One will not be tired of doing good if one
enjoys doing good. But one will be tired of doing good if one is
intimidated into doing good. One will also be tired of doing good if one
expects a reward for doing good. The last two types of doing good are
what many Christians tend to do. When we do good, we make the best use
of the time God has given us. The joy we bring to others and to
ourselves when we do good is the reward for our actions. If we expect a
further reward we may be disappointed. Sadly this is the kind of good
that Christians from the very beginning of faith have done.
The
greatest story in the Bible is the story of the lost son. This is the
best illustration of the relationship between God and Man. No further
revelation of God's love is required, for the story captures the heart
of God. Love and forgiveness are the most powerful characteristics of
God. Jesus Christ came into the world to show us the loving, forgiving
God. But the human authors of the Bible could
not present this great message of love and forgiveness without
torturing readers with more than a smattering of threats. Maybe,
threatening a person into good action is the way of all human flesh.
Maybe all human goodness has resulted from threats like these. But this
is an unsatisfactory motivation for goodness. We should do good not
because we are scared of what God might do to us if we fail to do so,
but because we love God, who loves doing good. Doing good is the best
action anyone can do. And those who do good should do so joyfully
without fear. This is the kind of message that the Bible fails to convey
satisfactorily.
The
Bible speaks both judgemental words and uplifting words. Where the
Bible works least is when it speaks judgementally. Where it works most
is when it speaks upliftingly. There is a holier-than-thou tone applied
by every writer in the Bible, and this is the least attractive feature
about the content that we encounter in the Bible. Where the Bible does
best is in the candid admission of sin and helplessness,
which we sometimes find in the Psalms and in St. Paul's letters. But
for every such admission, there are many passages rendered in a
self-righteous tone. So, the Bible should be read carefully in the
knowledge that everyone has sinned and come short of the glory of God,
especially the human authors of this divinely inspired book.
Judgemental words are least attractive.
Uplifting words are most attractive. To attract people to God, you
should speak uplifting words.
The people who leave are not something to be factored at all. They were never meant to be here.
For the people of the world to come
together, an immediate requirement is a polite, constructive and
sensitive dialogue. And this cannot happen without people realizing
their own limitations in understanding and knowledge. People who offer
their opinions, should always do so humbly, always bearing in mind that
they could be wrong, for no one knows everything, and has considered
every possibility regarding the subject he is speaking about.
When you express a disagreement with
someone, be polite and sensitive. Do not say anything that would hurt
the person, and inflict an injury that will have a lasting impact on
that person. Try to express your point of view, bearing in mind your own
limitations in understanding, and point out the truth as you see it,
without disparaging the opinions and beliefs of others.
It is good to express your mind. But it is not good to hurt others, and their beliefs and ideas.
God is still working with me. I am far from complete. But I'm still something to behold.
What today we know in part, one day we shall know in full. Until then let us be content with incomplete knowledge.
Let me not rejoice in being noticed by humans. Let me rejoice in being noticed by God.
Be who you are without fear. It is the
greatest act of love you can show yourself. And you must love yourself
before you can love others.
Let us seek God not just for the money we need. Let us seek him because
there is nothing better to seek. Let us love him so much that we cannot
be without him. Let us draw near him, for without him there is no life
worth living. God is everything and gives everything to the one who is
in love with him. Seek money, and you will never know him, as he really
is.
I often read, "Get ready for a financial blessing. If you need a
financial breakthrough say 'Amen'" I say, "What kind of a God keeps you
waiting for a financial blessing? He who knows how to bless you with
life every day, how is it that he needs to be reminded of the financial
blessing that you desperately seek? Is God only the giver of money? Do
you seek him only for the currency that he provides? God is more than a
money giver. God is the giver of all good things. He is the giver of
life. He is our Father. He knows our needs even before we ask him. And
he will give us what we need even without our asking."
God's blessings are here and now. Your very breath testifies to his
blessing. You don't have to wait for a financial gift to know that you
are blessed. Everyone needs money. But above all, everyone needs life.
