The flight to 2012.. Are you on it?

This year hasn't been the best of years for most of us. For some, it might have been an emotional drain out and for some, failing to achieve the goals set for the year must have been the reason. However, there must be a few of you who are all smiles because this year has brought you only success or in other words, anything that you touched turned into gold. For me, this year has been much like the Chennai roads. When newly laid, I gave myself a shining look and everyone a smooth ride. But with the rains, I had my own pot-holes and gave others a bumpy ride too. 

So, in 2012, I have decided not to stay on the ground but give myself a push and fly high. (Ah! The philosopher in me is winning here.) In this flight, I will not be the pilot, but a simple passenger. One of the mistakes that I did in 2011 was to try and take the place of the pilot when there was a storm because somehow in haste, the skeptical me told me that my Pilot will not be able to give me a safe landing and ergo, I decided to take the matter in my hands. But the ignorant me never realized that head-knowledge wasn't going to take me anywhere. I neither knew how to fly nor did I know my destination. But being the gracious God that He is, He took over each time to give me a safe landing. I realized that in every bumpy ride, I not only gave myself an unpleasant journey but also my Pilot, who sat patiently beside me to take over from me when  He knew I wouldn't be able to handle any more.

Did you do that?(To every hand that is raised, thank you. I am not alone. You are not alone either!) 

Have you listened keenly to the announcements made on the aircraft before take-off?

"Welcome aboard flight ABC with service to XYZ. My name is QWERTY and I'll be the purser for your flight today..... Ladies and Gentlemen, the Captain has turned on the Fasten Seat Belt sign. Please take your seat and fasten your seat belt....." and it continues.

When you traveled for the first time, that announcement would have meant the world to you. You would have followed the instructions syllable to syllable. However, once you become a frequent flyer, you tend to give a damn to those announcements. You put on your headphones and go into your own world. 

This is exactly what we are doing with our lives too. Most of you reading this have lived nearly two decades of your lives already. You and I have become these frequent flyers who have seen nearly twenty January 1sts. Our head tells us that now, we are the experienced lot, the pros who can take on the world. We have great ranks, great jobs, great families and great friends. You name it and we have it. Yet, when there is a storm, we all panic. Whether you are a novice or an experienced campaigner, you tend to panic. The only difference being the novice follow the Captain's instructions while we try to do things on our own. 

Remember when you first accepted God into your life? Didn't you give Him the first place? What happened now? The Captain has promised a safe landing. If He brings you to it, He will bring you through it. Determine to take every issue you face to the Lord and trust Him for an answer.

If your 2011 hasn't been great, don't worry. It is not just you who has done that bad. Sachin is yet to score his 100th ton, Federer hasn't won a single Grand Slam this year, Anna Hazare hasn't yet succeeded in getting the Lokpal passed and my cgpa touched an all-time low this year (Nobody ask my cgpa now and deviate!).

Decide to move FORWARD, put the PAST TO BED, decide to TURN THE PAGE. 

This year, resolve to listen to your Captain as He says,

"I know the thoughts that I think toward you,.. to give you a future and a hope." (Jeremiah 29:11,12)

This is my anthem for 2012 :

"I know who holds the future

And I know he holds my hand;

With God, things just don't happen

Everything by Him is planned.

So as I face tomorrow with its

problems large and small,

I'll trust the God of miracles.

And give to Him my all."

- Jon Ritchie

I am going to have a great 2012 and so are you because I know, 

"In Your Book, they all are written, the days fashioned for me."(Psalm 139:16)

My 2011 made me see great blessings and taught me great lessons. I am grateful to God for that. However, my 2012 can be better if I decide to find ways to repair those pot holes that found their way into my life. This post is more of a self-reminder. 

So, there you go. Fasten your seat belts and... Oops, looks like there is an announcement on your flight. Tune in..

"Welcome aboard flight 2012 with service to righteousness, peace and joy. My name is Jesus and I'll be the purser for your flight this year."

Bon Voyage! Have a memorable 2012.

Look who is knocking on your door this Christmas

Santa? Maybe not! But there is someone else who is sure to knock on your doors.

I will be a fool if I expect you to be sitting in front of your computers, reading my blog on a festive day. Nevertheless, I couldn't help posting this and so I have tried to keep it real short.

Just watch the video and if you can spare 2 more minutes, read the rest. But watch the video. Period.

