Faith is from the beginning to the end a work of God.
No human can achieve this. And no human can make another human being
believe. All that a human being can do is to express his belief in a
God-enabled manner, and hope that the listener may be motivated to
believe as well. If the listener, ever believes, then that is also a
work of God. So let us not try to persuade anyone to believe in God. Let
us convey our belief in God with God-given grace, and let us allow God
to do his work through us. Only he is the author and finisher of our
faith.
I will not persuade anyone to believe in anything.
Belief is a personal matter. It cannot be forced. But I will speak about
my belief. I will tell people about my faith. And I hope that when I do
this, God will work through me, and graciously enable in others a
willingness to believe.
"If you die today, where will you spend eternity?" This
is a question that cannot be answered by anyone. For the power to
answer that question accurately is not achievable in human wisdom. Many
people answer it based on belief. And belief, by itself cannot guarantee
accuracy in answering this question. For many who believe that they
belong to God will discover that they do not. This too is revealed by
God to dispel foolish confidence. Let us then ask questions, which
humans may be able to answer properly.
If you want to teach, know this. You need to learn what
you want to teach. And you need to keep learning, as you keep teaching.
Remember also that you are first a learner, and only then a teacher.
"Always be ready. You don't know when the Son of Man
will come", someone said. I say, "Always be ready. You don't know when
you will die. So before you leave, do what you need to do. And you may
die today."
Freedom has many definitions. What you believe to be
freedom is not freedom at all to someone else. It is best not to be
dogmatic about anything. Let a man define his truths, and draw his
boundaries.
You can't save everyone, who is determined to do something that you
believe is wrong. The person, whom you wish to save, must also be
convinced that he is about to do something wrong. Otherwise, you are in
no position to save him. Let the one who is determined to follow the
course of his own heart go where he wants to go. Remember, that the
Father of the Prodigal allowed him to go away with his share of the
money and do whatever he wanted to do with it. There is a lesson in that
for all of us, who are desperate to save others. Sometimes, we need to
let another person endure the consequences of his unfortunate actions,
so that he may learn the truth the hard way.
If you think a man is about to destroy himself, reason with him
patiently. But let him know that he is free to do whatever he wants. But
he should also remember that there are consequences for every action,
and that life is shaped by the choices humans make. Above all, tell him
about God, who loves him, no matter what he did, does or will do. And
also tell him that God is waiting for him to return, if he chooses to
walk away. And finally, say a prayer for him, and ask God to save him
from eternal destruction.
Let a man pursue what he wants to pursue. Don't stand in his way. If
you do, he will pursue what he likes with even more determination. God
gave us freedom of choice. Let us not stand in God's way or in Man's
way. Let a man live his life any way he wants. And let him experience
the consequences of his choice. This is an act of love, the kind of love
that God has always shown humankind.
It
is idealistic to think that everyone will respond favourably to God.
But this will never be the case. There are many who will reject God
ultimately. Some who eagerly believe at first, will fall away later, and
will totally reject God in the end. So, it is best to be realistic, in
this work for God. The miraculous does happen. The supernatural
inspiration does occur. Revivals do take place. People
accept God in large numbers. But equally undeniable is the fact that
some people will not be convinced, and will walk away from God. Even
when Jesus preached, people walked away from the gathering, for they
found his teaching very hard to accept. Notably, in his hometown Jesus
met with rejection and could not perform many miracles. And those who
walked away from Jesus then, probably never came back. In this job of
saving souls, let the God worker be aware of the facts. Only some souls
will allow themselves to be saved. Let the workers of God devote
themselves to those receptive souls, when other souls turn away.
Let
love-givers and God workers beware of this. Some will reject love. Some
will reject God. And though you may persist for a while with such
people with godly patience, some of them will never accept what you want
to offer them. You will observe these truths in your ministering to
people. Some will come to you, appearing to be interested in what you
do. But they will have no peace or love in their
hearts. And they may bear with you for a while, and may even appear to
appreciate you. You may even have the confidence that you can work with
them. But sooner or later, you will realise that they will not accept
what you want to offer. It is then that you should remove yourself from
their presence, and move on to others, who are receptive to you.
