal creatively with their grief and crisis. The...

FORGIVING LOVE Psalm 32 “ Then I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not hide my iniquity; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ and you forgave the guilt of my sin. (Psalm 32:5) The psalms are a beautiful collection of prayerful songs that reveal the faithfulness, strength, love and power of God.   This particular psalm is often referred to as one of the penitential psalms.   It conveys the amazing grace of God that covers our sins through solemn prayer, earnest confession and true forgiveness.   Confession towards discernment of self: Confession is more than a personal or public proclamation of one’s sins.   It is an inner expression and realization of one’s imperfectness before a perfect God.   In Psalm 32:5, the word for confess in Hebrew is ‘yada’ , which basically means “to know” or “to make known”.   Thus, true confession is an enlightenment experience that enables one to mature and more fully achieve God’s intended p...

Read: Luke 15: 11-32              I am sure you all had a wonderful celebrations of Christmas yesterday, with gathering of family and friends, along with traditional Indian cuisines. One of the hallmarks of celebration of Christmas is the exchange of gifts. Gifts that symbolizes our love and our care to the giver. That is why children love Santa one of the symbols of Christmas celebrations, because in a mythical way Santa gives them the gift that they want most desperately. It is in this context that one of the news item written by Hannah Furness in news agency The Telegraph caught my attention. A survey was done recently as to know what will be the present or gift that children would want the Santa to give them this Christmas and the answers surprised the people who undertook the survey. The gifts that the children wanted varied. The gifts that were most sought after were live reindeer, pet horse, car, dog and other animals, ...

LIVING FOR GOD Luke 20:20-26 “He said to them, ‘Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.’”   - (Luke 20: 25) In this day and age, it is easy to tell what product belongs to which company. The symbols on these items tell us about the quality and value of what we are buying. When we see a Mercedes-Benz or an Apple product, we know its worth. Likewise, Caesar’s face and inscription on the denarius made it known to the Jews that money and power belonged to him.   The question of power & ownership was as important in Biblical times as it is today. In the above passage we read that the teachers of the law came to Jesus with a question that was both clever and entrapping. Jesus, however, replied with a wise statement that leads us to ask ourselves “what belongs to God?”   In Genesis 1:27, it says that God created man in His own image. Not only did He create us, but He also saved us through His son, Jesus Christ. Our li...