Did you just see yourself in the video? Christmas gifts, crafts, family fun, holidays and secret Santa make up the definition of Christmas for most of us. We often forget that the "birthday boy" is never given due importance.

Remember how the inn-keeper declined Mary & Joseph a place on the first Christmas night? Maybe, we are doing the same too. Even on that night, Jesus was denied a place in the guest room.(Luke 2:7). Today, we are denying him a place in our hearts.

On my birthday, I don't give gifts. I receive them. On your birthday, you do the same. Maybe, that's why the first Christmas night was unparalleled. On that silent night when Jesus was born, something unique happened. He gave Himself as a gift on His birthday but some of us have missed the cue.

To never unwrap a priceless gift that you bought me would be dumb. God gave the first Christmas gift to you. Have you accepted Jesus?

Today, again He wants to present Himself to you. Jesus said that He stands at our doors and knocks. If we respond to the call and open the door, He will come and dine with us. (Rev 3:20)

He is waiting with gifts of peace and joy as a mighty God and an everlasting Father. Invite Him to your family dinner this season. 

A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Hearing a knock? Open up and have a memorable Christmas! Feliz Navidad! 

O Christmas tree!

We were decorating our Christmas tree at home, struggling to get the color combinations right. We managed to put on a good looking one and finally hung a "XMAS 2011" cut-out. A guest had dropped in that evening and he asked us why was Christmas also called Xmas? I didn't know. That evening as I was reading an article, I came across a line that said, 

"In God's eyes, why you do something is more important than what you do." 

Point taken. I even posted that line on facebook and twitter for the impact that it had on me. I immediately sat down to take note of why the Christmas tree was being set up and what it symbolized. Here's what I found out :

Why is Christmas called XMAS?

Jesus Christ in Greek is ΙΗΣΟΥΣ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ. The first alphabet of Christ is X(in Greek). Hence, the name!

And now, to the tree..

The wood represents the cross upon which Jesus died for our sins so that we can have an everlasting life with Him and this "everlasting life" is symbolized by the color green.

The stars that are hung outside houses or used as a tree topper symbolize the Star of Bethlehem that guided the wise men to the Savior(Matthew 2:9,10).

The angels represent the choir of angels that heralded the birth of Jesus that led the shepherds to the manger to worship their Savior(Luke 2:8-12)

The lights/candles symbolize the birth of Jesus into this world. In John 8:12, Jesus said that He is the light of the world. He stepped down into our dark lives, opened our eyes and let us see. And I love what Eva K. Logue said about the candle :

 "A Christmas candle is a lovely thing; It makes no noise at all, but softly gives itself away; while quite unselfish, it grows small."

It perfectly represents what Jesus did for you and me on the Cross. He never complained. He quietly humbled Himself and gave up His life for you and me to have an eternal life.

The candy canes represent the crook with which a shepherd guides his flock, defends and saves. Jesus said that He is the good shepherd and we are the sheep.(John 10:11,14) The question we need to ask ourselves is,"Are we in His flock or are we scattered and led astray?" For He guides, defends and saves us when we belong to His flock.

Finally, the most important gifts under the tree(:P). Christmas gave us the gift of Jesus. As a symbol of gratitude for all He has done, people exchange gifts. But let us remember that

 "The magic of Christmas is not in the presents but in His presence."

So, there you go. This is what I managed to find out. But remember that the gifts and the decorations do not define Christmas. Jesus is the reason for this season.

"And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more." - Dr. Seuss

Have a Christ-centered Christmas season!

And next time you do something, ensure that you know why you are doing it.

Here's a pic of the Christmas tree that we set up in our home..

-Signing off still in awe of how my God uses every occasion to teach me something new!

That 'special' feeling

It was last Saturday night and we had a small dinner with few of my friends and relatives. The occasion : my birthday. After dinner, my friend handed over a pen drive to me and asked me to check it out once I go home. As I was jaded out, I went straight to bed as I reached home. The next day, I probably got caught up with my other work that I totally forgot about the pen drive until a friend reminded me about it. When I checked out what was in the pen drive, it was indeed a surprise. Over 40 videos inside! Each one was a birthday wish from my friends in college. It was absolutely stupefying to see how most of them had a special story with which they could relate to me. It was a special feeling. Later that night, I called up or text-ed some of them (and tweeted about it too..) to let them know how special each one was! Everyone replied with,"Glad you liked it..." and such similar stuff but there was one thing most of them told me - "I was wondering why there was no word from you all this while. So, just thought that maybe, you hadn't seen it yet." Maybe, had I seen those videos on that same night, I needn't have kept my friends waiting to hear from me. Anyway, the special feeling still lingered on.