There
is no place in my life for bitterness and judgement. I do not encourage
such qualities in myself, and I do not encourage those qualities in
the people who interact with me. As far as possible, I will coexist with
such people, if I cannot detach myself from them. But I will not
hesitate to effect a detachment of this kind, whenever that is
possible.I do not desire a situation where a person can
contaminate me and those who are with me, with bitterness and
judgmentalis, arising from a heart, which does not know God's love.
None of us are so strong, that we can resist an infection of this kind.
This world is filled with rancour and cynicism, and people who carry
out the work of God, may receive little respect from those who are of a
worldly nature. So, it is best to avoid people, who are not only
doubters of good intentions, but also vehement denouncers of what they
cannot understand or appreciate.
There is no use in persisting with a person who does
not know the language of love. If the person speaks a language of hatred
and bitterness, and is filled with a spirit of judgement, it is best to
set that person free. It is best to remove oneself from such a person.
He or she cannot receive love, and workers of God, who convey the love
of God, should move on to others, who may respond favourably to love.
You cannot ask "Where is your love?" to a person who
has never experienced it. There are some in this world, who have never
known the love of God. There are some who cannot receive the love of
God, even if it is offered to them time and again. What do you do with
such people? What do I do? I just pray for them, and move on to the next
person, hoping that he or she may receive the love of God from me.
Above all, the children of God should conduct themselves like God. They
should convey the dignity and the propriety that God unfailingly stands
for. If we cannot convey in our clothing style, that dignity and
propriety, which befit God, then we have failed in honouring our Father
and his Son and his Spirit. We have failed the One who saved us from
eternal death. And we also fail in shining a light to others, if we
behave just like the people of this world. We are called to be the salt
of the earth, and a city on a hill. Let us not do so by discarding our
clothes in public without sufficient reason and justification.
We,
who recognize the beauty of what God created in us, are eager to
display our beauty to the world. But before we go ahead and display the
beautiful work of God, we must ask ourselves these questions: "Are
people going to respond properly to this display of my body? Am I going
to get someone to get unbalanced in his or her thinking, when he or she
looks at what I display with honest and worthy
intentions? Am I helping people with this revelation of my beauty, or
am I potentially harming them? Can this act cause harm even to me?" Such
introspection will prevent many undesirable consequences. It is too
late sometimes, when people reveal their bodies, and taste the
unsavoury fruit of their actions.
There
is something in a human being, which triggers in many cases an improper
response to a naked human body. Humans often improperly respond to even
a partial disclosure of the body. When such is the case, it is best to
tread wisely, in the area of clothing. Let the person who wants to
display his or her body ask the question: "Why do I want to display my
body? Is it to bring glory to God, or to attract
attention to myself? Do I wish to arouse desire in others? Is it all
right if there are many people who are responding sexually to me? Is
this a desirable situation for me and for others? Will any harm come
from this?" In this world, it is possible to cause damage to yourself
and others, even when you dress properly. Imagine the greater potential
for damage, when you are improperly dressed. This is a question worth
reflecting on.
Sometimes it is possible to arouse sexual desire in others
inadvertently. In such cases, when a human being realises the
undesirable consequences of one's clothing style, that person should
take necessary steps to eliminate such situations in the future. If you
are a child of God, you are not only responsible for how you conduct
yourself, but you are also responsible for how you impact others. When
you learn that you are having an undesirable effect on others, you have
something to think about and pray about., Ask him how to bring about the
necessary changes in yourself to have a wholesome impact on others.
You may have a beautiful body, which you wish to display. Display your
body in such a manner that brings glory to your Creator. But do not
display your body to arouse unnecessary and improper desire in others.
This is how you honour God and his people. The human body is very
beautiful, but God clothed it, so that we may not be undesirably
distracted by it. The naked body has the potential to distract people
improperly and create situations that can potentially harm the displayer
and the observer. It is best that the children of God follow God's
pattern for life, and clothe themselves with propriety and dignity.
Only this will please God.
Be happy with the body God has given you. Clothe your body with dignity,
in a manner that brings glory to God. But when you display your body
with the intention to arouse undesirable impulses in others, you are not
bringing glory to God, and you are certainly discrediting yourself as a
respectable human being. The world may celebrate the improper display
of the human body. But the people of God should know better than to make
a spectacle of their physical bodies, only for the sake of attracting
attention to themselves, and to arouse others needlessly and illicitly.
