My Master's Voice

A not so ordinary year

2011-12-29T22:36:00.000-08:00

2011 started off as yet another ordinary year. But somewhere in the middle, it drastically changed everything I thought about me, my future and my Master.

At the end of this year, I have an entirely new perspective about where I’m heading to and my assignment.

Long ago, I scribbled in my journal,

“Though I'm clumsy
Its because of You're Grace, I am called
To live for Your Glory
And to care for Your flock

Maybe not in ways
That I have dreamt it to be
But surely in Your mind
There is an assignment for me.”

And once when I was frustrated with questions about my life, I wrote,

“Coz' while it seems like I am waiting
I know that you are working
You neither sleep nor rest
Lord please help me to see
That You'll always be
Better than my very best...”

And after a tiff with my Master, I finally concluded

“God, You see beyond my plastic smile
Deeper than the reasons on my tongue
My thoughts, before they were born
And the life for which I long

My pain before it even hurts me
Unsaid prayers in the tears that run
The desires that's hidden in secret
And my dreams that's lost and gone.

Sometimes You seem so far
But that's when You’re really near
And everytime I ask You "WHY?";

To my finite mind,
Your answer can't be clear.

That's why I trust this life,
Every bit of it,
In Your Hand.
I’ll seek to hear Your Voice
And just wait to understand...”

There were times I thought that God didn't really care about my dreams. I always knew that I was inadequate but I still believed that I had a chance to live a life who's first cause would be God's vision for mankind. But I was heading in a different direction. With the passing of each day, I thought that I was moving one step away from my divine mandate. Little, did I then know that I was actually proceeding forward.

Today, I've landed in a place I'm least likely to be in. Today, I have a bigger loving family and a husband who always puts my Master first. God has givenhim a ministry and I believe that supporting him would mean enabling him to do well, what God has called him do.

Being a wife of a pastor is a role I never imagined. But right now, I don’t see any another task, and I believe God will help me do this well. My mantra for life remains the same,

"That's why I trust this life,
Every bit of it,
In Your Hand.
I’ll seek to hear Your Voice
And just wait to understand...”

Nevertheless, God knows me too well that He will only let me do what I’m wired for, that’s why in all my overwhelming moments, when I ask Him,“Are you sure about me??”, He whispers in return.

"Daughter, I have searched you and I know you". (Psalm 139:1)

Gratefully,

Callie

Can I forget my father’s house?

2011-10-24T03:05:00.000-07:00

If you’re a girl stepped out from home because of the nuptial knot, I hope this post speaks your thoughts too.

Home, was the most comfortable place I could be. I loved to be in the comfort of my house, in the company of my family. Mom, dad and sis – That’s my favorite world.

So you can imagine how much this question would have nagged me.

However, I am so grateful that my husband’s house is only a 10 minute drive from home :)

In the real sense, forgetting your father’s house does not mean that we have to disregard our family or be ungrateful to them – rather it’s about leaving behind the ‘normal’ things of your life and adapting to the ‘NEW NORMAL’.

There’s a pretty interesting Scripture that talks about this.

Listen, O daughter, give attention and incline your ear:

Forget your people and your father’s house;

Then the King will desire your beauty. (Psalm 45:10-11)

The context of this Psalm, is a poem celebrating the king’s marriage to a lovely princess. The psalmist praises the king for his military ability and commitment to justice, and urges the bride to be loyal to the king.

The psalm suggests that the marriage was arranged as part of a political alliance between Israel (or Judah) and a neighboring state, so the bride would therefore be a foreigner.

Quite obviously the psalmist asks the bride to forget her home and her own cultural practices. The psalmist says, “Forget your folks, then the king will be attracted to you.” (You don’t need a scholar to tell that the author of this poem was a male!)

This is hard truth. But it still is the most important principle for a happy marriage (Ok! It’s just 2 months and I’m already talking like I’ve been married for 20 years! Looks like marriage makes everyone philosophers!)

Recently, I had a little tiff with my husband, because I was insensitive to the NEW NORMAL that I had to adapt. Though the argument was extremely trivial, I started feeling homesick; and I missed my old comfortable normal life. Thanks to a man who understands the moods of his crazy wife, he got me back to normalcy.

Rigidly holding on to my old and usual practices caused me to miss my home and get unhappy. Consequently, it had the potential to diminish my attractiveness to my husband.

An important lesson is this – An exercise I need to do everyday day of my marriage life is to overcome this temptation to think about “old normals” and not let unhappy feelings take over. Instead, I need to fill my mind with thoughts of joy as I think about the goodness of my husband and the purpose of his call. This will make me attractive, and Mr.Callie would be drawn to my natural beauty.

Our Christian walk is almost similar. We can look attractive to our God, when we happily leave behind the things that are a part of our OLD life, and look forward to live in His newness.

We often expect a magical execution of this Scripture “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here – 2 Corinthians 5:17”.

My few days as a married woman taught me that this does not happen magically; rather it is something we need to do every day. We need to overcome our personal tendencies to turn back and see our past. We need to face the challenges of the present with an attitude of faith, instead of dwelling about the comforts that exist in our memories.

We're happy about new things, until we have to face a CHALLENGE. The moment we see something difficult or face something that we did not anticipate, we look back. All the Israelite folks wanted to be out of Egypt, they were happy about the new destination, but every time they faced a hurdle, they looked back. This made God mad.

Can you imagine praying, "I don't think You're plan is good enough for me, I'll go back to where I came from." No way! that is nonspiritual, un-scriptural unholy and totally unacceptable.

Whenever we turn to look back and long for the comforts of our past life, we communicate the same thing to God.

But, just like how I have a husband who will not judge me and encourages me as I take my baby steps to adapt to my new wife-life. We have a God who will not judge us, who will always give us a second chance, and give us His grace and strength to live the new life that He has called us to live.

And when the Omnipotent, Omnipresent and Omniscient KING is enthralled in your beauty, He will fill you with incomparable joy, that cannot match ANYTHING that you enjoyed in your old life.

There are things I need to leave behind and I've made my list. Have you made yours?

Love,

Callie

Will I look like a princess on my wedding day?

2011-09-27T04:51:00.000-07:00

Stop grinning! And yes, that was a question that I had. I’m someone with a minimalist style. I don't mind wearing jeans for a wedding or being labelled as the one with 'poor' taste for a sophisticated party.

However, I don’t know what swept over me that I became a little concerned about bringing my best version out on the wedding day. I wanted the best sari, the most elegant necklace and the prettiest hairdo. I wanted to look like a princess.

But I was Afraid that I’d be sneered at for this ‘sudden change’ and compromising on my stand against ‘materialism’, so I kept my desires, safely to myself – and it was a secret well kept.
Thanks to my thoughtful parents, sister, SILs, MIL and husband-to-be, that I got my not-so-spiritual prayers answered too. I did land up looking like a minimalist princess on my wedding day ;) – good enough to satisfy me!

On the wedding day, after I dressed up, when I looked at myself in the mirror with the veil over my face and an elegant tiara on my head, I could not believe my eyes. Within moments, I was going to be a proud bride ready to walk up the aisle holding my daddy’s loving hand. And ready to walk down the aisle as a handsome man’s beautiful bride.

As the church doors opened, and I stepped inside holding my daddy’s hand tight, all the cameras were on my face, but I didn’t care to pose for them, instead, I was trying to catch a glimpse of the tall young lad waiting for me at the altar. In an instant, he turned his head to see me putting on his signature smile. (Now, he confesses to me that he was trying to fight away the thought of turning his head to see me, but he failed! )

A man of few words, he wouldn’t tell me how he felt when he saw his bride. But his smile told it all.

There will come a day when we will see our Heavenly Bridegroom face-to-face. I wish I could imagine what kind of ceremony it would be. But I am so sure that it will not fall in short of anything less than Grandeur and Majesty.

When my Bridegroom looks at me, Would HE smile? Will HE be a proud about his Beautiful Bride?

Will I look like a Princess, adorned with the finest clothes?

"Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.
Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” Revelation 19:7-9

When Jesus comes in the mid air to receive me – with all his Splendor and Majesty, what if he finds me wearing rags and tattered clothes? When He returns, to hold the hands of His Bride, will He be amazed at His Bride’s beauty or will He be disappointed to find a shabby, untidy bride?

Our Bridegroom has already dressed us with the Clothing of Salvation and draped us in a Robe of righteousness. He has already adorned His Bride with the finest of Jewels.

“I am overwhelmed with joy in the LORD my God!
For he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness.
I am like a bridegroom in his wedding suit or a bride with her jewels.” –
Isaiah 61:10

But, are we careful about our garments?

My earthly wedding gave me a whole new perspective of how I need to present myself to Jesus on the day of our Heavenly Wedding. If I have to look like a princess on my Wedding, I must take care of my bridal clothes. I shouldn’t let things to blemish my beautiful dress. I should not be negligent about righteous deeds motivated by love, or I would have no jewelry to wear on the day of my Heavenly Wedding.

Jesus gave up His life, He gave himself as a sacrifice so that He can see us in those Beautiful clothes on the day of our Heavenly Wedding. The garment of salvation and the robe of righteousness are not cheap stuff. Our Bridegroom suffered a painful death to get us our Bridal attire. Salvation is not free because it is cheap, but because we can’t fix a price for it.

What are we doing to guard our saved lives?

I want to be the bride who was READY to be received by her Bridegroom - appealing to His sight and a pleasure to His Heart.

… For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.- Is 61:10

Will you look like a princess on your Wedding Day?
Have you checked your Bridal Clothes?

Callie

From the heart of a Bride to Be - First Note

2011-09-22T08:14:00.000-07:00

My earphones weren’t ringing Toby Mac; this time it was a familiar voice – but a voice that grew to be more than just ‘familiar’ now. It was yet another day, when we lost track of time and suddenly he said this,

He: I’m grateful to God that He’s let you be a part of my life… you are exceedingly abundantly more that what I can ever ask or imagine.
Me: And in you, I see a chance to see all my dreams come true…

In my mind I saw my hands placed over my mouth. “Man, what did I just say? Callie!! Is that YOU?? I thought I’ll be spared of all these mushy dialogues”. And having observed my groom-to-be from a distance for a while, I didn’t imagine that he had the ability to say things like this too. It came as quite a shock, when both of us were speaking to each other wearing entirely different personalities. But that’s how the pre-wedding days went by.

Being a bride-to-be was the most out-of-the-world experience of my life. It changed my routine, my work habits, my sleep patterns, and suddenly it looked like everything I felt, thought and said was so noticed and evaluated – sometimes appreciated and sometimes made me look like a fool. You feel like you’re the most important person in a stranger’s world... Man! That is Too COOL!

My days as a bride-to-be let me see a dimension that I least expected from myself. The phone-calls, the gifts, the words of reaffirmation, and the expressions of affection made me feel so valued. So far so loved, and now I felt loved even more.

But deep inside my heart; despite the security, the comfort, the sense of purpose and the depth of love, my heart, as a bride-to-be was always in a state of chaos. I used to get up every morning with a new 'What if?’ the unearthing of new expectations drove in doubts and fear.

As much as I was comfortable about my newfound love, I wondered every day, if I can ever expect a life close to what I was living so far, a life of freedom and acceptance. My heart drowned with questions, and I reached certain points when all my Reasoning failed, but one thing remained strong and that was FAITH!

I could foresee in my eyes of faith the kind of things the Master could do with our partnership as husband and wife. Whenever those giants of fear came by, my Master pushed me to see the PURPOSE in His Mind. The purpose I saw was like a giant gift, wrapped in the most attractive paper, I had no idea about its contents, but I was rest assured that God had a plan. That was enough! That kept us going…and will keep us going too.

Though, I spent most of these days listening to my pastor’s voice ( ;) my husband is a pastor) God was kind enough to let me hear my Master’s Voice too.
Penning down some thoughts!

Hope you like them!

Love,
Mrs. Callie Ariel

Why we lose our battles?

2011-04-13T10:10:00.000-07:00

I am on the winning side
The winning side, the winning side

I am on the winning side
The winning side all the time. – Sunday Class Song “Jesus is the winner man”

"Christians don't tell lies they just go to church and sing them" - A.W. Tozer.

After having a hectic, stressed out week, if I were to sing this song on Sunday mornings, Man…It’s a LIE. I know that you’d probably argue with me that it’s a positional truth. (The Bible talks about, Practical, Positional and Permanent Truths) But for an ordinary earthling, when I sing this song, my head does not resound theology; rather it sighs --- “Now, C’mon, from the kind of week that you just had, Are you sure about those lines??!!” but then, I have to sound spiritual, so I just blurt these words in a melody though I really don’t mean them in my heart.

The title of this post is a question. “Why we lose our battles?”

If you’re probably expecting a deep, spiritual analysis and unearthing of some undiscovered Biblical secret (What am I thinking? Why would they expect this from me...I’m Callie, not Tozer) as an answer to the questions. Then you’d probably be disappointed. Because most of our problems (spiritual and carnal), have very simple solutions. That’s how God wanted it to be. Because the Bible is for everyone and not just for the scholars.

And this question also has a simple answer.

Disobedience.

Judges 1:19 (NIV)
¹⁹The LORD was with the men of Judah. They took possession of the hill country, but they were unable to drive the people from the plains, because they had iron chariots.

God was with the Hebrews, they could walk through the Red Sea, break the walls of Jericho, drink water from the rock and be fed and taken care of in the wilderness without losing their sandals. But now these folks couldn't confront their enemies just because they had iron chariots. Strange eh?

Sometimes life feels like that too. We would have won certain great battles in our life, survived through rock-bottom times and made a comeback when all thought it was over. But now,there's an iron chariot that we can't confront, we have a problem that's so overwhelming and we can't claim victory.

The Israelites reached the Promised Land, now they had to inherit the land that was allocated for them. But that wasn’t easy; the Canaanites put forth a tough fight. The Israelites had to win these battles to acquire their possessions. God allowed these battles because he wanted to teach the young Israelite generation faith and obedience. The battles faced by the Israelites were their moments of testing.

A Test if they would keep the way of the Lord and walk according to His commands (Judges 2:22).

God had the power to give victory to the Israelite warriors over the iron chariots. But He did not choose to. The Jehovah Nissi. The Lord our Banner - did not give them victory.

That’s because the Israelites had some fundamental problems.

Lethargy

First, though they had a pretty clear goal, and well defined objectives, they lacked the discipline and energy to reach it. They wanted an easy way. Maybe they had the “mood-swings”. Maybe they were lethargic and lacked the drive.

Lack of Gratitude

Secondly, Fear gripped them. Fear prevails where Faith fails and Faith fails where Gratitude is lost. Looks like the Israelites forgot the Mighty Hand of God that preserved them. Somewhere in their heads they thought that it was their strength that brought them so far. So, now they were afraid the enemy was too strong for them and the iron chariots seemed unbeatable.

Comfortable with sin

Thirdly, they were getting pretty complacent with sin. Instead of driving out the roots of sin from their lives, they allowed sinful practices to coexist. This caused a spiritual decay to set in. Therefore, they lost their faith, their purpose and their direction.

When we see iron chariots

Sometimes, the only thing that we can see are the iron chariots. Our vision gets fuzzy. But you need to know that the IRON CHARIOT is not the real problem. The real problem, the real devil is within us. The problem is our disobedience and our resistance to change.

I think God gets pretty mad when He hears stuff like, “That’s my character…I can’t change..”.C’mon when Jesus can give up His Kingship and glory for OUR benefit, giving up small personal tendencies that are sapping us of our potential and drive from inheriting God’s provision for us shouldn’t be a big deal.!

Every problem HAS a solution, but the solution starts with a change in us. But most of the times we expect the solution to just sweep across from the outside. We think that things will become better if our parents change, if our spouse changes, if our family gets organized or if others can become more considerate. However, the solution starts from US. If we are not gonna change, nothing is gonna change FOREVER.

Heroes who overcame the iron chariots

It’s amazing how just few chapters down in Judges, there were other folks who easily handled the iron chariots. And they are the famous duo, Deborah and Barak.

Judges 4:12-16 (NLT)
"When Sisera was told that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor,he called for all 900 of his iron chariots and all of his warriors…Then Deborah said to Barak, 'Get ready! This is the day the LORD will give you victory over Sisera, for the LORD is marching ahead of you.' ..When Barak attacked, the LORD threw Sisera and all his chariots and warriors into a panic. Sisera leaped down from his chariot and escaped on foot…"

These guys operated in obedience to God, discipline, faith, and unity of purpose. Result - God gave them victory.

So that clears the point, the iron chariots are no big deal for God. But the question is, are we ready to keep his commands and follow His ways? Are we ready to allow God to change us or are we giving excuses?

How to win our battles?

Obedience.

Learning to obey,

Callie Ariel

I WANT MILK!

2011-03-29T06:04:00.000-07:00

My mother would often tell me that weaning me from mother's milk was an extremely tough task. Distractions, formula milk, music, "kuchy-kuchy-koos", didn't work. The combined innovations of grandparents, aunts, uncles and whole lot of people had no effect. I was pretty adamant about what I wanted, and nothing else seemed to satisfy me.

Mom would say, that with the feeding bottle in my mouth , I would stare straight at her face with a look that could probably burn her down and then break into a high-pitched wail. Weeping, and wailing and highly irritated was what I always was….

Finally, when all methods were exhausted, I decided to let go. Clinging to my mother’s bosom, I decided to give other food a shot. That’s how I got to have the most critical and demanding taste-buds in the whole house. ;)

I don’t know if babies think --- Do they?? But if they do; I guess these would have been the thoughts in my mind, “Ohmygosh!! They are cutting my food supply, how cruel and mean!”, “What’s this new stuff they’re giving me? It doesn’t taste like mama’s milk, I’m not used to this”, and then of-course… “WAAAHHHHH!! I want milk.. I am hungry….and I can’t eat this..”

Sometimes God stops certain supplies in our lives. Yes, Jehovah Jireh – the provider of all our needs --- stops our provisions sometimes. And no matter, how much we throw tantrums, box the air, and wrestle with circumstances; it’s not going to come back. Yes, it’s not going to come back.

My dad has always taught me, “you grow when you are uncomfortable”, and that’s exactly what God does to us to push us to utilize our potential. God purges away the comforts and pushes us out of our comfort zones. He does this, so that he can nourish you with new lessons, new challenges and push you to consume the next level of blessings in your life.

