Ads

Monday, 30 December 2013

From A Mocker Of God To A Friend Of God

"I started as a child of a Hindu. I started as an atheist, an atheist who made fun of God (the God of the Bible), who mocked God and who mocked everyone who believed in God, and now I have turned into someone who speaks for God."

- Samuel Godfrey George


Friday, 27 December 2013

Decorated With Love

Let every house of every believer in Jesus Christ be decorated not with mere ornaments but with God's light and love during this Christmas season.


Thursday, 26 December 2013

When We See Jesus We See God

Jesus Christ - have you heard that name? Do you know what that name means? Jesus was his original name. And then he was called the Christ. Do you know what that means? The Christ means the Messiah. Do you know what is meant by the term, “the Messiah”? The Messiah is a divine figure, who was prophesied to enter the world and save the people of God. Is this Jesus, who was born two thousand years ago, the Messiah? Is this Jesus the Christ? Some people thought so. Others had their doubts.

We read in the Bible, in the Gospel of John: (Some of the people who lived in Jerusalem had this question) “Could our leaders possibly believe that he is the Messiah? But how could he be? For we know where this man comes from. When the Messiah comes he will simply appear. No one will know where he comes from.” So they had it worked out. They had a certain notion of God. They expected God to do a certain thing. They expected God to send the Messiah in a certain way. They expected the Messiah to arrive just like that, to appear out of nowhere. They couldn’t accept the Lord Jesus Christ as the Messiah because they knew where he came from. Jesus understood their thoughts and said to them, “Yes you know me. And you know where I come from. But I’m not here on my own. The one who sent me is true and you don’t know him. But I know him because I come from him, and he sent me to you.”

So Jesus said to the people who questioned his status as the Messiah, “You know me only so much. But there is something you do not know. I came from a certain person. And you don’t know that person.” I think these are significant words: “I came from a certain person and you don’t know that person. But I know that person because he sent me. I have seen him.” Jesus was referring to God, God the Father. He claimed that God the Father sent him to the world, and that the people who questioned his status as the Messiah, didn’t know God the Father.

At this Christmas time, when we are about to celebrate the birth of this Jesus, who is also the Christ, let us throw away all preconceived notions regarding God. We have a certain understanding of God, and we expect him to work in a certain way. But God didn’t do that two thousand years ago. Though Jesus fulfilled many prophecies during his lifetime, his entry into the world was most remarkable because it was not at all noteworthy. He was born in very humble circumstances. He was born to very humble people. Except for the three wise men who visited him and honoured him there was nothing particularly remarkable about his birth. The angels did announce his birth to shepherds. That was a remarkable moment. But when you consider the fact that he came very humbly into this world, that he was born in a manger, and that he was born to a carpenter, and a woman, who became pregnant before her marriage - these are not ideal circumstances in which a person is born. God defied human imagination and expectations when Jesus Christ was born. And he continued to defy human expectations.

The message of the Lord Jesus Christ was nothing like the message that was preached by people before him. It was remarkable. He preached forgiveness. He preached loving one's enemies. He preached that people should bless their enemies and pray for their enemies. This is a remarkable message. One doesn’t hear this message in anything that came before the Lord Jesus Christ.

This Christmas I have this message to convey to the world: we have certain expectations of God. We believe that we know God. Those who have studied God, those who have read about him have this idea that they can work out God. Jesus proved to everyone that God’s mind cannot be worked out. He was an exceptional manifestation, he was a shocking manifestation of God. One of his own disciples asked him at a certain time, “Show us the Father”. And Jesus said, “How can you even ask such a thing? The one who has seen me has seen the Father.”

This is the truth. This is the Truth whom we call the Lord Jesus Christ. When we see him, we see the one who sent him. We don’t know the one who sent him. This world doesn’t know God. But Jesus came into the world to reveal God to us. He is the Christ. He is the Messiah, who came in a way in which no one expected him to come, and who went away in a way in which no one expected him to go away. Everything about him was remarkable. This is the Christ that we will remember during this Christmas. He defies our expectations. His love is beyond description. His grace is beyond our belief. He loves us beyond measure. He forgives us of all our sins. This is Jesus. And he represents God. When we see Jesus we see God.

