The Little Foxes

"Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes". Song of Solomon 2:15 

Did you know foxes love grapes (among other fruits). In fact, the term "sour grapes" comes from the story of the fox who tried to eat the grapes on a branch but couldn't reach them so after several failed attempts he gave up muttering - "they would have been sour anyway".

Little foxes are smaller animals that cannot reach the hanging grapes, so they gnaw the vines off at the ground, causing the out of reach fruit to fall with the ruined vine. It is one thing to lose some of one seasons grape, but it is far worse to lose forever a vine that took 12 to 14 years to mature.

Like little foxes, there may be little faults and sins in us that seem little but can destroy the fruit we produce. These could be "little" lies, "little" selfishness, "little" greed, "little" envy, gluttony of food, gluttony of things ... it's a long list to choose from, all get justified to us by being seemingly little. But which build and grow till they destroy.

We are the branches and if the Vine which connects us to our life source is destroyed, we too are destroyed.

It's not only the big ones we need to be sacred of but the small ones as well. What are the little foxes in our life? Can we identify the little foxes which are slowly but surely destroying the Vine of our life?

False Evidence Appearing Real: The Professionals Bible

"He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD". Psalm 112 ver 7

We are no strangers to bad news. Not one of us. And we are no strangers to fear as well. Fear is the one thing that can undermine our belief and faith in our God. It is well written that fear is the sharpest tool of Satan and which he uses well. When we fear, it is because we see no hope for the future. We depend on man and human power to bail us out. 

If we treat the word FEAR as an acronym, the full form will be "False Evidence Appearing Real". Fear is mostly based on an untruth. The best of sales people use a technique called FUD - Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt, wherein they sow the seeds of fear and doubt to "help" you make up your mind about buying their product. 

But as a follower of Christ and God, and with the presence of the Holy Spirit in us, we do not need fear. We need to Trust in God and wait patiently for Him. Our wisest course is to do as Moses did at the Red Sea, “Stand still and see the salvation of God.” For if we give way to fear when we hear of bad news, we will be unable to meet  trouble with that calm composure which nerves us for duty, and sustains us under adversity. How can we glorify God if we play the coward?

This courage is not impossible and needs to be built up through experiences. When we are in fear, we need to look back on our life and remember all those times that God has pulled out of the deepest mire and set us up on a rock. We need to demonstrate to God that we believe in Him, have faith in Him and that we do not have short memories. We need to depend on Him and not our friends and relatives. 

We need to remember our covenant with God, “let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

Rejection: The Professionals Bible

                                

Predestination” as it is used in the Bible means something different than most of us probably think it means.

For starters, it does not mean that God has already decided what our life is to be, every instance or step, and that we really have no choice in the matter and if we don’t, we have rejected God.

“Predestination” as used in the Bible refers to the individual talents and skills which God gave us as well as his purpose for us in life. In other words, God has a unique mission for everyone in life and he equips us with all of the necessary talents and skills to accomplish that goal.

However, we still have a choice in the matter. Many people choose to be slothful rather than pursuing God's path for them. Many people don’t recognize His will.

Therefore, even though God “predestines” us for a certain mission, it does not interfere with one’s free will to accept or reject that mission.

This is in fact what the parable of the talents is about. Although the word “talents” in the parable is referring to bags of money, ironically it alludes to just what the word sounds like. It is referring to the individual talents and skills which God gave to us, so that we could use them for His purpose.

God may have made us competent to do something for Him, yet we may choose to do something else. He may have given us an opportunity to become someone for Him, yet we may have run away.

Now, what about rejecting God? Well there are multiple instances in the Bible – Moses, Elijah, Jonah, Peter – all in some way showed great reluctance and or fear to do what God was asking them to do. It is human tendency to disregard God’s will. The sad truth is everyone has been been guilty of rejecting God's will. The Lord gave us the ability to think for ourselves, to make our own choices, and to set our own goals in life. Sadly, we often use these blessings to reject God rather than to chose him.

We have chased after other Gods – yes, you and I. We have often given precedence to the God called pleasure, the God called money, the God called sloth and many more. We may have refused to use our qualification or talent god gave us, to do something easier.

We would do well to remember this verse – “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21)

Today let us put our money where our mouth is when we recite “thy will be done”. Let us not be stubborn to force our will over Gods and experience How He will shut all doors till we follow His purpose. Dont wait for Him to reject you. 

Remember Jonah.

Patience: Pastor Rajiv's Message

 

Psalm 14 - Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

It can be tough to wait on the Lord. It is much easier and tempting to find our own solutions for what we need, and then ask God to bless those efforts. Do you think He will? Not a chance! 