A
child will be a great blessing in my life. God has blessed me in many
ways already. But the joy of a child is still missing in my life. If
this gift arrives, I believe that my life will have reached a peak. Even
as I am painfully aware of what is lacking in my life, I am also sad to
note that there are parents in the world, who don't value their
children as gifts from God. They see them as a burden,
and even try to get rid of them. This is a great folly. A great
darkness is revealed when children are rejected by their own parents.
Only the light of God can dispel such darkness. And parents of this
kind, need to know God and experience his love, in order to appreciate
the priceless gifts that their children are. The lack of godliness is
the main reason for poor parenting. Even a lack of education and
resources may not adversely affect parenting skills as much as a lack
of spiritual understanding and a failure to appreciate God’s priceless
gifts. Such an inadequacy is what leads to an abusive, irresponsible and
unloving parent.
Some
people do not value their children. Some people do not even want
children, and they get rid of them while they are still in the womb.
Some parents even exploit their children and get them to earn money from
a young age. Some parents subject their children to physical and sexual
abuse. Some other parents abandon their children, who are then forced
to live on the streets. Only some of these may
find themselves eventually placed in orphanages or foster care, and
even fewer may ultimately find people who will adopt them and raise them
as their own children. In this world there are people, who are not
parents, yet are longing to be parents. Such people will be grateful to
raise these unfortunate children. But will they get an opportunity to do
so? I believe it may not always be possible, as adoption may not be
feasible in all cases. It appears that we live in a meaningless world
where pain and suffering occur randomly, and there is no fairness at all
in the way rewards are given. Many people seem to have what they do not
want, and desire what they do not have. And even children are seen by
some parents as unwanted and undesirable. This is a great tragedy, for
children are the greatest blessings in life.
Your child is your treasure. He is your gift from God.
Treasure him well. Expose him to no harm. Inflict no harm on him. Guard
him with all your might. And let him bloom like a flower and be what God
intended him to be Still do not fail to be a responsible parent. Show
him the way to go forward in life, showing by example what you teach.
Be the man that you want your son to be. And then commit him to God, and
ask God to take care of him in ways in which a human father can never
do.
Everyone who loves to give, and gives to love is a
child of God. And anyone who loves like that is living in God. And God
is living in him.
If Christ lives in me, his Spirit lives in me. Can Christ live in me in any other way?
You will never know me, nor will I ever know you. And
we will never know God fully, as long as we are on this earth. So let us
not ask questions that only God can answer.
You will never know me, nor will I ever know you. And
we will never know God fully, as long as we are on this earth. So let us
not ask questions that only God can answer.
I support Christ and his work in as many ways as are available to me. I myself do the work of Jesus Christ.
When I love I am with Christ and those who love Christ. And that is church.
Whether someone goes to a church or a mosque or a
temple is of little significance to me. Whether someone knows love and
shows it to others, that is more central to me.
I don't worry about nomenclature, when love is central
to all I am and ought to be. What I am beyond a loving man, is not
something I am concerned about. And I view all human beings in a similar
way.
Love is the name of my church. Love is the place, which I call home. My pastor is Jesus Christ.
So,
to worship God we should love others, just as they are, without trying
to transform them. Only the love of God can transform people. So we
should learn to love like God, and let that love do its miraculous work
in the people we love. We should not judge others unfairly, and we
should always remember our own sins, when we try to point out the sins
of others. To worship God, we should be conscious
of God's atoning love all the time. We cannot let a sinful conscience
separate us from God. For we will sin as long as we live in this world.
Let our sins not separate us from God. We should remember that nothing
can separate us from the love of God. Not only should we know this, but
we should also actively receive that love daily by approaching God
repentantly. We should also love God back by loving what he loves, with
his own kind of love, which he will teach us, as we continue to walk
with him.
We do not worship God by reading the Bible studiously. We worship God by
enacting the love that the Bible reveals. We need to experience the
love of God, and we need to share it with others. We do not worship God
by merely attending church. We worship God by loving one another, not
only in the worship place, but also outside it. We should particularly
focus on loving those who are outside church. The people of God should
actively love those who do not know God. We reveal God to others, only
by loving them, as God himself loves us.