Let us see God during this Christmas. And let us remember this: that God will surprise us as he surprised us two thousand years ago. We can never ever claim to know him. We just know that he is love. And he expressed his love through the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us be grateful for that love. Let us thank God, and let us truly celebrate Christmas by celebrating his love. I wish you all a blessed Christmas.

(Transcript of the message given by Samuel Godfrey George on 20th December 2013)

Wednesday, 25 December 2013

Christmas Eve At St.Mary's

I spent Christmas Eve at the brilliantly lit St. Mary's Church, Hyderabad, India


Thoughts On Christmas


The lack of spirituality in Christmas is lamentable. for this is not the way true believers of Christ should celebrate Christmas. Christmas should not be a light, trivial moment. It is not a moment for frivolous and mindless celebration. It is a moment for a serious consideration of our standing with God and our relationship with His Son Jesus Christ.


People are not comfortable with the word "Christ" anymore. The word "Christ” narrows down the scope of Christmas. Christmas has become a festival for all, for even those who neither know nor care about Jesus Christ.


Though I am fond of Christmas cakes and other goodies, the best food I can have during Christmas is Christ himself. I must consume Christ as He told me to always and especially during Christmas. It is His truth that I must consume and His love that I must drink.


Do people really celebrate the birth of Christ during Christmas? Or are they celebrating something else?

Children must know who their Lord is. Parents must teach children that Christmas is no mere holiday but a holy day.
 
 



When We See Jesus We See God

The Christmas Day Message of Samuel Godfrey George, 2013:

We have certain expectations of God. We believe that we know God. Those who have studied God, those who have read about him, have this idea that they can work out God. Jesus proved to everyone that God's mind cannot be worked out. He was an exceptional manifestation, he was a shocking manifestation of God. When we see Jesus we see the one who sent him. We don't know the one who sent him. This world doesn't know God. But Jesus came into the world to reveal God to us.


O Holy Child Of Bethlehem

Asking the Lord Jesus Christ to be born in us today


O Come All Ye Faithful

Let us adore our God, the Lord Jesus Christ, as we celebrate His birth in our hearts.


Silent Night, Holy Night

O Holy Night

I await the remembrance of that holy night 2000 years ago when my Saviour, Jesus Christ was born.


Away In A Manger

Dear Lord Jesus Christ, bless all the dear children in Your tender care - performed by the National Boys Choir and presented by Samuel Godfrey George


A Thousand Candles

We light a thousand candles around the world to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. A performance of Evy Tornquist presented by Samuel Godfrey George


God Defied Expectations In Jesus Christ

People had certain notions of God. Certain prophets had written about God. There was a certain understanding of God when Jesus arrived on the scene. But Jesus did something else. He presented a certain image of God that wasn't there before. He revealed God in a way in which God was never revealed before. This is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the human manifestation of God. He is God in human form.

A Christmas Eve message of Samuel Godfrey George


Tuesday, 24 December 2013

Christmas In Suffering


O Lord, when will this suffering end? Are you here? Are you here with me? Or am I fooling myself into thinking that you are here with me? How difficult this journey is! How impossible it seems at times! How unbearable this cross is!

We all bear crosses for the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who trust in Jesus, those who follow the Lord Jesus Christ, have to carry a cross. This is a requirement. Jesus said, “If you want to follow me, deny yourself, pick up your cross and follow me on a daily basis.” Sometimes I am tempted to ask, “O Lord, will this cross get lighter? Will a day come when I can lay aside my cross? The suffering seems endless.” “Why must I be persecuted by my enemies all day long?”, a certain psalmist asked. “Why must I endure this oppression? Why must I suffer so much?”