David writes beautifully,

Instead, I have calmed and quieted myself, like a weaned child who no longer cries for its mother’s milk. Yes, like a weaned child is my soul within me. Psalm 131:2

I'm unsure about the exact circumstance for which this Psalm was written. (Let me know if you know that...) But, it speaks to our situations. And I think that what David did, is something that we need to imitate as well.

Used to mama’s milk, so comfortable in familiar life, suddenly, we’re shoved to change. We’re pushed to unfamiliar terrain. At such times, we have a choice; we can lament about our past providence, and cry and complain about our present situation, OR, we can calm our soul and quiet our minds believing that as long as we are in the bosom of God, everything will be just fine.

A weaned child no longer cries for mother’s milk, instead, she surrenders to the will of her mother, rest assured that she is in the safest place in the world. A weaned child has no clue of what she’s going to be fed, but believes in nothing but the face of her mother.

No matter what supply God is taking away, or what boundary he’s pushing you out of. Remember, that it’s only to feed you with something bigger and better to make you stronger and more useful.

When your mind takes those free roller-coaster rides, give yourself a break, and take a moment to gaze at your Father’s face. I think a lot myself, but quite often I’ve realized that too much thinking can get morbid. To remain calm and stay peaceful is a choice that we have to make. Because only then, we can work with God to see His purposes come to pass in our life.

Sometimes, I get upset about stuff. And then after a conversation with God, I can almost hear him say, "Hey kid, I need you to do some stuff..maybe it's not big and all..but it's still my stuff, and I need someone like you..btw don't get into those..."I-give-up-Lord" modes often and waste your time..we need to work on how to get things done...we can't keep working on fixing your emotional swings always!!"

If you're like me..that's what He's got to say to you as well! :)

Let's be like David..

...I have calmed and quieted myself, like a weaned child who no longer cries for its mother's milk. Yes, like a weaned child is my soul within me. Psalm 131:2

Learning to remain calm... in HIM,

Callie

Work Done list

2011-03-13T10:03:00.000-07:00

It's one thing to say, "God, I will do this, I will surrender, I will leave this, I will give this away.." and it's another thing to say to "God, I have done this, I surrendered this, I left this, and I have given this away."

There was someone who prayed this kind of prayer. Any guesses ??? When this thought first came to me, I said.."Yes I know! It's the Pharisee, he was the one who went around saying, I fast, I give.. blah blah.." (Luke 18). And I was waiting for a lesson from God on those lines.

But that was not the lesson and the person was not the Pharisee, it was Jesus. And Jesus said this to God. (John 17:4,6,8)

"I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.

"I have revealed youto those whom you gave me."

"I gave them the words you gave me."

When the world for which we work and slog for, expects measurable results, Why can't the All powerful God expect the same too? God expects results from my life. That's the lesson I had to learn.

We can't be fooling around with our good intentions alone. When it's all been said and done, we would have to give God the specifics. Well, that's what Jesus did. Are we working towards that too?

Somethings are easier said than done. It's our first big problem in trying to figure what we have to do, let alone trying to produce results. But I guess that's where relationship plays a role. A sense of purpose, and a clarity of destination does not happen from intelligence, experience or wisdom. It births from a thriving relationship with God. That's what Jesus had, and that's why He produced results.

I'm not saying that God too looks at us based on our 'performance', NO, that's not true. God's love for us is unconditional and it's by Grace we have access to Him. Nevertheless, God prunes all His children, as a garderener prunes a vine. Watering and pruning till it grows into the sunshine. And he longs to see fruit in you and me.

Have we given enough thought to this? Well, I haven't and I hope to seek God in this direction. To get closer to Him and produce results. So that I too can give a 'work done list' to God.

When my beat is about to stop, and when there's just few more moments to pass, I wish I can breathe these words to Him "I surrendered all, I surrendered all, All to Him, my precious Savior, I surrendered all."

Learning to produce,

Callie

Image Courtesy

http://www.trybpo.com/5-creative-ways-to-put-your-virtual-assistant-to-work/100834-134/

Why I CAN'T BELIEVE?

2011-03-11T12:44:00.000-08:00

As I write this post, I'm surrounded with several friends. They're my only company in the nights. Just that, when they're around I need to rub my feet against each other, or clap or slap my hands from time to time. And yeah...I'm talking about mosquitoes.

I'm tired with the manual confrontation, so I resort to technology. I reach out to take the mosquito repellent and plug it to the socket. Flashing a small LED, it starts working and keeps the mosquitoes away.

Summer has set in already, and it's beginning to get hot. Grabbing the AC remote, I switch it on.

The mosquito repellent needs just 5 watts of power, and the air conditioner requires almost close to 1000 watts of power. However, both of them are connected to the same power source.

If the current supply gets cut off, both of them are not going to work.

Our lives are quite the same too. But somethings makes us think that we need to be empowered by God only for the so called 'big' things in our life. For the rest, we assume we can take care by ourselves. Little do we realize that small or big, we can do all things only by God who strengthens us.

We all face 'big' challenges in life, and at such times, we say …"Hey! NO way, I can't do that." If you're saying that, then ask yourself, "Was it really me, who did the other stuff in my life?"

I have a chronic problem of faith-deficiency, and in each of those cross roads I remember this verse, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13

This time, the word ‘everything’ spoke to me.

Though I was working on having faith for the ‘big’ things in life, I failed to realize that the strength for every ‘small’ thing I do is also from Him. It’s the same Source. The same power supply. My real problem was not my lack of faith, but my inability to be grateful.

If I had realized that the ‘so far’ in my life is God’s hand, and not my plan, it would be easy for me to believe Him for the 'hard' things. But somewhere in my heart I tend to think, that it’s all been because of me. It’s my effort, my brain, my work, and my resources. Therefore, I define what is 'easy' and I define what is 'impossible to achieve'.

There are these really beautiful verses in Psalm 44.

“It was not by their sword that they won the land, nor did their arm bring them victory; it was your right hand, your arm and the light of your face. For you loved them.” - 3

And the poet goes on write

“I put no trust in my bow, my sword does not bring me victory; but you give us victory over our enemies, you put our adversaries to shame. In God we make our boast all day long, and we will praise your name forever.” 6-8

When we boast of God for the small things, we can be sure He'd let us see the BIG things as well. But we boast of ourselves in the small things, and struggle to have faith to see destiny come to pass.

It'll be easy to trust God in big things, when we remember that the small things we do is also because of Him.

When Thanks comes first, Faith comes easy.

Learning to be grateful,

Callie

Image Courtesy
http://www.comicrelated.com/news/3230/dc-for-december-09

What the Spider taught me..

2011-03-02T11:59:00.000-08:00

It's hard for me to romanticize the rain, see beauty in the beetle, be charmed by flowers, or be taken captive by the moon. But, I like catching cockroaches and pulling their legs off. Also, when I smash mosquitoes, I take a moment to see its tiny body covered in its own blood - or mine. If all this counts..then I'm a nature-admirer too.. :)

There was this big cobweb in the elevator with a fat spider enthroned right at the center of the web, waiting to catch it’s prey. Now, the spider web was really large. It was almost the size of both my palms placed beside each other. Right above my head, hung this really complex construction.

I don't know how a spider weaves a web, but I'm sure that it definitely is a tough piece of work. However, for the all powerful me (who knows nothing about spiders or weaving webs) it would only take a minute to dust away that intricate and complex structure.

Absorbed in the pleasure of its own work, I bet the spider never realized my power to destroy its weak and delicate web.

Studying, working, earning, saving, getting accepted, building houses, castles, dreams, getting married, raising kids..Whew! our life is complicated too, and just like the spider, we sit on the throne we've built for ourselves assuming that we are in full control. Our webs are intricately complex and exceedingly beautiful. But quite often we forget that our web which looks strong enough to hold us, is actually flimsy and temporal.

It seems like we’re in control of everything, until our life comes crashing down on us. That’s when we realize that we were NOT in control. No wonder people seek God when all is gone.

It’s true that we were created to work, labor, relate and build our lives. But, we shouldn’t forget that there is a God, all powerful, all knowing, and all seeing God who holds the real control. Whatever we do is subject to Him.

Whenever I go through a rough patch, I say to myself, “Hey…Don’t worry, God is in control.” But when I started to get increasingly obsessed about planning and building the details of my own life, the spider taught me. “Slow down.. Be careful..Do you remember that God is in Control? And NOT you.”

I don’t believe in a punishing, unjust or unfair God. Yet, there are times, when I realize that I better be careful that I don’t overindulge in self-love, overstep His commands, ignore His direction, or get too busy to spend time with Him. Thanks to Mr. Spider who reminded me this.

"There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD. Proverbs 21:30"

Be thoughtful, Be Grateful. Remember He is in Control.

Learning to let go,

Callie

Wait before you Date

2011-02-13T08:45:00.000-08:00

The right one
My own shooting star
That someone
Who won't break my heart
And I'll wait forever until we meet
You're one in a million
The right one for me..

That’s “The Right One” by Stellar Kart…

Not many people started life like him.

He had tremendous potential.

But he was pretty impatient in trying to find his right one.

And yes, I'm talking about Samson.

Delilah was a part of Samson’s life for a short duration. Yet, she caused a catastrophic effect on his entire life. Samson could strangle a lion but he was as weak as a lamb in Delilah’s lap.

Delilah wasn't the right person for Samson because,

His relationship with her completely destroyed his relationship with God and with his family.
Her demands and need for attention showed no evidence for true love towards him.
She did not help to bring out the best in him. She took advantage of him four times. He did not understand her deceit even after she let him down so many times. Blinded by love, he fell prey to her schemes.

I know that you're giving me this look and saying, "Hey! I'm not like Samson and my valentine is definitely not a Delilah-kind-of-person. Our love is pure, it's been there for so many years now."

Well, that's great news.

But we need to understand that every good person and every spiritual friend is not necessarily the right person for us. Marriage has a unique purpose in our lives. It isn’t just about two ‘compatible’ individuals getting together. It’s about two unique people having a definite role to play in the destiny of each others’ lives.

My parents' are entirely different people, my dad is an introvert, my mom is an extrovert. My dad is intellectual, my mom is emotional. My dad thinks about the future, my mom makes a pleasant present. My dad invests on materials, my mom invests on relationships. Entirely different people, with entirely different aspirations.

But together, they make a great package. They fulfill their roles in each others' lives. They complement each other, fill each others' gaps and together they've built a balanced family.

Marriage is definitely about being happy together, but there's a bigger picture when God is writing your love story. You have a role to play in your partner's life, and that's what journeying together is all about.

That's why it is so important to be patient. Because it takes time to see things in God's perspective.

Love isn’t blind, rather it makes us blind. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against ‘love marriages’ (really silly term we use in India, like other marriages are hate marriages or what??) or courtship. I'm just saying that you don't have to be in a hurry, stay close to God and allow him to direct you. The key to this is to stay patient and wait for your right one.

“Do not arouse love or awaken love until it so desires.” Song of Songs 8:4

There’s no hurry to let him know how you feel by this Valentine’s Day itself. Seeking God’s will is not asking for His approval for a decision you’ve already made, rather it is to surrender, and stay still.

Also, dare to break up from a relationship that wasn’t meant to be. It would definitely be hurting, but it’s worth the pain. Jesus understands us; he knows that we can get hyper-messy sometimes.

“For, I do not have a Master who is unable to sympathize with my weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way, just like me, but was without sin.” Hebrews 4:15

Talk to Him, surrender to Him, the key is to remain patient.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Callie

The Sign of Christmas

2010-12-24T11:53:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, I wonder why the angels did not appear in the manger and present an angelic choir performance there. Wouldn't that have been pretty comforting to Mary and Joseph. After all, they had to endure a long journey, a bumpy ride, with no place to stay. And now, they were inexperienced, lonely parents of the heavenly Child.

I wonder if Mary had this question, "The angel's visit to my place about the birth of Christ through me was awesome news.. I got conceived as a virgin..that's a miracle. In spite of being in a scandalous situation, almost at the verge of being stoned to death, my fiance - Joseph accepted me as his wife- that's even a greater miracle. But here we are trying to find a place to give birth to God's Child. No place in the inn, and all that we could find was a place with animals. Why can't God provide ? It's His Son after all."

But Mary as we know was a woman of absolute surrender, so these questions did not discourage her.

There were shepherds living out in the fields and watching out their flocks at night near by where Jesus was born. Near Bethlehem, on the road to Jerusalem, there was a tower known as Migdal Eder, or the watch-tower of the flock. Here , was the station where shepherds watched the flocks destined for sacrifice in the temple. *

Jesus was chosen to be the One, who would be sacrificed for the sins of the world. So, it needs little explanation to understand why God chose these shepherds to witness the new born child.

But I wonder if the shepherds had this question, "OK, we're banned people in our community, we're not even allowed in the temple, yet we get to see a glorious angel. That's amazing enough. But wait.. the sign given to us, is to find a child wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.. That's confusing...

We don't deserve it and all. We've received great favor to hear this good news. But all that He's showing us is a manger. Is that a sign ? Is that a sign to recognize a God-child? . We're completely thrilled with the angelic visitation, but you're leading us towards a dark, dirty place to see an ordinary helpless infant wrapped like every other child in swaddling clothes. "

These shepherds did not have these questions. Instead, they said, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." ^a

I'm not like Mary or the shepherds, and these are pretty much the questions I have about life.

Like Mary and Joseph, I receive the glorious promise of God and I have a great vision to accomplish, but unlike them, I get absolutely discouraged when I have to take a long bumpy ride to see it fulfilled.

Like the shepherds, I realize how unworthy I am to receive God's favor. But unlike them, I fail to act immediately.

Christmas reminds me that being in a place of lack does not deny His promise. He provides what we can never achieve. But sometimes, He lets us cross small hurdles by ourselves. Nevertheless, it's all a part of His plan.

Our temporary lack of providence cannot deny the permanency of His promise.

Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem and the sign that was given was this,

"This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger" ^b

God's purpose can be revealed in the humble circumstances of life. Don't let the difficulties in your way stop you from reaching your God given goals.

Jesus came to save all people from their sins.

God accomplished what He promised.

Merry Christmas

With love,
Callie Ariel

Image Courtesy
http://stjamesclougherlisle.ca/childrens%20page.htm
* Vincent Word Studies
a Luke 2:15
b Luke 2:12

But when I pray - The Model - Part II

2010-11-23T09:28:00.000-08:00

[Please click here to read the first part of this entry]

All our worlds are filled with many people who have several needs. A friend sinking in secret sin, a family in debt, a dysfunctional home, a threatening disease, an abusive spouse, unruly children. And the list is endless...

The voice of my friend still rings in my ear, she called up to chat about college, and with time she started opening up, "My dad has a severe heart condition, but he just won’t quit smoking and drinking, my mom and me are tired of crying and begging him to change. But he just won’t give it up. He blames my mom for his disappointments and says that alcohol makes him forget his bitter failures." She said this, and she began crying. "How can I change my father??"

Each one of us must have faced times such as this. When someone knocked our door for help, and we were helpless ourselves. Despite our incapacity, just like the guy in the story, we need to be determined to help. Times like this call for our knocking at Heaven's door. Rest assured that there is no lack there.

It is necessary that we look deeper inside the story to understand the point that Jesus was trying to make. It is not about God’s insensitivity to need, it is not that He is reluctant to help. But he desires to delay, in order to help us overcome our uncaring attitude. He longs to see us function in love. We won’t be persistent about something that we don’t care about. Our shameless pleading is an indication of our deep love for the other and unshakable confidence in His power. I believe that this is what God wants to achieve in our lives.

Intercession is not a ritual; it is not to help you score points with God. Rather, it is a spiritual exercise designed by God, to enlarge our love tank and our faith tank.

I have often thought that Christ’s death for me was the display of the highest form of love….until I found this verse.

Christ Jesus, who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Romans 8:34 (NIV)

Isn’t it amazing that Christ Jesus who suffered the worst form of humiliation on the cross, still persistently pleads for our cause?

When Jesus talks about shameless persistence, He expects us to imitate Him. Our perfect model for intercession…

Let us learn to love, before we learn to pray.

Callie

But when I pray - The Model - Part I

2010-11-21T04:49:00.000-08:00

When I first heard the word intercession, it sounded like INTERMISSION. So I thought it's like having a break in the middle of a prayer. :)

Way back in college, I had a friend called Gayathri. She was our spokesperson. When we wanted to postpone tests and assignment submission deadlines; she was the one, bold enough to talk on our behalf to our staff (who were always ready to devour us!!!) ....Awesome girl!!

Intercession is just like that, talking to God on behalf of others.

Jesus tells us an interesting parable ^a relating to intercession, that goes like this.

There was a guy who was disturbed in the middle of a night by a hungry stranger. In Jewish culture, hospitality was very important. It was mandatory that the host must feed the traveler who has come to his house to spend the night. Unfortunately, he had no leftover food and nothing to offer this hungry traveler.

Nevertheless, determined to feed his guest; this guy went to his other friend in the village and knocked his door . "Don't bother me man", replied his friend. "It is really very late and I've locked the doors. I don't want to make a noise and wake my kids up. I'm sorry, I can't get up and give you anything."

But this guy is just so persistent. He is not ready to give up. He kept knocking shamelessly. Jesus wanted us to learn this guy's persistence. When we go to God on behalf of others, Jesus asks us to imitate this kind of unswerving attitude.

Catch up with the continuation... to get a hang of what this parable has got to do with intercession.

Scripture Reference
a Luke 11:5-8

Image Courtesy
http://www.siouxcityfirst.com/templates/System/details.asp?id=28062&PID=364397

But when you pray - First Note

2010-11-16T11:58:00.000-08:00

[This is the first post on my series "But when you pray". To catch a glimpse of the background of this series please read When I didn't pray. ]

Today morning I left home angrily after losing a verbal spat with my mom. Quite obviously I forgot my umbrella and raincoat. As I reached the ground floor, I saw the gray clouds floating above;"The clouds are always fooling around, it won't really rain", I told myself.

After boarding the bus and traveling close to 10 kilometers, I heard the the sound of rain pelting hard. The sound which would have otherwise been music to my ears, now alarmed danger. I need to walk for 15 minutes from the bus stop to my office, "OHMYGOSH, It's raining so hard.. I would reach office dripping wet now!"

