In God we Trust: Sunday Reflection

Today's title (which is  the official motto of the United States of America) is not a reflection on that country but on all of us. We profess one thing but practice another. We profess God but trust ourselves and our friends and  allies. This was 700 years before Christ as well, where God's people were in name only. Our opening verse from Isiaah talks about the infidelity of man towards God, true then and true now. 

Isiaah 30:15

"For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:
In returning and rest you shall be saved;
in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.
But you refused...."

Isaiah was best known as the Hebrew prophet who predicted the coming of Jesus Christ and is known for having urged Israel to rely on Yahweh, their national god, instead of on the political power, and the gods of nations like Egypt or Assyria for protection and prosperity. He also promoted just and ethical practices in everyday life and politics.

Today the opening verse is as true as it was during Isiah's time: 

A. low or no trust in God; 

B. dependence on man and earthly things; 

C. no rest for the body or soul and 

yet the promise of our faithful God of redemption, which we studiously ignore or consider irrelevant. 

Today as then, we thrive on excitement and restlessness. Oscillating between different paths and ways, we try to find answers to life's challenges, not trusting in God in quiet faith, but in our own abilities, forgetting that those very abilities are God given.

A logical question then is : what did Isiaah want to convey?

1st - We need to understand and be clear that this is a directive straight from God.

2nd - It is an invitation to return to God and

3rd - It defines our strength from God and which comes through is faith and trust and which deliver which deliver peace and rest.

Faith and Trust in God replaces anxiety with hope; it stills the mind and the soul and engages a strength which surpasses all and which is God. Nothing is too small or big for our God. Then why should we be foolish and not pass on our problems to Him rather than try and solve it ourselves? 

Jesus has opened the door, all we need to do is trust Him and walk in.

Our Very own Goliath! - Pastor Rajiv's Daily Reflections

Today again I thought about David, before he was a king and his battle with Goliath. This story is not just a story, it's an inspiration for all of us because all of us have one or many Goliath's in our life we need to fight and defeat. So it's important for us to understand the lessons this story teaches.

Lesson no. 1
Mental preparation - before we take on our Goliath we need to be self convinced that we want to fight this battle a d win. With Goliath you cannot take a half hearted approach.

"And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine."

Lesson no 2
Draw on past experiences

Experiences prepare one for the future. Experiences help us to figure out what will work and what may not. Based on experience we select the strategy and the weapons needed. David did just that.

"And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:
[35] And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.
[36] Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.
[37] David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee
] And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine."

Lesson No. 3

Dependence on God
If God be with us who can be against us? David took this literally. He did not depend on himself to win this battle but only and only on God. That was enough. No weapon is too powerful for God. No Goliath is too big for God.

"Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied."

Lesson No. 4

Choose the weakest spot to attack
Goliath was covered in armor. The only exposed part was his face. The weakest spot was where David focused and attacked. Like David we too need to analyze the adversary, identify the weakest area and choose that for our attack.

"And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth".

Today Goliath can be anything - bad habits, professional problems, addictions, and the biggest - temptations! So many are the adversaries which surround us and actively engage us all the time. And the fact is we seldom win unless we act as David did.
With God on your side we don't need a sword.

"So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David".

Put a smile on God's face: Daily Reflections

I have always been in awe of David - a man after Gods own heart. Chosen to be king even as a shepherd, had human weaknesses yet was committed to God. 

He put a smile on Gods face.

Imagine, every day God is deluged with prayers-  sad ones, happy ones, thanksgiving ones. Just as He carries our burdens and sorts our life out and puts a smile on our faces, we should do the same, don't you think?

So what did it take for David to make God smile? In the words of Pastor Chuck Swindoll David had " True spirituality. Genuine humility. Bone-deep integrity."

"What do these qualities look like? They mean you live in harmony with God and you make His priorities your priorities. You won’t hesitate to roll up your sleeves and do grunt work in the shadows without getting a mention of the glory. They mean the private-you and the public-you are one and the same. Being good matters more than looking good."

How do you do that ? Again quoting Pastor Swindoll - "anyone, empowered by Christ, can live with true spirituality, genuine humility, and bone-deep integrity....Jesus Christ gives you supernatural strength to live by so you can live for an eternal purpose. We don’t have to guess what God wants or what God is like because He has made it plain in His Word."

Today lets draw inspiration from King David and live our life to put a smile on God's face.

Why Plan B Fails : Pastor Rajiv's Daily Reflections

In management we are told that a plan B is important to have as a backup. In my private life I totally disagree though others may not. 

You see, If we have a God led life, having a plan B is like trying to help God deliver on the plan He made for you. Gods does not have a plan B and when we make one we lose faith in His plan and thus become less resilient in it, in terms of work, faith and belief in God. The result can be disastrous.

Remember Sarah, Abraham's wife? She laughed at Gods promise. She also tried to help God! Her action of having Abraham wife Hagar was just that! A plan B for Gods promise to come true. A back up to God!

Needless to say her Plan B had some serious consequences, partly felt even today.

