About Me
He will watch over you!
When I worked in Hindustan Teleprinters, I was deputed to London to attend a Networking training in August 1985. On June 23, 1985, Air India Flight 182 on the Montreal–London–Delhi–Bombay route was blown off the sky over the Atlantic Ocean due to a bomb blast killing all 329 people on board. This was the deadliest aviation terrorism at that time! I had never been on a flight until then, and I had to travel to London alone. On top of it, the Madras-Bombay flight was extremely bumpy. I felt the plane would drop out of the sky any minute! As I was waiting to board the London-bound flight in Bombay, I prayed, 'Lord, I cannot endure this kind of anxiety for nine hours. Calm...
A fruit-bearing Life!
We carried out some extensive maintenance works around the house, because of which we had to move some plants around and re-plant them. It is a joy to see the plants come to life and produce new leaves after being re-planted. The leaves do not appear immediately. The plant has to develop roots below the ground, and only then leaves appear! Remember, always roots before shoots! In Psalm 1, when the Psalmist describes the life of a blessed person, he says, "He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season.." (Psalm 1:3) Being like a fruitful tree is, of course, a metaphor, a picture, but what does this picture teach us?
The Robe of Righteousness
Jesus taught many essential truths by way of parables. Parables are small stories drawn from the daily life of the Jews of Jesus' time, focussing on one truth. In the parable of the wedding feast, Jesus tells the story of a king whose son was getting married. The King sent out many wedding invitations, but not a single guest showed up on the big day. When the King sent out his servants to find out what was happening with the guests, they found them unwilling to go. The King was furious and sent the servants out again to invite anyone they saw on the streets to the wedding. Then the wedding was full of guests. It was a custom in those days for the bridegroom to send a wedding...
Jesus is all you need!
I read a Russian story last week. There was a big apartment house, and many lived there. The apartment building had a basement, and they all put their junk in it. There was a beautiful harp in the basement, but it was broken, and nobody could repair it. Once there came a tramp who said, 'May I sleep this night in your house? There is such a terrible snowstorm.' And they said, 'We have no guest rooms, but you can sleep in the basement.' After some hours, they suddenly heard beautiful music from the basement, and the harp owner recognized it. He ran down and asked, 'How could you repair that harp?' And the man said, 'I have made this harp, and when you have made something, you can also re...
Let your light so shine…
One of the worst Home Improvement projects for plants is painting works! All pots must be moved and relocated, which is never a good thing for the plants. However much you may tell the workers that the plants are essential for you, the plants get piled one on top of the other and poorly treated! We have a Jasmine creeper in our garden, and through everything around it, it still managed to put forth flowers and spread its fragrance. And that plant taught me a lesson! The purpose of the Jasmine plant was to flower and spread its fragrance. It accomplished its goal even when no one watered it. Even when the painters dumped the pots at their roots, the Jasmine plant bloomed...
THE WONDER OF GOD'S TOMORROW
We celebrate birthdays and wedding anniversaries, which mark the beginning of a new year in our lives. These are times we often look back and take stock of our lives and make new decisions! Entering the land promised to Abraham also marked a new beginning for the Israelites. On the banks of river Jordan, Joshua urges the people saying, "Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you" (Josh 3:5). In Lev 11:44, the Bible gives the reason for this command, "… you are to sanctify yourselves and be holy because I am holy". The Bible also says, "Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow" (Josh 7:13). So Jo...
Dangerous Questions!
Our son loves driving long distances. From the time the grandchildren are born, they are used to long drives by car. Whenever we visited the US, we used to accompany them on their travel and see various places. When the children were young, they used to ask a question repeatedly. That question was, 'Are we there yet?' Every half-hour or so, they will ask the same question, and finally, my son would say, 'I will tell you when we get there. Look outside and enjoy the ride!' Being strapped to a car seat has its challenges! The Jewish people during the time of Prophet Malachi had questions to God. They were not silly and annoying questions but dangerous ques...
Living to eat or eating to live
Living to eat and eating to live are two everyday phrases commonly used by all. At the outset, it may look like they are not much different since we all have to eat, no matter what! But there is a world of difference between the two phrases. When we say living to eat, the focus is on eating, and when we say eating to live, the focus is on living! The question is, what drives us? Is it the desire to eat good food all the time or eat what is needed to live a healthy life? Consider what drives us. Is it the desire to please God or do what we have to do somehow or the other? How we do things or what we do shows what we consider as the essential thing in our life. ...
Questions to God!
Sometimes our hearts are filled with questions. We want to know why God is doing something or not doing something the way we expect! Last week we had been to our daughter-in-law's parent's place to celebrate her father's seventy-fifth birthday, and God chose to call him home just a day before his birthday. It was so shocking. Our hearts are filled with questions when we go through physical and emotional pain. It is natural, and it is not wrong to pose those questions to God. When we go through acute financial crisis, our hearts are filled with questions! Why me? Why now? Will I ever come out of this? God, where are You? These are so...
Praying without Ceasing!
"Pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. 5:17) is a verse that puzzles us always. Did Jesus pray nonstop? The Bible says (Luke 2) that Jesus was a carpenter, helping out his father before being baptized by John in the Jordan River. Indeed this work must have prevented Jesus from continuous prayer, yet this Bible verse challenges us to pray continuously, to cover every moment with prayer. When we are called to live everyday lives, how is it possible to pray without ceasing? That is the question we have to answer today. While working in HTL, Chennai, I used to drive to work whenever the car was available. One day I was driving to work with a distressed heart. Sittin...