To love God means to love what God loves. And God loves us all just as
we are. We should learn to love like God. And we should learn from God,
who will teach us to love, when we welcome him into our hearts. God will
come and stay within us, and teach us how to love what we once could
not love. He will teach us to love our enemies, and care for those who
do not care for us. He will show us how to love, even when we face
opposition and rejection. He will enable us to go on loving, even when
our love is not returned. This is the kind of love we need to learn, if
we want to worship God.
To
worship God is to be in love with God. Worship is romance of the
highest order. The human being in love with God is what worship
essentially is. How can such love be expressed? How can a visible human
be in love with an invisible God? To love God in this way is possible
only when we love what God loves. And God loves the world. God loves his
creations. To love God, we should love what he created.
We should love one another. We should love the other person as we love
ourselves. And we should love all other forms of life that we see around
us. We should love this beautiful earth and take good care of it, just
as we take care of our own bodies. When we do all this, we are
worshipping God, who is the reason for everything.
Today, many people will go to church to worship God. Denominational
differences in Christianity may involve different styles of worship. But
what is worship essentially? What should worship be? How do I worship
God? I try to love God and all that he stands for. Love is the beginning
and the end of worship. To worship we must love God with all our hearts
and minds. And when we do that, we will desire to be with him always.
He will pervade our hearts and minds. Every thought and every feeling
will pass through his being. And when people meet us while this is going
on, they will see God in us.
Jesus Christ went beyond the Bible of his day. He transcended the
narrow-minded thinking of the religious experts and the teachers of the
law. He revealed God’s love in a manner that was very different from the
writers of the scriptures in his day. He showed us how to love what was
not loved before. He transcended the limits of biblical thinking. This
is what Jesus Christ did. So, let us not make him out to be the Pharisee
of this age.
Many people attempt at a biblical Christianity. I attempt at a loving Christianity.
To resort to Bible quotations to assert your belief in
Christianity is not as commendable as to reveal your heart of love,
which is what Jesus Christ is all about.
To be Christ is not to be biblical. To be Christ is to transcend the
narrow-minded thinking of the religious experts and the teachers of the
law. To be Christ is to love what was not loved before. To be Christ is
to transcend the limits of human thinking. This is what Jesus Christ
was. Let us not make him out to be the Pharisee of this age.
Be a human being before you are a Christian or a Hindu or a Muslim or
anything. Be a citizen of the world before you are an American or a
Briton or a Russian or anything. Let your basics be strong. Then
everything else will stand.
To be biblical is not my main concern. To be humane and
loving and compassionate and sympathetic, these are of greater
importance to me.
The most troubling questions in life, are in the book of Job, in the
Bible. These questions are never answered by God, who clearly presents
the case that a human is limited in his understanding, and is therefore
incapable of decoding the riddles of life. This is not a satisfactory
answer to those with an enquiring mind. But Job was satisfied with that
answer and bowed down to God's sovereignty. And this is what all
spiritual understanding comes down to. There is a point beyond which no
human being is able to pass. If we are satisfied with what we can know,
without being obsessed with what we cannot know, we can find rest and
peace in this life.
Any
book that says that you should stone a child for being rebellious to
his parent, does not know the first thing about parental love. A child
is the most precious blessing in the world. Childless parents know this
even better than parents with children. No proper parent will ever
consider stoning his child for disobedience or rebellion or drunkenness
or gluttony. It is the worst kind of human thinking,
which has been falsely labelled godly thinking. But this is the way
certain parts of the Bible have been presented. But those who read the
Bible should take care that they read it in its entirety. And they
should pay particular attention to what Jesus Christ said. Let them pay
attention to how he describes children and the way we should treat them.
Then the Bible will be more acceptable.
When someone you love dies early, it is very hard. But you should face
the facts eventually. All of us die. Some die sooner than others. Be
happy that this person had a few years. Some have had even fewer. Some
were aborted even before they were born into this world. This is a
terrible life. But it can be beautiful at times.
Life can be unpredictable and unfair. Fairly often in life we see the
undeserving winning and the deserving losing. We also see the talented
dying early and the evil living long lives. The question that is facing
every observant person is this: can we give up our hope in life because
it is unfair? No, we can't. We just have to go on living, as long as we
can, being useful to others, as much as we can. And though no one may
appreciate what we are doing, we should keep on doing it.
