The Lord’s delight!

My father picked my name 'Hephzibah.'  The wicked king Manasseh's mother was also called Hephzibah ( 2 Kings 21:1).  But my father told me that he called me after Isaiah 62:4, "You shall no longer be termed Forsaken, nor shall your land any more be termed Desolate; but you shall be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah."  When I was young, my name did not bother me at all.  But as life got tough and the path became weary, I started thinking that my father had given me a name with a negative connotation, 'I will not be forsaken.'  Somehow my name sounded negative to me!  One day as I was reading this portion in my quiet time, with my heart filled with anguish and my eyes with te...

Know Them by their fruits

Peach season in Texas typically starts in early to mid-May and runs through late August.  One summer, when our second son was in Austin, Texas, he took us to a beautiful Peach farm to pick peaches.  Standing inside a farm with the sweet aroma of the ripened fruit is intoxicating and is an experience by itself!  The farm owners give us a basket for collecting the peaches plucked by us.  These will be billed at the counter later, but you can eat as many as you can for free!  I have not seen anything like that in India!  As I think back on that experience, what stands out is the criteria for picking the fruit from a tree.  We wanted to gather more from that tree whenever we tasted a go...

Devil, the deceiver!

The devil has a plan to distract us and deceive us from our Christian walk.  The devil wants us to profess our faith in Christ with our mouths, but by our actions, deny Him. Nothing is more potent than hypocrisy.  If the devil gets us confident enough to profess our faith but weak in our devotion not to follow it, the devil has succeeded in his plan!  The devil deceives us by saying that sin is no big deal.  The devil tells us that 'enjoying' something sinful once in a while is ok because the Lord understands our weakness.  The devil does this to trap us in sin.  After we are inextricably caught up in sin, the devil will tell us that we are so far gone that God will not forgive us at all.&nbs...

Breaking the Bondage!

The 21/90 rule says that it will become a habit if we commit to a personal or professional goal for twenty-one days.  Then if we continue to do it for another ninety days, it should become a permanent lifestyle change!  Addictions, too, start in the same way.  I was addicted to eating uncooked rice.  It began as a harmless thing and became a habit and came to the point that I had to have a packet of uncooked rice even in the office!  I did not recognize it as a problem at all.  I thought it was just rice, not marijuana.  One day the Lord spoke to me.  He said that there was nothing wrong with rice by itself, but it was all about self­-control.  I was convicted th...

Then came Jesus!

The two travellers on the road to Emmaus had the air of men going to a home where they were expected (Luke 24:15).  They could invite a guest to stay the night and the evening meal was ready for them.  They had left Jerusalem on that same day, the day that had dawned with the resurrection, and they were on the road to a village seven miles from Jerusalem.  They had no prominence in the ministry but were in intimate fellowship with the disciples and knew where to look for them in the evening.  The two men were absorbed in eager conversation about all that had happened in the last three days.  They were so engrossed in their discussion about these things that they took no notice of the stranger who drew...

Life-Changing words!

The Bible says in Proverbs 25:11, "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver."  The Lord God created the heavens and the earth through the spoken word.  Words have power!  Words can surely change our life.  Two words that change our lives forever are 'I do.' Three words we always long to hear are 'I love you.'  Three words that changed our lives forever and changed the history of mankind are "It is finished" (John 19:30).  This phrase was only one word in the original text, 'tetelestai'.  Bible scholars say that this word was also written on business documents or receipts in New Testament times to indicate paying in fu...

The Power to Change!

Michael Jackson, in his song, 'The Man in the Mirror' sings as follows:

As I turn up the collar on my favourite winter coat.

This wind is blowing my mind.

I see the kids in the street, with not enough to eat.

Who am I to be blind, pretending not to see their needs.

I'm starting with the man in the mirror

I'm asking him to change his ways

And no message could've been any clearer

The Challenge of His Call!

The call of the Lord comes at unexpected times.  Matthew was at the booth collecting taxes (Mt 9:10) when he got the call.  Prophet Amos was a shepherd in Tekoa in Judah (Amos 1:1).  Saul of Tarsus was on his way to Damascus to persecute the Christians when he got the call.  The call of the Lord came to unexpected people.  One would expect the Lord to call the Levites, the scribes, and the priests.  But God called the sinners and the uneducated.  Mary Magdalene became the first evangelist bearing the good news of resurrection!  (Mt 28:7).  The call of the Lord always called people out of their comfort zones.  The call came to Mary to be the mother of Je...

The Challenge of the Cross!

The Cross of Jesus is perhaps the most significant event in the Bible.  For different people, the Cross means different things.  It is an ornament; for some, it is a good-luck charm; for others, it is a fashion symbol.  The Pharisees and Sadducees despised it.  It was a “stumbling block” for the Jews and “foolishness” to the Greeks.  As Christians, we use the symbol of the Cross for everything from marriage to funeral.  There is no ceremony without the Cross.  Using the Cross becomes an empty ritual, something of no value if we do not understand the Cross’s importance and significance.  

What...

DENY YOURSELF ...

During the Lenten season, it is common for us to practice self-denial!  It seems my grandfather on my father's side, who was known as 'Kaanathu Asirvatham,' used to walk everywhere during the Lenten days and then give the money thus saved to the Church!  For some of us, it is food; for some, it is entertainment or TV; and the list goes on.  It is good for us to understand what the Lord means when He says, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." (Mt. 16:24-27).   There is no way the Bible talks about doing something just for forty days!  I believe self-denial goes far beyond just physically denying ourselves for a short ti...