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
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Saturday, September 5, 2009
On who's side are you leaning on..?
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
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.
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.
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.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
The REAL REASON
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.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
faithful servant
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.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Are you losing it right ?
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 ?
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 ?
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
A difficult prayer
(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.
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.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Do you have an answer ?
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
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.
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.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
The Master Delayed
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]
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.
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.
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.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Distracted heart - Fractured Faith
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.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
From Danger to Refuge
From Danger to Refuge
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?
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,
Enjoying my lessons!
Callie
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
Saturday, April 11, 2009
From Callie, With Love
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.
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
Saturday, March 28, 2009
The Leper's prayer
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...
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.
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.
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.
It was then that a leper from the Bible taught me a valuable lesson.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.
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.
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.....
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