Investing in Jesus: Pastor Rajiv's Daily Reflections

Important Notice : Announcing our new initiative - 

Each1-Reach1

One of the serious and long term as well as dangerous effects of COVID Lockdowns and other associated problems, worldwide, has been the growth of mental health issues, depression, job losses, life losses, and so much more. We, each of us, would know at least one person who maybe suffering from such issues and may need support. 

Therefore from tomorrow we are starting an initiative we call EACH1-REACH1 where each of our readers can get involved and invest a little bit of time. 

We will ask you to think of one person, with whom you think our post of the day, or our mid week messages, may resonate and bring some peace. Share that post with them and reach out to people who need you. God will Bless you for your thoughts and prayers.

Now, to Today's Post ......

1 Timothy 6:19

"...storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed."

Our human minds are conditioned to draw mental pictures of certain words and phrases. And I am sure that the word "invest" conjures up visions of money and wealth, whether in terms of a currency or other assets.

But do you know what is the most valuable asset we have? It is our mind, our heart and our time. So the subject line does not refer to money but to our god given gifts and their use. How do we invest in Jesus?

We need to deposit our life in Christ. This involves knowledge and trust. We need to invest into growing our knowledge of Christ, His word and His life. As we grow that knowledge, we will see God's hand in our own life and which will build our trust in Him. When we have trust, we will depend on Him more and more, love him more and more and because we love Him, we will follow His commands and His guidance.

This also means we increase our own understanding of God, of Jesus and of the Holy Spirit, so that we can see and understand their work in our lives, which also enables us to share that experience so that others can benefit as well. It helps us to build a four dimensional relationship - With God our creator, with Jesus Christ our savior, with the Holy Spirit - our sanctifier and with our fellow men.

people may ask why should we do this? what's in it for me? Well there is plenty in it for each one of us. To know what it is, please read yesterday's post.

Meanwhile, start investing!

Watch Your Step! - A Saturday Reflection

Ephesians 5 15- 17 - So watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times! Don't live carelessly, unthinkingly. Make sure you understand what the Master wants. (5:15–17 MSG)

Watch your step! This statement is so familiar isn't it? . Parents say that to children, people use that as a warning to others and so on. This is a life warning.

But read further, it is also guideline for every Christian.

As we travel a path carefully chosen according to His will, word and purpose, God presents us with so many opportunities. Opportunities to flourish and prosper, and also opportunities to say NO. Opportunities to lead an exemplary life. Opportunities to use our gifts for others.

We cannot pass our time mindlessly, but realize every second we live is an investment we make into life, a life after our physical death. 

Just to be clear, our first death, or our physical death, is the separation of  our body from our spirit. The second death, is the separation of our spirit from God and God's plan. 

Generally, people don't think much about their second death too seriously, specially young people. We are all pre- occupied with our physical death and how to prolong our physical life. But think this - if physical death is so fearsome to us, how much more horrible and painful the second death will be?

The question is can we save ourselves from this second death? The answer is YES! If we invest our life here in believing in,  and following, Jesus Christ, truly and earnestly, we can save ourselves. 

Why should we believe this? Because it is a promise from Christ - 

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.” Revelation 2:11.

That Serious Offence: Our Daily Reflection

If thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. — Exodus 20:25

(Note: Todays reflection is adapted from the KJV Devotional, with some thoughts of our own). 

In an earlier  post, we had talked about "helping God". In our reflection today, we see how much a serious offence it can be !

Consider the quoted verse. Short. But with so much meaning and learning. God’s altar was to be built of unhewn stones, that no trace of human skill or labor might be seen upon it. What that tells us is this: Let not man add to God's Glory with his/her own understanding (tools) and human interpretation (wisdom). 

Our KJV study says - "  Human wisdom delights to trim and arrange the doctrines of the cross into a system more artificial and more congenial with the depraved tastes of fallen nature; instead, however, of improving the gospel carnal wisdom pollutes it, until it becomes another gospel, and not the truth of God at all" 

Essentially what it means is that we bend the law of God to suit ourselves or the world. Suit our beliefs, or our thoughts or our situations. Just as David may have done and all of us do. 

But: Isn't that fantastic to realize? All alterations and amendments of the Lord’s own Word are defilements and pollutions. And...attract a huge penalty!