I sat there staring at the rain, observing the dimensions of every drop. I twisted my head sideways-upwards to catch a glimpse of the obscure skies through the rain splattered windows. My brain did some probability calculations trying to figure out when the rain would stop. For once, I really wished that the bus would slow down and reach the destination a little late.

I eyed every person with an umbrella or raincoat enviously. For me, right now, they were the happiest people in the world.

And then I started talking to God, "Oh please...I'll change....but stop the rain now". But the Master had another lesson in store.

It struck me that a praying life is quite often like an umbrella we carry.

An umbrella can't stop the rain, but it sure can cover you through the storm.

The providence of God in times of pain reaches us through prayer. We receive His promise, build our faith and stay rooted in steadfast hope through prayer. We can't control the flood or the storm by praying but we can weave a water tight basket for ourselves and others to stop us from sinking.

I am yet to experience a prayer life that can influence the will of God (if it can). But prayer for sure, helps us experience His cover of Grace and love through all difficult paths. Praying for others is like holding a bigger umbrella, covering many who are unprotected and trembling in cold. And that is the power of intercession. Going that extra mile, to enlarge our umbrella , strengthen it and extend our boundaries so that we can drawi many hurting people inside the cover of God's love.

The Bible rightly says, "And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests." Ephesians 6:18. I like how it says "all occasions", because you never know when its going to rain. Sometimes we get busy and leave prayer behind, and then wonder why we're drenched in anxiety.

Don't ask me how prayer works. That's for each one to find it for themselves. But one thing is for sure, it works.

Don't be like me.
Carry your umbrella today,
Before you can go
Just stop and PRAY.

Callie

P.S I'm excited about how the Master started off this series, and waiting anxiously for the rest of the lessons I'm gonna learn. It would be awesome to learn together and pray together..share your lessons too.

Image Courtesy
http://img3.visualizeus.com

When I didn't pray

2010-10-15T03:09:00.000-07:00

I was tired of sitting silent in prayer. I had lots to talk to God, when it concerned me. But when it was about others, I was rambling a senseless string of words and very soon I was finished. People who know me, will agree that I am a person of many words. I know it sounds odd, but I kind of use different people as targets to aim my words at.

My amma gets my words of fury and nonsense, my younger sister has no choice but to endure my boring 'insights' about life and my friends have to face my bland and predictable humour. Though prayer is about talking to God, I painfully realize that in prayer, my many words mean nothing.

It is the heart, the persistence, the faith and the desperation that connects to the heart of God. It's that crushed and broken spirit that can knock the doors of heaven. Intelligent words and graceful oration can make our prayer sound great, but God makes no sense out of it. This truth kept hitting me a lot and I was pushed to the point of frustration, when I scribbled these words..

Time is running
But I am not.
Haven't turned a soul to You.
The things I've been denied
Never hurt at all..
But it pricks real hard
When I think of those that I am due.
I wonder if it's my guilt
or..
the devil...
WHAT'S PARALAYSING ME ?
That I cannot move forward and heal the pain.
I'm longing for a future
That I have no hope to see
I'm longing to transform that life
That I don't know how to reach
Help me Lord
I don't know how to pray..
I don't know what to ask...
But I won't give up..

I guess God heard this and opened my eyes to some opportunities at church to commit a certain hour of prayer for intercession. I heard him tell me, "Baby, you ain't gonna learn to pray without actually praying! just like you can't learn swimming from a book..." So I have decided to dive in..

I am writing a series of posts on praying, these posts are retold versions of several teachings from books, sermons and studies.

I've titled the lessons to resonate Matthew 6:6 "But when you pray"

I write these posts hoping that it would help me practise prayer the way it should be. Hope you find them useful in your prayer walk too.

Still learning,
Callie

The Friend of a Kind

2010-10-06T19:44:00.000-07:00

Friendship is the least complicated relationship, a few hi's, a few lunchs together, a few conversations, answering a few "hey, can you help me out on this" calls and bang! you get a friend. With social networking today, I can be a friend to a friend's intersesting friend. All I have to do is to click a button.

Friendship comes with no strings attached, and makes you feel accepted outside your home. Good friends help us discover who we are and propel us into our destiny. But, the other kind of friends manipulate us and make us lose our identity.

Staying away from bad company is a lesson we've been hearing a lot. That's a choice; we can choose whom we wish to have as friends. But the other part of the lesson is not about a choice, but a challenge. A challenge --- to be a good friend.

Your friendship started off in a great note, probably you studied together, shopped together, helped at an orphanage, prayed and had fun together. All of a sudden, things are changing color in your friend's life. You are God fearing and so is your friend. Now, things are a little different, your friend begins to do things you don't appove of. You're not really sure, but very uncomfortable, what do you do ?

"A despairing man should have the devotion of his friends,.."

The interesting part of this verse follows..

"..even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty." - Job 6:14

Now, that's a tough lesson. I interpret this Scripture as God illuminates it to me. Write to me, if you have your concerns.

Friendship calls for fierce loyalty. Maybe that's why Jesus called his disciples friends. And it is also striking that it was actually Job's friends who showed up to see Job at his point of distress. Of the many reasons existing, I think God was pretty mad at Job's friends, because they tried to enforce a 'spiritual opinion' on Job instead of genuinely trying to help him in his crisis.

We do that sometimes too. In our misdirected zeal, we sometimes say things that are of no use. We rebuke our friend by blowing our own trumpet of self righteousness. In moments like this, I think God wants us to work together with Him to help our friend out. Anyone can sympathize with someone in a difficult situation, but it takes a good friend to empathize. Others would write off our friend as someone in a hopeless situation, only we can go the extra mile and put ourself in the shoes of our hurting friend and help him or her out.

When people are in wrong, or in some kind of internal conflict, it is natural for them to get defensive. They generally get over-sensitive and tend to mistake even a casual remark, as something that is directed towards them. In this process, we could find them saying something mean and hurtful at us. But remember, you are a friend and not just good company. Right at the moment, you are her/his only confidant. If you're going to turn hostile, you're leaving behind your friend who is in desperate need of you (but ofcourse she will deny that she needs you).

Jesus said that the greatest love a person can show is to die for his friends. That's why He died for his friends when they were yet rebelling against Him. Similarly, genuine friendship sometimes calls for death of self respect. But that's the only way to show real love. The real test of friendship is not in the good times when we're doing stuff together, but when our minds are miles apart. The story of Jesus does not end with his death but in a glorious resurrection, because of the depth of his love. Even today, Jesus is able to win the hearts of many rebels (including me), because of that enduring love.

Never judge your friend, you have no idea what he/she is going through. Love your friend for who she/he is and not for what you want her/him to be. The journey would be long, you may sometimes feel lonely. But no relationship goes anywhere without effort to help each other in times of pain.

C'mon she needs you. Show her your devotion to your friendship and work with God in helping her walk in the light.

With love,
Callie...

Did You Know?

2010-09-24T22:06:00.000-07:00

Provoked..

2010-09-21T08:46:00.000-07:00

Some people are habitual complainers. They try and evade truth and action by raising objections over every trivial matter. If you are in a position of responsibility, such people can really be annoying. However, good leaders ignore them and reproach them only when required.

When faced with a certain crisis, the presence of a bunch of professional grumblers can really push our buttons. Eventually, we resurrect buried anger and pounce on them.

I admire people who can articulate wrong attitude with with insightful insults. Like Jesus called the 'holy hypocrites', "whitewashed tombs". Those are great words, isn't it?

Getting angry is seldom the problem. But getting angry at the point of provocation has consequences.

Simply because, at those times, we tend to speak hastily and act without much thought.

I'm reminded of a story,

History speaks of a guy who had to face a mamooth task of rescuing people from mass slavery and transporting them to a promising place, where they could have a future. The distance between the two places was almost close to 100 kilometres. Under normal cicumstances, this journey would have taken only a month by foot. However, the people this guy had to lead were fussy, uncooperative, ungrateful and negative, so it took them 40 years. No kidding.

At a particular point during their journey they faced with the crisis of water scarcity, and the people start whining again.

In the course of finding a solution, our leader-guy acts prudently at first. He contacts his boss, the greater Leader who's incharge of the whole project, and asks him for directions. Nevertheless he does not follow the exact instructions given to him because he's terribly mad at the people. In view of him being provoked, he overstepped the instructions, causing permanent damage to his leadership career.

The people got their water, but this unparalleled leader had to bear the brunt of his angry reaction. His boss who had always kept him in high regard, gave him a punishment that he would regret for the rest of his life.

We are most likely to be provoked when facing a low. So, it helps to stay away from the trouble makers in those times. Starve your temptation to talk. Hasty words pave way for hasty action. Focus on the problem, and after it is solved, maybe you can call for a mind-piece-giving meeting. Do not do it the other way round.

And now for the story in the original version,

The people cried out to Moses, "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!". Moses cries out to his Master for help, God says "Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water."

Moses was frustrated and fed-up, he looks at his team and says, "Listen up!! rebels..I'll show you, how I can get water from this rock," and, he struck the rock hard twice. The water gushed out, and so did God's anger.

In God's response to Moses, he says, "You didn't trust me enough to honor me..."

A bunch of provoking negative people can destroy the fullness of our trust in God. We begin to react to them, instead of focussing our energy on solving the problem.

I leave you with something to chew on.

If you're facing a low point in your career, relationship, energy levels or health; Get blind to the fingers pointing at you, go deaf at the voices accusing you, and turn away from those discouraging you. It was God's plan to bring water out of the rock (without breaking it) and quench the thirst of the multitude. God has a purpose for all the rocks, in your life too. Pray about the rocks carefully, and find the solution within.

Find the blessing in the lost relationship, the poor health, the painful separation and the change in job roles. Don't strike your rock, don't get provoked and turn bitter towards people. A move that seems stupid to the rest of the world may be the only way to showcase your complete trust on God.

Until next time..

Keep listening........

*References

Numbers 20

No Funeral

2010-09-19T09:44:00.000-07:00

Hi, MMV didn’t have a funeral. It’s alive and well, on its way to take a new avatar.

I’m a scatterbrain, and my thoughts about my blog also began to scatter. So I started 3 other ones but could not proceed further.His Servant’s Voice was not bad though, I managed to scribble some poetry. But the other attempts were dead in my head itself.

There are always two things warring in our life, competing with each other for our energy and attention. One being the have-to-do’s and the other being the want-to-do’s. Writing for me is a want-to-do.

The energy and enthusiasm that drives me towards the have-to-do’s is directly proportional to the energy that I spend on writing. The more I write, the more enthusiastic I am about my job, my studies, my friends, my family and my world.

Don’t neglect what you want to do, just because your responsibilities are mounting. Write that story, paint that potrait, design that dress, cook that meal, publish that website, write that song, create that band, play cricket, and go and meet those friends.

It’s your life, and you wont have another chance to live it. Stop reading this and get going..and hey! no facebook on the other tab.

Before you go, tell me what is that you really want to do, chose to be anonymous if you wish!

The new prayer

2010-04-09T21:59:00.000-07:00

Hi there,

I wanted to pause my writing for a while, to try and figure out how to make my work better and more useful.

I read at-least 10 different books and whole lot of effective blogs, to try and improve my style. At the end of this, I learnt a very valuable lesson.

If you want to work for God. Depend on God. Nothing works better than that.

If He's the Master, then I am the servant. A servant needs to receive an order, fulfill it to the Master's pleasure, and, then wait on Him for his next task. The moment I stop listening to God and obeying commands, all my work amounts to nothing.

When we do certain things for a while, we seem to think "Hey! this comes naturally to me." After some time, it becomes routine. In a while, we become so 'experienced' in our 'calling' that we don't find a need to depend on God. This is where learning stops, and so does real progress.

I badly wanted to take my writing to the next level. Therefore I decided to take a break and wait on God. However, I just ended up doing the contrary. I made God wait. While I was busy working up my own mind; with too much of baseless foresight and wasteful thinking. That is where I got stuck.

All through history, God chose inadequate people to do great tasks. Because, God knew that they would find it easy to depend on Him and follow orders. They won't try to act smart, work on their own and mess up God's perfect plan.

During the past few months, I was deeply wounded by my own thoughts and questions. At the end of a rather very unpleasant ordeal I learnt a new prayer.

"Master, with my abilities, I am always short of Your best. To rely on You, is the only way to perfection."

Will you pray with me?

The King has come

2010-01-05T08:44:00.000-08:00

Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem!

The LORD has taken away your punishment,
he has turned back your enemy.
The LORD, the King of Israel, is with you;
never again will you fear any harm.

Zephaniah 3:14-15

God promises His perpetual joy and security for His people. The world we live in is uncertain, times surprise us unpleasantly, and everything is a risk. But in the midst of all this, God affectionately calls out to His people saying, “Be glad and Rejoice with all your heart”.

When God says "Rejoice"; you better mind it: because is not some cheesy phrase put there, whose effect will wear out with time. God asks you to celebrate because He has reasons. And when you experience the truth of what He has accomplished for you, New Year celebrations don't end with the few days in January.

“he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;” Psalm 103:10-11

We mess up big time. We've done things we should'nt and not done things that we should. In the course of our actions, we put lots of things under strain. Our words, our thoughts, our emotions and our actions ---- everything is bruised.

And we end up having a place inside, where there's so much of guilt piled up, mistakes of the past, and unbroken high places. There's another picture of me that the world sees, but I know, that there's a luggage that I'm always carrying beneath.

And when I am alone, it drains up all my strength. Most of the times, we're just so tired with the amount pretense and masks in our life. We cringe in fear, when we think about the consequences of letting the world have a glimpse of our misery inside.

You started off with zeal, but somewhere down the road, your distractions led you somewhere else. Now you find yourself in a place quite not like something that you can show around. You are drowning inside, realizing how hopeless life can get everyday.

When there's hardly any reason left to survive, God says, “Rejoice”.

That's because His plan for your restoration is already in store. God has scored off your punishment. God says, “You don't have to receive what you actually deserve”.

as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us. - Psalm 103:12

God would at no point, endorse the sinful things in our life and in no way compromise on His stand. Nevertheless, He is not going to leave things the way they are, and abandon us either.

His command to rejoice, is because of His promise for redemption. God's verdict is not going to be life threatening, rather life transforming. The joy of the divine, can replace the suffering of the carnal, if you believe and receive the promise of restoration that He has for you today.

Examine yourself. Recognize the ways in your life that are detestable in God's sight, Repent and Reconcile. Ask Christ Jesus to purify you, so that you can receive the fullness of His promise. We repeat this process so routinely, that now it sounds just like another religious rambling.

God commands us to rejoice, because this is the easy task. He has done the difficult one for us on the cross. We need to receive the power of Christ's forgiveness in every area of our life continually.

I would like to quote Selwyn Hughes, "In John 13:10, Jesus said to His disciples, "A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet". You may have indeed experienced repented fully at your conversion, but daily contact with the world, the love of self, and tactics of the enemy means that you need to have Jesus "wash your feet". Repentance is a daily attitude."

I have to repent of my sin, my slackness, my indifference and my willful overstepping of God's commands. We don't have to carry this burden for yet another year. We can boldly approach God's throne of grace, and ask of Him to give us the joy He promised.

The punishment threatening your life, and the enemy with his plan of destruction is no longer there. The presence of everything dangerous and harmful has been replaced with the strength and security of your King. Maybe the crafty serpent wriggled into your life and swallowed up your peace and joy.

But now the Sovereign Lord reigns is in your midst, preserving your life from all harm and giving your enemy a run for his life.

Be glad and rejoice with all your heart.

Happy New Year! :)

On the way to Damascus

2010-01-03T04:57:00.000-08:00

(This entry is inspired by the Word of God spoken on 31st December 2009 at Philadelphia Church Villivakkam)

He had just finished overseeing the murder of a Christian martyr, and was not satisfied. He was still planning threats and murder against the disciples of Christ.

"circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless. "- Philippians 3:5-6
Paul was proud of his ancestry, being born in the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews. He also believed that being a Pharisee, he belonged to a group that was highly devoted to preserving the Word of God.

Paul's place of birth - Tarsus, was home to one of the best universities of the times. In addition, to his Roman citizenship; without doubt, he would have experienced world-class education.

When his Hebrew faith was threatened by a group of followers of Jesus, Paul was not content being an arm-chair revolutionary. Instead, he sprung into action. He chalked out a systematic persecution plan, and began implementing it religiously.

When it came to legalistic righteousness, he was also totally faultless. If the Law condemned him about something, he would offer a sacrifice and clear it up. He tried in every way to walk upright before the Law.

Paul had the best in the world, he was educated, successful, and highly respected. He was also zealous about God. Paul thought that his life was perfect.

He was a passionate and focussed man. And now, he was on his journey to another success target - to arrest the Christian fugitives who had taken refuge in Damascus. "Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord" - Acts 9:6
But what he didn't know was, that his plan was just about to change. As he was approaching Damascus, a light from heaven flashed around him, and God gave Paul his new mandate, "Get up and enter the city, and it will be told what you must do". [Acts 9:1]

A guy, once with dangerous intentions, now moves into Damascus to be filled with Holy Spirit and get baptized.

Through these years, you would have probably acquired lots of things that make you proud. Accumulated wealth, a couple of credentials on your resume, a list of flashy achievements, honor in the society, and a near perfect life. Like Paul, you're just pursuing one target after the other.

But all you need, is a light from heaven, and a Word from God, to change the course of your life.

You're probably stepping into your next phase, with an agenda in mind. When you meet with God on your way, your assignment, your perspectives, your focus and your passion will change forever.

All the influences on your life, has probably given you an identity. The whole world, recognizes you that way. Saul, was an intellectual, go-getter, and a heartless persecutor. But God did not see him that way. God saw Saul as the carrier of traits essential to make disciples of the nations. When God saw Saul, God saw His plan.

Many of us have become what the world expects of us. With time, we're given various labels. God does not care about the labels. He knows the person you, and He knows the real life for which He lent His breath.
To hear God's Word, was an unlikely event those days. Today, you have an opportunity to hear God's Word through so many ways. It is yours for the asking.

Probably you're walking earthwards; meeting with God, can move you heavenwards.

"Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus. " Acts 9:8

It feels the same sometimes, we would receive God's Word and His promise for the year, yet we cringe in darkness and stagger forward, placing each step in fear and doubt. When it seems like you are blindfolded, and walking a rocky path. Don't worry, things may seem hazy for a while. But God has placed his resources out there, to safely lead you from your point of blindness to your point of revelation.

