The Cedars of Lebanon: Pastor Rajiv's Daily Reflection

 David said -

“Praise ye the Lord, fruitful trees and all cedars.” why this special reference among all trees?

Have you heard of the Cedars of Lebanon? No? So let's look at some important facts and why they are important for Christians. 

The Cedars of Lebanon are referenced more than 103 times in the Bible. They are said to be Cedars of God, planted or created by God. They have been around since time itself. Solomon used cedar for the Temple, it is used as a purifier, it does not need watering and can survive indefinitely. The Hebrew word for it signifies strength of roots.

Why is it important for Christians? The age of many of the cedar trees in Lebanon, most particularly in Besharry, goes back hundreds of years prior to Christ's incarnation. The cedar is mentioned in Sirach 24,13ff. It is known as the cedrus exaltata, the exalted cedar.

But most importantly, the Cedars are like Christians or Gods people. Like the cedar, Christians are not Christians by their choice but by being chosen by God.

Lebanon’s cedars are emblematic of the Christian, in that they owe their planting entirely to the Lord. This is quite true of every child of God. He is not man-planted, nor self-planted, but God-planted.

Moreover, the cedars of Lebanon are not dependent upon man for their watering; they stand on the lofty rock, unmoistened by human irrigation; and yet our heavenly Father supplies them what they need. Thus it is with the Christian who has learned to live by faith. He is independent of man, even in temporal things; for his continued maintenance he looks to the Lord his God, and to him alone

Again, the cedars of Lebanon are not protected by any mortal power. They owe nothing to man for their preservation from stormy wind and tempest. They are God’s trees, kept and preserved by him, and by him alone. It is precisely the same with the Christian. He is not sheltered, but protected by God. Like cedars, believers are full of sap, having vitality enough to be ever green, even amid winter’s snows.

Lastly, the flourishing and majestic condition of the cedar is to the praise of God only.

Like David said - "Praise ye the Lord, fruitful trees and all cedars.” but instead of trees and Cedars shall we say - 

"Praise ye the Lord all ye men and all Gods people, for we are God planted, God nourished and God protected. Praise God."

Don't Lose Your Loaf: Pastor Rajiv's Daily Reflections

Don't lose your loaf. Eat at at once. Otherwise it may get spoilt !

Exodus 16:16
This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: ‘Let every man gather it according to each one’s need, one omer for each person, according to the number of persons; let every man take for those who are in his tent.’ ”

An interesting question comes to mind - God is our provider. The question is dies he provide me according to what I need or according to what I want.

In my opinion, God is providing all the essential needs required for all of us on the long-term basis. We can get to know them, if we seek the help of spiritual leaders. If we are unable to find such spiritual leaders, we can get to know the same after we encounter few crucial experiences in our life. 

But more importantly, I think what matters is if God has provided us extra, what do we do with it. Do we store it or do we invest it in His work?

God does not want us to depend on stored provision, but on Himself, to continually depend on Him for our daily bread. If we have extra we need to share it. 

So let's mean it when we pray, "Give us this day our daily bread" , for it is better to have daily bread from God than stored bread from man. 

Dangerous Traditions: Pastor Rajiv's Mid Week Message

Don't let man made traditions become a convenient  substitute for God's Laws and directions. 

Paralyses by Analyses : Pastor Rajiv's Daily Reflections

One of the biggest problems with us humans is our ability to analyze. In fact that ability has become an escape route from the job before us.

This problem is extremely prevalent in the corporate world but also in the spiritual world. We love to analyze Gods word from every direction and every depth, to the extent we forget to follow Gods word. 

What is the point of Bible studies, sermons and devotionals if we do not act upon them but get lost in analyzing them?

Proverbs 3:5-6 says 
“Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; He’s the one who will keep you on track."

Jane Glenhur asks,  "When you are listening for God's answer are you analyzing your choices and trying to figure out which is best?" Invariably the person says yes.
That is my clue to suggest that if we use that quiet time of listening to reason out the best answer, we will miss God's response. We have to hand the microphone over to Him and just sit quietly and expect He will answer."

Instead of analyzing His word, we need to take action. The action of actively listening for His answer. It could come as an opportunity of a job for the jobless , hope for the hopeless and a solution to your problem. 

What will you choose today? Analyses or action?

The Crushed Rose: Pastor Rajiv's Daily Reflections

Someone defined forgiveness as the sweet smell given by a rose as it is crushed! 

What a powerful expression of forgiveness. In our experience, the closest expression to it that  we have experienced is that of Graham Staines. 

In 2003, Australian missionary Graham Staines and his family were evangelizing in a remote part of the world, when one night, as Staines slept with his two sons in the back of their vehicle, some people set fire to the car and burnt the three of them alive. Staines was survived by his wife and one daughter. The murderers were caught and went on trial. When Mrs. Staines was asked for her comments, she simply said, "I forgive (them)" ! 

In 2005, she was awarded the fourth highest honor a civilian can receive in that country  in recognition for her work . In 2016, she received the Mother Teresa Memorial International Award for Social Justice.

I cannot ever imagine what Mrs. Staines and her daughter must have gone through and what courage and faith it must have taken her to say those words. What can be more heartbreaking, similar to the crushing of that rose, and yet the sweet smell of her forgiveness was experienced around the world and maybe in heaven.

She truly brought to life the following verse

Ephesians 4:31-32

31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.

32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

She did as Christ did. She did as Stephen did. When we have such great examples of forgiveness before us, why then is it such an issue and difficulty for us to forgive? How often we say - I am too hurt to forgive. Was our hurt more than Mrs Staines? How often we declare a conditional forgiveness. Did Jesus put conditions on us, His murderers, before He forgave us? NO. He simply said - “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

Pastor Rajiv's Mid week Message

 

Are you trustworthy ? Daily Reflections

You trust God. Can God trust you?

