No Man is an Island!

During my school days, one of my English lessons was an essay titled “No Man is an Island”. I do not remember who wrote it or the entire essay but his thought has stayed with me ever since. The author explained how Man is a social being and how we need each other to live. No one can truly succeed or even survive when isolated from others. Mankind is connected at different levels, physical as well as emotional. Now the whole world has shrunk due to technology and has become a ‘global village’ and even the economy of one nation depends on other nations!

When we see the anatomy of ‘sin’, again, ‘no man or a woman is an island’. No sin affects only the person who commits it. At one level, it affects the spouse; in the next level, it affects the children and at another...

Me and my God!

An abusive childhood, a loveless marriage, a debilitating disease, a traumatic sickness, or a financial loss, they all need a double portion of God's grace. We have no control over such situations in life. Some of it is allowed by God and sometimes some things are the result of our foolish choices or the result of our sin. Whatever be the reason, we cannot run away from it. We have no option but to live through it and endure it until the Lord Himself intervenes to change that situation. That is why God's unmeasurable grace is so very important!

Such trying situations truly shape us to be who we become in life. Some turn away from God and in so doing and lose hope and the will to live. But when we turn to God, God in His mercy sustains us; protects us; f...

The Emmaus Road!

When we read about the disciples on the Emmaus road in Luke 24:13-33, what impresses us most is the condition of the disciples! They present a very dismal picture; a picture of doubt, defeat, and discouragement. The disciples Cleopas and his friend had been hoping that Jesus would redeem Israel. But instead, Jesus had been crucified! Their hopes of restoration had been completely dashed and now they were confused beyond measure because some women of their group claimed that Jesus was not in the tomb and that He was alive!

The Emmaus road is about the disappointed, the discouraged, and the disillusioned people. It is about those whose expectations have gone unmet. It is about those who are being crushed by life’s circumstances. Surely all of us have walked that r...

Mary Magdalene

Many women were at the foot of the Cross; Mary, mother of Jesus, her sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, Mary Magdalene (John 19:25), Mary, the mother of James the younger and of Joses (Mark 15:40) and Salome, mother of James and John (Matthew 27:55) were all there.

The Bible tells us that Mary Magdalene was from Galilee, probably from the village of Magdala on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. The gospel writer Luke tells us that on Jesus’ Galilean mission, Jesus and the disciples were accompanied by several women, including Mary Magdalene. But what is so special about Mary?

Mary Magdalene had been bound by seven evil spirits! (Luke 8:1-3). But when she met Jesus, He liberated her and she was no longer under the control of the evil spirits. We see Mary serving H...

Oh Death, where is thy Sting?

When Jesus bore our sins on the Cross, He suffered the agony of separation from His Father in heaven. Jesus cried, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? That is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). When God the Father saw Jesus on the Cross, He only saw the sins of all humanity and those sins separated Jesus from His Father’s face. That moment of separation was the worst of all His suffering!

A child of God, whose sins are forgiven, need not ever experience such separation. All our sins are forgiven and washed away because of the blood that was shed on that Cross of Calvary. When we are washed by Jesus’ blood, the Father sees in each of us only that finished work of the Cross. The Father does not see our sinfulness but sees us covere...

Jesus came to seek and to save

We read the story of Legion in the Gospel of Mark 5: 1-15. When Mark says “Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes …” (Mk 5:1,2), it appears as though that place was on the way to some other place. But in reality, it is a very lonely and out of the way place. When Jesus chose to go there, He must have had a special purpose and a specific person on his mind!

Legion had been living in the region of Gadarenes, among the tombs. Legion had cut himself off from family, friends and the fellowship of God. But he was not cut off from the path of Jesus. We do not read of anybody pleading the cause of Legion or praying for his restoration. Legion’s family and friends had completely given up on him and committed him to the tomb...

Today is the day!

March 2nd, 2018 is a memorable day in my life! During our early morning walk, I tripped and fell flat on the road. But for some bruises, nothing happened to me. Later that day, I learned that someone who had a fall just like me, was in the hospital waiting for a hip replacement! That same evening I went to a college to distribute Gideon New Testaments along with my friends. Suddenly we heard a crash and the building itself shook. We were horrified to see the corridor over which we had walked five minutes back, collapsed completely! Oh, what a day! That day, the Lord preserved me from all harm!

Psalm 95 is an amazing Psalm of David. No wonder our Church fathers included it in our regular Sunday worship! It is a praise and worship psalm originally written for the F...

Barabbas

During our recent trip to the US, God gave us the opportunity of listening to Pastor Chuck Swindoll at the Stonebriar Community Church, Frisco. As Pastor spoke about the trials of Jesus, he brought alive the scene of that last trial from Barabbas’ perspective to our minds!

Jesus faced altogether three Jewish trials and three Roman trials. All the Jewish trials condemned Jesus with charges of blasphemy while all the Roman trials found Him innocent. But finally, Pilot asked the Jews who had gathered to choose whom they wanted to be released, Jesus or Barabbas!

Barabbas must have been locked up in a cell close to where all this was happening. He must have been straining his ea...

The Lord is there!

When we go on road or train trips, we anxiously look forward to towns that are famous for something special and we try to get them. Tirunelveli always brings to mind it’s very own halwa and Kadambur reminds us of boli! While Dindukkal brings hill bananas to our mind, Manapparai reminds us of murukku. We remember places by association!

In the book of prophet Ezekiel when we come to the end of the book, Ezekiel writes about a new city which he saw in a vision. But he keeps the name of the city secret till the last verse! Ezekiel 48:35 says, “…and the name of the city from that day shall be: Jehovah Shammah, THE LORD IS THERE”. The name of the place itself denotes the Presence of the Lord! Why is it so significant? Ezekiel in his earlier vision had seen th...

The Sovereignty of God!

We read the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis, chapters 37-50. Joseph was seventeen years old when he was sold as a slave by his own brothers. He was taken to Egypt where he rose to become the manager of Potiphar’s household. But then he was falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife and was imprisoned. By God’s plan, Joseph eventually became the ruler of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh himself!

If someone can say that he or she cannot forgive their own brother or sister, it was Joseph. What is so amazing about Joseph is the fact that he was able to forgive his brothers who did very grave injustice to him! How was it even possible for Joseph?

It amazes me because many times we pick on small issues and blow them out of proportion so that we can justify ourselves n...