I have come to this understanding. The people of God suffer in many ways. Each one has a certain kind of suffering. And this suffering has gone on for a very long time. I’m not the only one who is suffering. Others are suffering. I know that they are suffering. During this Christmas time I need to think about them. I need to think about this suffering that all of us are going through.

Our lives are not perfect. There is something missing. There is something that troubles us. There is something that refuses to go away no matter how much we pray, no matter how much we believe in God. A certain suffering remains, as it remained with Paul, the apostle of Jesus Christ, who prayed three times about a certain suffering. And God said in reply, Jesus said in reply, “My grace is sufficient for you.”

Today all that I have is God’s grace. And that is enough. “My grace is sufficient for you.” All that we have today, as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, is his grace. His grace is sufficient for us. Let us believe that. Let us declare that. And let us continue to declare that despite how we feel. And we don’t feel very well. It doesn’t matter how we feel. God’s truth cannot change. If he said (that) his grace is sufficient for us, it means that his grace is sufficient for us.

There are certain problems that will not go away. There are certain tendencies that will remain within us, tendencies that we are not proud of, that we are not happy with. A certain problem will remain; a certain disease will remain. A certain rebellion will continue. But we must trust in God, who is working in us. He alone knows what he is doing. We must trust him to do his work, though we do not understand the way, the way in which he works. His ways are different from our ways. His thoughts are different from our thoughts. This is God. This is the fact regarding God, which we must reconcile ourselves to. We should be reconciled with this fact that God has his own way of doing things and we should trust him. He who promised is faithful. He who promised to save you is faithful. He will not abandon you. Believe that.

Your sufferings will be many. The Bible does not promise people that we will have a trouble-free life if they (we) believe in God. The Bible does promise problems. “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord will deliver him from them all.” “When you are faced with many trials, be happy”, says the Bible. “Consider yourselves blessed.”

I have many troubles in my life today. So I am blessed. And if you have many troubles in life you are blessed as well. Rejoice in the fact that God is working in you, that you are a work of God and that he will complete his work. “He who began a good work will be faithful to complete it.” And no matter how it feels, despite our cries, despite our impulsive cries, and we cry out to God and say, “How long O Lord, how long?”

It’s Christmas time. It’s time to think about what God did two thousand years ago. Let us celebrate what God did two thousand years ago. He sent Jesus Christ, the only one who could save this humanity. He provided hope to a hopeless world. It was God’s way of saving a world, which was doomed to destruction. We all live in this world. We ourselves were doomed to destruction before Jesus Christ died for us on the cross, and saved us, and saved us by spilling his blood, by laying down his life for us. Today, in the midst of our problems, let us not forget God’s great answer to the greatest of all problems – the ultimate destruction of the human soul. God provided Jesus Christ as the solution. He who could save us from ultimate destruction can also save us from temporary problems. And we will have many temporary problems, and we do have many. But let us cast our cares on God today and despite how it feels let us trust him. Shall we do that today?

God bless you. Enjoy your Christmas because God is with you. 

(The transcript of the message of Samuel Godfrey George given on 20 December 2013)

Monday, 23 December 2013

Is God In Control Of The World?

Is God really in control of life? When I ask myself this question I have to define the word “control”. What do I mean by control? Does he control the living beings on earth in such a manner that only good takes place and all bad is avoided? If “control” means that, then God is certainly not in control, at least not displaying this sort of control in life. He is not in control of life, at least he is not displaying this kind of control. He doesn’t control us. He doesn’t control human beings. He doesn’t control animals as well.

This morning I saw a scene, which made me very sad. I saw a dog maul a little kitten. The poor kitten was badly injured. It was not able to walk properly. But it had the spirit to drag itself under a car. It rested under a standing car. I don’t know what happened to the kitten later. I said a prayer for it. I asked God to take care of the kitten. But many kittens would have been mauled today by bigger animals. Many smaller animals would have suffered today on account of what the bigger animals did to them. There seems to be cruelty in life. I see cruelty in every place. I see cruelty among human beings. And I see cruelty among animals.When I see cruelty I need to ask myself the question, “Is God really in control? Or is this world without control? Is there no control at all?