What we learn from Sarah's story is relevant to us today as well, a we often doubt Gods will for us when things are bad and look hopeless. For example if I had a dollar in my pocket I would not plan a feast for a wedding, would I? But if I was sure that the wedding was part of Gods plan I would go ahead and plan it in full faith that He would provide.

From Sarah we learn that

A. God can do what is seemingly impossible.

B. God always delivers on his promises

C. God is always in time. Not on time but in time. In His time. And His time is always perfect. We need to be patient. In the words of Jeremy Collier, "the fortitude of a Christian lies in patience..."

So you see, God has a plan for us with zero chance of failure. We need to have faith in that one plan and wait in faith. God does not make plan B, so why should we?

As He says in Isaiah 55:

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways, declares 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"

Accountability : Pastor Rajiv's Daily Reflection

Romans 14:12

"So then each of us will give an account of himself to God".

In professional terms, Accountability eliminates the time and effort you spend on distracting activities and other unproductive behavior. When you make people accountable for their actions, you're effectively teaching them to value their work. When done right, accountability can increase your team members' skills and confidence. Accountability is extremely crucial for positive gain.

Similarly in Biblical terms accountability is equally and most important. It could mean life or death. Physically and spiritually. It is about the value we place on God's word and our purpose in life. 

Biblical accountability begins with taking responsibility for one’s own actions and making a conscious choice of allowing God and others to help in accomplishing what is right. Biblical accountability is three dimensional -

Accountability to God 

Making sure we walk the talk and take trouble to understand His purpose for us, through His wisdom. Making sure we use the Gifts He has given us, wisely and  for His glory, including His Holy spirit.

Accountability to self

We owe much to ourselves. We are not a mistake but part of  a plan of God. Our bodies are His temple and our world is His garden, which need to look after as well. His Holy Spirit resides in us, is with us. We need to make sure we maintain His temple in cleanliness. Make sure we maintain health. What we do here defines our life. It also defines our purpose. We need to listen to the Holy Spirit and not ignore it's presence in our lives.

Accountability to others.

As Gods people we have a responsibility, given to us by our Lord Jesus - to work towards the well being of our world as well as fellow men and women. In fact, it is a command, not an advice. 

John 15:12

“This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you"

So it becomes a triangle with God at the top, and us humans at the bottom and a horizontal accountability with each other.

Why should we take it seriously? The word account appears 68 times in the Bible. So it's not a mere occurrence or reference. It's a serious valuation of what we have done with the life and time God has given us.

"For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance, but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away".

That's how serious this matter is to God.

For reference read Matthew 25 verses 14-30.

Hotline to Heaven: Pastor Rajiv's Daily reflections.

Do we need Samuel ?

1 Samuel 7:3  "And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the LORD, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines".

This verse has a lot of meaning even today. The strange Gods Samuel refers to can be anything which distracts us from our relationship with God. It could be money or riches or another person and in fact anything. If we look at our lives most of us have compartmentalized our time, even time for God. We have a time for devotions (if at all) and seldom are we in continuous communication with God. We have fixed times for prayer, for Church for fellowship etc. 

Taking a cue from the quoted verse, isn't it time we prioritized God over anything else? Why does God have to take second priority? Why Can't we establish a direct and  constant communication with Him - at home, at work, in the train, in the plane and where ever we are? Sounds impractical? Let me tell you it's absolutely doable. How? You may ask. 

Well, the fact is every one of us does something called self talk, where we are constantly talking to ourselves in our minds. We simply need to be self aware of our self talk and include God in the conversation. When we start doing that, we will also start reviewing answers through the Holy Spirit, in the form of thoughts. Our self awareness will help us to listen and understand what God and the Holy Spirit are prompting us with. In fact we need not even say "Dear God" and end with Amen. 

So do we need a Samuel in our lives today? No definitely not. Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit so that we don't need prophets to communicate on our behalf. Just two simple steps and we have a hotline to heaven. The first step is to become aware of your self talk and the second step is to include God in the conversation. Simple yet effective. 

Board now! Or be left behind.

Board that Ark !

Gen chapter 7 ver 1
"And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation."

God invites us into His dwelling. If we accept and enter, we are protected against the storms of life. No matter how perilous the waves, we ride on top and do not drown.

In this world today, the ark is as real as it was during Noah's time. Today, we live in a society that has turned away from God. We truly deserve another flood of God’s wrath, but because He loves “fallen man” He provided us with an “ark” into which we likewise could enter. If we think this is imagination, we need to think again. The recent pandemic, Tsunamis, world disasters are all indicators that we need to accept Gods invitation and enter that ark before it is too late. But where us it?
That ark is our Lord Jesus Himself. Jesus provides that ark to give us safety, peace  and security. He has sent personal invitations to all of us to board.

"Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool."

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

"The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price."

When we are travelling how anxiously we await the call to board our flight, train or bus. If we don't board we are left behind. The craft does not wait.
How much more do we want our God to wait?

Yirat Adonai: Pastor Rajiv's Daily Reflections

Psalm 67:7 says "God will bless us. All the ends of the earth shall fear him."