I am now a teacher who will always remain a student. I believe that this is where all teachers should eventually be.
You need to speak what you believe to be true and reasonable, even if it
is not in the Bible. The Bible does not contain all the truth that
there is. It is by no means a total revelation. And those who are
limited to it, will be limited in their thinking and understanding.
"You
will go to hell!" is the least captivating utterance we can say to
someone who needs to go to God. The wrath of God is the worst motivation
for seeking an eternal life with God. However, people who call
themselves followers of Christ attempt to scare people into belief,
perhaps even more vehemently than the writers of the Bible had done. The
most effective way of showing God to others is by revealing
God as who he is. And he is love. God is love, above everything else.
His righteous and just requirements were satisfied by Jesus Christ, who
laid down his life for all of us. God's anger is over and his justice is
now satisfied, all on account of Jesus. Those who live, still fearing
God's judgement, and trying to appease God's anger by their own efforts
are living misguidedly. What they need to do is to approach the throne
of grace boldly, and obtain grace, for that alone can help them live
this difficult life. There is no total escape from sin in this world,
and all that one can do is to let the Holy Spirit gradually transform
our minds, through daily renewal by means of the word of God, which is
the truth of God, received from the Holy Scriptures and from God's own
personal revelations in our hearts and minds. And the most loving act we
can do is to share a gracious God graciously with people, without
trying to terrorize them into belief in God, by telling them that they
would go to a place called hell, if they fail to believe in God. God
does not want terrorized cowards in heaven along with him, but he wants
those who seek him lovingly, desiring his goodness, righteousness,
justice, love, joy and peace above everything that this world offers.
A
sinner or an ex-sinner pointing out sin is a risky act. People who live
in glass houses should not throw stones, they say. And there are
reminders in the Bible as well: the one with the beam in his eye should
not notice the mote in his brother's eye. We should not judge, or we
will be judged. We should forgive or we will not be forgiven. Despite
such warnings, some Christians still continue to point
fingers at people and denounce them as sinners, and even tell them that
they will go to hell, in order to get those people to repent. Despite
their good intentions, the method they employ in bringing about the
desired result is neither effective nor sincere. It is the worst kind of
persuasion. We are all sinners, and we are all sailing in the same
boat. But we are blessed to have a gracious God, who paid for our sins,
and is willing to receive us in his kingdom, if we would accept his
gracious pardon after seeking him repentantly. A gracious God should be
shared graciously. So, those of us who have tasted the graciousness of
God should present him to others, as a gracious father, who is longing
to forgive his rebellious son. And just as the father, in the story of
the lost son that Jesus told, we should not criticise the rebel, and
receive him with judgement, but we should thrown open our arms in
unqualified welcome and receive the one who is willing to return to God.
Only such a presentation of God will appeal to the one who is already
scarred by sins and beaten down in life. Our words should be a soothing
balm to aching souls and not be a terrible irritant that drives them
away from God.
The
people of Jesus Christ should be characterized by love. For Jesus said
before his death, "Love one another as I have loved you. For this is how
the world will know that you are mine." But very often love is the last
thing one would associate with a Christian. Some Christians are often
judgemental and holier-than-thou in their approach to others. And they
have a tendency for pointing out sin and
labelling others sinners. But the truth is that all of us are sinners,
and even those Christians who now consider themselves saved were once
sinners. And the plain truth is that no Christian, despite being saved,
is totally shielded from sin and its effects, as long as he lives in
this world. All of us sin till the very end, and so, we are sinners,
till we die. Christians should bear this in mind, and deal with others
sympathetically and graciously. Only in this way will they truly glorify
God.
Run away from a temptation and make it stronger. Stand your ground and even fall into it. You will find it less tempting later.
As
believers in God, we should trust in the unfailing love of God. And
there is a truth that we must never lose sight of. God loves us despite
who we are and what we do. He wants us to live a happy, fulfilled life.
He wants us to treat others as we would want others to treat us. This is
why he came up with rules in the first place. But the rules rarely
worked, and ended up condemning the human being
and rendering him powerless in sin. But God made a way for us, when
there seemed to be no way out of sin. God washed all our guilt away by
spilling the blood of his own Son, and he strives to transform us into
his Son's likeness, as we yield gradually to his Holy Spirit within us .
