Faith Like a Mustard Seed

What is faith? The Bible defines faith beautifully in Heb 11:1: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” To believe in things that are seen, faith is not required. The BSF notes on Romans 4 explains ‘faith’ as a means to an end. This means faith is necessary but it is only a ‘channel’. In the case of Abraham, God credited real righteousness to him because of his faith but not on the basis of his faith! It is not that Abraham had more faith than somebody else that he got this rare benefit. He simply had faith. Period. You either have faith or you don’t. It is just a ‘one’ or a ‘zero’ factor. You either have ‘faith’ or you have ‘doubt’. You can’t have both.

Whenever I thought of ‘mountai...

A Land for which the LORD your God cares….

As we travelled the whole of the Holy land, from the north to the south, the landscape that greeted our eyes were one of rolling hills with rubbles and shrubs! Since the Lord promised Abraham a land flowing with milk and honey, I kind of expected to see lush green countryside filled with flowers! Why would the Lord of all the earth, give such a piece of land to His elect! Don’t we all want to give good gifts to our children?

That question was bothering me until the Lord Himself showed me His reasoning. The Lord says in Deut 11:10-12,”For the land which you go to possess is not like the land of Egypt from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and watered it by foot, as a vegetable garden; but the land which you cross over to possess is a land of hills a...

They that wait on the Lord…

The eagle is a magnificent bird! It has strong wings and always flies high above the rest. The eagle was associated with strength, courage, and farsightedness in the ancient world. No wonder Rome used it as their official emblem. It is the national emblem of Spain and Syria too. Even now the German and US coins display the eagle!

The Bible says in Isaiah 40:31,” But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint”. This prophecy of Isaiah was directed to the people of Judah who were in captivity in the land of Babylon. They were in exile because of their own unfaithfulness. But we see them actually complaining that they were being ignored by Go...

Give Him my all…

My father told me this story one day. In a Church, when offertory was being taken, there was a man who took the plate from the usher, laid it on the ground and stepped on it. My father asked me whether what he did was right or wrong. When he said that, I could see tears in his eyes! At that time, I was about 18 or 19 and the only answer I could think of was, a Church offertory plate being sacred, how can anyone defile it by standing on it! My father never explained it to me. He passed away early and it was long after he was gone that the true meaning of the story dawned on me. From that moment, whenever I think of that story, my eyes also tear-up!

We love the two compartments ‘secular’ and ‘sacred’ and our life is organized around it; a ‘secular compartment’ whe...

What Shall I Give Him….

Selecting gifts is a difficult job. We are planning to go to our children for Christmas this year and gift selection for each one is the most nerve-racking and mind-boggling activity! For the grandchildren, we need to give something on arrival and something has to be kept hidden to be put under the Christmas tree. We cannot buy random items. We have to select what each person likes. We have to talk to them and quietly figure out what is on their mind. Selecting gifts for friends and family always brings to our mind what they have given us earlier. We try to match or exceed those gifts. Gift selection is a time- consuming process!

As all these thoughts were swirling around in my mind, my thoughts drifted off to the question of what we should give Jesus this Chri...

The Tragedy of Missing Christmas!

I am convinced that there are many people who miss Christmas every year. It is not as though they are physically absent. It is simply that they are oblivious to the real meaning of Christmas. Christmas has been hijacked as a season of gifts, carol services and Church pageants that the real reason for the season has been completely missed!

It was census time in Bethlehem and the city was filled with the descendants of David. The Innkeeper was so pre-occupied that he truly missed the birth of Jesus. The Pharisees who were thorough with every prophecy concerning the birth of Jesus just did not recognize the event.

When the shepherds heard the good news, they immediately took action. They wanted to see Jesus. God saw their heart’s desire and gave a special si...

Fear not!

Fear is a very crippling emotion. Some of us are afraid of darkness. Some of us are afraid of public speaking. My mother was afraid of travelling alone. She always had to have a travelling companion, even to go to Tirunelveli! Some of us are so afraid of the future that we run to ‘prophets’ seeking guidance! Some of us are overwhelmed with the fear of the present day’s troubles. I sometimes feel that if the Lord would come soon, then I will have nothing to fear!

Fear stops us from achieving our best!

People of the Bible when they were confronted by Angels or God, the first emotion was one of fear. But God’s response has always been the same: “Fear not.” The angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven and said, “Fear not”(Gen 21:17). The m...

Jesus is coming soon!

God has given us one more chance to celebrate ‘the season of advent’ and look forward to Christmas again this year!

The word “Advent” is derived from a Latin word, meaning “coming.” When the early Christians linked ‘Advent’ to the coming of Christ, the ‘coming’ they had in mind was not Christ’s first coming in the manger in Bethlehem, but His second coming in the clouds as the judge of the world! It was not until the Middle Ages that the Advent season was explicitly linked to Christ’s first coming at Christmas. The Advent season focuses on expectation and it serves as an anticipation of Christ’s birth and lasts for four Sundays leading up to Christmas.

The first coming of Jesus was the fulfillment of many prophecies. There are many prophecies regarding His...

Do not be deceived!

The Bible has many phrases that simply catch our attention and one such is the call for us not to be deceived!

Sometimes we tell ourselves, that no one could have done anything better or different in that particular situation or that we did our best even though we did not. Sometimes we tell ourselves that we are not at fault even though we are. We tend to keep telling ourselves somethings over and over again and then they kind of grow in on us and we tend to believe them like the truth. The Bible says in Gal 6:7, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows “.

Sometimes when we look at the house we live in or the job we hold, we tend to think that they are all the result of our hard work. The Bible says in James 1:16,17, ...

Prayer of Hannah

This story of Hannah is beautifully told in 1 Samuel 1&2. Hannah and Peninnah were the two wives of Elkanah. Hannah must have been the first wife and because she could not bear children, Elkanah must have married Peninnah. But Elkanah loved Hannah!

From what we see in the biblical account, Peninnah seems to be a little mean since she was always needling Hannah, making her sad. But it was Hannah who was childless!

Year after year, Elkanah took his whole family, Peninnah, her children and Hannah to Shiloh to worship the Lord. Year after year Peninnah was getting children. But Hannah did not turn away from God in bitterness.

Hannah desperately wanted to give her husband children, making her score even with Peninnah. In the eastern culture, a wom...