Control is what we find in human minds. Human beings talk about control. Human beings would like to be controlled in the way they interact with other human beings. Human beings talk about restraining themselves. From where did they get this concept of control?  Why are human beings trying to control themselves? Why can’t they be uncontrolled? Why can’t they do whatever they want? Why should there be any restraint in the way human beings behave?And why do some human beings believe that they need to be restrained because of what an external presence may think of them? Why do some human beings believe that there is an external God who wants them to be controlled in their behaviour?

I have asked a few questions: “Is God really in control? If he is, what sort of control is this?”It is certainly not a control, which eliminates undesirable behaviour and promotes only desirable behaviour. It is not such a control. God doesn’t police us that way. If he is in control, what sort of control is this? When we see cruelty all around us, when we see unfairness and wickedness all around us, what sort of control does God display in a world like this? How can we say that God is in control? Yes, there is cruelty in life. There is unfairness. There is wickedness. But there is also control. There is control in the human mind. Many human beings want to be controlled in the way they behave. Many human beings also attempt to control others in the way they behave. There is a certain desirable code of behaviour and human beings are expected to adhere to this code. And those who do not do so will be controlled to do so. The law enforcement agency will control human beings to behave in a certain way, and if they don’t (behave in that way), they (human beings) will have to pay a penalty for their lack of control.

If human beings are controlled in the way they behave, then how does this reflect God’s control?How does this mean that God is in control? Man is made in the image of God. Soif Man desires control, if Man feels the need to control himself and others,then this need reflects a certain divine characteristic. To put it in another way, God works in human beings, and it is in this way that he controls the world, by getting human beings to be aware of a certain lawlessness in their behaviour and to do something about it. Human beings are made aware of the dangers of lawlessness,and they are also directed to control this lawlessness in their own behaviour and in the behaviour of others.

Though cruelty can be found all around us, control is also found, the desire for control is found,the desire for acceptable behaviour is also found, the insistence on good behaviour is also found. One cannot behave any way one wants. There are controls. Human beings employ these controls, and they do so because they are made aware of the need for control. When human beings are made aware, I believe they are made aware by a superior force. There is a superior force in each and every one of us. We are made in the image of God. We have his image in us.Though it may not be a perfect image of God, there is a certain image, and we feel the need to conform to a divine principle of control.

Is God in control of this world? Not (in) the way one normally considers the word control, one normally understands the word “control”. God doesn’t control us. He does give us the freedom to decide for ourselves. At the same time he also plants in us the awareness of the dangers of lawlessness and thus he persuades us to control ourselves and to control others.

It’s not an easy life.It is difficult. But it is not hopeless. It is not a lost cause. This life on earth, difficult as it is, cruel as it is, unfair as it is sometimes, perhaps even many times, is not a hopeless act. It is certainly not something that we must give up on. There is control. Let us hang on to this control. And let us live desiring good not only for ourselves but also for others.

(A transcript of the speech made by Samuel Godfrey George on 15 December 2013)

Christmas In Suffering

Our lives are not perfect. There is something missing. There is something that troubles us. There is something that refuses to go away no matter how much we pray about it, and how much we believe in God. There is a certain suffering that refuses to go away. All that we have today as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ is the grace of our God. And that is enough. Let us believe that. Let us declare that. And let us continue to declare that despite how we feel. And we don't feel very well.


Why Celebrate The Birth Of Jesus Christ?

Why should one take joy in the birth of Jesus Christ? What did he do 2000 years ago that still has an impact on us?


Remember God's Love During This Christmas

If we love Christ we must love what He stood for, and what He still stands for. And what He stands for is love. We must stand for love. We must love others despite their faults and regardless of their reactions to us.