There, God will restore your physical sight, and bring to light the vision for your life. All you need is to receive God's Word in your life today, and commit yourself to obey without restraint.

God's Word changed a man who went from place to place murdering Christians, to a man moving across nations, building people's lives and turning them to Christ.

All of us are on our way to Damascus, with an agenda in mind. We need God's intervention, and the direction of His Word at this point.

Do you want to receive that encounter today ?

God is waiting...

Eucharistia..

2010-01-01T18:00:00.000-08:00

"But as for me, I would seek God, and I would place my cause before God; Who does great and unsearchable things, Wonders without number." Job 5:8,9

I've always 'known' that God knows me. 2009 was a year when I experienced the reality of that truth in my life.

"The Lord is good, a Strength and Stronghold in the day of trouble; He knows (recognizes, has knowledge of, and understands) those who take refuge and trust in Him." (Nahum 1:7)

Everyone has an unsearchable part in life. Tucked deep within, safe from the external. The things you long for spring forth from this 'restricted' area of our personality.

Though this is the strongest part of your personality, the tugs and pulls of the world are stronger enough, to push these desires to the back seat and turn your focus on things called, 'priorities'.

This year, I was so worked out, and emotionally exhausted working on my 'priorities'. I was thankful to God about many things, but consistently longing for something more. I was so moved when God showed up in most unusual ways defending my desires.

It was His way of saying, "Daughter, I have searched you and I know you". ^a

And I tell my Master in return,

"Who am I, O Sovereign LORD, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? ... What more can I say? You know what I am really like, Sovereign LORD.

For the sake of your promise and according to your will, you have done all these great things and have shown them to me." ^b

I pray to strive harder in the years ahead, to seek my Master in a way He desires, and fulfill the desires of His heart.

Eucharistia.

a Psalm 139:1

b 2 Samuel 7:18-29

Merry Christmas ! :)

2010-01-01T01:43:00.001-08:00

You and I know the significance of Christmas in our lives. We’ve heard it so many times, and we experience the privilege every moment. I thank God for that.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3:16

Christmas is the message of love, reconciliation and joy. It is the message of hope to the dying world. True….

But for you and me, who already know the Way, the Truth and the Life. Christmas is more than that.

Christmas is a challenge set before us.

On Christmas, God moved the supernatural like never before, so that He can come to man’s rescue. The birth of Christ was a radical move that changed man’s destiny forever.

God stepped out. He stooped down.

He became one with man, so that man will trust Him, through which He can save him. What an awesome God!! What an incredible plan!!!

Christ left His glory, His majesty and splendor to be born among us. His mission was accomplished. Today, through His life, He lets us to be reborn, so that we can accomplish God’s vision for the rest of the world. That’s Christmas.

If we are overwhelmed about Christ’s sacrifice, we ourselves need to be ready to surrender to sacrifice. That’s Christmas, and that’s the challenge.

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.” – John 15:16

True, many of us have ordinary lives. But the part we forget, is that, no matter how ordinary it is. It always has an extraordinary goal attached to it.

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”-

2 Corinthians 4:7

Unfortunately, instead of focusing on our goals, we are preoccupied with meeting our needs, which is infact taken care of by God.

“So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.” Matthew 6:31-32

Its time we get out of our comfort zones, out of our own glories, and step out, just like Christ did on Christmas. Being wrapped in swaddling clothes, or being born in a lowly manger, did not deny His Kingship. God did not stoop down because He gave up, but because He was about to proclaim victory.

I believe that we have arrived at a point in our world’s lifetime, where each of us has to make a radical move to make a difference in our place of calling. We need to go that extra mile, to build relationships, meet people at the point of their need, and turn their lives to Christ.

“For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory.” 2 Timothy 2:10

I am not a person with a great evangelistic zeal, I don’t have many Christ-like qualities. I have not led any to Christ. But this Christmas, I want to take this challenge.

I pray that God enables me stretch my potential, enlarge my boundary, build relationships, fill my love tank and make a difference in the world around me. I am going to spend the few days before 2010 prayerfully considering ways that I can do this.

The world’s clock is ticking fast. We need to be laboring hard. People need to recognize us as people of faith and action. We need to let God work in us and through us. We need to kill the tendencies of mediocrity and strive to give God the BEST.

We keep the Christ-Centered Christmas to ourselves, and let the world enjoy their own versions. Shouldn’t this change ?

We celebrate Christmas because Christ completed His assignment. When we pursue our assignment, the rest of the world can celebrate Christmas too.

Can we take the Christmas Challenge together ?

Merry Christmas.

Love
Callie.

My sister has a post on Christmas as well, drop in at Nothing but a lovely life!

Ruined Houses

2010-01-01T01:42:00.001-08:00

My alarm rings at 5:00 in the morning. My hands anxiously search for the mobile phone all over the bed. I find it either under my pillow or under the bed. I thank the creator of the snooze button and go back to sleep. It rings again at 5:15 am and then at 5:30. From now on, it is no longer an alarm to my ears…. its music.

A loud bang rings… this time it is not the alarm, but my head, and I wake up with a start. I stare at the clock glaring at my face. It is 7:00 am; I’ll just have time to finish my morning routine. I jump out of the bed….

I mumble a careless prayer, that hardly lasts for 3 minutes and read my bible portion in a glance, and then I hurry my way to work.

I’m sitting on a bus and I can’t remember a thing…just what did I read today morning? ….no clue!! So, I take my bible from my bag to help me recollect. I try to memorize a few verses, so that I can meditate through the day. The chill breeze blows on my face…and puts me to sleep. With the bible in my hands, I close my eyes. I finally awake, when it’s just time to get off the bus.

My day is almost over, and I realized that I’ve exceeded my clock hours. I walk out of the building and am on the way to the bus stop. My ears are plugged with my ipod, blaring loudly my favorite Christian Rap. I suddenly realize that I don’t remember what I read in the Bible today morning.

After a rather unpleasant ordeal, I finally find a place to sit in the bus. My ipod is still plugged in my ears. I have every intention to take my bible and read, but my eyes are too tired. I had a stressful day after all. Besides, I need some diversion. I continue listening to Toby Mac. And when he sings, “I need some time with God, and a mental vacation”, I cringe in guilt. I promise myself to spend some quiet time with God the moment I reach home.

I am finally at home. I pounce at food. If you look at me eating dinner, you’d think I’ve been starving. While I am eating, I need some diversion. I browse through my facebook page, lazily looking at the photos of my friends. (My eyes are not tired now!!)

I’m done with food now, and every single cell in my body starts crying out in exhaustion. I need sleep. What about my quiet time? Hey, c’mon you can’t pray and listen to the Master’s voice when you are tired; you’ll doze off. Its better I get some sleep and postpone my quiet time for tomorrow morning.

I set the alarm for 5:00 am.

You don’t have to be a prophet to tell what would happen tomorrow.

There were people like me in Bible times too. People like me, who resolved to rebuild the temple of God, as soon as they returned to Jerusalem. They were determined to return to God his rightful place in their lives.

But shortly after their arrival in Jerusalem, things changed. They laid the foundations for the new temple. But the Persian king ordered the work on the temple to cease.

Later the barriers were lifted by another king. But even then, the people lapsed into spiritual lethargy. They were not idolaters, but they had lost their early passion for the worship of the living God.

And just like me, their excuse was, ‘The time has not yet come for the LORD’s house to be built.’ (Haggai 1:2)

While they didn’t have time to build God’s house, they had all the money and the resources, to build homes that rivaled that of the kings. And God asked them, “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house(God’s House) remains a ruin?” (Haggai 1:4 emphasis added)

God asked me this question too.

When we say that we are the temple of God. It does not stop with God just staying in us, sitting in our hearts and looking around. It means that God considers our lives to be a source of His comfort. He wants to confide with us. He has a heart that He wants to share. But we are usually caught up with our own priorities, building our own houses, decorating our own imagination, and living our own fantasy.

Today we do too many things at once. We’re running everyday, working against time and we’re infact not living, but racing our lives. Quiet times, have become a thing of the past. When we read the works of great men and women of God, we shrug and say, “They have no clue about life today”. To add to our slothfulness, we now have Christian leaders, proposing 2 minute devotions and quick prayers for busy people. Pitiful indeed.

God’s message to the Israelites was, “Consider your ways!” I guess, that’s the same message to us as well. Most of our habits and activities make no sense to God, and we’d slowly realize that all our preoccupations finally take us nowhere.

“You have planted much, but have harvested little.

You eat, but never have enough.

You drink, but never have your fill.

You put on clothes, but are not warm.

You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” (Haggai 1:6)

Today, we have many attractive man-made principles of faith. Principles that have the audacity to limit the powerful works of an awesome God to some repetitive utterances assumed to be “authority from God”. But our Savior proclaimed the only true principle central to our faith.

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33)

We don’t need quiet times to win God’s favor. God does not evaluate our lives by the lengths of our prayer or scripture reading portion. But He longs to make Himself known to us through these quiet times. Quiet times are for us to know God and understand His voice.

The more, I denied myself some time alone with God. The more I felt miserable. It was then that I realized, that spending some private time with God, enables me to see more of Him and less of myself in every situation that arises through the day.

Most of the times, we don’t move away from God because of some shameful sin. We just starve our hearts without Scripture and prayer and ruin God’s house. Spiritual lethargy is how we get separated. Consequently, the sweetest communion of all gets wrecked.

“Oh the pure delight, of a single hour

That before, thy throne I spend

When I kneel in prayer

And with thee my Lord,

I commune as friend in friend”

God did not reconcile with man, through His paramount sacrifice on the cross, so that He can manage to have 5 minutes in our busy schedule.

God sacrificed everything so that He can live in me and reach out through me.

Will my sacrifices be any harder?

Have we left His house in ruin ?

YokeBreaker Sessions – Exploring Sexuality as God created it

2010-01-01T01:41:00.000-08:00

Our sexuality is our complete expression of maleness or femaleness. Our sex is determined by God, but how we express our sexuality is a decision that we make.

Unfortunately, the world provides us with way too many opportunities, to get our sexuality assaulted. Remember, sexuality is the way we express ourselves, so it is we who are accountable, when there’s an assault on it.

Wounded Sexuality

You’ve gotten into what seemed like an innocent friendship but then started becoming emotionally dependent on the person. Emotional Dependency is a bait. When you become emotionally dependent on a member of the opposite sex, you become vulnerable to manipulation and injury.

You speak to a person of the opposite gender and you find him or her extremely understanding. Consequently, you feel very comfortable sharing your problems with him. Slowly, your conversations start becoming very personal and you start complaining about your family and your friends to him.

He doesn’t criticize you, he tells you that you are the best, he tells you that you don’t have to change for anybody. He asks you to go for what you want, and not bother about the others. You are encouraged, and the next time you are in pain, the first person you think of is him. You want to run to him and share your sorrow with him. If you can’t speak with him, you feel miserable, and you are desperate. Your communication with your family, friends and others gets totally cut down and the only person you want to express yourself to, is him.

This is emotional dependency. As a matter of fact, emotional dependency is exciting in the beginning. It feels all very magical. You begin to feel that the guy or girl is a godsend. But what you don’t realize is that, in the process of getting emotionally dependent, your sexuality gets wounded. You allow your emotions to be controlled by the person of the opposite sex. You talk in secret, and then lie in public. When you are chatting long hours, or sometimes late hours, your conversation slowly drifts towards talking unnecessary, offensive stuff.

Slowly, you begin to change yourself for the person concerned, many girls become anorexic, to impress their boyfriends with their size zero figures. And many guys, devour their parents’ pockets to gift their girls with things, they believe could sweep them off their feet.

Its not always necessary that you need to be emotionally dependent on a single person to get your sexuality wounded. Using perverse language, the constant urge to keep talking to people of the opposite sex, are all symptoms of wounded sexuality.

In addition, to this, visiting porn websites, reading offensive literature, watching vulgar cinema (Do we have good cinema today ?), and all of this are deadly weapons that assault our sexuality.

Prolonged emotional dependency on a person, would lead you to do anything for him. You can’t tolerate, if he ignores your call, or if he scolds you for something. I’ve heard a story of a girl who sent 500, “I am sorry” messages to her boyfriend, because she missed taking his call. You begin to believe that he’s the only reason you’re alive. You can’t think of a life apart from him. You dress the way he wants, you jeopardize other relationships, and you change your entire self for his sake.

Diseased Sexuality

If you don’t take care to treat your sexuality while its being wounded, it goes to the next stage of getting diseased. This is the stage of addiction. You are addicted to porn, perverse language, flirting, or to the one guy or girl of your dreams.

The addiction that you have for the boy or the girl can be so damaging that you can even lose yourself in the process. Whether you are a guy or a girl; when you allow yourself to get physically defiled, it gets your spirit, soul and body diseased.

It is not only a physical assault that can get your sexuality diseased. Getting intensely attached to a person, that you just can’t stay away, even if it means risking the love of your parents, your hard earned career, your education or sometimes your ambition; even this is a symptom that your sexuality is diseased.

Dead Sexuality

Sadly, in this stage, the person has no control over his or her desires. The state when you have no control over your expressions, your insane drive to fulfill your sensualities. This is dead sexuality. And this is the most deadly assault on your sexuality.

Amidst all this noise, the Master has a voice. A sexuality that belongs to God.The sexuality created by God.

The Holy Sexuality.

God created us holy and pure, and he expects us to preserve our sexuality in the same way. Remember, when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, ” then the eyes of them both were opened and they knew that they were naked.” When our sexuality is disturbed, we will allow ourselves to compromise with sin. Opportunities that drive our impulse, will begin to chase us.

Most importantly, our sexuality has to be kept holy so that we can bring forth a Godly offspring after holy matrimony.

God gives us many gifts, that He intends us to open after Holy Matrimony.

They are

1) Covenant Love

2) Intimacy

3) Sex

4) Children

5) Celebration

The gifts have to be opened and experienced in the exact same order. Many married lives, don’t have the gift of celebration, just because they opened the other gifts before their holy matrimony.

What I’ve written above, is what I’ve been taught.

But, if I have to share with you what I have experienced, all of it is nothing but the Grace of God. For, I do not have a Master who is unable to sympathize with my weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way, just like me, but was without sin.{Hebrews 4:15}

When I look back, and wonder how I’ve been able to be safe, It was not my “righteous” decisions rather it was the faithful Master who kept me safe by His Grace.

There’s a war on our sexuality. The devil wants to defile it and believe me, we cannot handle it by ourselves, we need the strong arms of Jesus. I have been saved of so much of unnecessary tears and emotional trauma, not because of my self control, but because of the love of God. It was a simple, childish prayer I said, 9 years ago, “God, I have wasted 13 years of life already, please accept me into your fold.”

Ever since, the Master Shepherd has been passionately taking care of me, and preserving my sexuality. I can firmly testify. there is no miracle more powerful than salvation. And no refuge greater than an absolute surrender to the Master.

YokeBreaker Sessions – Honoring Parents

2010-01-01T01:40:00.002-08:00

I smiled sarcastically, when I read this session’s topic. C’mon! this one can’t be for me.

My strategy with parents has been very simple, “Shut up and nod your head”. Then take your complaints to God. Argue with Him, fight with Him, and throw your tantrums before Him. He’ll listen; He’ll wait till the fumes subside, and then He’ll show me where I am wrong. Sometimes, when I have messed up real bad, He’ll take me in His arms, and help me face the music.

I love my folks, and I’ve poorly described the effect that they have on my life, in the posts, “My Maker as my Mother” and “Celebrating my DaDs”. But frankly speaking, I have my share of complaints and frustrations too.

In this YokeBreaker session, my Master told me something about myself that I never knew.

In the parable of the prodigal son, I have always identified myself with the prodigal son, because I have my own personal story of eating the pig pods, and then running back to the Master’s arms.

But this time I saw myself in a different light. I wasn’t the rebellious prodigal son, I wasn’t the son who ran away breaking my father’s heart, I wasn’t the spendthrift who wasted all my father’s money on some wild fascinations.

I was the good, obedient son who remained with my father, working for him in his fields, and following all his orders.

It wasn’t my wayward brother’s return that hurt me. I was happy too, to see him back alive. But that’s when I realized that I wasn’t being recognized. Yeah! that’s the point.

No matter; how good I am, the need and the expectation to be recognized and appreciated keeps growing within. And at one point it shows its face. The guy in the parable felt his shot, when his father arranged a feast for his younger brother.

For me, it could be anything else. But it all drills down to this..

Do they recognize my efforts?

Do they realize, that it’s not just them, but I have made sacrifices too?

To this, I heard the Master’s Voice, “My son, you are always with me and everything I have is yours.”

I felt foolish and dumb. When God had an eternal inheritance in store, I was looking for a goat.

Maybe, you’re looking at yourself and your eyes are all blinded from seeing the good things your parents have invested in your lives. And all that you can see is that you have become hybrid robots, aping them, obeying them and losing yourself. Believe me, your parents are not in control of your life, neither has God given the controls to them. God is in total control.You are not living to fulfill their desires, you are fulfilling God’s dreams.

A deep transformation took place in the heart of the prodigal son, so his focus changed and he sought to honor his father. This transformation, was something that the good son missed.

Honoring parents’ is not an action, it is a lifestyle. Out of the ordinary, we can’t get into this lifestyle. We need God to help us honor our parents in all seasons.

It is painful when parents are pushy, unrealistic and offend our emotions with their thoughtless words. It is hard to honor parents, when we know that they’re messing up big time. When your temper and tongue reaches critical threshold levels…

Whisper this prayer, “God, I wish I could give them a piece of my mind, but You do that for me….I’ll just go ahead and do what they want…”

Every time you pray this prayer, God has this to say to you, “My son, you are always with me and everything I have is yours.”

YokeBreaker Sessions – The power of Revelation

2010-01-01T01:40:00.001-08:00

But why is the Word of God important?

The LORD continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word. 1 Samuel 3:21

That’s what God’s Word does to our lives. It reveals God Himself.

We read God’s Word for encouragement, direction, comfort and people like me, to fill blog entries It’s time we realize that the primary reason God has given us His Word, is so that He may reveal Himself to us. Every other purpose is secondary.

Have we realized this?

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, John 1:1

When we received Christ Jesus as the Lord of our life, we were precious infants in the hands of God. With a musical babble, long spans of peaceful sleep, hands in our mouth, drooling all the time, throwing little tantrums, kicking the air with our chubby legs and clinging really tight to the Father’s arms. God gave us the right to become His children. He was a beaming with a large smile. He looked with pride and said, “That’s my child”!

