About Me
Recent Posts
The Family of God
- Jan 15, 2025
- 20 views
The Plan of God!
- Jan 08, 2025
- 31 views
The Secret of Success!
- Dec 31, 2024
- 30 views
The Hand of God!
Many years ago, late one evening, I was taking our dog Bruno out for a walk. Our street appeared deserted, and there were no street lights. As I started walking back home, a stray dog sprang up from somewhere and started barking and chasing us. As I turned around to assess the situation, Bruno, who was on a leash, walked around me, pinning me to a spot. Bruno was barking furiously. I froze, looking at the charging dog! Without my knowledge, I shouted, "Victory by the Blood of Jesus!" The dog who was running at full speed towards us came to about five feet from us and stopped abruptly, and his body was in a semi-circle, as though a hand had just stopped him by his middle! Then he turned and walked away! I still have the...
No Room!
In a Sunday School, the teacher practiced the Nativity play with small children. A little girl was the Star, and she was excited. Some little boys were shepherds, and three tall ones were the wise men from the East. One little girl became Mary, and of course, a little boy stood by her side as Joseph. One little boy was the Inn Keeper. The teacher had given one small line each to tell the events around the birth of Jesus! The little Innkeeper had to say, "There is no room in my Inn," when Mary and Joseph approached him. They practiced many times, and it was perfect. Finally, the day came, and the children started their play. When the time came for the Inn keeper's line, the boy said, "Oh...
Should we celebrate Christmas?
People have many theories about Christmas. Some say that we should not celebrate Christmas at all because Christmas is not mentioned in the Bible. No one knows the real birthday of Jesus, and no date is given in the Bible. People say that Jesus was not born on December 25 or anytime around that time. According to historians, the birth of Jesus probably did not happen in year one but slightly earlier, somewhere between 2 BC and 7 BC, possibly in 4 BC. Remember there is no year '0', and the years go from 1 BC to 1 AD! The first recorded date of celebrating Christmas on December 25 is in 336 AD, during the Roman Emperor Constantine's time. Some say that Christmas has become too commercial!...
His own received Him not!
People wrote letters to communicate in times past. It was way before WAP, social media, and email drastically changed the way we communicate. People exchanged their thoughts and feelings through letters. During such a time, a young man fell in love with a young woman. Since he was working in a place far away, he chose to express his love through letters. In one year, it seems, he wrote 700 letters! Finally, the day of his travel to his home town came, and so he wrote another letter and proposed marriage to her. He wrote that by then she should make her decision! Finally, the day arrived, and he came to see her with a ring in hand and great expectation in his heart. But he was shocked to...
The Purpose!
When our children were growing up, things were very different! At that time also many activities filled the Christmas season. Before Christmas, I used to bake cakes and had some savouries made at home by a helper. But we never decorated the house. Our activities involved inviting different groups of people to our home to share the Christmas joy with food and gifts. People healed of skin ailments were invited for breakfast and distributed gifts. We celebrated the joy of Christmas with our study center children and gave them gifts. Selecting and buying gifts for each group and missionaries by itself used to be a time-consuming task. All the activities spread through the whole month of Dec...
Are you ready?
Growing up, getting ready for Christmas was a big thing. My mother will embroider cushion covers and tablecloths almost for the best part of the year to be ready by Christmas! Then came the house decoration for even stars were not available in the shop. We had to make them at home! Then came the baking and preparation of other sweets and savories! The choir practices and the carol service followed by carol rounds played an essential role in bringing Christmas cheer! Not to miss the new clothes and, of course, some crackers saved up from the Deepavali season! The joy of Christmas was in the preparation and the anticipation! Even today, as we get into the season of advent, we a...
Sun of Righteousness!
The Old Testament ends with a description of the day of the Lord, where those who have rejected God's gift of salvation will face a fiery judgment. But it does not end there! The Lord gives an encouraging word to the little remnant of believers, who fear His Name! The people of God who fear and reverence His name have the assurance that the Day of the Lord will be one that ushers in the sunshine of God's eternal love. The Bible says, "But to you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings; and you shall go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves (Malachi 4:2)." They are likened to young calves who leap and skip with joy and free abandon. Gracious forgiveness, joy, peace, and healing is t...
The Careless Worship
This final book of the Old Testament is about the error of forgetting the love of God. Malachi wrote these words to God's people, who had returned to Israel after being in exile for many years. God told them that He loved them deeply (Malachi 1:2), but the people did not believe it. The people failed to recognize the hardness of their hearts and their disobedience to the call of God. The people did not accept the reality of their sin and faithlessness. The people did not understand that captivity was the result of their sin. They audaciously said, "In what way have You loved us?" Such an attitude resulted in careless worship. The Bible tells us that they offered blind and lame ani...
The Call of Amos!
The prophetic books reveal the heart of God. It shows us how humanity has disappointed the Lord, our Creator, and how the Lord tries to turn us back to Him continually. God sent many prophets to teach, rebuke, correct, and train the people in the ways of the Lord. God used several means of disciplining the Israelites by sending drought, famine, crop diseases, locusts, plagues, and war, yet the people did not get the message (Amos 2:11). Sometimes the Lord reminded them of the mighty things He had done for them in their past. Sometimes He tried to reinforce the idea of rewards for obedience by blessing them. But the people of Israel and the people of Judah did not heed the warnings. The people brok...
Praying for the Mighty!
India is an ancient land and has had many amazing kings. The great Chola king, 'Manu Needhi' Cholan was known for the execution of justice. He is known to have executed his son to provide justice to a cow! King Paari, who ruled the Parambu nādu and surrounding region, was a known philanthropist. He is known to have given his golden chariot to the wild jasmine creeper that had entwined itself around the wheel of his chariot. These kings had the welfare of their subjects and justice as the focus of their reign! Those were the golden years! If you see the things that are happening around us today, it does not resemble India at all. Now there is no justice even in the judiciary. People in p...
Search
About Me
Subscribe
Recent Posts
The Family of God
- Jan 15, 2025
- 20 views
The Plan of God!
- Jan 08, 2025
- 31 views
The Secret of Success!
- Jan 01, 2025
- 30 views
Archive
Total Visitors
45,214
© 2024 LivingByGrace.in. All Rights Reserved.
Your experience on this site will be improved by allowing cookies.