Meekness and Weakness: Pastor Rajiv's Mid Week Message

 

The Esacpe Route: Pastor Rajiv's Daily Reflections

One of the principles of physics is that to every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. In essence, whatever we do has consequences - good or bad.

In  Christian life, similarly there are consequences of wrong decisions, trusting ourselves rather than godly guidance, etc . While Jesus will not change those consequences, He will change us and our attitude if we ask Him to do that.

David prayed day and night for his baby to be saved and not die. But that did not happen. When he realized he had to bear the consequences he stood up, had a bath, thanked God and moved on, having borne the consequence of his sin with Bathsheba.

And that is one of the biggest disconnects in our understanding of Gods forgiveness. When we make a mistake and ask God for forgiveness are we truly looking to be forgiven or are we asking for an escape route from the consequences of our wrong doing?

Let's understand this better with a fictional example. Let us say I owe the government 10,000 in taxes and I omit to pay it. And then I get served a notice. 

Now here is what happens: I have been disobedient to God (He said give to Caesar what is Caesars) as well as committed a crime in the land where I live. So I start praying to God - Lord forgive me, save me. Don't let me go to jail. Don't let me bear this punishment. Of course God will forgive me for being disobedient to Him. I am sure of that. But will he save me from the consequences of breaking the law? I don't think so. But He will give us the strength to bear those consequences. He will make the burden lighter.

Remember Lot and his wife? 

“And as they (angels) brought them out, one said, ‘Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away.’” (Genesis 19:17)
“But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back and she became a pillar of salt.” (Genesis 19:26)

Lot lost everything he had hoped to build in his chosen "city" life and she lost her life itself. Our human capacity to disobey is still very much prevalent, but thankfully we have Jesus to help us through. 

Thank God for Paul: Pastor Rajiv's Mid Week Message

 

When God Says NO: Pastor Rajiv's Daily Reflections

The blessing of a "No".

When God says no,  it's a lesson to be learnt or a disaster being averted. Learn the lesson, don't tempt the disaster. Give thanks and move on.

Gods blessings are not always in His giving but also in His with holding as well. God knows better than we do, and his ‘no’ is always merciful, even when it hurts.”

And that is usually when God wants a change in direction for us, from where we want to go to where he wants us to go. 

C.S. Lewis once wrote, “We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be.” How insightful is that? 

The best is often painful because the human emotion is to resist change in our thinking and doing. We are so invested in the past we often fail our own future.

The only way to alleviate that pain is to trust, understand (through His word) and obey. And only after that will be able to say in all honesty - Let thy will be done. Amen.

Ethics of hypocrisy: Pastor Rajiv's Daily Reflections

“And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?”

Luke 6:46

The word "Ethical" comes from the Greek ethos or  "moral character" and describes a person or behavior as right in the moral sense - truthful, fair, and honest. Sometimes the word is used for people who follow the moral standards of their profession.

As a Christian, have you ever wondered what our ethics should be? We profess Christianity but do we know the ethics of our profession?

If not, it's time to read the scripture again, because without due consideration, we will tend to wrongdoings or sins, both of commission and omission. For those who don't understand what these sins are - Simply put, sins of commission are things we have done which are biblically wrong and sins of omission are things we should have done but did not do. For example I should have told the truth about something but I kept silent because it was not convenient for me. That is omission of truth. 

Expanding further, in these Covid days people may have Covid but omit to inform thereby endangering others. That is omission of truth. To explain further using the example of truth and lies, commission is actively lying about something and omission is keeping silent on the truth. 

Both are equally dangerous.

When we acknowledge Jesus as our Lord, we are supposed to practice His teachings, both actively and passively. But when we don't do that and yet say Lord Lord, are we not being unethical and hypocritical?

Let's become more aware of sins of omission and commission so that we consciously avoid being a hypocrite, but be held accountable to Jesus's ethics. 

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.”