The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast. Genesis 21:8

Isaac was a long awaited son for Abraham; however, he did not feast on his son’s birthday; instead, on the day his son was weaned from milk. Abraham chose to celebrate his son’s growth rather than his son’s birth.

God does enjoy our babyish exertions. But He celebrates when He see His children grow up. All along; He does not want to see an infant who can’t understand what He speaks rather he desires to see a grown up victorious young son or daughter to whom He can say, “Come, inherit my riches”.

He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. Revelation 21:7

The revelation of God in our lives retains us in holiness. For spiritual growth, being holy is indispensable. Without holiness, no one can see God.

How does the revelation of God keep us Holy?

It helps us to overcome.

I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one. I John 2:14

It gives us clarity so that we won’t be deceived.

until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature…Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Ephesians 4:14

It gives us the Grace of God.

God’s grace is very different from His mercy.

Imagine, a motorist speeding at 100 km/hr on a city road in Chennai. He meets with a tragic accident, and is bleeding to death. An ambulance passes there by chance, and seeing the guy battling for his life, rescues him. He is treated and he gets his life back, but of course, with his share of bruises, fractures, and paralyzing pain.

This kind of rescue is mercy.

But the revelation of God in our life rescues us through Grace.

Imagine if the motorist had his path diverted and never met with an accident, he would now have his life, without bruises and pain. In Grace, there are no injuries; Grace redirects our roads to the right destination.

Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. Hebrews 2:18

The revelation of God will ensure His intrusion for the sake of our prosperity, protection and peace.

Abram fought against the kings who invaded Sodom and Gomorrah and captured his nephew Lot. He pursued them along with 318 of his trained men and recovered all the goods and rescued Lot as well. After Abram returned, the king of Sodom went out to meet him.

But before this could happen, Melchizedek, the king of Salem and the priest of God Most high intruded. He met Abram, brought out bread and wine, and blessed him.

This intrusion, gave Abram a revelation.

So, when the king of Sodom came out to meet Abram and offered him riches; Abram said, “I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the thong of a sandal”.

The intrusion of the High Priest can prevent us from touching the things of Sodom.

Next time, I hold my Bible in my hands, I am going to set aside, all my childish wants and needs and ask God to reveal Himself through the words inspired by the Spirit.

It is exciting to know that God is eager to enlighten His children about Himself.

What a loving Father we have!! A Father whose greatness cannot be fathomed, but yet longs to manifest Himself to His children.

FAQs

How much of the Bible should I read everyday ?

We can’t put a rule there, because physical appetites vary and so does spiritual appetite. Your reading of God’s Word is proportional to the hunger you have. The question here is not how much of the Bible can I read, but you need to work on growing your appetite. Babies don’t eat much, but young warriors need much food for a constant supply of energy. It is healthy to have a good appetite. And make sure that you don’t get yourself spiritually anorexic.

Sometimes, when I read a Scripture something like an inspiration rises within me and I feel led towards a particular direction. How do I know if it is from God and not my own ?

Ask God to confirm it. When God wants to take you in a particular direction, He will confirm it in many ways that you can recognize immediately. But you need to make sure that you are sensitive to His voice. Robert Murray, the Scottish preacher of deep piety and prayer used to say, “When you are reading a book in a dark room, and come to a difficult part, you take it to a window to get more light. So take your Bibles to Christ.”

Excerpts of other sessions coming soon!!!

My tummy’s call

2010-01-01T01:37:00.000-08:00

I heard my stomach growl

A shot of pain struck my head
My legs could only crawl
I didn’t know where I was going
But I kept moving on.

I reached a place where I could sit
And gobbled up all the food I could get.
And then I looked at my belly and said,

“You’re way too cruel man
You shouldn’t have treated me like that
Just to fulfill your hungry demands”

That’s when I heard my digestive tunes,
Tell the truth in full command.

“We saw what you did to your soul
When everything was in your control.
No food, No water.
And the pain you caused her.

You dumped her place with filth and foul matter
She struggled for air,
And sobbed lonely tears of despair
You froze her senses,
Just to fulfilled your immature pretenses,

A careless prayer was all you mumbled,
A perverse swear and a powerful grumble,
An arrogant mind.
And a trend in fashion.
A worthless ambition.
A Godless destination.

Now you complain,
That life’s a strain.
You’re totally depressed
And fuming out your stress

Every where you turn,
Your dreams have all been burned.
And then you point on HIGH,
Shouting, “WHERE’S MY REPLY ?”

I wonder if you are crazy;
You know that you have to eat,
when you’re head goes dizzy.
Don’t you know WHERE TO GO?
When your life’s all messy ?

Jesus is your Saviour
Only He gives life to your soul
Surrender to Him
And give Him total control

He knows the secret
And the guilt within
Yet, HIS LOVE is too powerful
To stay away from your sin

What He did on that Cross,
You thought was great history
But if you accept, believe and confess
Baby, It’ll change your destiny.”

Before I could burp,
I bowed my head to say;
I’m sorry,
I promise that its with You, Jesus that I will forever stay.

Are you in power ?

2010-01-01T01:36:00.000-08:00

Do not withhold good from those who deserve it
when it’s in your power to help them. – Proverbs 3:27

I read this portion and thought to myself, “Okay! I’ll feed the hungry and dress the poor once my cash gets fat” and then I said to myself, “Better than that! if I become a CEO, I’ll start this really big charity and be merciful to all, ‘coz that’s what this verse is all about….when I’m in power I’ll do good”

After a while, the goody good righteous thoughts took back seat and my imagination took me for a ride on a flashy white merc which would definitely be my first indulgence if I ever get some heavy cash.

I smiled to myself and eventually, captain imagination descended to planet earth and I realized that I was sitting inside a crowded public transport bus traveling back home after work.

A middle aged lady entered the bus, she looked like she had a bad day at work. She climbed in and leaned on the supporting pole beside me and asked if I could hold her bag. I took her bag and looked up to have a closer look , her haggard and fatigued face was trying to tell that she would collapse any moment . I could almost hear the cells in her body scream in pain.

I did something silly after that, I looked at her abdomen, to see if she was pregnant. Ok! I was safe, she was not a senior citizen, and not an expectant mother; so even if I don’t give her a place , no one would call me heartless.

Suddenly I remembered the verse that I just read,

” Do not withhold good from those who deserve it
when it’s in your power to help them. – Proverbs 3:27 “

My Master was just about to teach me a great lesson.

Power is not what I imagined to be, not that high throne with a crown on my head.

In this case, the power was my physical strength, and the seat that I was happily seated was the good that I could do. And the drained out woman was certainly someone who deserved my comfortable seat that was in my power to give.

Many times we attribute power to possessions and position. These are the things that we tend to acquire because of power.This is not power by itself. Power is the innate potential God has placed within each of us, which He enables us to use, groom and build upon. Hold on to your power, not the things that come as a result of power.

Jesus held on to His power and authority as the Son of God but used it for the salvation of mankind. The only difference was that; in this case, we never deserved it. Yet He did good.

The power in you is unique, special and is very important for those around you.Use your power to empower , encourage and withhold not good from those who deserve it. Sometimes, those who really deserve good may not be the exact kind you have in mind. Take a moment to look intently and identify opportunities to be a blessing.

As for the lady, I gave her my seat. She was extremely happy to sit and dozed off to sleep instantly.Man!! she was really tired.

And I stood there leaning on the pole, smiling to myself thinking about my fancy white merc.

My Wish-list for "My Master's Voice"

2009-09-13T07:16:00.000-07:00

My Master's Voice is 1 year and 7 months old. I did'nt have a plan or a goal when I started blogging,as a matter of fact I did not even intend to write consistently. But each time I birthed a piece,a satisfaction filled my heart and it was for this fulfillment that I came back again and again and continued writing.

I have written when I was angry, sad, grateful,happy, sick, hungry, excited, lonely, sleepy, grumpy.....and each entry has a behind the scenes story to tell.

However, the most powerful creative force was the Word of God. I've tried hard, and most of the times in vain, to try and convey the power of God's Word through my stuff, but somehow I have always fallen short.

I've had few loyal visitors to my place(mainly because they had no choice!!!! coz' I wud bombard their mailbox :-) ), some encouraged me directly and many indirectly. I am thankful to all.And even to all those readers who probably landed here by mistake.Because when I go through the analytics statistics, it kinda feels nice when I see occasional traffic from different places.

I realize that I am a terrible amateur and am working everyday to improve the clarity and completeness of my content.But when it comes to being used by God, talent and skill takes second place. His call and anointing is primary.And I am praying and believing for more strength and power in this direction.Please pray for me.

I don't know if My Master's Voice has helped anyone, but it sure has helped me. I have learned to listen more deeply to His voice and by recording the lessons learnt, I have a constant check on my spiritual life.My walk with my Master has truly become more meaningful.

I have been praying about a few new things that I want to venture into, and I want to share my wish-list with you.

1)Poetry - Lyrics.
2)Short Stories - Contemporary with a biblical backdrop.
3)Series on Proverbs.
4)Short interviews.
5)Tough issues such as Addiction,Abuse,Sex, Addiction, Pornography, etc.
6)Topical Studies.

God has given me a career to take care, and I am also juggling with higher studies.Seriously, I don't have the luxury of time.But there's one thing that I am counting on and that is God's heart. The more I stay connected, the more easily will the thoughts and words flow.That way, I wont have to spend much time thinking about content,coz' I have the Source.

I have a long way to go. And I do have dreams, but they're totally insignificant in the light of His desires. Its a privilege by itself, just to be able to live for God.

A small piece of advice before I finish, if you have something like a talent that you want to use for God, just go ahead and use it, don't wait for a stage, and don't expect that people would appreciate you and support all your efforts.

Ask God for the resources and find comfort in His Word.You may not be in the top list right away, but that is no reason to give up. Perseverance is the key.Be consistent, and always keep a check on your motives. Doing right things with wrong motives won't help you qualify God's standards. Be sensitive to the stirs of the Holy Spirit and obey without restraint.Keep your instruments consecrated. Ask for criticisms and accept them.

Make a discerning decision about whom you want to have as an inspiration, and imitate some of their good practices.

And always remember that in all the talents that you exhibit, don't build your image, rather build the Kingdom of God.The driving force behind all your endeavors must be, "He must become greater and I must become less important" - John 3:30

Sorry for becoming preachy!!, I am just trying to be mindful of your blessing [Galatians 6:10].

Believe that you'll thoughtfully pray for me.

Drop in a message!

Be Blessed. Be a Blessing!!

Love,
Callie

On who's side are you leaning on..?

2009-09-05T06:57:00.000-07:00

The kernel thought for this entry is from the book"Be a people person - By John C.Maxwell".I've added a few modifications and some emphasis, the colored lines are those picked verbatim from the book.

Is there a challenge set before you to face ?
Is trouble holding you hostage ?
Is there a huge army waiting to wage a war against you ?
Are you endeavoring with all your might for a breakthrough ?

You are God's anointed and you operate in the strength and power of God.You have seen God's hands work miraculous wonders through you and in you, and when you remind yourself of your past victories, you begin to believe more stronger that you'll see success this time as well.

A great confidence booster is a personal victory list of past successes and achievements. This is a biblical concept which we can learn from two Bible characters who practiced this: Samson and David.

Both of them were very successful in the things that they were doing.Samson defeated the Philistines in all his encounters and David proved himself to be a brave shepherd.

But note what their success did to them.

In Judges 16:20 we read: "And she[Delilah] said, 'The Philistines are upon you, Samson!'And he awoke from his sleep and said,'I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.'But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him.'

Now let's read about David in 1 Samuel 17:37: "And David said,'The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.' And Saul said to David, 'Go, and may the Lord be with you."

The strong similarities between these two men were that

They were both chosen, ordained and anointed by God.
They both were leaders of Israel at a time when Israel was battling against the Philistines.

But it was something about what their successes did to them that made Samson a loser and David a victorious king.

Samson wanted to please himself, he used the resources given by God to fulfill his lust and his own desires.

When a new challenge was set before him , he was so alienated from God that he was on the lap of Delilah. He lived life in the flesh, depending on his own strength, and the evidence of his past successes when he was going into battle.He felt no need to rely upon God and therefore chose the road to ultimate defeat.

His desire was not to please God with what was given to him rather to use it for his own benefit.

Unlike Samson, David desired to please God.When the challenge to defeat Goliath was set before him, he proclaimed his victory list by giving God the glory.He knew that, left to his own resources, he was already defeated.So he called upon the Lord and went to battle with divine help.The rest is history.

For David, this episode with Goliath was the beginning of his leadership.It was the incident that brought him to a position where God could greatly use him.

We need to be victorious in everything we do and every battle we face.That's God's desire too. God gives us a few victories to see what we are doing with it.If we are using every promotion, every new blessing and every level up for His honor. He will give us a victory that will put us in a position where He can use us mightily and honor us greatly.

But if we're going to use your successes on yourself, we'll have to live a long mediocre life satisfying our ego by talking about our past.

Its time we ask ourselves,

What have we done with our past successes ?

Have our successes made us so self seeking that we are now resting on Delilah's lap ?

Do we remember that we see success only by His strength, and no one is self-made ?

How do we chose to face the challenge set before us today ?

Have we realized our inadequacy ?

Let us move forward, face the challenge, fight the battle for His glory by relying on His strength. Then we'll always be on the winning side.

The REAL REASON

2009-08-30T01:26:00.000-07:00

For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, says the Lord.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:8-9

I usually remind myself of this promise whenever I go through a period of confusion or disappointment. When there's nothing worthwhile on the surface and when I am experiencing a season of fruitless labor, it is encouraging to dwell on the thought that God is working on the background preparing something that I could even never dare to ask.

I say this , I sing this , I pray this , I believe this and I feel a lot better.

Recently, I was very happy about the way things were taking shape in my life and felt pampered by God. Eventually, God brought this verse back to my memory.And I learnt a very valuable lesson.

When God gives us something , it is natural to believe that what we have received is an answer to our prayer to fulfill the longing of our heart.

But there is lot more to it.

God's thoughts are higher not only when you are waiting.Maybe your prayer is answered, but God's not finished yet. The apparent purposes of God are not His implied purposes. Certainly, your desires are important to God ; but only if they are in line with His.God's Word accomplishes only that which He pleases and purposes and it shall prosper in the thing for which He has sent it.

God had a beautiful vision in His mind for mankind, when He created Adam and Eve .He blessed them with all the good things that He created and gave them complete power and dominion. If they would have lived for God's desires, the world would have never seen decay.

But because they became victims to fulfill their own desires, they disobeyed God and subject the entire human race under curse and destruction.

In the same way we try to draw selfish plans, centered around our own lives out of the resources that He has graciously given out of His love for us.

Maybe God has given us a gift in the form of a job, a fulfilled desire, a relationship or a breakthrough.Praising God and testifying about His goodness is not enough.

Are we waiting in His presence, asking Him what He wants us to do with the gifts He's given us ? Are we ready to surrender our short term immature desires for the long lasting powerful desires of our Creator God ?

Our responsibility as God's children is not only to desire, believe and receive; But also to pray , understand and be willing to surrender our lives to what our Father wants to do through the many good things that HE has given us.

When I was praying for answers, my intentions were way too lower than the purposes in Your mind. Lord,now you have answered in a way good enough to excite me. But Lord,I want to know what's Your plan for things that You've given me. Teach me to use them in accordance to Your thoughts.Because Your ways are Higher and Your thoughts are Greater.Master, help me find the REAL REASON.

faithful servant

2009-08-08T08:33:00.001-07:00

Not another option

Lord I don't want many open doors

My life is Your breath in action

And it is Your will that I adore

When I look inside to feel

The deep desires in me

Roaring emotions slowly fade

And only the gentle sound of Your heartbeat remains.

Trying to focus,

And struggling to find.

The reason for my life.

Lord, what were your thoughts for me ?

When I was nowhere else but in Your mind.

Your perfect Life

Teaches me how to live and walk

Your selfless Death

Makes me wonder

Why did you care about me so much at all?

Your resurrection my King

Proves your power and dominion

Above all that I behold in awe.

Life goes on here for few years alone.

The rest I spend in an eternity

Irresistible though unknown

With arms open wide

Master you are waiting for me.

To show me my mansion

And Your Glory to reveal

When you behold me in your arms

I want you to say

“Well done faithful servant

You've always known my heart

And obeyed my voice

Even through troubled paths”

In this life Father

My strength will always fail.

Oh Lord, My Master

Let your Grace alone prevail.

Are you losing it right ?

2009-08-04T10:01:00.000-07:00

One king never stood for God, the other king was blameless in his ways and followed God's ways that he even dedicated all the gold and silver vessels to the temple of God. Yet both had to face losses.

One king was looted and the other king suffered loss because he had to pay a huge bribe.

King Rehoboam had an idolatrous life and kingdom.In the fifth year of his reign all the huge treasures in his box was looted away by the Egyptian king Shishak.Rehoboam lost all the wealth of his treasury and assigned bronze shields to replace the stolen gold shields. He never really accomplished anything.His was a fruitless, empty reign.

1 Kings 14:26-27

²⁶ He carried off the treasures of the temple of the LORD and the treasures of the royal palace. He took everything, including all the gold shields Solomon had made. ²⁷ So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and assigned these to the commanders of the guard on duty at the entrance to the royal palace

King Asa' s life was very different.He put away the male cult prostitutes, removed the idols made by his predecessors Solomon, Rehoboam and Abijam.He even removed Maacah(his mother) from being the queen mother because she had an image made for the goddess Asherah.Asa's heart was blameless and followed the ways of the Lord.

But he too had to part away with all the wealth of his treasuries.He was put in a position where he had to give away all his gold and silver as a bribe to the king of Syria to lure him to severe ties with Asa's persistent troublemaker - king Baasha who captured the city of Ramah in Judah and deployed his troops there.Having received these expensive gifts,the king of Syria makes a treaty with Asa.Baasha seeing the threat posed by the armies of Syria, withdrew his forces from Ramah.

1 Kings 15:18,21-22

¹⁸ Asa then took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the LORD's temple and of his own palace. He entrusted it to his officials and sent them to Ben-Hadad son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, the king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus.