As I imbued into that special feeling, I realized that sometimes, this is how I take God too. He has something special to tell me but then I fail to take time out to sit and listen to Him speak. He has taken time out to create something special to surprise me, adding His love and affection to it, but I am too busy in my own fussy world that by the time I realize that, I have kept Him waiting for too long to tell Him how grateful I was. What's worse? I am sometimes completely blinded by the worries and pleasures of the world that I fail to see that special thing He has in store for me just like how I might have risked not seeing those videos at all had my friend not reminded me about the pen drive!

Many a time, we fail to realize that our God conceives us to be 'special'. He has our story completely fashioned all by Himself and is waiting to share it with us. It is just that we don't take time to hear Him whisper it to us. He is dying to talk to us but we just tend to remain in our own clumsy world. Sometimes, a huge miracle from God is what it takes for God to remind us that He considers us to be special. We just fail to realize that even if God hasn't blessed us the way we expect Him to, He still considers us 'special' and will never let us down.

The sweet, little reminders that He sends doesn't hit us hard. We fail to look around us and see what all He has done for us to make us understand that He considers us special. He gave me just enough oxygen to sustain me. He had decided who my parents should be even before creating me. Even the size of my feet perfectly complement my entire self. I can tell you with full confidence that even if I was the last person standing on this planet, He would have still made the Sun rise in the morning and made those birds sing their songs. How can I be so sure? Because when Adam was the only human being on Earth, God didn't tell Him," Listen Adam, I can't do all of this just for you. Let more people join you and I'll set this Earth in order after that. Until then, just adjust with what you have." Woah.. Imagine God saying that.. But He didn't. In fact, He got everything set and then created Adam - a special creation.

So dear friend, if you're thinking that God has just forgotten you or if you are still waiting for that one big miracle to happen in your life, let me tell you - God considers you special and all it takes is for you to believe it to experience it. He has a uniquely designed story for you which only you can relate to and no one else! YOU ARE SPECIAL! Take time to hear Him say that to you today.

"Thank You Jesus for reminding me that I am special in Your eyes. Thank You for all the blessings that You have showered upon me to show me how special You consider me to be. I am sorry that I have failed to see them and have not picked up Your reminders wherein You had called just to tell me that I am special. It amazes me how You manage to teach me a new lesson every birthday. Give me the grace to respond to Your calling by opening my eyes and ears to those things that You want me to see and hear."

P.S. : To all of you who took time to wish me to make me feel special which in turn helped me learn this lesson, THANK YOU! :-)

And it came to pass - A testimony

Sometimes, I wonder why God blesses people and when He does that, why does He do it big? I have witnessed His grace, love and mercy time and again, the latest one, being my campus placement.

Ever since the first set of placement dates were announced in college, I prayed a small prayer - "Jesus, I don't know what You have in store for me but I trust You. Help me learn exactly what is needed for me to get a job that You have in mind for me. Through it all, let Your will be done!"

The wait was long although I expected it to be an even longer one considering the amount of time I had been dedicating for it! But even through that long wait,God gave me the grace to wait patiently and not panic, trusting Him completely and wholeheartedly. John Calvin rightly puts it,

"Seeing that the Pilot(God) steers the ship in which we sail, who will never allow us to perish even in the midst of shipwrecks, there is no reason why our minds should be overwhelmed with fear and overcome with weariness."

During placements, there was one company that almost the entire college had hopes on and so did I. The reason being, that company doesn't test your technical skills much! (So much for your 4 years of engineering eh? ;) ) So, did I pray for that company? Yes, I did. The company did come. And then the least expected happened. We all wrote our first round and then the company decided to come back after a few days and then have the other rounds, which according to us meant that the company might come back or it might not! Did that disappoint me? Honestly, it did. But that's how God works. He is incredible! You can't comprehend how He does things but He's amazing. Looking back, now I think maybe, He made that company guys leave half way 'cos He had other plans for me! (Isaiah 55:8,9)

After that day, everyday I read the Bible, I could see God speaking to me crystal clear. I generally underline the verses in the Bible as I read but I started boxing them out after this. Some of the Bible verses were :

1. Proverbs 23:18 - Surely, there is a future and your hope will not be cut off.

2. Proverbs 24:14 - Know that wisdom is such to your soul, if you find it, there will be a future, and your hope will not be cut off.