There appears to be a contradiction here - Blessing and fear in one verse. Will God Bless us only if we "fear" Him?  John also talks about fear when he says - 

"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.” (1 John 4:18).

The contradiction deepens and confuses. So what is this "fear" we talk about when we say "God fearing", "Fear of God", etc. 

Often Christians interpret “the Fear of the LORD” as the fear of the punishment that God could give us for our deeds. Certainly, we will all stand before God’s judgment when we die. But if we know that Christ has paid for our sins, we should not have this kind of fear anymore. And yet the word fear occurs in the Bible 500 times.

What we should understand is that the English language is much limited as compared to Hebrew and hence may encourage apparent contradictions. Like many words in Hebrew, "Fear"   has a much broader range of meaning than we have in English. To us, “fear” means fright, dread and terror. But according to Lois Tverberg the Hebrew equivalent of fear , yirah (YEER-ah) encompasses a wide range of meanings from negative (dread, terror) to positive (worship, reverence) and from mild (respect) to strong (awe).

So should we cringe before God or stand in awe or dread Him? what does it mean to fear the Lord? 

This is what John preaches against when he says, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.” (1 John 4:18).

The Jewish rabbis often spoke of the “fear of the Lord” as  — Yirat Adonai — but they always thought of it in terms of the most positive sense of the word yirah. They defined it as awe and reverence for God that motivates us to do his will. They pointed out that fearing God’s punishment is actually an inferior understanding, because at its core it is self-centered. It doesn’t even focus on God. Rather it looks at God only through the lens of your own interests, by asking what will happen to you because of Gods knowledge of your deeds.

On the other hand - If you have Yirat Adonai, awe and reverence for God, it fills you with a better kind of fear. 

Imagine that you work at a mega-corporation and one day you’re promoted to work directly under the CEO. Wouldn’t you tremble as you report for your first assignment? When you have great respect for someone, you feel terrible knowing you’ve disappointed them. And when you love another person deeply, you earnestly want their approval. How much more should this be true with God!

Therefore, when we say reverence and respect and love which is so deep that it  teaches us how to live, and reassures us of God’s power and guidance

It is reverence of his will that keeps us from getting caught in sins that will destroy our relationships and lives. Which also means that there is a constant reminder that God is with us, every moment of the day. If we have Yirat Adonai,  a Sense of God’s Presence becomes a critical state for humans. In fact, In many synagogues, over the ornate cabinets that hold the Torah scrolls is the phrase:

Know Before Whom You Stand. 

This means to realize that an infinitely powerful God is close at hand. Wow!

**** Todays reflection is adapted from Lois Tverberg and a detailed reading is available here. 

Shattered Dreams : Looking Beyond Failure

The Book of Ruth is one of only two books of the Bible to be named after women (the other is Esther). It's a short book and often easily overlooked. Yet it has always inspired us to look beyond failure and loss.
The short Book of Ruth in the Hebrew scripture has three main characters, Ruth, Naomi and Boaz, from whom you can learn many lessons. The story of Ruth covers a period of loss and despair for Naomi, persistence and devotion of Ruth, a time of bestowing grace and favor for Boaz and an ending of joy and blessing for all three.
As a woman in ancient Israel, Ruth's loss of a husband and her sons was equivalent to losing her security and future. All of her dreams were shattered. It is a study on how to respond to shattered dreams as we follow Naomi's development from a bitter, depressed woman returning home with nothing but a foreign daughter-in-law, into a joyful woman with an adopted son at the end of the story, and with the all important mission of establishing the lineage of our Lord Jesus Christ (Ruth was the great grandmother of Jesus).
We all have faced situations of extreme disappointment, and the story of Ruth shows us how to respond to them. Failure isn't about failing it is about learning. It is about transformations.
In essence, when we face our shattered dreams, we need to show resilience and courage like Ruth, not run away from the situation. Ask God for His vision for us, change our focus or profession or outlook, and be willing to work hard (like Ruth) even if it means we go out of our comfort zone to survive.
With a change in focus, we get new opportunities and a new horizon. It's not easy. it's not quick.
Looking beyond our failures also means we don't look back. Though we may see many possibilities - we choose one in consultation with God - in line with His will. We pray for wisdom, for patience for trust and for faith. And we pray for protection.
We all fail at one time or another, whether we admit it or not. But beyond failure there is God.

Who do you bank with ? Pastor Rajiv's Daily Devotional

Banking is big business and depending on your needs different banks claim complete customer satisfaction. But there is one Bank which a lot of people don't bank with and that is the Bank of Heaven or BoH. 

While earthly banks will take care of your financial needs, even allowing you to buy more than you can afford, the BoH takes care of your future needs- so that you can have a peaceful and loving existence with our father and brother as well as many many more like us.

What is the currency which the BoH uses? Simply the absolute truth of our commitment. Everything else follows. David put's it beautifully when he says - 

Psalm 27:4
One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.

Why not open your account today? It is so simple, no paper work at all. A simple  wireless message is all you need.