²¹ When Baasha heard this, he stopped building Ramah and withdrew to Tirzah. ²² Then King Asa issued an order to all Judah—no one was exempt—and they carried away from Ramah the stones and timber Baasha had been using there. With them King Asa built up Geba in Benjamin, and also Mizpah.

King Asa reigned securely for 41 years and built the towns of Geba and Mizpah.

Children of God are sometimes led through losses. Financial losses, loss of relationships, loss of honor,loss of health,loss of dreams and sometimes you could even lose very dear and precious things to your heart that you once dedicated to God.

There are times that strike like it did for king Asa where we have to lose and let go of our prized possessions.

But if we are like Asa, passionate about God's commandments, following His ways never compromising with the world,and holding firm to God's Word then even things which seem like a huge loss would result as a blessing in disguise.God uses our losses to weaken our enemy and strengthen our hands to build higher grounds and scale higher peaks.

But there is a question that we need to ask ourselves and an evaluation that we need to make.

Have we placed God as our priority and given Him the rightful place in our lives that we can be 100% sure that He will compensate our loses ?

or like Rehoboam, we in our own compromising lives,have made many 'functional gods' for ourselves and allowed the devil to steal, kill and destroy and eat up our potential ?

And are we now living in a false sense of honor by making bronze shields for ourselves and living out of the nourishment of our own egos and arrogance?

Being a child of God does not guarantee you a no loss life.Sometimes you may see the same losses as everybody else,and sometimes even more.

I don't understand how God works but I do know that He works for good. Just remember if you are hidden in Christ, He has already covered up for you. He is a God of compensation.

But before we claim His promise we need to ask the Holy Spirit to confirm our condition. We need to make sure that we only have God in our altar and nobody or nothing else. We should allow the High Priest to evaluate our status and surrender to His voice when He convicts us.

We can then be sure that the Christ our Lord would lead us not just to build Geba and Mizpah but the Kingdom of God itself.

Are you losing it right ?

A difficult prayer

2009-07-29T10:04:00.000-07:00

(An unorganized random thought)

I think that the greatest satisfaction, one can get in life is to know that you are fulfilling the purposes of God. Though God gets those lives submitted to Him to complete His perfect intentions, somehow the assurance that we are doing God's purposes occur to us very rarely. Atleast that's how it has been for me.

We were not created just to exist. God said that He had plans for us before creating us therefore HE created us only because HE had a reason for that.God has an assignment that He intends to finish through us.

The design of our character, our family circumstances, our finances, our resources, our skills,our friends and personality have been greatly influenced by the plans God has for your life.Plans for your life and plans for theirs.

So if you are looking at somebody else and wondering why you are not having theirs or wondering why they are not having yours, it is simply because our purposes are different.

I think that one of the deceitful strategies of the devil is to make you feel that what you have is no good.To make you feel that your talents, and resources can in no way help you accomplish anything.We therefore get distracted looking at others and instead of using our precious times with the Master, to get closer to His purposes, we pray hard asking for something that we have modeled based on somebody else's life and then attach a meaningless. "if it is your will" tag at the end of it.

God is not bothered about the words, it is the attitude and the heart that matters to Him.

The purposes of God is a complicated thing for me. The apparent purposes are not the implied purposes.Though I long every day to just a get a glimpse of what is in His mind, I guess I still have a very long way to go. However I wont give up.

I believe that God is more eager than me to tell me the things in His mind. But HE knows that I wont understand it, in my present state. So He works on my heart everyday neither slumbering nor sleeping, striving hard to saturate my mind and heart and entire being with His attitude and mind so that I can begin to understand the real purposes of God.

So instead of praying to hear God give his mission statement for me. I need to pray to make me more like Him everyday.

A difficult prayer indeed.

Do you have an answer ?

2009-07-20T12:03:00.000-07:00

Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
Colossians 4:5-7

When we read the newspaper everyday, (I'm learning the habit with a lot of effort). We see different things and glimpse at different worlds. The law made, the law implemented, the law broken we get to read everything in there.

But do we have a Bible based Christian opinion about the things we read in the paper and exposed in the media ?

When two large democracies come together for a strategic partnership, God had the major say in it. Did we, the laborers in the kingdom seek to find out what it is ?

When war causalities rise in different parts of the world, and innocent civilians are killed, Do we spend time with God's word to find out what is God's answer to the pain ? No, we read and proclaim Psalm 91 for our protection.

When new tax , education and other civilian laws are being made, do we look for any precedences in God's Word ? or is our response to it based on majority popular opinion ?

When we read about the decriminalization of homosexuality in India, did we just raise our eyebrows and say, "These are the last days!!" or did we find out why God despises it and what is God's gracious response to them ?

When we read about the Naxal elements isolating certain zones under terror. Did we try to peek into their hearts with the help of the Holy Spirit to understand the reason for their frustration ?

Our eyes readily move, through every bit of the juicy rumours and gossips of the showbiz industry, but after reading and enjoying the whole of it, we make this face and become super righteous judges saying, "These people are living for their own lustful desires!! SHAME ON THEM "

Does it make sense when I say that we need to wait on God to ask Him to show us how to intercede for them ?

I believe that every Christian should have strong Bible Based opinions on every political ,economical ,social and cultural issue. This is a great tool for evangelism.

(I really don't qualify to talk about effective evangelism because I haven't yet led anyone to the Lord completely, but I am convinced in the truth of what I am saying)

It is easy to start a conversation from the day's headlines.When we talk to outsiders , unbelievers, are we taking enough effort to work on our conversations to lead them to an understanding of God's stand on the world He created?

Do we have an answer for everyone ?

When we do, we can lead them to the love of Christ.

Aspiring to read the Newspaper with the Bible in my heart and intercede for the horrifying reality that we live in.

The Master Delayed

2009-07-05T08:27:00.000-07:00

There are a few strands of silver on my head (I never obeyed my mother when when it came to gulping jumbo tea mugs!!). I think its that......or maybe the fact that I am now a graduate who is very conveniently 'occupied'.I don't really know what.....but there's something on my face right now, that makes people think that I can help them make decisions.

Appearances can be deceptive, and so is mine. My mind is always in a state of creative chaos, and before I make a decision, huge tornadoes take over my thinking faculties.

But I have a faithful Master. The slightest disturbance will bend me, but the even the greatest crisis can't break me. His Grace has always been sufficient.

I had an opportunity to speak to a younger girl, a few weeks ago. She was in a fix about her college education. She had decided to discontinue due to family circumstances, and really didn't know what to do next.

She thought I can help her and came to me for some advice.She came up with her problems, and within a few hours, she left my room with a solution.

A few days later, I was in a faith crisis. My prayers were reduced to silent sighs because my heart was filled with so many questions that I could never dare to ask.Doubts certainly make you sink, but they sure can't drive the Master away and my faithful Master came to my rescue.

He made me to recall the counsel that I had given the girl a few days back.The thoughts that were in my head that day rang back.

First, I listened to her situation.As I did so, I started taking mental notes of her limitations.Her personality faults, Her financial constraints, her lack of exposure, her family burdens and all the other things that have made her life so hard.

Second, I started looking around for the various options available for a person of her age and background.

Third, I began to map the options available to the limitations in her life. In another sense, I gave her a solution carved from within the painful circumstances in her own life. She had only this much, so this is all that she can expect for her life.This was my attitude.My solution.

My conscience knew that my solution would not give her the best life,however she could begin to see something immediately. I was more concerned about how fast she can settle in life, than how best she can settle in her life.

Fortunately, my Master's mind is so profound and honorable than my short sight and tunnel vision.

The human mind, is always looking at the finite. Looking for answers within boundaries.But God does not work within our boundaries. He does not give us an answer from our limitations. Rather He works to transform our disadvantages to our greatest assets.

There is something beautiful and perfect in God's design for each of His children. But we mess up allowing the adversary to eat up our potential and sap our energy.Then we allow cobwebs, boulders, thorns and weeds in our beautiful garden. Now, we get on our knees and ask God to help us bring forth a few wild berries, because we believe that that is all we are capable of producing now.

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. John 15:16 [NIV]

But it was the Master who planted the garden.Only He knows the harvest you are capable of producing. Just because you asked, he wont give you just the few wild berries. He'll remove every weed, every rock and thorny bush and push you out of your boundaries and extend your borders and bring forth the huge harvest that He intended.

"Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes." Isaiah 54:2 [NIV]

Nothing in the hands of the Master is ordinary material.

"So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. " 1 Peter 5:6 [NLT]

Waiting times, are not just times when your faith grows and your intimacy with God intensifies.But while you are waiting, it means God is working. He is working on your character, on your family, on your future,on your finances, on the wounds of the past, on the consequences of your wrong choices.......

He is working on His Masterpiece.

While He is working, it is a lot more easier when you are praising instead of grumbling, learning instead of idling, repenting instead of resisting and depending on the Master instead of running after the demands of the world.

" Thank [God] in everything [no matter what the circumstances may be, be thankful and give thanks], for this is the will of God for you [who are] in Christ Jesus [the Revealer and Mediator of that will]. " 1 Thess 5:18 [Amp]

At the end of it, you're not going to get what you asked for, but something more than your imagination.

" I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry."
Psalm 40:1 [NIV]

Do you want a quick fix in your life ?

Or

Do you want the real Masterpiece in you to be revealed ?

WORSHIP , WORK and WAIT.

P.S : You sure are worried about the girl I counseled. God didn't leave her to the mercy of my pathetic counsel. :-) He was her counselor, He intervened in her finances and led her to do a great course beyond all her perceived limitations.

Distracted heart - Fractured Faith

2009-06-28T12:38:00.000-07:00

Sermon Synopsis - 28/06/09

Hebrews 3 :10-11

¹⁰ That is why I was angry with that generation,

and I said, 'Their hearts are always going astray,

and they have not known my ways.'

¹¹ So I declared on oath in my anger,

'They shall never enter my rest.'

No doubt, the Israelites were proceeding towards the promised land. But their hearts were wrong. Theirs was an incomplete, interruptive connection to God's heart. Yes, they knew the God of their forefathers, but failed to perceive His ways.God's own chosen priveleged people were always distracted. Therefore they never completely conquered the Promised Land and strife never ceased.

An eternity with the Creator King is the final rest that is kept in store for His precious ones. But while on this earthly tent, God still provides His rest through His manifest presence in our lives. A presence that brings forth an overflowing peace, providence, presence, blessing and guidance which empowers us to fulfill His will.

A gracious God, grieved at heart fails to release His rest on His children when He finds their heart distracted.

The greatest deceit of sin, is to make believe that its ok to 'keep in touch' with it, as long as you don't 'fall' in it.Eventually,it hardens our soul, makes it insensitive to God and progressively drags you away from God.

You may have been warned against falling in sin. God's voice today is to stop you from even looking at sin.

- Fix your thoughts on Jesus -

Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. Hebrews 3:1[NIV]

We glorify God in our actions and words most of the time. But not always in our thoughts. The thought life of a person provides the design map for the production of sin. A wavering mind, a negative thought life, an unchecked emotional imbalance and immoral thinking are all signs of distractions. Sooner or later we become vulnerable for a wide range of spiritual attacks.

We can prevent this, when we let Jesus rule our thought life.

So how does happen ?

- Through Repentance

So, as the Holy Spirit says: "Today, if you hear his voice,do not harden your hearts" Hebrews 3:7[NIV]

When we repent, we turn back to God. It is not a one time activity that we did on the day of our salvation, rather it is an act of willing submission that needs to be done everyday, whether we're doing it for the fifth of the fifty fifth time.

Repentance gives us a mind set that is always looking at God and depending on Him.It reassures that we are indeed hidden in Christ.Repentance needs to be a lifestyle for every Christian.

Instead, we try doing different things like, getting on a meaningless 'deliverance' prayer spree, talking with lots of people about our problems, trying to serve God for a few days, attending expensive spiritual confrences and seminars. We try all this in vain to connect to God's heart. Nothing moves His heart as much as the silent sighs of a repentant heart.

-And Dependance on Him

So we see that they were not able to enter [into His rest], because of their unwillingness to adhere to and trust in and rely on God [unbelief had shut them out] Hebrews 3:19[Amplified Bible]

Many of us claim to depend on God, but deny that in our thoughts and actions. The result is evident in our lives, our heart gets distracted and our faith gets fractured.

To be able to depend on God to meet our needs, dreams and aspirations is our greatest strength. But the evil one, makes us believe that it is a sign of our weakness. And he offers a lesser and destructive source of strength called 'stubborn will'.

We can still have conversations with God, serve God, be loved and appreciated, but if we are going to depend on our stubborn will to complete things. We'll be nothing but pathetic, weak and unsatisfied wanderers.You'll see a temporary high, when things happen as you think and say, but your stubborn will promises much and performs nothing.

Only God knows your potential, because He designed it, and only He can show you how and where to use it.

We were created for His intentions. So when we begin to live for His intentions, He will provide us with the Faith and the Focus that we need to be able to enter His rest.

Get your heart connected again.

From Danger to Refuge

2009-05-31T01:13:00.000-07:00

From Danger to Refuge

Every period of transition makes you a little uncomfortable.And it is common to think that what you're going through is the most difficult phase of your life. But the truth is, that in every step up ; your journey has its own share of trouble and pain.

In the previous stage of transition in my life, I spent the entire time, in denial. Unable to accept the things that were happening.Until then, I was in control, I chose what I wanted and did. The very thought of stepping into a life, that was way different from my aspirations put me in tremendous anxiety.

Yet another transition now, this time; its not denial but reflection.

And I just made a very frightening observation...

I have been living a very dangerous life.

DANGER #1 Instead of drawing a sense of fulfillment and joy out of my relationship with God, I have been using broken and cracked pits, even some 'spiritual' ones that I've made for myself.

My longings are the most powerful part of my personality. It drives me forward, shapes my thinking and fuels my enthusiasm to stay alive.

The things that I long for, do 2 things to me ; they give me a great deal of personal satisfaction and challenge the growth and maturity of my spiritual life.

One of the things that I long for, is to communicate God's heart through the written word.Though, I am nothing but a terrible amateur; each time I finish a writing piece, I feel so elated and blessed. But recently, I was wondering, what if I can't write ? what if someone stops me from writing ? what if a career comes in between ? what if I stop receiving that divine spark..???

Will I still be happy and satisfied..?

Was I wrong in enjoying the fact that I can write ? Ofcourse not. What was wrong was depending on that for fulfillment.

We all have foolish strategies disguised as noble motives, that we depend on, to fulfill God's plan for our life. Instead of finding our security and significance in God, we try to find them in our own efforts.

Jeremiah 2:13 (CEV)

You, my people, have sinned in two ways-- you have rejected me, the source of life-giving water, and you've tried to collect water in cracked and leaking pits dug in the ground.

Are you depending on anything else like a good career,a bright academic record, a fruitful ministry or a happy relationship for fulfilment ? Then you are living a dangerous life.

DANGER #2 I sometimes get caught up pursuing lesser goals than God and His Glory. Many legitimate objectives of my life (like education, excellence ,missions or even service) sometimes override the priority that I give for God and His honor.

Charles Colson, the one time assistant of President Richard Nixon, went to prison due to his involvement in the Watergate scandal. Later he surrendered his life to Christ Jesus. He is famous for his unique ways of presenting his clear grasps on God. In his book Loving God, he writes, "There seems to be a desire in many of today's Christians, to be more interested in finding themselves than in finding God."

Eccl 3:11(NIV)

...He has also set eternity in the hearts of men...

I think that the thing which brings more pain to God is the fact that His children settle for superficiality.I have God in my intelligence but the world is in my heart. This is evident when I sometimes compromise on my eternal goals.When I think that I am the centre of God's plan, instead of giving His will priority over mine.

It took me some time to understand that God's will and plan is not just the 'best'thing out there, but it is the only thing that will establish my identity. If I end up doing anything else, my life would rot away and I'd just be an unsatisfied, unhappy wanderer.

What if God were to say to you today, that the goals that you have for your life, are not in His mind ? Will you be able to take that ?

DANGER #3 I don't find worth in who I am but in what I do.

While I was evaluating my Christian life, I realized that my condition is not bad enough that I need counseling, but also not good enough that I can call it an abundant life. "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). I react with anger or guilt or spend my days in fear and anxiety. I am not the kind who can say with Ezra: "The joy of the Lord is my strength".

Thus came the painful realization, that I was really paying lip service to God but depending more on my ego strength than spiritual power to progress ahead in my journey.I never experience satisfaction or devastation either. I am just holding myself together. How different is my life from the rest of the world?
God bases your worth not on your performance, but in who you are in Christ.When we assimilate this , we'll have the joy that was meant only for His children. A joy that will never decrease.

Colossians 2:10(NKJV)
...and you are complete in Him...

.

Do emotions of worthlessness take over you often because you don't perform very well? Instead of learning from your mistakes, do you think that your life has no value at all?

Such a thought pattern, will allow a huge range of negative emotions to take over . Remember your worth is in, who you are in Christ.

DANGER #4 Not knowing God enough that we can understand His magnificent love.

Recently in a communion service, God confronted me about my nature of grumbling. The words that brought me to my knees was this, "Grumbling and Complaining is a symptom of ungratefulness."

I asked God for forgiveness and told Him that I'd rather not have anything at all than to be called an ungrateful daughter. I said, "God, teach me to love you enough".

But recently, the Master taught me that I cannot manufacture love towards Him. My love towards Him is a consequence of His love towards me, "We love because he first loved us." (1 John 4:19). Selwyn Hughes says, "Our problem is not that we don't love God enough, the problem is that we don't realize How much God loves us".

In the fiction, The Shack, William P Young writes; "So many believe that it is love that grows, but it is knowing that grows and love simply expands to contain it. Love is just the skin of knowing".

We don't usually doubt God's power or His authority. We all know that He is Almighty God capable of doing mighty things in our life. But during periods of exhaustion, we don't doubt his power but His love. If the devil can succeed to make us believe that God does not love us enough, then you're already in his track, with time he'll be directing your life and influencing your decisions.

Ephesians 3:17-19 (NIV)

..pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Do you spend enough time getting to know God ?

Maybe you too are in a transition like me, with a head full of dreams and a heart full of God. I encourage you to wait, for a moment and receive some inner strength from the Source. My dad often says, "If you have one full day to cut a tree, spend half a day sharpening the axe".