3. Proverbs 25:2 - It is the glory of God to conceal a matter .

One week prior to my placement day, I started going through some notes that I had borrowed from a friend. Believe it or not, I was questioned on not one topic that I had learnt outside that one week. The little prayer that I mentioned above indeed was answered. Every shortlisting prior to this day was a lesson well learnt. Just like everyone, I had also imagined of how my interview should be the day I get placed. And it was just according to the script - loads of talking and quite a bit of coding. There was a sense of satisfaction that I had indeed given my best and given another chance, I could do no more than what I had done on that day.

Oh! Did I forget to mention that God just loves to fulfill even the silliest of my desires. I had told Jesus,"The day I get a job, I want to be wearing one of these two salwars (pointing to two of my fav!)" Don't ask me why I even did that but I did! The recruitment process was for two days and guess what, God gave me an opportunity to wear not just one of them, but both. For the first time during these placement days, I had worn them and there you go, those two days turned out to be very special! Little did I know that it would be my day. Call it a step of faith? Maybe! It might baffle some of you how wearing some stupid piece of cloth could excite me and dedicate an entire paragraph for it, but to realize that my Big God could take time to look into my smallest of desires, I think it is worth dedicating a blog for it!

So, the time did come.. And, it indeed came to pass. God's will,it was! What really excites me is not the fact that I got a job but the way that God led me to get to it. A sense of complete satisfaction after all the shaping that God led me through to fulfill His will in my life! The wait was quite long but it was all worth the wait.

That Friday night, my friend texts,"Hey, do you remember, we wished each other great things for this month?" We both had been to a prayer meeting on September 1st and had wished each other! What's special about it? It was great news not just for me! Both of us managed to get placed in the same week, in different companies. Not a coincidence, right? Ah! That's how my Jesus works!

Thank You Jesus!

Not because of what I've done,

But because of who You are!

You are indeed the God of wonders beyond our galaxy!

GTH-S Free Give Away!

This is my shortest post but with maximum content and take-away! :)

Go, grab a copy of the 'Guard The Heart' Series by Shyju Mathew from here. It's a free give-away!

THE END.

Checklist

Recently, I accompanied my mom to the nearby supermarket. All that she wanted was a packet of washing powder. But as most times, we went through every bay and picked up stuff that we liked. I even got a pen. Why? I don't know, it just looked good. And after a while mom said,"Oh, I need washing powder." and she went in search of it. There are times when she would come home and say,"I forgot to buy that!" or at times, she would look at the bill and recall,"A few years back, your dad would take me only to that particular store near our house. I would have already made a checklist of what all to buy and when we go there, I would not even look at any other product. I would get whatever is there on my list and get back." Well, it is no longer like that.

Most of us live our day to day life like this these days, forget just the shopping that we do. Technology has literally changed the way we approach life. It has made the world a super market. Choices everywhere. Everything looks pleasing to the eye and more often than not, we get engrossed in trying to buy the stuff that the world is selling, to such an extent that we often forget the purpose for starting the journey. 

There have been times when I would tell myself before going to bed,"Listen, you've wasted enough time today. Tomorrow is going to be a new day. Start afresh." Next day morning, I would be all charged up to do something worthwhile and by evening I would have realized that I had failed AGAIN! I would think,"I just scrolled up, scrolled down,and again scrolled up and scrolled down and it's been two hours?" (I know, there are some of you out there nodding your head too. :-))

So, what did I do wrong here? I was just so carried away by all the wonderful stuff that the Internet has to offer that I forgot why I came online in the first place! Now, that's a perfect super market. I just forgot to take my checklist along with me and thus, found myself in the wrong bay or found some advertising strategy very enthralling!

We just get caught up with all the buzz of life that we forget what we have written down in our checklist. Oh wait.. By the way, did we even make one?

I know, this is way too difficult - to make a checklist that shows what we will do with our lives, to set boundaries for ourselves and to ensure that we don't cross them. But just as we decide to make that checklist, we will either not know what to put in there or will just never find time to sit down and make one. But God says that His strength is made perfect in our weakness. So, instead of us, trying to make that checklist on our own by making our little brains to think like God and fail miserably at it, why not just ask God to help us make that list? It is going to be easier if we have to ask Him how He wants us to live and put in those points out there! He might just write it like this for you: 

• * Put your faith in Me today for I am the Way, Truth and Life.
• * Don't be discouraged today. Be patient. I make all things beautiful in My time.
• * Enough of following people on twitter. Now, follow Me. Add Me in your friend list and spend time with Me .
• * Smile. Don't just exist. Live. Make a positive impact on someone's life.

