Who is my neighbour?

“Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” asked the Lawyer and Jesus answered him saying, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbour as yourself.’ ”(Lk 10:27). The Lawyer immediately wanted to know who his neighbour was supposed to be!

To explain this Jesus told the story of the good Samaritan.

In this story, the Samaritan had never met the fallen man before in his life. But Jesus said that the Samaritan was the one who did the neighbourly act of saving him!

Who then is our neighbour?

Every single person whom God has placed around us or brings into our life is our neighbour. Many times, we are overwhelmed by the poverty and s...

Who is my enemy?

Many of us go through life thinking that everyone around us is our enemy, always plotting our downfall. Some of us think that our family, is our enemy; our spouse or the proverbial mother in law! Some of us believe so much in the devil that every bad thing that happens is attributed to devil.

Living this way, makes us feel good in our own eyes!

We seem to be the innocent and helpless victims who get a raw deal from everyone around! Shifting the blame on to somebody else, kind of absolves us of all responsibility for our actions!

But if you look at it carefully, we will realize the reality to be quite different.

The hatred I harbor in my heart breaks out in to harsh words. The envy in our heart reflects in our actions. Our miserly attitude...

The Lord stirred up the spirit…

As I read this portion in the book of Ezra, the phrase “The Lord stirred up the spirit…” (Ezra 1:1) would not leave my heart. I kept thinking about it again and again. That phrase spoke to me about the power of God; of how God can accomplish His will through anyone or by any means. Time or powers of this world cannot restrict God. Our God is mighty and He is able!

The historic event described in Ezra was foretold by Isaiah almost 150 years before it happened. At the time of this prophecy, the Babylonians were the world power and Judah was in captivity in Babylon. It is amazing to read the Prophet Isaiah talking about Cyrus, King of Persia by name! There is no way Isaiah could have called him by name unless God who is transcendent and knows the end from...

Ruth, the Moabitess!

As I was reading the Bible in my quiet time, when I came to the book of Ruth in the Old Testament, one question suddenly popped into my mind. All I was reading was the history of the Jewish people. And suddenly there appears the story of not a Jewess but a Gentile! Why did the Holy Spirit include the story of a Gentile woman in Jewish history?

There are, I believe, some reasons behind it.

From the time of the fall, God’s plan of redemption included all of Mankind. The priceless salvation was not reserved just for the Jews. It was for all!

The time of Ruth was the time of Judges and it was a period that dominated by the apostasy of Israel, the chosen people of God. And as a stark contrast, we see the faith of a gentile woman in the God of Israel! Everyo...

Are you available?

An artist picked up his brush and painted a beautiful painting. As he stood admiring his painting, the brush from his hand spoke up saying, “Painter, without me you could not have produced such a beautiful painting”. When the painter heard this, he threw that brush down and picked up a piece of charcoal using which he produced an even more magnificent painting! As he stepped back to admire it, the charcoal spoke up and said, “Dear painter, I must thank you for using me to produce this masterpiece. I have no talent of my own but I thank you for using even me.”

I heard this story from brother Augustin Asir of Word for the World ministries and it made a great impact on my heart!

We see Mordecai reminding Esther of the sovereignty of the God of Israel saying,

Paganini on one string!

I heard Pastor Chuck Swindol tell this story beautifully!

Paganini was one of the world’s greatest violinists. One night, a rich man asked Paganini to serenade his lady friend. The air was quite damp, and the violin strings of the day did not respond well to that kind of humidity. First the “E” string broke. Paganini was not fazed. Then the “A” and “D” strings also snapped. The rich man instantly got upset. But Paganini simply smiled and continued to play on one string just as if he was playing on all four! The serenade was a success and Paganini bowed to his audience saying, “Paganini on one string!”.

Esther in the belonged to the group of Jews who chose not to return to Judah. Esther was an orphan under the custody of her cousin Mordecai. Growing up witho...

Thy Word is a Lamp

When you hear the word ‘lamp’, the word picture that comes to our mind is a gentle hand held device with oil and a wick, shedding light around the person who holds it! It is not a flare lighting up the whole area. It is not even like the electric torch which can shine its light at a distant object.

The Psalmist likens the Word of God to a lamp. Ps 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path”.

The Word of God illuminates our path if we can carefully guard the flame. When we allow the flame to go out, we will be engulfed in darkness. Human mind is very apprehensive of the unknown and that makes people search out prophets who can reveal the future to them. While making important decisions of life, people seek the help of pr...

The Living Word

A friend of ours who had read my book, “Engaging with God’s Word Through the year 2017”told me this: He said, “I can hear your voice; I can hear you speaking to me when I read your book.”I was amazed when I heard it!

Isn’t that what God wants to hear?When the Holy Spirit inspired the prophets and other writers of the Bible to record His Words for us to read, did not God want us to hear His voice and hear Him speak to us?

The Word of God (The Bible) is living. We know it for the Bible tells us so. “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, …….“(Heb. 4:12). When Man was formed, “LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life;…” (Gen 2:7). The Bi...

Faith and Action

King Hezekiah was one of the good kings who ruled Judah. The Bible says in 2 Chr. 29:2 that he did what was right in the sight of the Lord. Because of the apostasy of Ahaz, his father, the Temple of the Lord was shut and filled with debris. As soon as Hezekiah came to power, he opened the doors of the Temple. He ordered the Levites to sanctify themselves and then start repairing and cleaning the Temple. Then Hezekiah restored the Temple worship with sacrifices and singing. After restoring Temple worship, Hezekiah observed the Passover and sent letters to all Israel calling them to return to the Lord! The commitment and zeal of King Hezekiah is very commendable and whatever he did, he did with all his mind and all his soul!

What impressed me most was the action...

Man-pleasers or God-pleasers?

King Jehoshaphat was a godly king of Judah. His reign coincided with the rule of Ahab, Ahaziah and Joram (Jehoram) kings of Israel. We read about Ahab and Jehoshaphat in 1 Kings 22. When Jehoshaphat visited Ahab, Ahab invited Jehoshaphat to go to war with the Syrians to redeem Ramoth Gilead. Ramoth Gilead belonged to the tribe of Gad. It was a Levitical city and one of the cities of refuge east of river Jordan. But at that time, it was under the control of the Syrians and Ahab wanted to reclaim it. Jehoshaphat agreed to go with Ahab but wanted to inquire of the Lord before launching out in battle. Ahab immediately gathered 400 of his prophets who prophesied that they can go to war and that they will have victory.

We can actually feel the uneasiness and discomf...