Determined To Enjoy This Christmas

I will not let this Christmas slip away without my enjoying it to the full. Despite distractions and problems I will drink deep of Christmas this time.


Thursday, 19 December 2013

What's In It For Me?

I think it is impossible to be utterly selfless. But it is desirable that one is as unselfish as possible. It is desirable that one seeks God's goals instead of one's own goals. This is the realization that God has brought me to after much self-involved wandering.


Monday, 16 December 2013

This Christmas I Am Thankful

This is the season for me to be thankful. So I consciously discard every negative thought and worry today and focus on the good that still remains in my life.


I Choose Not To Worry

Though there are problems in my life, I will take my eyes off them. For greater is the power of God in me than the combined weight of all problems in this world. I will fix my eyes on God and wait for His solutions to my problems.


Is God In Control Of This World?

Does God control this world in such a manner that he eliminates bad behaviour and promotes good behaviour in all human interactions? Does God control other animals in a similar way? Apparently not is the answer to both questions. Can we then say that God exercises no control over the world in which we live? Yet the truth is that the world is indeed controlled to a certain degree. And this control arises from the human being who desires to control himself and others. Why do humans desire control? Is it because they know the danger of not being in control? If so from where could they have derived this notion of control?


Christ The Eternal Word

Jesus came into the very world he created, but the world didn't recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.


Hope In The Messiah

The time of darkness and despair will not go on forever.


The Escape To Egypt

To save the young Jesus from King Herod, his parents take him to Egypt.


Visitors From The East

Three wise men pay their respects to the child Jesus.


The Birth Of Jesus

In what circumstances was Jesus born?


Friday, 13 December 2013

What We Can Still Do In Fading Light

Our lights may be fading, but we still have life in us to tell someone else what and Who makes us purposefully alive. As those who have been given a purpose in life let us desire that others may also live so purposefully.


Let's Share Jesus During This Christmas

Christ is not our secret, a privilege reserved for ourselves. We are told to share Jesus Christ with every one who does not know Him.


Welcome The Inconvenient Person This Christmas

2000 years ago Jesus did the most inconvenient thing for us. He died a terrible death to save us from eternal destruction. Can we who have much to thank Him for not tolerate a troublesome person or two during this season of Christmas?


Watch And Pray

Even Christians are vulnerable, particularly Christians are vulnerable to evil and immoral ways.Therefore there is this need for every Christian to be watchful and to pray so that he may not fall into temptation. But if a Christian should fall into temptation, let him take strength from the fact that there is a mediator in heaven called Jesus Christ who speaks on behalf of every sinner who has cast himself on God.


Give Love To Those Who Do Not Know Love

Love should be expressed particularly to those who do not know what love is.


Be Patient With Those Who Do Not Know God

Man is born incorrect and unrighteous. All correctness and righteousness comes from God, so those who do not know God do not find correct and righteous behaviour possible. It is therefore necessary for those who know God and who are guided by God to bear with those who cannot be guided in the same way because of their disbelief in God.


Wednesday, 4 December 2013

Loving Those Who Are Unpleasant And Ugly

People are not easy to love. If we were called by God to love only those people who are easy to love, then such a task is not worthy. But the Lord Jesus Christ, when He called us to love one another as He loved us, knew well that He was asking us to do something difficult and even impossible in human strength. Yet He desired that, for we ourselves are loved by God when we have nothing to merit that love. We must love others as God loves us.


Monday, 2 December 2013

Do Small Things With Great Love

It may not be possible to do great things. But there are small acts of love waiting to be done. We can offer a smile to someone who is lonely. We can offer the love of God to someone who is emotionally damaged. We can take care of an injured animal. We can water a plant. Let us not be so intent on doing something great that we miss out on what is simple and maybe more urgent.


How do we worship God?

Many people go to church to worship God. Denominational differences in Christianity may involve different styles of worship. But what ...