The Hardened heart!

When I was young, whenever I read about the Lord hardening the heart of Pharaoh, I remember thinking how a just God can punish someone when He Himself has hardened his heart! God gives one reason in Exodus 7:3, "And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt". But still, why did God punish the Pharaoh after hardening his heart?

God had actually waited for 430 years! God had given time to the Pharaoh to repent! God once again called the Pharaoh to humble himself and acknowledge the Lord as his authority. But Pharaoh said, "Who is the LORD, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, nor will I let Israel go." (Ex 5:1-2). Even after this, God gave Pha...

Are You a Big-Godder?

Last week we had the opportunity of listening to Dr. Steve Farrar, at Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, Texas. He spoke about the awesomeness of God and quoted an anecdote about a Princeton Seminary Professor named Robert Dick Wilson. Dr. Wilson always sat in front to listen to his former students who returned to preach in his Seminary to see if he was a big-godder or a little-godder, because that will then define their ministry. When Dr. Wilson was asked what he meant by that he had replied, "Well, some men have a little god and they are always in trouble with him. He can't do any miracles. He doesn't intervene on behalf of His people. They have a little god and I call them little-godders. Then there are those who have a great God. He speaks and it is...

More than we can ask or think…

My friend had shared the poem 'Drinking from the saucer' by John Paul Moore in WhatsApp. It captured my heart in a nutshell!

As I go along my journey

I'm reaping better than I've sowed;

I'm drinking from the saucer

'Cause my cup has overflowed.

It brought to my mind the scene of Jacob receiving the news about Joseph from his sons. Jacob must have been very anxious for the return of his sons since they had taken Benjamin with them. We read of this incident in Genesis chapters 42-46. There was no means of communication in those days. Jacob must have been very anxious and worried about the welfare of his sons. Many questions must have been swirling around his he...

Teachings by the Lord!

When a baby is born, everyone quickly tries to see who the baby resembles, the father or the mother. If you say that the baby looks like the mother, then the mother is happy, and if you say that the baby looks like the father, then the father beams with pride. As the child grows, we try to identify even traits. We say the child is stubborn like someone or sings well like someone else and so on. When I tell that I write and have a blog, those who knew my mother will immediately say, 'your mother used to write, and your grandmother has published books; so, you are also writing!' We want our children to inherit our good qualities and not our bad traits. It is quite scary to read Isaac repeating the mistake of Abraham (Gen 20:2; 26:7). We do not want our children to repeat the...

The Problem of evil!

People often ask, if God is a God of love, then why is there so much suffering in the world. They also ask if God is good, then does He not have the power to defeat Satan. However, the Bible tells us that God is both, all good (Psalm 25:8) and all-powerful (Psalm 115:3). Dr. Kurt Wise, the Director of Creation Research Center at Truett McConnell University, explains this beautifully in his notes on the book of Genesis. He says that when Satan fell, there was no curse on Creation. However, when Man fell, everything was cursed since the Creation was designed with Man in mind and not angels. Therefore, Man's sin brought destruction to the earth and is punished by natural disasters and disease. Throughout history, God has used the consequences of the fall to accomplish...

Being a Channel of blessing!

Last Sunday I heard this story in the church! Long ago in England, long before the dawn of electricity and motor cars, a doctor was summoned in the night to a home to treat a sick man. The doctor started in a horse-drawn buggy but could not see the road because of a snow storm. However, the people of the hamlet guided the doctor from the doctor's home to the sick man's house by hanging a lantern at their doorstep so that the doctor could follow the lights and reach the sick man! Each person's light pointed the doctor in the right direction, and following the lights, the doctor reached his destination without being lost in the intimidating weather. Everyone that day became the channel of blessing to the sick man that day!

God promised Abraham that al...

The Fear of God

I believe that our earthly life is like the board game, 'Snakes and Ladders'! God's plan for our life is the very best, like the 100 in the game. However, it is not easy to reach that point. Due to our choices and actions, we either get elevated through the ladder or swallowed up by the snake. I guess we encounter more snakes in real life! Only when we get to heaven, we will know the blessings we have lost due to our bad choices! As I read the story of Abraham, I came upon a particular verse that caught my attention. Gen 18:19 says, "For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to...

The Covenant Relationship

I recently had an opportunity to study the covenants of the Bible and understand what they have to teach us today. Covenants are usually based on relationships only. The Bible is not a random collection of laws, moral principles, and stories. It is the story of a God who bound Himself to Man based on covenant-relationship. So, the Biblical covenants are the backbone of the storyline of the Bible. The story of the Bible unfolds and advances through the covenants God made with His people. We have to make an effort to understand the covenants in order to understand the Bible and the God of the Bible!

There are two types of covenants in the Bible: conditional and unconditional. A conditional covenant is a bilateral covenant. Under the conditional covenants, the bless...

Noah walked with God

Genesis 6:5 tells us what was going on in the days of Noah. "Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."Genesis 6:11 tells us that "the earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence."Jesus pointed out that in Noah's day, the people were completely oblivious to the coming judgment of God. It was pretty much business as usual. They did not realize anything was wrong until the rain actually began to fall! When the disciples asked Jesus about the signs of His coming and the end of the world, and Jesus answered saying, " But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven...

The God of Creation!

Many theories have been put forward about creation. If you carefully read the first three chapters of Genesis, you can clearly identify the problem. Genesis 1:1,2 says darkness was on the face of the earth, which was without form. When the Bible says, 'In the beginning,' it means at the beginning of time. So sometime after the 'beginning' light was created (Gen 1:3). God separated the light from darkness, calling the light 'day' and the darkness 'night.' This was the 'first day' of creation. It was only on the fourth day that God created the sun, the moon, and the stars to give light on the earth. But light as such was created on the first day itself. The reason for God creating the sun, moon, and stars, apart from givi...