Doctrine of Grace

In a Sunday school, a little boy listened to the grand story of grace and how God forgives the sinner. The teacher explained that God's grace covers all sins, every kind of sin, and any given time!  The teacher also said that forgiveness of our sins would bring us happiness.  The little boy thought about his life.  The petty thefts at home for a bit more pocket money, the little lies he tells the teacher to be in her good books, all of it flashed across his mind!  He did not feel guilty at all.  He felt good about himself, so he decided he does not need to change at that time.  Since the teacher said God would forgive any sin and all sin at any time, the boy thought that he could continue liv...

Not the Messenger!

Trait theory of leadership identifies specific personality traits that distinguish leaders from non-leaders. It says that leaders are born and not made! Looking at it differently, leaders are actually 'made' by the people who follow them! Be it cinema, politics, or religion, leaders rise to great heights because people put them there, on a pedestal as it were!  When Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, it was divided based on different leaders. One group identified itself with the apostle Paul. They may have been attracted by Paul's emphasis on his ministry to the Gentiles. A second group identified itself with Apollos. They may have been attracted because of his eloquent speaking abilities (Acts 18:24-28). A third group identified itself wi...

The Father’s heart!

'The Story of My Experiments with Truth', is the autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi, The father of our nation, India. In it, Gandhi recounts an incident from his childhood that changed his life.  As a young boy, he had gotten into petty thefts to feed his bad habit of smoking.  Once, Gandhi had run up significant debt and had to clip out a small part of his brother's golden armlet. Even though Gandhi decided never to steal again, it was still troubling him, so he decided to confess to his father since there could not be a cleansing without a clean confession! Gandhi decided to write a note to admit his guilt and ask his father to punish him adequately.  Gandhi was not afraid of being punished, but he was fearful of the pain...

Putting on Christ!

It is a long time since we dressed up to go somewhere due to the pandemic.  Dressing-up involves not only the will but also the emotions.  Much depends on how we feel that day! It also has a lot to do with how we want others to perceive us!  Paul advises the Roman believers to "…  put on the Lord Jesus Christ.." (Rom 13:14).  The Bible talks about many lists of sins that we have to put off. Col 3:8-9 says we have to put off anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language, and lies. Eph. 4:25-32 advises us to put off all unrighteousness, including sexual immorality and pride. Paul says that we should make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts.  According to Paul,...

Prayer of Habakkuk

Habakkuk is unique because he asked God some hard questions.  Messages were given to many prophets from God for the people to hear.  But Habakkuk asked God questions!  He asked why God was not punishing Judah for her evil ways.  The prophet looked out across the land and saw violence, abuse of power, acts of injustice, and oppression. Habakkuk found the law powerless.  He expressed his horror in the first few verses of Habakkuk (Hab. 1:2-4).  Habakkuk cried out in agony, "Lord, how long shall I cry, and You will not hear?"When God answered and said He was raising Babylon to punish Judah, Habakkuk asked how a just God could use a wicked nation like Babylon to punish His chosen pe...

Kicking against the Goads!

"It is hard for you to kick against the goads” (Acts 9:5). What exactly does that phrase mean? It is not something we often hear in our day-to-day conversation! The ox-goad is a long pole or stick with a pointed piece of iron fastened to one end. The ox is gently prodded and steered in the desired direction using this. When a stubborn ox attempts to kick back against the goad, it will feel more pain because it will drive the pointed end deeper into its flesh.  Saul was by birth a Jew, by citizenship a Roman, and by education a Greek. Jesus likened this proud Pharisee Saul to an ox!  However, when you consider this for a moment, I feel the comparison to an ox was a greater insult to the ox! Oxen did what God created th...

The Unfinished Story!

The book of Acts ends abruptly with Paul in a Roman prison. This book does not record what happened after Paul's two-year imprisonment or how he met his end.  We read about some of Paul's activities only from his epistles.  Why did the Holy Spirit leave it in the middle of 'Paul's story'?  Ray Steadman (Adventuring through the Bible) believes that this book really should be titled "The Acts of the Holy Spirit," or even, perhaps, "The Continuing Acts of the Lord Jesus Christ."  In the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit begins the commission of Christ.  Jesus said, "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all J...

Managing the Mind!

Many find it difficult to fall asleep.  We may feel sleepy while watching TV or reading a book, but sleep is gone when the head touches the pillow!  Many thoughts flood the mind and drive it away!  Fears of the future, regrets of the past, anxieties of the present day, the hurts endured, the opportunities missed, and health issues rear their ugly head when night falls!  I fell sick three years ago due to high pressure, and I struggled for almost six months to fall asleep and stay asleep. Once I wake-up in the middle of the night, I will not be able to go back to sleep.  And God taught me many essential things from His Word.  When my mind came to rest in His Word, I was able to accept many thi...

The Laodicean Church

In his book, 'Adventuring Through the Bible,' Dr. Ray C. Stedman mentions some exciting insights about the letters to the churches in the book of Revelation.  He says that the letters to the seven churches are to be studied at three levels:  Firstly, they are addressed to actual churches, dealing with real problems. Secondly, these churches symbolize individual churches during any time in history. We can also recognize the spiritual condition of our Church there. Thirdly, each of the seven churches is to be understood to represent a specific period in the Church's history from the first century until today.  This thought was new to me, and it made a lot of sense. While the Church in Ephesus covered the period from AD 70 t...

The Man who stilled the water!

In the seventies, the Gospel pop song, 'Putting your hand in the hand of the Man who stilled the water' burst on the scene, and it became my favourite.  That song was written by Gene MacLellan and sung by the Canadian singer Anne Murray!  It goes like this:

Put your hand in the hand of the Man who stilled the water;

Put your hand in the hand of the Man who calmed the sea.

Take a look at yourself, and you can look at others differently,

By putting your hand in the hand of the Man from Galilee.