The greatest privilege in my life, is to be able to be picked up by God and given the grace to receive Him into my life. When I received Christ Jesus as my personal saviour, He did not just give me something to make my life better, but I received Christ Himself to think, feel and choose in my life.

But most of the time, I fail to experience the life that He wants me to have and depend

on my foolish strategies for fulfilment ,
on my lesser goals for honour ,
on my performance to evaluate my worth and
on my own capacity to love my Creator God.

This kind of living is dangerous, because it makes me a candidate to a whole range of negative emotions that could take over any time.

So I've decided to

depend on my relationship with God for fulfillment ,
to never override my goals for God's glory and honor,
to evaluate my worth based on who I am in Christ,

and to enjoy every moment of life feeling cherished that God loves me with a love that I can never imagine.

Enjoying my lessons!
Callie

From Callie, With Love

2009-04-11T00:15:00.000-07:00

Forgive me for boring
But you've always borne my painful art.
So I just take it for granted.

There were days I came to college
With a heavy heart.
There were days I felt my mind ripped apart.
My morning prayer would be filled with questions
That I never dared to ask

And we'd begin our normal chat
And we'll talk till our mouths run dry
I never wanted you to know my ugly heart
So everything would just stay inside.

But that's the miracle of our friendship
The one that He breathed into
He would speak into your heart
And the words would just fall through.

The very words that I needed to hear
The ones that heal and make light reappear.

I've always been proud and bold
You know why..?
Because my friends; I could always try..
They would never their affection withhold...
They would always protect me and love me
Even if; To others I looked cold.

I wonder how my life would have been
Without you guys...
With just mom, dad, sis and me
And everyday I say thank you
For this gracious gift that only few receive.

Its great to have fun
Its great to be together
But our lives are different.
And we may not always need each other.

Guys..God put us together
Not just for ourselves
But for Him and His great plan.
We've learnt a lot from each other.
And earned a lot more than we ever can.

Now its time to show the world the lessons we learnt.
To show those watching
That we're doing just what He dreamt.
That our friendship's was not a passing cloud.
But helped us each to build our life in the very way He loved.

I don't believe that its for us
The parting pain and the farewell cry.
It'll never end you know
The love and the joy..
And its true that we'll never know how to say good bye.

I hope that I never have to mail you with those dreadful words..
"I miss you man.."
But even if we move different ways.
I'd still be glad that you're in His hands.

I'm sorry guys
I tried really hard to give back
My best I did, to show you that I care.
But somehow I could never be fair.

-Callie

The Leper's prayer

2009-03-28T10:41:00.000-07:00

Recently I began to evaluate my personal prayer pattern.My prayers were long, emotional and sometimes even teary eyed. But somehow I didn't feel connected to the heart of my Master.

I was trying to figure out what was wrong. My prayers, my talks with God were of high priority now ,I needed Him to guide me, strengthen me and encourage me. It was not the 'making-a-melody' prayer neither was I narrating mundane events to Him. I was desperately needing God so much. But...

No sign of the Master's voice.

So I put my dead prayers in the post-mortem table.And I began to see the different stages of my prayer.

*.......the first stage of setting the stage and the person of focus.

"God I need this, I want this, I'd love to do this, You know what my desire is. You know what I long for. You placed a calling in my life. "

*......and the second stage of victorious declarations.

"God you are All Powerful, you are able to do more than what I can ask or imagine, you give me only the best, I can do all things through you, I am more than a conqueror because of you, You love me with an everlasting love, Oh God! you alone are able to do wonders in my life"

*.....and the final closing remarks.

"I surrender to your will God "

*.....Amen

Okay!! What you just saw was not just my prayer pattern, but my attitude.

My!! things come first.

I use God's power to endorse it...

And because I have no choice, and because my prayer has to sound 'spiritual' I say, "I surrender to your will God" as a concluding remark.

It was then that a leper from the Bible taught me a valuable lesson.

Luke 5:12 (Amplified Bible)

While He was in one of the towns, there came a man full of (covered with) leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, Lord, if You are willing, You are able to cure me and make me clean.

Let me make myself clear, I am not trying to create a prayer formula here. I am just sharing a little attitude check that the Holy Spirit made in my life in the last few days.

What struck me, was this guy's way of asking Jesus to cure him, " Lord, if You are willing, You are able to cure me and make me clean."

In spite of the physical pain,distress and humiliation that he was going through, he gave priority to the will of Jesus . What he wanted, and his desire to be healed came last. The will of Jesus was his primary concern.

I usually used to think of God's will as His plan, His agenda, His flowchart and what He wants to do. And our life takes shape according to the course of actions that He's planned before hand. But there is something more to God's will that I failed to look at.

The Greek word for "willing" used in the above Scripture is, "thelo". "Thelo" actually means desire, fond of doing, delight, pleasure. The nearest word in English for this is 'will'.

What we usually attribute 'will' to is just a strict strategy of God,and nothing more. But God's will is not just His agenda but something that He is fond of doing, something that He delights in, and something that His heart longs after.

When I surrender to the 'will' of God. I'm not just executing His plan, but I am constantly doing that which He delights and pleasures in.

Isn't that a privilege that God should choose me to do what He is fond of doing?

The Greek word for "able to do" used in the above Scripture is, "dunamai", which means capable, strong, powerful.

Whatever God delights to do, He is capable and powerful enough to accomplish it. So I when I surrender to do His pleasure; By His might He will enable me to succeed in it.

What God wills to do, He is able to do, but, what I desire to do I am not able to do.

The Holy Spirit made me realize that my attitude towards God's will was not right.

I thought I was sacrificing my own dreams and desires to surrender to God's will. But I was terribly wrong. Living for my dreams would only mean suicide because I don't have the capacity to fulfill them. But living for God's vision and plan is rewarding and complete, because He has the strength and power to fulfill His dream through my life.

I won't deny that sometimes its hard to accept God's will for our life. Even Jesus found it terribly agonizing.

"And going a little farther, He threw Himself upon the ground on His face and prayed saying, My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will [not what I desire], but as You will and desire." Matthew 26:39

Jesus surrendered to the perfect will of our Father. Because He knew that what His Father desired to do, He is able to complete. And just the same way, our Father enabled Jesus to a glorious ressurection, the defeat of the grave and the victory over death.

Today you and I enjoy access to the Father because of God's pleasure to invite us and the Son's obedience to submit to the Father's perfect pleasing will.

I am getting back to my Master's heart.

"Master, not that I desire but as You will and desire."

I can already feel His sweet embrace.....

Apologies

2009-03-26T01:30:00.000-07:00

I've been away from my favorite spot on the web for a while now. I think its time to get back.

I'd really like to apologize to my faithful readers (if there are any!! :-) )

Hoping to give you refreshingly new insights and inspirations

1 John 5:4 (Amplified Bible)

For whatever is born of God is victorious over the world; and this is the victory that conquers the world, even our faith.

Loving Regards,
Callie

The Appointment

2009-03-25T12:06:00.000-07:00

(Forgive me!! I don't know poetry but wanted to try..)

The Appointment

Many things I want to say...

Even though some are very deep

But still I wish I had a stage

To tell everyone how I feel.

Philosophical... Whew!! I wish I'm not!

But down to earth and true.

A crazy stop in the journey is over

And I'm being carried through.

Its a joy to look back

And even more joy to look ahead.

But right where I am.

I can't find the right emotion to shed.

Born for a Purpose,

That's greater than me

My life's insignificant

In the midst of the Light I see.

It gives me peace to know

That I belong to a bigger Plan.

That I am not alone

And every step is in His Hand.

There are dreams that I can carry

And there are ones I need to leave

NO matter what!!; I have a Father and Friend

Who can meet my every need.

When I didn't have a form

And not even a name

He gave me a job

And enough of His Grace.

I am standing and knocking at the door of a busy world

Waiting and watching, naive and swirled.

He picks me up, with a warm embrace.

And every doubt is gone...

When I see His Face.

-Callie

Would You show me the Way?

2009-01-29T09:27:00.001-08:00

One of my favorite Scripture is Psalm 32:8 " I [the Lord] will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you."

My everyday prayer essentially includes the line, "God guide me". I keep repeating this quite a lot, that now I'm led to think that I don't mean it at all. Meditating on this verse recently gave me some insight on how God goes about answering my prayer for guidance.

God's guidance reaches us in different levels.

Level 1 - Instruction

Our age of the machines, gives us gadgets to simplify or complicate most of our tasks. Most of these stuff come with an instruction manual, they tell us how to use them, the precautions, and some basic troubleshooting information as well.

Most of us who know nothing about engineering design and other technical jargon can handle most of these paraphernalia by ourselves. These manuals do a great job in helping us skip theoretical details. All we have is an easy sequence of steps to follow, and we can go about operating things like a pro.

In our lives too, sometimes God gives us just instructions and nothing more.

Genesis 12:1

The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.

Just an instruction!!, no strategy, no explanation and no route map.

If at that point God were to explain to Abraham his rather long journey to Cannan followed by the adventures of his grandson, and then the bondage of his generation and their wanderings in the wilderness, their disobedience and stiff neckness, and then how this small race would help bring Light to an eternally condemned world. Abraham's head would have begun to twirl and would have definitely turned down God's direction to leave Haran and missed his spot in God's perfect Vision.

Maybe that's why God sometimes just gives us instructions and a promise and asks us to get going. When we try to find an explanation, at this level. We wont find it, and even if we do find one, we would still be clueless.

But what we can do is to trust and obey. And follow his directions immaterial of whether we understand it or not. God does not go to the details not because He's the boss, but because we don't have the capacity to understand it. When we continue in this wonderful journey with our Master, slowly but gloriously we will begin to understand the reason for His ways.

Level II - Teaching

For some of us, the only kind of teaching we are exposed to are the never ending, lullaby lectures that we hear in the class room. This kind of teaching is one way traffic, the 'guru's' monologue keeps going non-stop, irrespective of whether the listeners get a hang of it or not.

Well, this is not the way our Master teaches. He actually does not go to the next lesson until we have learnt the previous one completely well. Many of us get stuck in our lives, primarily because we refuse to learn our lessons. The moment we listen to our Master's Voice in every circumstance of our life and learn what He has to teach us, we would be progressing everyday.

But our problem is that we are either too busy to listen to His voice, or too spiritual confessing victory that we fail to learn what God wants to teach.

James 1 : 2-5

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

God asks his children to consider every trial as an opportunity for joy[NLT]. Because He plans a perfect lesson in the midst of each of those tough times. These lessons are taught by 'faith-testing' exercises and completing them require perseverance. On finishing each of these lessons, we attain a new level of maturity, A higher level of relationship with our God.

In order to understand and implement these lessons we need quite a lot of wisdom and understanding, that God promises to give in generous dosage. However we are busy praying for deliverance instead of asking God for wisdom to understand His teaching.

One of the most exciting levels of God's guidance is the part where he teaches us.The more we learn, the more rewarding journey becomes. We begin to see things with more clarity and make decisions with definite direction and discretion.

Level - III - Counsel

We think that if God leads us then our path will be 'fault proof'. I wish it were that way, but God just does not work like that. He does not believe in military discipline, He is a perfectionist but allows us to make our own mistakes and attain perfection in our pace but in His time.

This level of guidance called His Counsel helps us out when we really mess up somewhere. He does not stand there with crossed arms accusing you like the rest of the whole world, but shows you a way out in the place where you least expect.

We are so afraid of making mistakes that we do not step out at all. Mistakes are maybe not part of religion, but they are definitely part of relationship. God knows that, and that is why in His way of guidance He has made provision for counsel. To guide us out of any mess that we may get into.

Job 12:13
To God belong wisdom and power;counsel and understanding are his.

Don't be afraid of taking your messes to God. If we follow His counsel, He can make glorious things come forth out of our mistakes.But if we are going to regret and condemn ourselves living out of guilt and self pity, our life would become a burden.

Level IV - Watches over me

God's way of saying this is "with My eye upon you". What God really means is that, God does not just give guidance and gets done with our life. He is always watching over us. He involves Himself in every small activity of our life, and loves it even more when we acknowledge Him in all our daily routines.

We really are never alone, God never leaves us that way. He is watching over each of our thought, emotion, and action. Not like a policeman, but as someone who wants to make sure that we get nothing lesser than the BEST.

When you are traveling alone, or awake working late hours at night , or in the midst of people among whom you look really small, or in the midst of a crisis all by yourself. Just pause!! BE still, and see WHO's eye is on you.

May God' s guidance be with you throughout your journey!!!

A Happy God for a Happy New Year

2009-01-01T02:28:00.000-08:00

(This entry is completely inspired by the New Year 2009 message given by the Senior Pastor of Philadelphia Church Villivakkam, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India)

The Background

Because the people of Israel continued in sin, God sent them out in 2 exiles from the Promised Land ; Israel and Judah. The former conquered by and deported to Assyria around 721 BC and the latter by Babylon around 586 BC. Babylon was much gentler, in a way that they deported the people in 3 groups at three different times, approximately about 606 BC, 597 BC and 587 BC. By this time Judah was virtually empty and temple totally destroyed.

But the exile ended and there were 3 returns to match with the 3 deportations during 537 BC (50,000 people under the leadership of Zerubbabel), 458 BC (1800 people under the leadership of Ezra a priest). Around 444 BC Nehemiah returned with a few craftsmen.His chief concern was to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem which had been destroyed, without which the city was vulnerable to attack.

Under the leadership of dynamic Nehemiah, the construction of the entire city wall was completed within 52 days in spite of severe opposition and interferences. Since the people were gripped with the fear of attack they preferred to live outside the cities, so the next task for Nehemiah was to gather the children of Israel to live in the now fortified cities.

"When the seventh month came, the children of Israel were in their cities. - Nehemiah 8:1"

At the Feast of the Tabernacle Ezra reads the law publicly from his wooden pulpit from the daybreak till noon.

With this much of background information we can now proceed further to understand the specific counsel God wants to give His children for the new year.

"Then [Ezra] told them,...And be not grieved and depressed, for the joy of the Lord is your strength and stronghold." -Nehemiah 8:10

When God is happy we are Happy

We want 2009 to be easy, comfortable and packed with pleasant surprises. We want it to be happy and successful. Since our God does not raise spoilt children, he gives us victory only if we labor and work.To work through hardships, exhaustion, hard taskmasters and high levels of perfection; and for this we need strength; tremendous strength and energy.

And from where are we going to get this energy??

A joyful heart can produce a lot of strength to enable us to finish the tasks set before us,but ordinary joy is short lived and based on circumstances.That is why God gives us a share of His own joy. For that to occur, He expects us to satisfy the yearning of His heart so that He could channel His joy in our life,and let loose the fountain of everlasting energy to empower and enable us throughout the year.

1) We have to participate in His holiness.

"The governor ruled that they could not eat from the holy food until a priest could determine their status" - Nehemiah 7:65(The Message Bible)

We cannot partake in a communion with God, in a thriving fellowship with the Most Holy God without holiness. We need to constantly evaluate ourselves with Jesus Christ as our High Priest to check if we fulfill the standards of God.

God longs for the holiness gene to be seen in His children. It is my personal conviction that Christians are devoid of power and success today because we fail to meet the standards of Holiness that God wants us to keep.

2) We need to be eager to seek His will in all our decisions.

"And the governor said to them that they should not eat of the most holy things till a priest could consult with the Urim and Thummim."-Nehemiah 7:65(NKJV)

The breastplate of the garment of the priesthood held the mysterious stones called the Urim and the Thummim.These transliterated Hebrew words mean "Lights" and "Perfection". Together their names mean "perfect knowledge". These stones were meant to assure the priest that God would reveal His true judgment to him. Hence the Urim and Thumim is a sign that the priest can confidently expect the Lord to resolve the issue.

We all need to make important decisions this year in our different ventures. God is happy when we wait in His presence to receive His counsel. When we completely depend on God's strategy to bring us success; God is glorified.He is happy and rewards us more than our efforts in all our endeavors.

3) We should worship Him in spirit and truth.(John 4:24)

"And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. Then all the people answered, “Amen, Amen!” while lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground."- Nehemiah 8:6(NKJV)

How many times have we 'brushed' our way through worship? Do we consciously enjoy and surrender yourself every moment that we spend in worship? Does our worship depend on the style of music and the worship leader or does it depend on a heart overflowing with gratitude? How many times have we just carelessly used the profound "Hallelujah"? True worship is not dependent on any person or the musical arrangements, it is birthed out of a continuous connection to the heart of God.

Worship is not an act that lasts for 45 minutes every Sunday morning rather it is a lifestyle. A lifestyle that honors God and brings pleasure to His heart.

4) We must be attentive to His voice that can be heard in His Word.

"Then he read from it in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate from morning until midday, before the men and women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law." - Nehemiah 8:3

We all have mental blocks in our life. These things stop us from achieving our true potential. God's Word teaches us more than just the obvious. He who has ears let Him hear. It is not just a Book of Law but a manual that can be used to maneuver our life. However few of us have learnt how to use this Book for more than just a 15 minutes skimming in the morning. Not just reading the Word, but understanding and consuming the Word helps us break our mental blocks and pushes us forward.

(I don't know the source of this)

God's word

Determines our thinking.
Thinking determines our emotion.
Emotions determine our decisions.
Decisions defines our action.
Action determines our habit.
Habits determine our character.
Character determines our success.

The question is, how many of us pay close attention to the Word that it can help us think??

5) We must take steps to protect ourselves

"And I said to them, “Do not let the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot; and while they stand guard, let them shut and bar the doors; and appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, one at his watch station and another in front of his own house.” -Nehemiah 7:3

Gates were critical to the defense of an ancient city. The gates of a city normally opened at sunrise, but Nehemiah ordered Jerusalem's gates to be closed until the sun was high.This extra precaution would have discouraged the enemies from mounting a surprise attack at sunrise.

Nehemiah also ordered the citizens of Jerusalem to organize a civil defense, with people taking turns standing guard at night outside their own homes. This was a clever strategy indeed as people would have been more alert to guard their own homes instead of guarding a general part of the city.

Though God watches over us, He expects us to be responsible children so that we can protect ourselves. People would complain less about fractured families and dysfunctional homes if only the family as a whole would participate in protecting themselves.Family prayer, Family devotions, accepting each others' mistakes; all go a long way in helping achieve this. If a consistent family prayer operative is powerful in a house, no deception, no evil scheme can prevail over them.

