Seeking God first …

It seems C.H. Spurgeon used the phrase 'What Would Jesus Do' in quotation marks several times in a sermon he gave on June 28, 1891, and attributed it to a book written in Latin by Thomas à Kempis, 'The Imitation of Christ'.  It was made famous in the nineties by a youth group leader from Michigan, USA, and it spread worldwide among Christian youth, who wore bracelets bearing the initials WWJD.  Our sons and their friends also used to wear these WWJD bands in the nineties!  I believe understanding the concept of 'WWJD' would help us know what it means to seek God first in our lives!

'Seek God first' is a cliché we hear often in the Christian circles.  Some leaders encourage the youth to neg...

Lessons from the life of Job

The world is full of Preachers and so-called Prophets who get answers from God on our behalf.  Typically, people ask such people questions like, 'Should I marry this person or not?' or 'Should I do this or not?' and so on.  They immediately pray and come back with an answer.  It appears like they ask God for a yes or no answer, and they get it as soon as they ask!  At best, it can be their advice and nothing more!  In my opinion, it is like treating God just like one of us or, even worse, as someone at our beck and call.  Do not get me wrong.  God does answer us when we call, but He answers in His time and His way!  Sometimes, we get answers to our prayers early, and somet...

Songs in the Night!

Sister Sarah Navaroji of the Ceylon Pentecostal Mission wrote the song 'Ennai marava Yesu nadha' (Jesus, You will never forget me!).  She was once traveling alone to Colombo from Chennai.   In the sixties, one could catch an express train and ferry service from Madras to Colombo via Dhanushkodi.  She was sitting on the train waiting to see her mother.  It was an era before mobile phones, and we do not know why her mother could not come to see her.  As she sat waiting,  tears welled up in her eyes, and she clung to her Saviour, Lord Jesus, who had promised never to leave her.  She wrote the now immortal lines based on Isaiah 49:15, "Can a woman forget her nursing child,...

Living Sacrifice

During the Lenten days, it is customary for churches in India to give out small earthen pots with slits on top to collect the sacrificial offerings!   The Bible talks about a 'Living Sacrifice'!  'Living Sacrifice' is a paradox.  In the Old Testament, the sacrifices offered on the Altar were all dead!  The animals did not willingly present themselves—the one offering it brought them and laid them on the Altar.  Also, the animals offered as a sacrifice were all blameless (Leviticus 1:10)!  So what does Paul mean when he says, present your bodies as a living sacrifice?  Paul says in Romans 12:1, "I beseech you therefore, … that you present your bodies a living sacrifice,...

Adam / Madam where art thou?

In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were hiding when God came looking for them.  From the Garden of Eden, the story continues.  God is looking for men and women who seek God.  "The Lord still looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God" (Ps 14:2).  God is looking for men and women to stand in the gap.  "I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before Me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none" (Ezek. 22:30).  God is looking for men and women who will deal with honesty and seek truth.  "If you can find but one person who deals...

The Devil’s devices!

God gave us an opportunity to visit Petra in Jordan in Sep 2014 along with brother Mohan C. Lazarus when we visited the Holy Land. The city of Petra was carved directly into vibrant red, white, pink, and sandstone. The towering rock faces were a magnificent sight to see! This Jordanian city of Petra was "lost" to the Western world for hundreds of years. Only in the early 1800s did a European traveler discover this place. Now it has been named as one of the new seven wonders of the world!

The Edomites were those who descended from Esau. Esau did not value his birthright as he ought to have. We read about Esau in the first book and the last book of the Old Testament. The Bible says in Malachi 1:2,3, “… … Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?”...

The Power of God’s Mercy

It is strange that of all the people of Jericho whom God could have chosen to save from destruction, he did not choose the kindest grandmother or the sweetest little child, or an innocent baby, but He chose to save a prostitute!  Rahab was a sinner among sinners.  And yet the Lord showed mercy to her.  God chose to save this prostitute out of this evil city. How or why did this happen?  We read of Rahab’s confession of faith in 2:8-14.  The fact that Rahab chose to cast her lot with the Israelites and not with her own people seems to be a pretty clear indication of her faith in the God of Israel.  Rahab’s declaration was proof of her faith. It was not strong faith and it was not perfect faith, but her faith...

Cost of Disobedience

Joshua commanded the nation of Israel that they should not take any of the accursed things from Jericho, things associated with the demonic worship practices of the Canaanites.  Up to this point, Israel had experienced only victory.  Joshua must have expected an unbroken string of victories!  Of course, that was God's desire, too - for Israel then and for us today.  God provides every avenue to make victory possible for us.  But God has given us the free will to choose, and our choices can either lead to victory or failure.  Too often, we choose to go our own way and fall into sin.  Remember, obedience is better than sacrifice!  The Canaanites could not defeat Israel, but...

The Prince of this world!

People often ask, if God is a God of love, why is there so much suffering in the world? They also question if God is good, then does He not have the power to defeat Satan? But the Bible tells us that God is both all good (Psalm 25:8, Matthew 19:17) and all-powerful (Psalm 115:3, Matthew 19:26). But now the world belongs to Satan because Man joined Satan's rebellion by his disobedience in the Garden of Eden. Dr. Kurt Wise explains this beautifully in his notes on the book of Genesis. He says that when Satan fell, there was no curse on all Creation. But everything was cursed when Man fell because the Creation was designed with Man in mind, not angels. Therefore, man's sin destroyed the earth, and natural disasters and disease punished man. Throughout hi...

God, my Rock and my Refuge!

In life, we cross paths with different kinds of people.  Some we can remember with affection and some with pain.  Some we cannot forget for their positive impact, and some for their negative impact!  When we remember some, without our knowledge, a smile breaks out on our faces, but tears swell in our eyes when we remember some!  This is not just my experience with friends and colleagues alone.  Sometimes, we have such experiences even with family members!  We can quickly identify with David, who said, "Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me" (Ps 41:9).  Such experiences are very stressful for me. &nb...