“But not with my servant Moses. Of all my house, he is the one I trust.” (Numbers 12.7).

That’s God speaking, by the way. Very clearly differentiating between those of His people He can trust those He can't.

There is a lot of discussion and talk around the fact that we need to trust God and have faith in Him at all times. Very true. But very clearly, we need to have God trust us as well!, which may not always be the case as we can see from the opening verse.

This is a game changer! Think about how God can build His trust in us. But first let's think about how we can lose Gods trust. Let's talk about Trust Breakers and Trust Builders. What are they ?

Trust Breakers

A. Broken promises when we were down in the dumps praying for God's helping hand? And have we kept that vow?

If we haven't that's a trust breaker right there. Did not the Israelites, Gods own people, break His trust and wander around in circles for 40 years?

B. God at the center of me at the center? Who do I give priority to? God or ourselves? If a crucial meeting comes up on a Sunday do we miss church to attend that meeting? And if we have had to for some reason, have we gone to an alternate service to make sure we have kept our meeting with God as well?

C. Have we created idols in our life? Money, homes, cars and so many more.

D. Have we kept the Sabbath Holy?

There are so many more ways we possibly have not lived up to Gods direction or expectation. Meditate and think and take corrective action.

Trust Builders

Dependability

Trust is dependability – a deep confidence in someone. We tend to trust people who are reliable, who are consistent and who don’t change with the season or the wind direction in the same way Gid needs dependable people, like Abraham or Moses and so many more.

Gratitude

If we acknowledge that God is our creator and that our time on earth is a gift, as is health, wealth , business, family, occupation - then we must also acknowledge the fact that we owe Him big time! It's not our own abilities, but His grace and gifts of those abilities which we have used to be where we are. A word of thanks and acknowledgement would be a nice gesture don't you think? As we get up in the morning do we thank Him for the rest, the day and another day added to our life?

Horizontal relationships

Do we make an effort to develop and nurture relationships with others, forgiving mistakes, mindful of hurting whether through speech or action?

A good way to learn trust building  would be to read, understand and meditate on how to adopt the commandments into our lives. At least make the effort and slowly it will happen.

God needs people He can trust!

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

"You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21)

What is your name? 

Shakespeare debunked the name theory when he said what's in a name? to quote "What’s in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet" ;

Biblically, names of people were important. So important that God chose them at times. So now, the question is do you determine your name or does your name determine you?

Biblically, God changed names of people to determine who they would be. Consider Abram becoming Abraham, Jacob becoming Israel, Simon becomes Peter the rock.

Names are deeply important to human beings, a crucial way of understanding not just the world around us, but each other. 

A surname roots us in history and family tradition. For example, the name 'Adam' is so common in Western society now that one might not think to enquire about its meaning. However, the Hebrew word Adam doesn't simply mean 'generic first human' but is rather likely derived from the Hebrew word Adamah meaning 'ground'. Adam was formed "from the dust of the ground" and so, his name (and the general Hebrew name for 'man') is rooted in how mankind began.

Jesus Himself is given many names. He is the Christ, which is not his surname, but rather the royal title for the Jewish Messiah – New Testament scholar N.T. Wright translates 'Jesus Christ' as 'King Jesus'. His first name is a common Jewish name 'Yeshua', which is derived from the word meaning 'to rescue/deliver'. 

Matthew states : "You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21) Matthew also describes Jesus as 'Immanuel', which means 'God with us', because, familiar though it may be to us, Matthew was highlighting the radical truth that Jesus the Messiah was indeed God himself dwelling with mankind.

Biblically naming was serious business and today we must take our own name - Christians, seriously as well. God has chosen us and given us His own, Kingly name, as we are called "Christians" after Christ,  which means that we are to show the qualities of Christ in our lives. Just as our legal or human names showcase our pedigree, family history or lineage, being a Christian has to reflect Christ's teachings and His love for us, as we live and interact with each other in this world. 

Now you decide who you are! 

Note: References are drawn from Joseph Hartropp

The Inside Job: Pastor Rajiv's Daily Reflections

“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”

-Ephesians 5:15-17

Social media has "glitched" our lives. The days of dinner without cell phones or family meetings where people talked and not stared into thier watches and phones are Kong over. There is an incessant demand on our time - from the time we get up to the time we sleep.

In all this it is difficult to spend time with God. Please note I am not saying it is difficult to find time for God. Spending time with God is a little beyond that. It goes beyond daily devotions and adds meditation and prayer. It also involves thinking about our life with God, our failings and our successes. And most importantly it involves speaking to God. Speaking to Him in praise, thanksgiving, sharing problems, asking for solutions... in utmost concentration within  the silence of our bodies and minds. Than and then alone can we hear Him when He speaks through His word or through His Holy spirit.

In this socially networked world, where someone is awake somewhere, our phones never cease to be alive. So how do we spend time with God.

First, know that time is not owned by us. It is owned by God and lent to us. If we use up all the time we have been given in frivolous activities, we have failed miserably in that famous parable of the Talents. Fortunately there is a way we can overcome and that is through one single word: Discipline!

Discipline means to train or develop by instruction and exercise especially in self-control. It's a code of behavior, that has to be followed no matter how inconvenient. And that's how you make time to spend with God. Unburden yourself, rise up early and seek Him. He is always there, represented by His Holy Spirit. Or one could do it at any time of the day by shutting out the world around us and opening the door to Gods word and world. 

It's all within us. Inside of us. And if we are determined, it has to be an inside job. 

Looking up to Power: Lying down in obedience: Pastor Rajiv's mid week message

 How to pray