When you feel like Elijah!

 I work for a secular school and have encounters with variety of students. Every time, I bring up a topic about absolute truths, I get very few responses. Most of the students are either against it or indifferent. In their ignorance, somehow being indifferent is equality. One day, as we were discussing about the genome projects involving embryos and ethical issues. Most of my students argued for the project except one. I was not surprised. But, when I asked that one student why she is against it? She said, “I am just against it, but can’t explain the reason”. Then, I was surprised.  For most of the Christians, who are working in secular places, it seems like, we are the only one left. We are lost in the midst of strong anti-Christian views, and subtle or irrational Christian views. Neither one is helpful. It feels like we need to cry out to God and say, “I am the only one left, and they are trying to fire me too….”

 

I feel the need for Christians,

Ø To understand the reasons for believes. If we say using embryo’s for project is wrong, we should be able to defend by sharing the start of life at conception. If not we fail.

Ø To instil in our children the values with its reason.

Ø To always encourage questions and answer them rationally with the authority of God’s word.

Ø To not be afraid to expose our children to other views cautiously.

Ø To finally be assured, that everything in and the earth itself belong to our Lord, and He is Sovereign. You are not the only one left, God reserved many thousands, who are zealous for the Lord then and even now.

God Bless.                                                                                             

                                                                          

If, you ask questions to God!

This post is my personal testimony, an encouragement. For a few weeks; I am having this push to share something, His goodness, an encouragement. In the little walk I had with this awesome God of mine. He always swiftly answered to types of prayer, and He performed miracles. He made it absolutely clear; it is nothing but His hands, every single time. The types of Prayer, when I went to Him in anguish and said, “Father for following you Lord, this is the result (anguish, shame, hatred whatever it is)”. He answered.

I am not a perfect follower of Christ; I have been reprimanded by GOD many times. I count it a privilege because it is another proof for my adoption ship in His family. Other times, I just endured pain and anguish that He allowed to mold me, to become more like Him. But every time I said, “for following you Lord” He answered. It makes me wonder, how tangible is His Father’s Heart, it is like, I say all kind of things about my child, but would never endure someone else criticizing her. He is faithful. He is really faithful.

“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. 31But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” – Mark 10:29

This verse came so true in my life. I always referred to the eternal portion but forgot about the “in this present age” portion.  There is a persecution that He allows with it, nevertheless blessings abound, when we follow Him.

If you are a person who asks God questions, I would love to say, I pray that you and I will totally surrender to His will, will that is sovereign and eternally loving. But I simply state, I relate with you, and assure you, He is faithful and is closer than ever to you.

God Bless.

Christian Vs Hypocrite

In our employee’s lounge today, the topic of discussion was about different schooling options. One of my coworker’s word struck me deep, “My son doesn’t like to continue in the Christian school, he said, ‘Christians are bunch of hypocrites’ ” In my mind, I just fast forwarded some fourteen years. How would I feel, if those words come out my daughter’s mouth? There is a high potential. I would be calm, if this claim is from a cynical adult non-believer, but from the mouth of a teenager, who is figuring out his identity, the purpose of his life. I had no choice but to believe, there is some amount of truth to it.

Why are we visualized as hypocrites? The very thing our Lord condemned.

           Because some of us,

Ø Fake the perfectionism.

Ø Avoid admitting our vulnerability.

Ø Hide our failures.

Ø Put up the religious show.

Ø Praying in front of others (not with others).

Ø Fasting and showing that to the public.

Ø Giving and letting the whole world know about that.

Ø Faking the external poise.

How to overcome hypocrisy,

Ø Admit our failures.

Ø Just be who we are, humans! (It is not a license to practice sinful lifestyle).

Ø Confess our vulnerability.

Ø Never put up the religious show. 

I got this wonderful piece of advice from Charles R. Swindoll’s podcast, live your life like a Christian in public, but practice your religion privately. Our Lord clearly stated giving, praying, and fasting are an inside job never for public display. But we are a light and a salt of the world. We live a counterculture life.

 I come from a Hindu background; external purification is critical in that religion. It had the lingering effect long after I accepted Jesus as my Savior. The day I realized, it is about internal change more than an external purification, it relived my obsession. The day I learned Christians are not perfect people, we fail, we fall, but get right back holding the hand of our Savior, walk in the right path set by our Lord. We do this process again and again until we get to Him, Who called us. Even to getup and walk, we trust His grace, His power, and His strength. We are to be pitied, if we claim to be remotely perfect. We are not, but we have a perfect God!

I hold fast to do these things,

Ø Frankly admit my failure to my daughter.

Ø Always explain with Whose strength I stand.

Ø Never practice my religion in public.

Ø  But, strive to live like a Christian always.

In spite of all this, I ask, seek, and knock to God that, “those words would never come out of my daughter’s mouth. At least, she will see one Christian, who is not a hypocrite, but a sinful human holding on to her Awesome God in everything”.

God Bless.

Realities Learned

Time is just what we set in our clock!

I woke up Sunday and was shocked to see that I loosed an hour. Yes, it was a time change day for day light saving.  Even after several years of living in US, I am still guilty of forgetting these and going an hour late to church, time to time. After, realizing the different times in my clock and phone. I told myself, it is ok I can set the time in the clock. In that moment, I recognized time is just what we set in our clock

                 

This truth assisted me with one temporal and one eternal understanding. After becoming a mother it seems as though my 24 hours has all of a sudden shrunk to 2 hours. On top of my sleep reducing from eight hours to 4 or five hours. I have so much to do with so little time, fells like. I obese over time, even though nobody would define me as a punctual person and truthfully so (if you have a trick to be punctual with a six month old baby, please share that with me). This time factor puts strain on my relationship, and my health. As though, I am serving the time more than anyone or anything else. The purpose of this post is not to de-emphasis the importance of time, but to set someone free from the obsession over time. I realized, that we could value time more than our God then it becomes a sin.