So today, let us not approach God fearfully and burdened with guilt.
Let us boldly approach his throne of grace and obtain grace in our time
of need. God wants us to escape from sin. He tells us to sin no more.
But we cannot escape from sin in our own strength. It is only when we
walk in Christ, guided and empowered by the Spirit of God that we
gradually overcome sin.
People
often see God as hostile to sexual pleasures. People, who are keen to
pursue their sexual desires, often avoid thinking about God. They
believe that God is against sexual pleasure and gratification. But they
will do well to make a note of this. God is the creator of human
beings, and he is also the creator of their sexual drives, which he
placed within them. The Bible, seen by many believers,
as the record of God's thoughts and deeds, apart from being a book of
laws and regulations, presents God as a regulator of sexuality. As the
creator of human beings, he is presented as the sole authority over how
humans conduct themselves in every way, including sexuality. Every
believing human is expected to bow to the authority of God, and heed his
voice. And his voice is often heard speaking disapprovingly in the
Bible. However, perfect obedience and conformity may never be possible
in this life, even with the help of Holy Spirit. The life lived for God
is an unending struggle, and there are many failures to be experienced.
But those who are determined to be transformed by God, through his Holy
Spirit, will rise every time they fall, and aspire to walk on, as long
as they can. Their existence is an unending fight, and they will have
to war against their fleshly instincts till the very end. And that end
is death, which alone can exterminate sin. But this is the good news.
Those who run the race for God, and fight the good fight are not alone.
God is with them, empowering them, and even fighting for them. They need
only to believe. And they should forge ahead, no matter what lies
behind them.
Ultimately,
the discussion about sexual conduct boils down to this question. Do
human beings and God have a similar view of sexuality? The answer is no.
Humans, by nature are divergent from God, in every way, even in the
way of sexuality. Even in matrimonial heterosexuality, human beings
often fail to live up to God's standards. So another question needs to
be asked. Should human beings approach
sexuality, as God requires them to? If the answer to that is yes,
further questions need to be asked. Can human beings reach God's
standards? Is such a task even feasible or desirable? God obviously
believes so. He enjoined human beings to be perfect, just as he is
perfect. So it is the task of believers in Christ, to allow themselves
to submit to the working of the Holy Spirit, who will produce in them
gradually the character of Jesus Christ. But the Bible is not clear as
to whether such a transformation will ever be completed in this earthly
life, though there is sufficient indication that we are expected to
improve as much as we can, with the help of the Holy Spirit of God.
God's
law is perfect, the Bible says. But his perfect law was totally
unsuitable for his people. The nation Israel, chosen by God to be a holy
people set apart from an unholy world, often transgressed God's laws,
and were interminably involved in performing ritual sacrifices to
expiate their innumerable sins. God himself realized that his law could
not change the human character and predilection for
sin. He needed to bring about that change in another way. So he
employed his divine Son to do what no human could do. His Son had to
pay for the sins of all human beings who ever lived in this world, and
he was seen fit to do this, only when he became a man and lived a
sinless life on earth, despite being tempted in every way. It is by the
shedding of his own blood that every human sin is paid for, once and for
all. However, the Son by himself cannot save the people of the world.
The Spirit of God should aid him in achieving this. It is the Spirit of
God, who was given the unenviable task of changing the human character.
But even the Spirit of God cannot change human character, if the human
being resists God and his ways.
What
does God think of sexuality? He certainly created the sexual instinct,
so that human beings could express it. But does he limit the expression
of that impulse? Does he regulate it and govern it with laws? From a
biblical point of view, the answer is yes. God certainly regulated the
sexual conduct of his people Israel. He also expressed his divine
preferences to them in an unambiguous manner.
It clearly emerges in the Old Testament that God prohibits all sexual
acts outside marriage, which he sees as a union between a man and a
woman. There is no equivocation anywhere in the Bible regarding divine
standards for human sexuality that deviates from matrimonial
heterosexuality. All deviance from that norm is unequivocally condemned
as illicit and even abominable. Yet, God's laws regarding sexuality and
and all other laws concerning other aspects of life were often flouted
by his own people. In fact, the law given by God through Moses was an
utter failure, and it could not save human beings, but ended up
condemning them without the hope of redemption, by any human means.
