Is it Simple? Is it profound? It is unchanging.

In the past few weeks I was spending time with My God by myself, with my family, and listening to sermons. I was pondering over the thoughts about His sacrifice in the cross, for mankind, for each one of us. I was reexamining my walk with God; the growth I had in multiple spiritual understandings. In the past decade by His Grace, I learned many matters related to Christian life. My understandings have been transformed radically from feminist to submissive, to choice to life... the list goes on. Every time these transformations happen, it is like a birth of a new idea in my life. I am a person with strong opinions and hold fast to them, when it changes it is a process. But this one truth have been unchanged that God died for me and rose again triumphing over death. This is the truth that set me free, this is the truth that made me meet Him, this is the truth that made me yearn for Him, and this is the truth that presses me to follow Him. And, I asked God to give me some profound understanding about it. Easter seems to be a very stable celebration for me, the Joy is same, and the reason is same. I needed something different, and asked God for more. After listening to many different sermons and explanations. I came to this conclusion, it is simple, it is profound, and more than that it is unchanging. It is a simple truth for a transformed-skeptic, it is a profound mystery for scholars who spend their lives decoding His words but it is unchanging for all. He died and Rose again for me; to give me eternal life with Him, that never changes. This is a simple and profound truth that met me when I was a skeptic, and it still gives me an all surpassing joy after ten years. The reason for Easter never changes that is the beauty of it, it is as similar as for a naïve Christian, a biblical scholar, and anyone in the Journey.

I am late in publishing this, was meant to be published on Easter. He is alive, so we have a reason to celebrate His resurrection even today. Have a blessed day.

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.