Attitude of Gratitude : Pastor Rajiv's Daily Reflections

Whatever our lot in life, we have a choice of gloating, groaning or gratitude.

"An Attitude of Gratitude is a regular habit to express appreciation for all different parts of life, no matter how small. If you concentrate on what you have, you'll always have more". https://www.yourlifeyourvoice.org 

While this is not a mantra, it is a good principle  because such an attitude creates a positive mindset and self healing, mentally and physically.

David did this regularly, thanking and glorifying our creator. Like David we too can choose to give thanks for ourselves, what we have and our life on earth. Feel positive. Feel good. Psalm 100, expresses this attitude. We can read it, pray it or sing it.

1 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Understandably, people who are in some depth of despair, may not feel like praising and thanking anyone, least of all God. But in the experience of others who too have been in despair and sadness, if we develop this as a habit, over time our entire attitude to ourselves and  the world around us changes. 

Thanking and praising God, helps us to get up once again and move on and above all engages God in our daily life. 

What Happened to Grace? Pastor Rajiv's Daily Reflection.

Romans 12:18 : If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

Lately there has been a lot of talk of Will Smith and Chris Rock. While that's a topic for the press and magazines, one wonders what happened to a thing called grace?

As Christians, We expect grace from God. We pray for it and sometimes demand it. But what about us showing grace to our fellow men? If we expect grace, we need to practice grace ourselves. Humility, humor, forgiveness, gratitude,, compassion, accepting people for who they are, etc., everything grace comprises of are forgotten, it seems. We have a right to hit someone, the right to abuse, the right to take revenge - and we think we also have the right to Gods grace? Really? 

You may ask  what happens when someone hurts us? Such are the testing times of our own grace and faith in Gods word who said - "Vengeance is mine". It is not ours.

The Bible is full of verses which tell us that we need to share grace.

Ephesians 4:29 
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

1 Peter 4:10 
As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace:

Matthew 5:7 
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

God's grace is free for us to to receive. At the same time it is free for us to share as well.  If you want to practice grace in your daily life, here is a good resource:  

https://themom-forum.com/bloglist/ways-to-practice-grace/

So far as Romans 12:18 goes, the responsibility to practice and show grace is ours. Lets find grace and share it. 

Pastor Rajiv's Daily Reflection: K.I.S.S.

K.I.S.S? Keeping it simple and straightforward. 

Lets' be honest. A lot of u are reading this because of the anagram? Wondering what it stands for, attaching different meanings etc., and in short making it a complex puzzle. That's natural. We love complexity and I call it the complexity syndrome.

So many business organizations also go through this complexity phenomenon as well, with the result they lose focus on what they started out to do.

And that is what happens in Christian life too. We can complicate it so much with dos and don'ts that we lose focus on the end. The means become the end.

For example, we are taught to follow the commandments, which most of us think are 10. Did you know there are 613 commandments in the Bible? Can I follow all 613? Probably not. But Christ made is simple and straightforward when He said in Mark 12: 29- 31: 


The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”


These two commandments sum up the all. If we love our God only, we place him above all else - money, time, people, family, etc, not letting anything or anyone take a priority over God.

 
If we love our neighbor as ourselves, we will never ever hurt him or her or even think about it. Adultery, murder, covetousness - all are removed.

 
You get the picture. Let's not fall into the complexity syndrome and end up with nothing. Let not the means God has given us to live by, become the end.

Mid Week Message : The Two Principles of Forgiveness, Mrs. S. David, Guest Speaker

Our mid week message by Mrs. S. David inspires forgiveness as she talks about the two principles of forgiveness. 

Pastor Rajiv's Daily Reflection : The Other side of Failure

There are times when the heavens seem shut and drought and barrenness and failure surround us in whatever we do. It must happen to everyone and we have nothing to do but wonder what went wrong? At such times friends, relatives etc offer no consolation. They can't because they themselves may not know the pain or outcome.

But there is one who knows. One Who had gone through worse and yet survived. Job. Job's story in the Bible, is the perfect example of holding God high, irrespective of His circumstances. Looking beyond the obvious as we say. Today his story can help us beyond and to the other side of failure and fear.

Of special mention are verses Job 5:17-26 

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty:
For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole.
He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee.
In famine he shall redeem thee from death: and in war from the power of the sword.
Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue: neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.
At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.
For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field: and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.
And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace; and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin.
Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great, and thine offspring as the grass of the earth.
Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season.

These verses give strength when they say that while we may go through the worst - the worst cannot kill us. 

We may not be spared the situation, but the situation cannot destroy us.
Today if you are going through such a phase in life, it maybe a good idea to read through the book of Job.

Are we prejudiced or racist? Pastor Rajiv's Message for the week:

It is shocking that in Christendom, slavery  and racism was rampant in America and Europe and other parts of the world, in some form or the other,   till abolished in the mid to end of the 1800s. But, in spite of several commandments, scriptures, parables etc in the Bible, against it's practice, in some cases even equating it with sin, the concept of race supremacy prevailed, leading to world wars and bilateral wars. Even now, name calling some one on their color or race or looks is prevalent. 

God is not black or white or yellow or brown. God is a spirit. He has not made anyone superior. 

Today, Pastor Rajiv talks about prejudices, from a biblical perspective and how we as Christians need to respond.