Do our so called preachers really know this or understand this? Some advertise the Holy Spirit. Some Advertise the Word. Worst, some advertise the meaning. 

So many people are tring to make a business model 

The Lord alone must be exalted in the work of atonement, and not a single mark of man’s chisel or hammer will be endured. 

I may say today, I am a man/woman of God. I don't know if that is right. I may say today, I carry the Holy Spirit, that I know is correct,: but so do all of us. I may think, being a man/woman of God, in our understanding, we are different. Wrong again. If we think "I have converted/ baptized so many (husbands/wives/friends/others) therefore I am Holy - wrong again. God converts the Heart, we only follow a ritual). 

If some one has achieved sanctification, it is not our doing.  What Jesus declared to be finished is indeed finished. We cannot add or subtract. We cannot restart the process. Yet we do, don't we?  We add our own interpretations, our own understanding (in spite of being warned by the Lord - Lean not on your own understanding) and our own "Holiness" or spirituality.  

Do we know that there is an inherent blasphemy in seeking to add to what Christ Jesus in His dying moments declared to be finished, or to improve that in which the Lord Jehovah finds perfect satisfaction. 

Friends, lets put away our tools, our minds, our own interpretations and stick to what God has said. Yes, delve into His word, find original meaning through the original text or language, but for His and yours , do not "help" Him by spreading our own interpretation of His word. It has a deep and horrible consequence.  

KJV says this - 

"Many professors may take warning from this morning’s text as to the doctrines which they believe. There is among Christians far too much inclination to square and reconcile the truths of revelation; this is a form of irreverence and unbelief, let us strive against it, and receive truth as we find it; rejoicing that the doctrines of the Word are unhewn stones, and so are all the more fit to build an altar for the Lord." 

Majestic words. And a majestic direction. 

God's word can ONLY have ONE interpretation and ONE meaning. Let's pray for wisdom to understand His meaning and direction,  rather than apply our own understanding while we spread His Word. 

The Greatest Commandment: Pastor Rajiv's Mid Week Message

Since Biblical times, there has been discussion and great interest by scholars on the question : What is the greatest commandment. Pastor Rajiv's talks about this in his message today. 

Finding the Good in Evil : Pastor Rajiv's Daily Reflections

 Todays Reflection: Forgiving evil. 

Genesis 37: 26-28

Judah said to his brothers, "What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27Come, let's sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood." His brothers agreed. 28So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.

Forgiveness is not blind. It's does not happen at the spur of the moment. It's a process.
I take example and inspiration from Joseph. Why and how did he forgive his brothers?
His brothers had sinned against Joseph and God. But God had a different plan. He wanted to use Joseph for ensuring continuity of his family.

Joseph forgave his brothers, after their true repentance. The Agape Bible study explains this so well and the following points are taken from here https://www.agapebiblestudy.com/Genesis/Lesson_18.htm

Joseph put his brothers through three tests -
"The first test was the brothers' three day imprisonment which was intended to cause them to come to terms with their sin against him.
The second was a test of their willingness to rescue their brother Simeon by bringing their brother Benjamin to Egypt and retuning the money Joseph put in the sacks of their pack animals.
The third was a test of their willingness to sacrifice their freedom for the life of their youngest brother, Benjamin".

Only after these were successfully completed, did real forgiveness set in because Joseph was sure that true repentance had set in. 

Forgiveness, while being at the core of the Christian faith, is not to be given away like bread. It is to be nurtured so that all ill feeling is got rid of completely, from both sides. True forgiveness happens after true repentance. 

Evil will happen. But if we look , and ask for Gods help, we can find good in evil. And when we do that we can either continue to hate the perpetuator of that evil or choose to find the good, praise God and forgive, after we are sure that there is true repentance and sorrow. If we don't find repentance,  it is still possible not to hate since we derived good from their evil act.  

Time and Opportunity: Pastor Rajiv's Daily Reflections

"I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all." Ecclesiastes 9:11

God is good and great. He created the heavens and the earth and everything therein. He also created time to govern the earth. When Adam was created, God gave him the chance to practice his supremacy over the all earth and name the plans and animals. Yet, he blew it! 