And God gives life every day even without our asking for it. He keeps
the heart ticking and the brain working. He keeps all our natural
processes happening in a wonderfully organised way. Let us acknowledge
the blessing of life as long as we continue to breathe.
We are freed from sin not by our obedience to God's law, but by our belief in Jesus Christ.
The curse that Jesus Christ took from us
is physical and spiritual death and slavery to sin. The blessing that we
received in exchange is everlasting life with God.
Jesus Christ took our curse from us on
Calvary two thousand years ago. And we took his blessing from him. Let's
hold on to that blessing. Let us not lose it in trying to make
spiritual progress by our own efforts.
None of us is obedient to God's law. And
even if we try to obey it, we will fail. So, it is best to believe in
God, and be saved by his grace through our faith.
Don't try to keep God's law. It is not
possible for any human to do that. If a human should try to obey the
law, he will come under its curse. For cursed is the one who cannot
follow the rules in God's law. Instead, believe in God and his Son, and
your faith will be counted by God as righteousness.
Abraham was considered righteous not
because of his obedience, but because of his faith in God. It is faith
that God is moved by.
Faith has a blessing attached to it.
Abraham was considered righteous when he believed in God. And so you too
will be considered righteous when you believe in God.
To have the Bible speak to you, you may have to wait for a call from
God. In my life it took thirty years or more for the Bible to make
sense. God himself was not real in my life for a very long time. I only
saw a distorted image of God. My own preconceived notions of what was
right and wrong blinded me to God. It was only when I saw myself through
the Bible that I also saw God. The Bible showed me who I was, and when I
discovered myself, I also discovered God in a way that I had never
thought of him before.
When I read the Bible, some parts of it seemed to be about me. The
struggle that St. Paul went through, as recorded in Romans 7, seemed to
be my struggle. When I read about the disbelieving people of Israel
wandering in the desert, I could see a connection between them and me.
The book appeared very relevant to me and the life that I observed all
around me. However, the Bible did not always make this impact on me. In
the first thirty years of my life, the Bible made no impact on me at
all.
Don't despise what God called you to do. The task may offer few rewards
and may not compensate your time and energy. But there is a reward
waiting for you, which no human or demonic agent can undermine or
destroy. God will not fail to reward your seemingly unprofitable efforts
to speak for him. And he shall start doing so in this life itself. So
keep on keeping on.
If anyone is in trouble he or she should pray. That's what the Bible
says. If you have allowed your feelings to dictate the way you live, you
should accept the consequences of the actions that your heart dictated.
But there is hope for you if you would turn to God. If you are willing
to turn away from heeding the impulses of your heart, God can still act
in you and transform you from within.
To be free from bad politicians, people should think carefully before
casting their vote. They should honestly assess the candidate, and
carefully consider his or her policies and views. They should also
consider the candidate's personal life and check whether there is
stability in it. People should investigate into the track record of this
person as a public servant, and find out if he or she has ever been
found to be dishonest or corrupt. Only when they are satisfied by the
appropriateness of the candidate should they cast their ballot for this
person.
People are greedy and power hungry by nature. Political life offers
plenty of opportunities to exercise these unhealthy urges. Many
politicians fall into temptation, and pursue unlawful gain, at the risk
of destroying themselves and the people whom they govern. Some corrupt
politicians sully not only their reputation, but also tarnish the image
of their party. People who voted for them feel cheated and are not
willing to trust politicians again. This contributes to the overall
degradation of society.
The love of money is the root of all evil. To gain money people are
willing to risk quite a lot in their lives. Some people even resort to
illegal actions to obtain money. When they succeed in hoarding money,
they attempt to control others with money. This kind of control happens a
lot in political life. Votes are bought with money. People are bought
with money. Power itself is bought with money.
