The Highway of Holiness

After reading through many oracles of doom against the nations, the 35th chapter of the book of Isaiah is a wonderful break! It talks about the restoration of the remnant and the future glory of Zion. The prophecy speaks about many natural miracles like the desert blossoming like the rose; the parched land becoming a pool of water and thirsty land, springs of water. It also talks about super natural miracles like the eyes of the blind being opened; the ears of the deaf being unstopped and the lame leaping like deer!

The same 35th chapter also talks about the Highway of Holiness on which the redeemed of Lord shall return to Zion. “And come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall...

Judge not, that you be not judged

During our 35th year class reunion, I met a classmate of mine whom I had not seen since graduation. During all the years of my Engineering degree, I used to avoid him because he used to have blood-shot eyes. And here I was, face to face with him. Not knowing what else to do I started talking and listening to his story!

Let us say his name is Babu. Babu was the son of a tailor and it seems every day he used to help his father in his shop, stitching buttons and button-holes. He had been so sleep deprived that his eyes were always red. Every year Deepavali came around our first semester and that was the time his father also was overbooked and his son’s assistance was important for his business. Because of this Babu had failed in many subjects. One day he decided to...

God of Second Chances

The book of Ezra is one that describes the return of the people of God to the land of their fathers after 70 years of captivity in Babylon. The people had formerly sinned in their idolatry and were taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. God was now bringing them back into the land, to give them another chance of serving and following Him.

Ezra, who is a descendant of Aaron, effectively communicated the Lord’s requirements and it led the people into a time of repentance and renewal. The people returned to their covenant relationship with God and renewed their promises to follow Him.

In the book of Revelation, the angel’s charge to the church of Ephesus is that they had left their first love (Rev 2:4). They were actually commended for many things- t...

Bought at a Price!

An evangelist of reasonable age one day told the Lord, “Lord, for so many years I have served you by preaching the Word and mentoring groups of youngsters. Now Lord, I want to retire.” The next day he woke up leisurely and went for a walk. On his way, he saw a loaded bullock-cart with the bullock fallen on the road. When he came close with the thought of helping the bullock up, he rolled his eyes and told the evangelist his story: “My Master bought me at a price and every single day when he picked up the yoke I came and harnessed myself willingly. Even this morning I did that in spite of not feeling too well. Till my last breath, I have served my master because he bought me at a price.” The story goes on to say that the evangelist realized his mistake. (Rev. Rajan Edw...

Because he loves me…

Psalm 91:14-16, the Lord speaks about seven blessings for the one who loves Him! “Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him; I will protect him; I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honour him. With long life, I will satisfy him and show him my salvation”. It is love, love set upon God, which is the distinguishing mark to whom these blessings are directed!

When I read it, immediately, the question that sprang to my mind was, “Lord I love you. I want to love You. But how can I identify this kind of love in my hearts?”

• In the heart of such a believer, there should be gratitude. The knowledge that we do not deserve the blessings we enjoy should fill our hearts with gratitude.
• In the heart of such a...

The Secret Place of the Most High!

Hannah More says, "To preach privileges without specifying to whom they belong is like putting a letter in the post office without a direction or an address. It may be very good and contain a very valuable remittance, but no one can tell for whom it is intended”. If we carefully see all the promises of Scripture, we can see that they are plainly directed to those to whom they belong.

The direction put upon the promises of this Psalm 91 is unmistakably clear. The blessings of this Psalm are directed to the one who dwells in the secret place of the Most High(v1) and the one who has made the Most High his dwelling place (V9).

It is not because he is without sin or because he has perfectly kept all the commandments. It is not because he has merit and des...

Who is my Friend?

When we read the book of Job, we are usually astounded at the suffering endured by Job and amazed by the blessings enjoyed by him in the end! But this time when I read the book of Job, I was astonished by his three friends and the attitude they displayed!

When Job’s friends heard about the adversity that had come upon Job, they came to see him, to mourn with him and comfort him (Job 2:11-13).

But instead of sympathizing with Job, all three of them, in different ways extolled their own righteousness while proclaiming Job’s unrighteousness. In fact, Job was ‘pure and upright’ only in the eyes of God. Bildad called Job a hypocrite (8:13). The friends said that the current suffering exposed the past sins of Job. They did not have even one kind word for Job. They...

Who is my neighbour?

“Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” asked the Lawyer and Jesus answered him saying, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbour as yourself.’ ”(Lk 10:27). The Lawyer immediately wanted to know who his neighbour was supposed to be!

To explain this Jesus told the story of the good Samaritan.

In this story, the Samaritan had never met the fallen man before in his life. But Jesus said that the Samaritan was the one who did the neighbourly act of saving him!

Who then is our neighbour?

Every single person whom God has placed around us or brings into our life is our neighbour. Many times, we are overwhelmed by the poverty and s...

Who is my enemy?

Many of us go through life thinking that everyone around us is our enemy, always plotting our downfall. Some of us think that our family, is our enemy; our spouse or the proverbial mother in law! Some of us believe so much in the devil that every bad thing that happens is attributed to devil.

Living this way, makes us feel good in our own eyes!

We seem to be the innocent and helpless victims who get a raw deal from everyone around! Shifting the blame on to somebody else, kind of absolves us of all responsibility for our actions!

But if you look at it carefully, we will realize the reality to be quite different.

The hatred I harbor in my heart breaks out in to harsh words. The envy in our heart reflects in our actions. Our miserly attitude...

The Lord stirred up the spirit…

As I read this portion in the book of Ezra, the phrase “The Lord stirred up the spirit…” (Ezra 1:1) would not leave my heart. I kept thinking about it again and again. That phrase spoke to me about the power of God; of how God can accomplish His will through anyone or by any means. Time or powers of this world cannot restrict God. Our God is mighty and He is able!

The historic event described in Ezra was foretold by Isaiah almost 150 years before it happened. At the time of this prophecy, the Babylonians were the world power and Judah was in captivity in Babylon. It is amazing to read the Prophet Isaiah talking about Cyrus, King of Persia by name! There is no way Isaiah could have called him by name unless God who is transcendent and knows the end from...