I always had difficulty understanding that GOD is outside time. He does not have time or He has his own time. I was so obsessed with time that I felt the date I was born, or New Year day these are very significant. Yes it might be, but not that significant to God, He has his own time. Actually He exists before and after our time. He has nothing to do with our time. I grasped, how foolish it is to think that God would do something according to our time. As negligible as we are comparing to this massive universe, we could just change the time by one simple act, by setting our clock different. How much more it is understandable, When God said that He is coming soon, really did mean it. He is coming soon. Even though, it is thousands of years according to our temporal time, but not according to God who called everything into being.

I agree with the interest to be on time for any appointment or occasion, in the gesture of respect to the other person or people. I don’t agree with obsessing over time more than relationships or health. If it allows you, set your clock one hour more and doze, spend few extra minutes with your spouse of child during the family time, go little slower than the set speed limit in the freeway and enjoy the nature around you, stay in God presence little longer than your scheduled quite time. After all, time is what we set in our clock! It is very much temporal.

God Bless.

 

Distance, the sweet enemy of relationship!

I grow really impatient and bored as my students were working diligently on the intense group assignment. I decided to skim through my old chat history from email. Interestingly, one particular chat between me and my husband grabbed my attention.

Hubby: Can I come there now?

Me:  You are hereJ

 We were physically separated for three years, because of visa situations. We were separated between more than few thousand miles, and more than 12 hours of time difference. When he saw sun, I saw the moon and vise versa. Yes, during that time of separation that this chat happened. Despite knowing that it will take more than 16 hours for him to get here physically with the fastest flight, he asked, if he can come here. In spite of knowing the hard reality of separation, how I felt his loving presence with me at that time. It gives me chills even now, after few years to read this old chat. Distance, what a sweet enemy of relationship!

My thoughts flew back few years, I remembered, how I used to long to see him every morning. How I never cared, what time of night it was but chat all night, how I longed to here all that he needed to say about his whole day, with intense sadness about not sharing any of that.

 I compared those thoughts to the conversation I have with him now a day. It goes something similar to this fashion, “Diaper is changed, I feed her last time at 6.00, lunch is in the fridge, you need to heat it up, grocery list ,and things to do is in the note pad, by the way, I love you, see you in the evening”  last few words without any life to it at all. Most of our weekdays go like this. How being together made our life very natural (boring).Where is the romantic talks and funs we had? I am sure my husband is feeling the same; he even voiced it few times. How intentional we should get to be romantic after living together for few years.

Got an Idea, Just for fun, tonight I am going to let him read this old chat, and say, “You are here, you are really here”. Would love to see how his eyes sparkle after that, Why don’t you take one intentional step to really enjoy your man’s presence in your life today?

God Bless.

If it is so, should I just fake it!

Including few other nice New Year resolutions, I also felt God is calling me to be “gentle and quite” (I Peter 3:1- 4). After reading these verse few times as a part of preparing for our 2013 Church retreat. I came to the realization this is it, I should be gentle and quite, this is my main Moto for 2014. Interestingly, I even decide to make a pledge to not wear much jewelry to beautify me but stay with a few same ornaments, until I became gentle and quite. I am this assertive person (aka strong willed). I would be the first person to raise the hand, when the air condition needed to be fixed in the class room with 500 other people. I am a woman with lot of words, lot means lot. I have this strong voice; I could speak without mike in the class with at least 100 people and still be heard well.

Now, I am trying to be quite and gentle, that meant in my dictionary, talking in low voice, using few words, not voicing my complaints to anybody, quickly refusing to take any compliment, and in core let people walk all over my head.

This was hard; really I felt the assertiveness is the essence of my makeup. It is a nature in me that was complemented by family, friends, and students alike. I am pretty sure that it is the nature that even God indent to use for His Glory. I prayed few times, I tried my best to be gentle and quite. But nothing seemed to work. This effort simply produced frustration within me, actually seemed like a battle between my nature and what I am trying to become. Nothing like, when we are trying to break free from bad habit but much more intense. Seemed like, I was trying to fight with who I was, the essence of me, becoming like an alien to myself.

I even said to myself, if it is so, should I just fake it!  That effort was a drama. Even my six month old baby could recognize something wired about the way I behaved. What a dangerous approach?

After that, I had this understanding; I would call it a revelation. My faithful God opened my eyes to the next important word that is sticking to these two words, “gentle and quite spirit”. That word made sense, tons of sense. There is fleshly gentle and quietness, and spiritually.

My creator is not calling me to be fleshly gentle and quiet but spiritually. How I was relieved! In no way I am pro at being quite and gentle spiritually, but definitely seemed logical, it aligned with my makeup.

I am not saying all our calls from God will be logical. As believers we are called to take some bold steps of faith. I am saying God’s call will mostly be logical and align with the tools that He already given us. That call will give peace and faith, not a battle within. More than anything that call will never put us in the spot to fake it.

 Despite so much grace that is needed in this path to become gentle and quite spirited woman. I have confidence; my God will make me an exact person, who He wanted me to be. But for now, I am sure not faking the fleshly gentle and quietness.

God Bless