Reflections

One Path Before Me John 14: 1-7 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6) In the verse above Jesus paints us a picture. A picture of a straight path  that leads us to our heavenly Father and Jesus standing at the road side, waiting to take us by our hands and lead us to the end of the path. Today we live in a world where high schools are more of a gate way to drug abuse and alcoholism rather than a safe haven to gain knowledge, a world where universities/colleges preach atheism rather than the beauty and understanding of God’s creations. We live in a world where kindness is seen as weakness and arrogance a merit, a corporate world where your success is measured in terms of the number of people you have thrown under the bus and used as a stepping stone to your career. A world where starting a married life and a family of your own is seen as a hindrance to your career. But most of all we have built a w...

Fruit of the spirit Galatians 5: 16 - 24    “ Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” Paul in his letter to the Galatians chapter 5 is where we read about the fruit of the Holy Spirit. The supreme evidence, the overwhelming evidence of the spiritual life of a Christian should be love. 1 John 4:8 “God is love” when the spirit of God is dwelling in us, then what greater effect we have upon us, is that we then become lovers of God and human. The works of flesh are: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, etc..(Gal 5:20,21). These evils keep us away from God and those who do such things will not inherit kingdom of God. Our world is full of darkness with the works of the flesh and the only means to prevent these dark nesses is by producing the fruit of the Spirit Every Christian is en...

The spirit that transforms Gal. 5: 16 -21 “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”Gal. 5:16 There are two ways of living: one led by the Spirit and the other by the flesh. There is a constant battle between the two for dominion in our lives. When we live by the flesh, we strive to satisfy the desires of the sinful nature as mentioned in verses 19 through 21. This keeps us away from the kingdom of God. We must not allow the flesh to control over us or we will lose our control over ourselves and make the wrong choice. “To be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace…those who are in flesh cannot please God.”(Romans 8: 6, 8).  Eve got enticed by the forbidden fruit, disobeyed God and lost the Garden of Eden. Esau lost his birthright for a bowl of soup. Samson’s lust for women made him give away the secret for his strength got his eyes gouged out and grinded in his enemy’s prison. David committed adultery w...

The Real Offer We Can’t Refuse Rev. 22.16-21 “The one who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! ” Living in the present, reminded of the Future                                                                                                                                                The book of Revelation causes much controversy in the church. However it is also a tool for practical living. It is a reminder that this life is very temporary. As we see the culture around us sliding further into moral decay, we as the saints of the church are called to live in light of the trut...

The fruit of the Holy Spirit Galatians 5:22-24 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Galatians 5:22-24). The bible emphasizes that the fruit of the Holy Spirit is the result of the Holy Spirit’s presence  in the life of a Christian, which is essentially attained by believing in Jesus Christ (Romans 8:9; 1Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 1:13-14). The presence of the Holy Spirit transforms a Christian's life in accordance with the image of Christ, making us more like Him. It is His life that the Spirit produces in believers as they walk in His grace and power. His life in us is the fruit of the Holy Spirit which is revealed as love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. They reflect His nature and it is always the out...

“The Fruit of Forbearance”  Genesis 33: 1-17   “But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept.” Genesis 33:4 “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” (Matthew 6:12 NIV)  It’s a sentence we have said countless times in our lives…every time we pray the Lord’s Prayer.  To truly forgive someone is a difficult task that requires us to model God’s patience and forgiveness that he exhibits each and every day for each and every one of us.  We have all been wronged and angered by someone…strangers, people in our school or workplaces, and even by those closest to us such as friends and family.  We often try to justify our anger and actions after we are wronged, but Jesus made it very clear in the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant (Matthew 18:21-35) that there is no limit to how many times we forgive a person who wronged us, and that we should show mercy and forgive the debts of...

I am the true vine John 15:1-12 "I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit, apart from me you can do nothing." - John. 15:5 When Jesus says this to his listeners he is talking about a relationship: A Relationship that lasts: Relationship between the Vine-dresser(God), Vine(Jesus), Branches(Followers) This is a relationship of harmony, a relationship of give & take, a relationship which is based on cooperation between vinedresser - vine - branches. Every good relationship should have these aspects harmony, give and take and an unbroken union. The vinedresser plants the vine, takes good care of it throughout the season, provides it with good soil, right amount of water and even prunes the dead parts of the vine. On the other hand the stem of the vine, absorbs from the soil the nutrients and water it needs and supplies it to the branches which in turn grow healthier and yield large bunches of grapes to the vin...

Trust in the Lord for he is our Protector Psalms 121 “ My help comes from the  Lord , the Maker of heaven and earth.   He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber” Growing up as a child I remember going on long road trips with my family. You know the ones where you wake up at the crack of dawn and travel all day long into the night. We would all try our very best to keep daddy entertained so he wouldn’t feel tired, but like Peter, James and John in Gethsemane with Jesus, my sisters and I along with my mother eventually dozed off and fell asleep. We slept peacefully knowing daddy was driving and trusted that he wouldn’t fall asleep and would take us safely to our destination. Psalms 121 reminds me of how marvellous our heavenly father is. He will never tire and will keep watch over his people. We are reminded that he is the Alpha and Omega, beginning and end; he is our helper and the creator of heaven and Earth. How can we not put ...

Living in the Light 1 John 1:1-10   “ If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another,and the blood of  Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7 I once read a story about a young boy who found some quail eggs in a field.  The nest in which the eggs rested had been torn apart by farm equipment.  The boy realized that the eggs would not survive because of this and decided to rescue them.  He took them home, put them under a light, and hatched them under a light.  The boy was overjoyed - all the quail survived.  Light gives life, not just in the preceding story, but every day as Christ rescues us from sin by the power of his blood.  The source of eternal life for a true believer is the Word of Life, Jesus Christ the Son of God. The Son, the Word Incarnate, came to grant us life. Through the Word, Jesus Christ, the Light of the World, we have fellowship with God the Father and such fellow...