         This list might not tell you what should be done today to increase your worldly knowledge or your wealth and fame but it is certainly going to feed YOU.

"For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" - Mark 8:36 

 How we live this life determines where we spend our eternity, so why settle for a passing happiness instead of eternal joy??

(Video : Song 'Lose My Soul' by Toby Mac. You can find the lyrics here at http://www.lyricstime.com/tobymac-lose-my-soul-lyrics.html )

So.. have you made your checklist today?

Accept people for who they are..

     This post was on its way for a long time now. Maybe, it had to wait a little while because I didn't have the right incident to relate to. So,the incident that triggered this post - the demise of India's most celebrated(really?? In what way??) painter, M.F. Hussain. 

     I was always told that Mr.Hussain was India's Picasso and so I would try hard to like his paintings when I got an opportunity to see them but honestly, I never knew what people liked in his paintings. Okay, now that is all the taste I might have in paintings and so his Bohemian ways never caught my attention. Argh! I digress. 

     I am no journalist or a follower of his art works but with my little knowledge about him that I gained from reading about him all over the Internet and in the newspaper, this is what I figured out. Mr.Hussain lived his last few years in exile as he was forced to leave India in the face of intimidations and harassments even to the extent of vandalizing his art exhibitions by a certain cult citing his depiction of their deities as the reason. I am not sure how he depicted them but it doesn't really require an analyst to state that it was our country's shame to have not given a 'HUMAN BEING' a sense of home and force him to spend his last few years in exile.
    

     As I was pondering over this, I was reminded again on how Jesus dealt with such 'acceptance issues'.

     When Jesus lived on Earth, he did a lot of travelling. During one such journey from Judea to Galilee, He passed through Samaria. The Jews in those days made a detour around Samaria to avoid contact with the Samaritans as there had been a long running conflict between the two groups, basically, a religious conflict. But Jesus took the Samaria route and even got into a conversation with a woman by a well. This woman was not someone with a great reputation. In fact, she had an ominous record when it came to relationships, having 5 husbands is ominous enough, I believe! So by taking the Samaria route and by getting into a conversation with the woman, what did Jesus(who was a Jew Himself) want to teach all of us?

1. Jesus first asked the woman for water as he was weary of his travel to which the woman said,"How is it that you, a Jew, ask me a Samaritan for a drink?" because Jews did not share things in common with the Samaritans then but Jesus showed how religion, caste or creed didn't matter to Him and how much He wanted to break that barrier that existed. 

2. The woman then interrogated Him to which Jesus patiently responded which shows how 'people' mattered to Him the most, irrespective of their background.

3.  As they were conversing, Jesus asked her to call her husband to which the woman denied of having one. Now, that Jesus is omniscient and that he knew her life history, He could have easily condemned her for what she had done. But Jesus doesn't work that way. He found an opportunity to spot the good in her and at the same time convict her of her sin. He replied, "You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true." Wow.. how remarkable was that reply? What would we have done if we were in His place?

I thought, much similar to this was the story of M.F. Hussain. I am not saying anything about how good or detestable his paintings were. All I want to say is that, all of us are bound to make mistakes as human beings but the key lies in learning to accept people for who they are and make them feel loved and secure. After all, that is what separates us from the other creations of God, right?

Caste and creed, don't lay the seed, Love and peace, that's what we need!

If an omniscient, pure and holy God can accept us the way we are, why can't we reciprocate the same to our fellow humans and spread some love? What if we were a little more like Jesus??!!

Beautiful Exchange - It's still your CHOICE

Picture this : 

Place : Garden of Eden

Time : Day time

Weather conditions : Cool, perfect for a stroll in the garden. 

Other info : Place is filled with God's presence. Atmosphere is perfect for an intimate relationship with God.

Event :  Eve goes for a walk. Satan thinks,"What better time than now to entice the woman!" Satan succeeds. Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit, thereby disobeying God's command. 

[Sin enters the world marking the commemoration of the Fall of Man.]

Remember, Eve was in a garden that had God's presence at all times. This teaches us that we just can't blame the place or the people around us for the sins that we commit. It is never a question of where we are or with whom we are, it is always about WHO we are.