A
corrupt leader does not arrive on the scene automatically. The
emergence of a corrupt leader is dependent on people who allow
themselves to be taken advantage of. An electorate, not adequately
concerned about matters relating to probity in political life, and
susceptible to outward charm and charisma of an insidious political
figure, will often elect a person, who is most likely to deceive people,
and to engage in corrupt practices. Thus, the responsibility for the
existence of corrupt leaders is with the people who elect them. When the
privileges of democracy are not appropriately used by the people who
are at the heart of it, the result will be poor governance and overall
failure.
What determines the election of a responsible government is a
responsible electorate, which is able to perceive the difference between
positive change-makers and divisive reformers who aim at bringing about
change at the risk of fragmenting people, The questions that the
electorate should ask are: how far are people willing to go to make
change? Is the cost of change affordable? Is change that is targeted at
benefiting a specific group defensible, even though the group may be a
majority?
Today if you are in a desert expect to see streams of water in it.
Faith in God is to be sure of God and certain of what you expect from him.
When there is no one but God, you are ready to meet God.
The greatest moment in faith is when you are left all alone with God.
A confident attitude will not always
guarantee desired results. Reality has its own mechanism, and it does
not always correlate with human confidence.
Repentance is from God. So don't try to produce it. Long for it. Ask for it. Wait for it.
Why would a God who gave once fail to give now? Keep hoping, for God is faithful, even if you are faithless.
The road to wisdom is nearly disastrous. I almost ruined myself in my
search for clarity. I had to detach myself from nearly everything that
could have distracted me. I had to lose nearly everything to keep me
going in this seemingly self-destructive path. But this is the irony. It
is when you pay a supreme prize that you gain a supreme gift. Wisdom is
more precious than silver or gold. To buy it you need to lose
everything. At least, you should be ready to do so.
If you want to be right always, you will find yourself wrong many times.
But if you are willing to learn from mistakes, which you will certainly
make, you will more often be right.
Find out what life is all about. Don't restrict yourself to what you
want life to be all about. Life is more than you can understand or
conceive. To understand life, you should learn to accept what you do not
know without judging or dismissing difference or discordance.
The writers of the Bible were not mere manuscript copiers who wrote down
word for word what the Holy Spirit spoke to their spirit, but they were
essentially reflectors of divine wisdom passed through their experience
and understanding. So, the theology that finally emerged in their
writing was mingled with their own thought patterns and socio-cultural,
political and economic situations. Thus, the Old Testament is a Jewish
book conveying a Jewish conception of a national God. And the New
Testament is partly Jewish and partly Gentile, for it does take the God
of the Jews out of his country, and share him with the world around
them. The national God was made an international one.
I was reading the last chapter of Saint Paul's second letter to Timothy.
I noticed the deeply personal tone of the letter. In the letter was a
reminder to Timothy to fetch a coat that Paul had left with Carpus at
Troas. It is likely that Paul may not have considered the possibility
that his letter to Timothy would enter the corpus of sacred literature,
at the time he penned it. When we read the Bible today, we should take
care to realize that some of these words may not have been entirely the
work of the Holy Spirit, for the example that I cited is more personal
than anything else.
If we won't trust God, whom will we trust? Is there another person,
human or divine that we can place our trust in? I don't think so. God is
the only safe risk that we can take.
We should wait on God even if the waiting is intolerable. God is good even if he appears insensitive to our pleas.
Jesus Christ showed us what matters most. The lost people of the world
matter to him more than the ones who think that they are already saved.