Like God did with Adam, He does with all. He gives each of us time and opportunity. How we use them is up to us, because we have freedom of choice. The difference between the poor and the rich, the great and the not so great or small is simply this: The use of the time and opportunity available to them. 

Therefore, we must be  conscious of the time God has given to us  and alert to opportunities that He may present. And then, we must choose wisely on how to use them to become wiser and profitable, rather than corrupt that time and opportunity by using them for something contrary to God's laws or His will. 

For with the  time afforded to us and every opportunity presented to us, there is a corresponding responsibility as well. Choose responsibly. And live well.  

What's in a name? : Pastor Rajiv's Daily Reflections

Acts Chapter 5 Verses 1-11

Yesterday we talked about what we are willing to offer God. We also talked about what God may accept.

As a sequel, today lets look at what God expects from us through two extreme characters in the Bible. Abraham and Ananias.

As we all may well know, "Abraham" means "the father of many". From a barren man to becoming the father of Israel was the blessing God gave Abram.

But do we know the meaning of Ananias? The name Ananias is a boy's name meaning "God has given". Ananias is a New Testament name of three different figures. The two good ones were a high priest and a disciple of Paul. The not so good Ananias was the husband of Sapphira who conspired to deceive the apostles and was struck dead.

What did he (the third Ananias) do to deserve to die?

Simply, he was trying to cheat God! Cheat Him of what He had given! Even his name means "God had given" and yet, he tried to go back on what he had promised. Both he and his wife.

What is the lesson to be learnt here? Don't we do it all the time, maybe not in terms of money, but in terms of other promises we may have made to God or in God's name, or other stuff which we know God wants us to do but we don't do it.

So what does God expect from us? Simply to follow the commandments He has given and to do what we have promised Him, or in His name. Abraham held back nothing including the life of his son. Ananias did not keep his promise. So who are we like? Abraham or Ananias? 

What can you offer? Our Daily Reflection

4 Tremble and do not sin;
when you are on your beds,
search your hearts and be silent.
5 Offer the sacrifices of the righteous
and trust in the Lord

We all want to offer God something - be it a tithe or some gifts for the church etc. But God has a condition - that our offering comes from a contrite heart, which essentially means that we are aware of, and stop sinning. Thinking about our actions and making choices that God approves of. The right sacrifices or offerings that God accepts are thanksgiving, praise, kindness, charity, tithes, and our bodies, ridding them of bad habits or practices we may have fallen into.  

What did Abraham think when God asked him to sacrifice Isaac? We will never know in this world. But God does not want sacrifice in the flesh, but sacrifice in the heart. Abraham was prevented from sacrificing Isaac and was given a ram instead, and for his willingness was promised great blessings. 

The big question is this: What are we willing to offer God? And the bigger question is- What  is God willing to accept? 

Not I but Christ: Pastor Rajiv's Daily Reflections

 Mark 5:  14-16 - 

You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven

A verb is a doing word. Not static but active, just as our religion is.  Being active in Baptism is not only about going around preaching to the world but first about change in ourselves and then about showing the world.

Christianity is a way of life, not a religion of do's and don'ts only. When we choose to practice it, our psyche and our behavior, change. It effects the choices we make, the people we meet and the language we speak. It effects how we work, our profession, our relationships with people, and with the world.. In short it brings about change within us. This change is then visible to the world which acts as an example for others. But how do we do it? 

As practicing Christians, We need to ask ourselves, is there a change in me? Create a measure. It may be a good idea to honestly list out things which are in us and not in the Word of God. Am I fond of gossip? Have I stopped. Am I gluttonous? Has my gluttony reduced. Am I prone to abusing, cursing or swearing? Has my language changed. Do I condone immorality? Have my views changed. Has my empathy factor increased?

These are just examples. Each one of us have our unique set of traits that are un Christ like. These changes are not done overnight. Time needs to be set aside daily to imbibe Gods word. Please not I use the word imbibe which means to absorb, not just read. This is a change in itself. For example, take the 7th commandment. Thou shall not commit adultery. I may not be in the literally sense but I maybe doing exactly that in the figurative sense by adulterating Gods word or letting other things get priority over God.

These are some of the changes we must bring about, before, like Paul, we can say not I but Christ lives in me.

Your Will, Not mine : Pastor Rajiv's Mid week message

 "Not mine, but your will be done"