Idols of the Heart!

Ezekiel was a priest among the Jewish captives carried away to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar.  God turned this priest into a prophet and made him prophesy to the exiles at about the same time Jeremiah was prophesying in Judah.  Jeremiah's prophecies reminding the people of their wickedness resulted in their captivity in Babylon.  Even after suffering much, the people did not realize their wickedness.  The elders who were the leaders of the Israelite community in exile came to Ezekiel to hear God's word to them as though they wanted to listen to the word and obey that word!  The Lord who sees the heart said, "Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts, and put before them th...

Ebed-Melech

The Bible is an amazing book. It not only records the lives of great people like Abraham, David and others but it also records events from the lives of insignificant people- the slaves, the women, the gentiles and the downtrodden. And there are lessons to be learned from every word of what is recorded in the scriptures!

We read about Ebed-Melech in the 38th chapter of the book of Jeremiah. Ebed-Melech was an Ethiopian eunuch in the court of king Zedekiah. The name simply means 'servant of the king.' Even if it was his proper name, it shows that he had no identity of his own. Being a foreigner Ebed-Melech was excluded from the temple and many of the Jewish rituals.

At this point in the history of Judah, the princes had imprisoned Jeremiah becaus...

Pain is a Blessing!

Though born in India in 1914, Dr. Paul Brand studied medicine in England and came to CMC, Vellore, in 1946.  My father-in-law had the opportunity to work with Dr. Brand as his Executive Assistant in CMC throughout his tenure in India.  Working with Dr. Brand changed my father-in-law's views on leprosy and the people who suffered from it forever.  Pain is not something that most of us would count as a blessing.  However, in his book 'Fearfully and Wonderfully Made' Dr. Brand says that pain is one of God's great gifts to us.  Many think a painless life is the best, but they do not realize that pain is the body's built-in warning system that something is wrong that has to be fixed.  Pain is inde...

The Crossroads!

We have all been at crossroads in our lives at some point.   In 1997, while working in HTL, I got an offer from my husband's cousin to start a company in India.  Leaving a secure job was a big decision, and I asked God for a sign.  God granted the sign I prayed for, and that decision later paved the way for registering another company in 1999 (EC Group Datasoft Private Ltd.) with an American partner!  The company is doing well after 21 years!  Looking back, I can only praise God.  I am not suggesting that we have to ask for a sign from God for every decision!  When we are at crossroads, we must wait on the Lord, pray and seek His will and guidance well before we decide to take...

Giving to the Lord!

What is the proper amount to give to the Lord?  Tithing itself is an Old Testament idea, so how can the New Testament Church practice it?  These are some questions I often get from people.  Some want to satisfy their conscience by giving the bare minimum prescribed to the Lord, like paying the income tax!  There is another group of people who want to give and get back more from God!  Just like sowing and reaping, they want to give one hundred rupees and get back returns one hundred times more, as in a business operation!  I believe the question of giving to the Lord needs to be understood before we start giving. 

We can learn a few les...

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...