The authority of the Word of God Psalm. 119: 105 – 112 Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path (105) The distance from the bus stop to my village home was a quarter mile. On this particular occasion in my late teens, I arrived at the bus stop alone and late, on an impossibly dark moonless night. No flashlight in hand. As I proceeded home on the rural path, in the pitch blackness, one fearful image gripped my mind. A snake , black and venomous. I took one careful step at a time, trying my best not to veer off into the undergrowth that surrounded the path, where I was sure the snake lay. For what seemed like an eternity, the latter half of Genesis 3:15 - “he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” - stayed with me as I made slow and steady progress. I took courage from the fact that Jesus was victorious even though the serpent had bruised his heel. Needless to say, I arrived home safe and sound. In that moment, the verse from Psalm 119, “Your word...

The Authority of the Word of God 2 Timothy 3:14-17 “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” (14-15) There was once a visitor from the city staying overnight at his friend’s farm. At the dinner table, his friend’s wife cut the four corners of cooked ham in a certain fashion. He enquired why she did that and her reply was that her mother taught her to do it this way. So he asked her mother who was also present at the dinner table why she taught her daughter to cut the ham in this fashion. She replied that her mother had taught her to do it in this way. Curious, the friend after dinner went to speak to the grandmother to seek out why she taught her daughter to cut the ham in the four corners. This time the grandmother had the real answer to his quer...

I AM Revelation 1: 1 - 9 "I am the Alpha and the Omega,"  says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."( 8) God tells us: “You are not the main character in your story. I AM the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end. I AM the one who is, and the one who was, and the one who is to come. I’m the beginning, and the middle, and the end. I’m the story. It’s about me. It’s all about me.”If God is the main character in our lives, He will spend our lives revealing Himself. He will take our lives and reveal more of His love, more of Himself, to us, and through us. God will shine His light through us and we will not have to fight for our reputation. We will get to love our neighbors as ourselves. If God is the main character in our lives, we will have comfort and safety, and meaning and purpose. That comfort, not comfortable living, will be real comfort that is filled with Hope. The kind of comfort that God talks about, that we can...

For freedom Christ has set us free Galatians 5:1–6 "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."  Galatians 5:1 Sometimes we ask ourselves what  we can do to gain God’s favor or how we can be a true Christian.  Sometimes we get bogged down in a quandary about God's will. If we are indebted to certain things and faced with insecurity, Paul is telling us not to be burdened “by a yoke of slavery” because Christ has set us Free. In his letter to Galatians Paul is reminding them that it has been by grace that they have been saved and set free, not by their works.  Even today many Christians will try to gain favor with God through their deeds.   If we take upon ourselves the yoke of the law and aim to use it to achieve our own righteousness before God or if try to earn dividends/favor from Christ through our own investment or any other outward act of obedience, we have subm...

‘The word was God’ Exodus 20:1-17 “You shall have no other gods before me” The third Sunday in August is set apart for celebrating the authority of the Holy Scriptures and its bearing on the reformation of the Mar Thoma Church. The reformation of the Church in the 19 th  century was based on the firm commitment that ‘the Church should have its authority for its fundamental doctrines on the clear teachings of the Bible which consist of its present 66 books.’ We often do not realise that the commandments in Exodus Chapter 20 were never written on the stone tablets but were only recited by Moses. The Ten Commandments, as written on both the first and the second set of tablets, can be found in Exodus chapter 34 and in Deuteronomy chapters 5, 9 and 10. These laws were given to man to maintain an intimate relationship with God and worship him because he is the creator, sustainer and redeemer; and he is worthy of worship. There are various gods and goddesses worshipped in various...

Courage in witnessing Christ 2 Tim. 3. 14 – 17 “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching,  rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (15)            Paul was imprisoned under Emperor Nero and during that time he wrote the second  letter to  Timothy. His friends even had a hard time to find out where he was being kept. Paul knew that his work was done and that his life was coming to an end. Timothy was his fellow worker who was like a son to Paul and we read in Philippians 2:22 “ But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father   he has served with me in the work of the gospel”.   Paul was concerned about the welfare of the church during this time of persecution under Nero, and he advised Timothy to guard the gospel, and to preserve it. He also advised him to continue preaching and if necessary, to suffer for the Gospel. Th...

Gift of the spirit Joel 2:29-32 “And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” ( 32) This is the great and awesome promise of the Lord. The promise of the Lord is that he will pour out his spirit upon all humankind. In this passage the prophet Joel is clearly looking toward the day of the Pentecost. He sees the spirit being poured out, and he sees the tongues of fire.  On Pentecost, God began to fulfill what he spoke through Prophet Joel. Verse 29 states “and afterward I will pour out my spirit on all people, your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old man will dream dreams, and your young man will see visions. That far it sounds like what happened on the day of Pentecost, but there is more going on. Joel speaks of wonders in the sky, and natural occurrences  in verse 30 it states I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon to blood before the Lord before the coming of the great and dreadfu...

Gifts of the Spirit 1 Cor.  12. 1 - 12 “There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all” (4) When Jesus called the disciples to follow him, He didn't select them because of their talents or special skills.  Rather, he chose foolish and incapable men with many flaws to carry out the message of God's love and redemption for humanity.  (1 Corinthians 1:27- 29) In Luke's account of the Gospel, Jesus appears to his disciples after the resurrection and affirms to them of the "power from within" that will allow these ordinary men to become witnesses for Christ.  “And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.” (Luke 24:49).  In Acts ch2, we read that these men were filled with the Holy Spirit and immediately became gifted to share the Gospel of Jesus.  It wasn't their abilities, but rather the super...