A family that stays together and prays together delights God greatly and His rewards to every member of such a family is overwhelming.

6) We need to realize every moment that our life on earth is transitory in nature.

"Also day by day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God. They kept the feast for seven days; the eighth day was a [closing] solemn assembly, according to the ordinance." - Nehemiah 8:18(Amplified Bible)

The feast of the tabernacle is a representation of the believer's tabernacle state in the world. True Christianity will render us strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

It is important to be successful so that we can be contagious Christians. Happiness and success helps us to reach out to others effectively. If a successful entrepreneur speaks about the Jesus, people will listen. If a successful student calls Jesus his best friend, many will want to know more. If a successful manager speaks out his faith, then a great harvest can be reaped in the workplace. If an effective teacher manifests Jesus in his counseling, many troubled young people would be on the right track.

When we seek success not just to make our life more comfortable instead we passionately labor for success so that we can transform our environment into mission fields; God's heart overflows with joy and rewards us hundred times more than what we can ever imagine.

To make our Master happy we need to live a life that considers all the wealth and fame earned on earth trivial compared to the enormous glory kept in store for eternity.

Wishing you a Happy and Prosperous 2009!!

References:

Nelson's Study Bible
Unlocking Bible Omnibus - David Pawson
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary of the Bible
Ilumina Bible study tools.
The Amplified Bible
New King James Bible
The Message Bible

With Chance, Merry Christmas

2008-12-12T20:50:00.000-08:00

Everyone likes a happy ending movie . Everyone wishes that the the poor beautiful girl married the handsome prince and lived happily ever and after. Everyone likes a happy story.

The mood of Christmas is in the air, the message is in our hearts.

"God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son", Jesus was the revelation of God's love.

But I believe that my Master had another message as well when He sent His Son.

Jesus is, God saying, "Here, HE is your last chance".

Since the devil corrupted the human race, the one thing we all do in common is play the blame game. Blame each other and get kicked out of Eden, we do this all our lives. This eats our joy and most importantly our potential.Our potential to be what our Maker really made us to be.

If it is you out there, Jesus is your last chance!!

You started off with zeal, but somewhere down the road, you lost track of your route.Now you find yourself in a place that is truly detestable. A life steadily drowning in a deluge of secret sin.

If it is you out there, Jesus is your last chance!!

Nice words no longer heal your wounds, you've seen that no relationship kept its promise. You are thirsty and distraught but every love you find is a shallow puddle. You are betrayed and bitter.

If it is you out there, Jesus is your last chance!!

You thought, life could not be any better.Your world was perfect.Suddenly everything came crashing down. Before you could realize what's going on, you were buried inside rubble and debris.You are bruised and bleeding but no one can help.

If it is you out there, Jesus is your last chance!!

With the economy tumbling down, your future is turning its back on you too, you don't find the opportunities which promised you a great life there any more.You are afraid and confused wondering how you will journey in a strange and different world all by yourself.

If it is you out there, Jesus is your last chance!!

You feel you are living somebody else's life, feeling overtly responsible and completely lost track of your passion and purpose. You are just dragging your life along, instead of living it.

If it is you out there, Jesus is your last chance!!

You feel that you've worked too hard and deserve a luxurious break, but that seems impossible,considering the pressure,competition,responsibilities on your back, life just seems to get harder and complicated everyday.

If it is you out there, Jesus is your last chance!!

You have tasted every good thing in life, but still there is a vacuum that refuses to settle. An emptiness that sucks your peace, making you feel worthless and your life meaningless.

If it is you out there, Jesus is your last chance!!

No one cares to see the jewel that you really are, no one cares to recognize your rare potential. You don't fit in the crowd, because you are special. But people call you strange.Even you can't understand yourself, and absolutely clueless about what you will amount to.

If it is you out there, Jesus is your last chance!!

Things have begun to slow down, and you wonder, if everything you ever slogged and sweat for is really worth it. The greatest question of life become to strike real on your face."Is death really final?" "Where is my journey from here?" "Can anything be done about my not-so-perfect past?" "Am I really hopeless?"

If it is you out there, Jesus is your last chance!!

Christmas, by itself is only the beginning of a story that began in a tiny place called Bethlehem, the angelic choir or the royal gifts alone don't make it a happy story. Surrendering yourself to this Last Chance given to you by God can recreate the magic of Christmas in your life and in your home, and spark the beginning of a spectacular journey and a glorious destination, with the Master Himself.

Many are dying everyday without knowing that they have a Last Chance, and many of our brothers and sisters are forced to depart their earthly bodies so that the rest of the world may see their Last Chance.

Have you used your Last Chance?
Have you helped someone see their Last Chance?

Wishing you a Merry Christmas filled with true Christmas joy!!

Living with my Last Chance and enjoying every bit of it..
Callie

Laboring Queens

2008-11-30T08:15:00.000-08:00

The last week was berserk.

Mumbai, the most energetic metropolitan of India was paralyzed with fear when terrorists attacked 11 busy and populated places on 26th November.The Taj luxury hotel, a prestigious 105 year old heritage building was under siege holding in custody many hostages. The Oberoi Trident Hotel was also victim to the same.The Nariman House, which is a Jewish outreach center in the city was seized and assaulted leaving 8 of its inmates killed. The total number of confirmed fatalities of the 2 day Islamic militant attack sized up to 195 and more than 300 people were wounded.

In Tamil Nadu, torrential rains created havoc.86 persons died, and thousands became homeless.Roads became inaccessible, and standing crops in over 100,000 acres of land became totally submerged in flood waters.

I was reading the book of Esther as a part of my daily devotion and in seasons of crisis, such as these times, I've learnt many lessons for my own life from the life of Esther.

"...Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" [Esther 4:14]

The Background

King Xerxes ruled over a kingdom that stretched from India in the east to Egypt in the west.

The lives of all the Jews living in this Persian empire were threatened by the order given by King Xerxes who in-turn was poisoned by minister Haman, an anti-semitic.
One Jew was safe, Haddasah, who rose to be a queen and was later named Esther.

She had a choice, she could reveal her identity and fish an opportunity to save her kindred, but if the King was not convinced she could lose her life instantly. Or ; she could stay silent, and live in safety and comfort while her brethren were being massacred.

We know how Esther fasts and prays for 3 days to boldly confront the situation. She meets the king, despite the high risk involved, plans a perfect banquet inviting Haman, and gently revealed to the king his evil ploy , and further created opportunities to provoke his anger and completely destroyed Haman, along with his plan and secured the safety and progress of the Jews.

The Lessons

Some are called to be a queen in the enemy's palace.

I am graduating in Engineering this year, I plan to do a masters in Business Administration and also want to be certified in various technologies.I see myself as an entrepreneur in the near future handling diversified products and services.

But do you know what I am called for?

I am called to be laborer in the field of the Lord's harvest.This is not my wish list, but my confirmed purpose.

Every work, every degree, every business venture for me is an effort, an act of labor in my Father's vineyard.

Esther used her position to maneuver the decision of the king preventing the annihilation of the Jews.She could not have done this, had she been an ordinary Jew girl.[Esther 5:3]

Sometimes God gives His children extraordinary position and power in this sinful world, not just because He loves to "bless" but because there is an assignment that He intends to complete through the position He's given you.
*God uses those who are willing to be promoted but who are not willing to be assimilated.

Greater the position, higher the responsibility towards the Kingdom.

You need Prayer even if you are a queen.

It is strange how some of us label only a few as "prayer warriors", and conveniently delegate the conscious praying habit to them alone.

She was the queen, but she fasted and prayed for 3 days in order to confront the situation with the king.[Esther 4:15]

Fasting is the act of humbling your whole being to the sovereignty of Almighty God.Prayer is the result of my yearning to be connected without interruption to the Heart of the Master.

Esther did not 'brainstorm' or try 'six thinking hats' or operate on 'metaphorical thinking' ,or 'Fuzzy thinking' or 'mind mapping' or 'Synetics' , to solve her crisis situation; instead she prayed.

I don't deny the power of creative thinking, but that comes second to the power of prayer. Don't just do it, Pray first; a prayer of humble submission.A prayer of total acknowledgment of the authority of God. The Master will then speak His strategy and plan for action.

Because she prayed,

she found favor in the eyes of the king and found an opportunity to meet him,[Esther 5:2]
she came up with a strategy to throw a banquet inviting Haman ;[Esther 5:4]
God made the king have swings of insomnia which compelled him to read the old diaries where he read the account of how Mordecai had saved his life from an assassination plot years before.He was reminded that he never rewarded him,so early next morning the king make arrangements to reward him.[Esther 6:1-10]

All of this further made way to complete her assignment.

On the day of the banquet, Esther intelligently provoked the king's anger by exposing Haman and his evil plot and caused him to be hung in the gallows that he arranged for Mordecai.[Esther 7:1-10]

Divine providence will not come your way, without continuous conversation with God.

Give up your present and step out in courage and faith.

Hadassah, gave up her comfortable average, ordinary Jew girl's life, and proceeded to venture out into an entirely new world, to become a queen in a pagan palace. She had to undergo 12 months of beauty treatment and preparations before she could enter the contest and qualify to be King Xerxes' new queen.[Esther 2:12-18]

It is easy to play a safe game, and stay secure. But it needs tremendous courage to get out of your comfort zone and dare to take the challenge.It takes preparation and perseverance to be promoted.I believe Hadassah believed that she was not ordinary material, so she stepped out and she made a difference in the lives of millions of Jews.

Once she became queen Esther, she did not settle for luxury, and allow her self to become a slave to the new life that had got hold of her, instead she stepped out in boldness risking her life by deciding to reveal her Jewish origin, saying "If I perish, I perish".[Esther 4:16]

As a Christian, we need to face battles in every day life, because we have a very powerful enemy who is afraid of our very powerful potential given to us by our omnipotent Father.

We have a choice, we can fight and move forward or grumble and remain where we are.

You make the decision.

Will you step out in faith and take a risk, and reap the benefit, for yourself and many others whose whose eternity depends on you?

"...Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"[Esther 4:14]

Will you step out to serve?

2008-11-18T05:28:00.000-08:00

It was unfortunate though, that recently when I was cleaning a wardrobe my eyes fell on the gift I had given a loved one.

My mind raced back remembering where I had bought it, how many other different gifts I considered before my mind set on this , how dear and precious this loved one was, that I wanted to get something that would help the person in a special way.

And not just that, I had penned down a few words straight from my heart. The words too were there glaring at me.

That cherished gift that I had presented with a lot of noble intentions was lying there, uncared for, unnoticed, and unused.It stung my heart hard.I was angry and disappointed wondering if the person ever understood the value of what I had bought and I wished if I go right out and give that person a piece of my mind. But my Master had other lessons..

"Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms." 1 Peter 4:10

I realized recently, that the gifts God give us, does not come with a bright red wrapper, that we usually expect, I also doubt that if God always uses dramatic visitations to impart his personal gifts to His children.But since, we get carried away looking for tags and wrappers, we miss the point and don't identify the many gifts God has given us.

It is my imagination that after God created me., my basics and my framework without which I cannot survive on the planet. He took me to His secret place and placed several special, precious, and unique gifts in my life., because thats what people do to what when they call someone as their "prized possesion"...they give them things immensely valuable.

My Master does things differently, not just because He is God but because His love is Higher and His ways greater, and because He is my Father. He chose not to make the gifts reveal themselves from the day I was born, but only after I personally identify and acknowledge and honour those gifts.

It is the responsibility of everyone who claims to be a 'born-again', 'spirit-filled' Christian to honour the gifts given by God. Failing to do so, is a clear sin.

I believe firmly and I have experienced personally, that when we begin to serve, the gifts that God had embedded in our framework start to show up.

For a long time, I wasted a lot of my thinking fuel trying to figure out what exactly I was good at, I was brainstorming, meditating and tried every other tactic to find out my gift. Nothing helped, it only made me feel worse and one fine day, I gave up, concluding that gifts were meant only for special people, not for an ordinary girl who's just struggling every day to keep her Christian life intact.

When we give up, God starts up. He gave me few mundane unappealing opportunities, and waited to see if I'll serve.Serve like a servant. A great man of God once said, "You know that you serve like a servant by seeing your reaction when you are treated like one."

I stopped looking for 'big' things and started serving in small things for ordinary people whom I meet everyday,little then did I realize that through that I was serving an extraordinary God.The more I gave myself up for serving, slowly but gloriously I began to see different gifts in my life unveiling everyday.The truth was that my loving Master, did not put just one gift, (actually I was searching for just a single one!!) but several interlinked and related gifts in my life.

People who complain, that they are not talented or gifted are those who've not really stepped out and dared to serve. God's gifts will remain wrapped up and sealed all the days of your life if you are not going to decide to serve. Serving is not a gift by itself meant for a few who are 'called', rather it is the vehicle for any gift to actually operate.It is God's "Directions for use" for your gift. Unless you embrace this, you cannot use it, honour it or even identify it.

"As each of you has received a gift (a particular spiritual talent, a gracious divine endowment), employ it for one another as [befits] good trustees of God's many-sided grace [faithful stewards of the extremely diverse powers and gifts granted to Christians by unmerited favor]."1 Peter 4:10[Amplified Bible]

Another thing that stops us from stepping out is the fear of making mistakes. This is one thing that am fully convinced about. As long as you are going to be afraid of messing up somewhere, you'll be doing nothing.

I've also made this observation from my own life. I have never been a 'perfectionist', but I have been a very skillfull fault finder. I used to find fault wih everyone and with everything . Becuase of this attitude of mine, I was afraid to be used, fearing that people would find fault with me. God changed this attitude of mine, and taught me that it was not my business to judge others' works.

Once this changed, I stopped seeing mistakes and started embracing every opportunity. When I let down the burden of judging the acts and works of others, my life became easy and free to do the things that God had wanted me to do.

I gave lack of recognition as an excuse for not using my gift. But that's not the purpose of God's gift.God does not give gifts to His children to impress others but rather to impact others.You need to be a boss to impress, but you need to get dirty and stoop down with your serving attitude to impact lives for the Master.That's when your gifts begin to surface and shield you with power to administer God's grace in the lives of others.

Today, I don't know of any who are blessed or comforted with what I write but I know of many, who began to write for the Master's glory after seeing me write!! Maybe God will bring up an annointed writer from among them who will touch the hearts of millions with the healing power of my Master. Can you see how I am used?

When the Master returns, He's going to be very angry if he finds your gift unnoticed, uncared and unused, because the gift in your life is an exclusive one.

Your gift has an assignment that bears the responsibility of many other lives which it has to touch, heal and transform.

Will you step out to serve?

The red-purse

2008-11-07T08:44:00.000-08:00

I was frantically searching for my money-purse today. Inspite, of my friends and parents reprimanding me, I have not yet learnt the habit of carrying it everywhere I go, so I usually lose track of where my purse is; but then., I've never lost it.I retrieve it when required.

Today, I needed to give money to a friend so I was trying to locate it. I searched for it in every ususal place.I cleared up the mountain of papers,books and other junk on my table and started my expedition of finding my red purse.The electricity went off and if I continued any further considering my exceptional eyesight, it would be a vain attempt. Moreover, it was nearing the time to board my bus to college, and I would in no way want to strike the first day of my exam on a wrong note.

Caught in a deluge of information, formulas, principles, names and propositions relating to Management. The image of my red purse tried floating through, ressisting the strong currents of my brain waves working hard with the answer sheet.

After the ordeal, inside the exam hall. Thorougly exhausted, and with fingers frozen with pain. I forgot about the red purse. I had a peaceful nap in the bus, and then returned home to continue. I slept for a while and then, the red purse came back. No alarm could have woken me up faster!!! I woke up with a startle and headed straight downstairs and began looking for it.

I searched and searched, in the process I cleared so much of junk(my study hols quota!!) that was piled up in the hall.I emptied the huge stack of old papers and believe me, I understood the meaning of "nook and corner" only today.

No avail, I could'nt find it anywhere. I started mentally preparing myself to be given up for condemnation to be proved guilty and then to receive punishment. I heard the voice of my mom in my head, "You are such an irresponsible person!!", my dad, "You are lazy and unorganized".Then finally the verdict, "No more money, no more cards, everything will be stopped hereafter". Wow!! my brain was enjoying a roller-coaster ride for free.

It is great to have your grandparents around, and I have the privelege of having my loving grandma living with me.When she saw my frenzy,she patiently asked me some questions about the whereabouts of my purse, when and where I last saw it, and then gave me a stick and asked me to move it under the TV table and feel for my purse there. I didn't really believe that my purse would lie in that dark dirty corner. But I just did what she said.

Bravo! Eureka!! I found my long lost red purse covered with a layer of dust. I picked it up wiped off the cobwebs that had gotten over it.And then I gave it to my grandmother, I said "Ammachi, Here! you keep it and I'll get it from you when I want. Only you can keep it safe".

I just made a mental decision to never throw my stuff around, but this experience taught me just more than that.

I too, like my red purse sometimes wander off to a dark dirty corner. No one really notices, at first. But then as my behaviours begin to change, my attitudes change, and when laziness creeps in, then do people realize that I'm no where to be found.But there I am!! covered with dust and cobwebs in a dirty dark corner.

My Master finds me.., no matter where I'd side track and then give me to the Safe Hands of the Holy Spirit (forgive me if I am theologically wrong!!) The Holy Spirit is the only One who truly knows me fully well.He takes care of me, nurtures me, gives me a gentle pat when I am wrong and sometimes a tough spank when I throw a tantrum.

So safe and comfortable are His hands.If I need to be conected with God always, then the I need to surrender myself completely to the Holy Spirit. We can't really have 'more' of Him in your life rather we have to surrender the whole of us to Him.The Master may need me any time, sometimes for a Big thing and sometimes just for a little mundane errand,and if I am not found in the place where He left me then I lose a big opportunity to serve Him. So I decide to cling on firmly to the Holy Spirit.

"Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,"[1 Peter 5:6]

Sometimes we consider the Holy Spirit just as an offer in the pacakage called 'salvation'.It is true that the moment you surrender your lives to Christ Jesus, the Holy Sprit comes and lives in your hearts. But thats only part of the story, it is we who have to give Him ultimate ownership and leadership of our heart,mind,soul, and body.Doing so helps us to walk around truly as sons and daughters of the living God.

Like my red-purse, now that I am in safe Refuge, He'll make sure that I don't wander off but stay secure, so that when my Master needs me he can pick me up and use me.