He searched for the most morally bankrupt people. He spent time with
them and showed them by example what God's love was. He did not lecture
about morality, but he let his love transform them through its
incomparable power. Only love conquers all. Every other form of
discipling the body will fail. Nothing lasts permanently as the result
of love's working in the human soul. And we, who were found by Jesus
Christ, should seek the lost and transform them with the love of God in
our hearts
When
Jesus came to the world, religion was a matter of strict rule following
with little love in it. People were more concerned about cleansing
their bodies than their consciences. People were exercising their minds
more than their hearts. Jesus showed us by example that the heart
matters more than the mind. His disciple Paul showed us that love is
greater than even faith and hope. His disciple John
showed us that God is essentially love . When people see God as
righteous judgement rather than gracious love, they get a lesser God, a
human dilution of God. If we in the age of the Holy Spirit, still reduce
religion to rules and regulations, we will have a smaller God to
worship, We need to see God beyond rules and restrictions, and embrace
the presence of God everywhere. God is where we would not even want to
go. God is in unlikely places. God is among unlikely people. If we see
God like that, we will go beyond our comfort zone, and search for him in
uncomfortable places. And that's where we will know who he really is.
A great country does not put itself first
before other countries. A great country sees others countries in the
same way as it sees itself.
A great country requires a great leader, who is large-hearted and willing to embrace those who are different.
In selflessness is greatness. In selfishness is littleness.
A great country does not only protect its own interests. It reaches out to other countries and tries to solve their problems.
A good leader unifies his people. A bad leader tears them apart..
In unity is greatness. In division is littleness.
An aggressive country laying down conditions inflexibly may be perceived as a bully, but never as great.
When fear operates, greatness cannot emerge.
Tolerance is the mark of greatness. Intolerance is the mark of littleness.
A leader who often causes division can never unite a people.
No country can ever be great if it aims at benefiting only itself.
For a country to be great, it should be perceived as a leader by other countries.
When people differ, they should express their differences sensitively, without hurting one another.
Harmony in the way people think is desirable. But allowance should be made for disharmony too.
Though people may think alike many times, they may also often think differently.
People are different, and they see things differently. But there are certain points of harmony in collective perception.
We cannot all see God in the same way, just as we cannot see anything else in the same way.
Don't put a human being in the place where God alone can be. God alone is an ever-present help in times of trouble.
Humans too are good friends. But they cannot be counted on at all times. God alone helps always.
God alone is the constant friend who responds to our need. God's help is the only one that be counted on at all times.
When I am in need of encouragement, I encourage others. This is the work of God in me.
You are a beautiful child of God. For nothing that God dwells in can be
called anything but beautiful. Celebrate God. Celebrate yourself, for
you are a work of God.
You are God's child no matter what you do. You belong to him. And he
lives in you, transforming you from within into the image of his Son. He
who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it. And he
will do it, even if you slip and fall. He will lift you up when you
fall. He understands your weaknesses better than you think. His great
love for you bears with all your faults. Don't be hard on yourself
today. God knows everything about you, and is not angry with you. In
fact, he is pleased with you, for you want to be like him. That is why
you are sad when you fail.
The
blessings of God are not always attached to obedience. God blesses all
his children, just like a good human father blesses his children,
regardless of how they behave. God is better than a human father. He
loves his human children, though they are intrinsically flawed. He
showers his richest blessings on them, even if they do not worship him.
Some great blessings are given freely to all. Sunlight,
air and rain are free to all. Some natural blessings are packaged and
sold by human beings. But God first gave everything freely to us without
any rule attached. The rules came later when God realised the depth of
human sin. However, even those rules could not be obeyed, and Jesus
Christ had to intervene and lay down his own life as a sacrifice for all
human sins. After that, no payment for sins is required by God anymore.
Even today, God is waiting to shower his blessings on you. You cannot
merit them through good conduct. Some will come to you naturally no
matter how you behave and what you believe. Others will come only when
you accept the Son of God, Jesus Christ. As you stand in Christ, his
righteousness will become yours, and his rewards will come to you.
Have your broken a promise to God? Are you terribly distressed by it?
There are many who have broken their promises to God. Some of us break
our promises to God not because we want to break them. We just cannot
live up to our word, for our flesh is weak. But don't worry if you have
broken your promise to God. He knows that you made the promise to please
him, and he understands how you are struggling with your wayward
desires. He will strengthen you and make you beautiful in his time.
Until then don't lose heart. Keep trusting in God to complete his work
in you.
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