Then what made Adam & Eve fall?

Man was the only creation of God who was given the gift of choice. Yes, Eve had the power to choose. Little did Eve know that satan had craftily spun a web around her as she was involved in a conversation with the serpent. She had two choices : Either to trust what God had told her or to trust what the serpent was telling her. She CHOSE the later and that led to the Great Fall.

Just because the first humans misused the power of choice, God didn't snatch it from the whole of mankind. He still gives us the power to choose. He lets you choose every thought, word and action of yours.

Every time you and I went away from Him, CHOOSING to do stuff that didn't please Him, He always CHOSE to remain closeby. Around 2000 years ago(about 33 A.D.), on this 'Great Friday', Jesus CHOSE to carry the Cross for all our losses and insecurities. He CHOSE to die to give you and me a new lease of life, a brand new start in those areas of life that have been a failure so far. When they pierced Jesus' side, both blood and water flowed. Medically, Jesus' heart burst. Spiritually, He died of a broken Heart so that we wouldn't.

Such unconditonal love that He traded His life for ours in a 'Beautiful Exchange'.

And now there are two choices for you :

1. A package gift called 'Beautiful Exchange' awaits you at the feet of Jesus. 

Package Inclusions : Righteousness, peace and joy plus an Eternal Stay in Heaven.

Conditions : Repent, and receive it. Lead a life that pleases God.

Cost : Free 'cos Jesus paid in full on the Cross.

2. A banner that says, "Offer" but with the '* conditions apply' tag.

Offer Inclusions : A worldly life that MAY seem all fun and decorated. The path to destruction cannot get easier.

Conditions : No true peace and joy included. You are solely responsible for whatever happens.

Cost : Your life.

The choice is yours. You must choose. 

Give your life to God while there is still time! 

I want to meet you in Heaven. Will you?

P.S: There is a poll in the right sidebar of the Homepage. Feel free to take it. :)

Complaint Box

Of late, all of us in class are busy with some kind of project work and my team was no different. We were thinking of how we should be implementing a 'complaint box' in our project and that goaded me into writing this post. It has taken me a while to put it into writing but better late than never!
     The 'complaint box' that was to be implemented got me thinking of what my 'complaint box' consisted of. In recent times, this is how it looked (to list a few) :

• Lord, I have tried to be true to my conscience. Yet, I end up getting less than all those involved in some sort of malpractices. Not fair, Lord!

          God answered : Did I not give you what you deserved?

• Lord, I bunked twice. She bunked twice. Yet, my attendance is reflected in my grades while she ended up getting an 'S'. But why?(P.S.: 'S' is supposed to be the acme for all subjects in college.)

          God answered : But you didn't deserve a 'S'. So what bothers you?

• Lord, why did Japan have to be wrecked like this? Were they all very sinful people and was this some kind of punishment? 

          God answered : If I had to destroy people based on their sins, then you should have been long gone!!

     Okay! Now that answer shook me! All this while, I was thinking that I was trying to show how just I've been and how I was way better than the others. But I was so wrong, so foolish and now I feel so small for having put forward such petty cases before such a huge God! Yet, He preferred to answer me patiently for everything that I asked Him.

     I might have felt all righteous when I placed those complaints in the box but how many times have I faltered and yet, basked in all my blessings. I am sure all of you might have questioned God trying to prove your righteousness at some point in life but to all our questions and complaints, God has just one answer :

He(God) causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. (Matthew 5:45)

Wow! Now, that's what He is, the awesome God that I am privileged to serve!
He doesn't bless me for who I am. He blesses me because of who He is. What a privilege. What grace!

Praise God for I don't serve a righteous God but I serve a righteous, yet loving Father!

(Does that mean I can sin and lead a mundane life? Ah! No way. I can fool anyone but not my conscience. Same holds for you too, my friend. Penitent, repent and receive Jesus today.)

Love is in the air

I log into facebook today and I see a lot of Valentine's Day greetings and definitons of love being shared! Sometimes, facebook is a beter dictionay than Oxford! And there's #thatslove trending on twitter. I would be kidding if I said that I didn't expect to see this. I click on #thatslove to see what people have tweeted about and no prizes for guessing what I read. There are tons of movie made each year on the power of love. And not to forget the forward text messages that you receive at this time of the year! Truly, love is in the air.

How often have you felt let down by this 'love' that man has to offer? Ever felt that solitude was a better option than trying to earn the love of this world? You've definitely been looking for or experiencing the wrong "love". What exactly is 'love' then?

While everyone is trying to come up with their own definitons of love, the Bible comes up with one as well. 1 John 4:8 says,

God is Love.

It doesn't say God 'has' love. He is love which means that He is the source of love. He proves it everyday in my life. How about you? He sends me sunshine every morning to light up my day. He sends me flowers during spring. Whenever I want to talk to someone, He is there by my side listening to me. He has provided me with all my needs. He tells me, "I have cared for you from the time you were born. I am your God and I will take care of you until your hair is old and grey. I made you and I will care for you; I will help you and rescue you." He has promised to give me strength for the day, comfort for the tears and light for the way.

But above all this, He displayed His love for me on the Cross of Calvary. He has done that for you too. John 3:16 says,

For God so loved the WORLD that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes shall not perish but have eternal life.

Today, the world tries to impress each other, trying to demonstrate their love for each other by getting expensive, impressive gifts.  But my Jesus took only 3 nails, 2 wooden blocks and a crown of thorns to win my heart. He didn't buy me a gift but He bought ME at the highest price!

He has done the same for you as well. He is not someone who is going to disappoint you and you just needn't fear that He might one day leave you. Why? Because He is crazy about you. Face it. He can live anywhwere in this universe but He choses your heart! He stands at the door of your heart and knocks. Will you let Him in? I just did!

Yes, dear friend! God wants to develop a 'love affair' with you. Listen to this beautiful song which is more of 'love-song' written by Jesus for you!

True, love is in the air. But do you experience it in your heart? Is your heart yearning for this 'love-affair' with Jesus? On this beautiful day, I pray that you find this True Love - that love which is perfect, pure, free and wanting to be with you to guide you through forever!

Your driving force (Part 2)

As I promised, here's the continuation from where I left in my last post. Driving Force - Part 2, another reason why God should be your driving force.

(If you had missed out on part 1, then here it is : Your driving force (Part 1) )

God didn't create you to leave you as a 'no-man' in this world. He also takes complete responsibility to give you a good future and decide on your life's destinations if you are willing to let His will be done in your life. (You can read more about it here on my post : 2011 - A Happy Voyage)

You and I do not know what lies ahead of us in the future. And so hoping that our parents, friends and relatives know about OUR future is out of the question. Who knows it then? Only our Creator. Only He knows our destination because He destines it for us. If He is the One who decides our future, how can someone else drive us to that destination? In otherwords, how can others' approval (by 'others', I mean anyone other than God, includng YOU!) be your driving force?

Life's journey is like traveling by car to a destination. Will you ever allow someone who doesn't know the route to drive you to that place? If you do that, there may be chances that you reach your destination but what guarantee do you have for reaching there on time with no wrong turns and unnecessary 'take diversions'? That's exactly what happens when you allow others' approval be your driving force. You might go in all the wrong paths which are unnecssary and therby face extra disappointments and pressures!

But when God is gonna drive you, you have the comfort of sitting in a car that is not just gonna take you to your destined finish line, but also ensures that you reach your destination exactly on time for the Bible says that 'In His time, He makes all things bautiful.' He will accelerate the car at times and that's when you will see a lot of success, He will drive slowly at the other times when you might just feel that things are not moving at the pace you would like them to move and He will even put on the brakes at times when you might just find the entire world moving forward but you will seem to be stuck up at one place. When God is gonna drive us through, we might have to face acceleration, sudden brakes, some slow rides in traffic and some sharp turns as well. If only we could put on our seat belts and let Him continue to be our driving force, nothing can stop us from reaching the heights He has destined for us to reach.

Why should God be your driving force - in a nutshell :

• He has promised to be with you always while the world doesn't guarantee that.
• The world's approval will break you (because you are trying hard to gain acceptance) but God's approval will mould you into a vessel of His choice.
• The world will judge you using a good-o-meter but God judges you using His grace-o-meter (You needn't try, you needn't cry.No, you just needn't do that ).
• And finally, a perfect reason to have God as our driving force - He is our Creator and our Destination decider. After all, He Himself has said,

"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end."

WHO/WHAT IS DRIVING YOU NOW?

WOULD YOU LIKE THAT TO CHANGE?

"LET GOD DRIVE YOU. GIVE HIM A CHANCE."