Waiting on the Lord means we are waiting on His will and His time. Two components, each as important. God knows, in His infinite wisdom, the right time, place and event which we need to address our problems or needs. Then why should we play God in our lives? 

We may justify to ourselves that if some action is not taken, a mountain of problems will fall on us. You think God doesn't know? He does, and while we wait on Him, he will give us the strength, grace and interim solutions to get through. We need to have that faith and dependence on ONLY God, not on ourselves, or others. 

The Bible is full of countless examples of people who didn't wait on God and took things in their own hands, much to their own loss. Saul, Abraham and Sarah, King David and so on.

So what happens if we don't wait on the Lord? Here I will draw on Chris Rees who says there are three consequences (and this is serious)  : 

Consequence #1: You’re out of God’s will.

Consequence #2: Your blessings are delayed, or even denied.

Consequence #3: We bring pain upon ourselves and others.

My friends, lets not be hasty. As Chris Rees says, God will not honor our impatience. At the same time let us not be slothful, lying back and wait for it to happen. God does direct our interim actions, and we need to follow those directions. Much like when we bake bread, we need to wait for the yeast to take effect, but in the interim we prepare other ingredients in the belief that the yeast will make the dough rise. We prepare the oven, the temperature etc. 

However, we live in a society that wears impatience as a badge of honor. We call it fear of failure. May famous people have called it being " paranoid about success"...But when we apply that paranoia or  impatience to God it can have grave consequences.

Believe this when Chris Rees says , God will not honor our impatience.  

Don’t miss or even delay your blessing because you refuse to wait on God. 

So, Let us end this day on this blessing - 

Ephesians Chapter 3 : verses 20-21. 

20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, a world without end. Amen.  

If you want to  read more on this from Chris Rees, here is the Link  

Re-Purposing Failure: The Professionals Bible

* the Free Dictionary

How many times in life we take a decision or done or not done something only to realize we have blown it? When failure stares us in the face we dread the result with that sinking feeling, with the knowledge of the outcome of our failure?

But guess what? We know of at least 5 Biblical characters who went through failures and yet built on it for success.

You see it is not the failure itself that Hurts us but our reaction to that failure. And there are enough examples in the Bible. But God does not turn His face away when we fail. He loves a good come back !

Look at King David - he broke half the commandments! David coveted Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba (2 Sam. 11:2-3), committed adultery with her (2 Sam. 11:4) effectively stealing her from Uriah (2 Sam. 12:9), lying to him (2 Sam. 11:12-13) , and eventually having him murdered (2 Sam. 12:9).

The prophet Elijah had such a major burnout he ran and hid himself.

And what about Paul's awful history, Peter's denial, Moses' disobedience?

So when we fail, spiritually or otherwise, or make choices which do not turn out well, we do not have to lie down and cry but turn to the life book called Bible and take advice, instruction and motivation from the stories there. That's what they are there for so take heart. 

The key lies in this: Failure is not the opposite of Success. It is part of Success. Without failure there will be no success because failure teaches us what not to do. 

Read Jeremiah 8:4 Jeremiah, say this to the people of Judah: This is what the Lord says: You know if a man falls down, he gets up again. And if a man goes the wrong way, he turns around and comes back.

As Eric Schenkel said - "The only way that failure can get the last word in our life is if we choose to let it. We serve a God who is able to take our defeats and missteps and still use us to bring glory to his name".

Leadership 101: The Professionals Bible

Management has a new Mantra these days: Leadership. Leadership courses are being taught all over while management consultants and coaches specialize in Leadership.

According to McKinsey, a very respected consulting firm, Leadership is defined as a set of behaviors used to help people align their collective direction, to execute strategic plans, and to continually renew an organization. In short, it addresses one of the activities of management know as influencing.

But Leadership is nothing new and the Bible is full of examples of Leadership. Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Saul, the apostles, Joseph and so on, all appointed and mentored and led by God, the greatest leader of all.

If God produced so many leaders, and is the greatest leader, is it not worthwhile to understand how He defined leadership?  because it logically follows that His definition and therefore His method, would be the best.

To understand this, we need to remember that leadership stems from management, which stems from stewardship (the actual meaning of management), which means to take care of something entrusted to us. And which has nothing to do with power, but everything to do with service.

Colossians 3:12-13 offers one of the best Bible verses about leadership (and life in general). The guidance here calls for kindness, compassion, patience, humility and gentleness — all wonderful qualities of good leaders.

Biblical leadership, therefore, is leading through serving, people or resources who have been entrusted to us by our employers or by God. This is popularly known as servant leadership.

"A servant-leader focuses primarily on the growth and well-being of people and the communities to which they belong. While traditional leadership generally involves the accumulation and exercise of power by one at the “top of the pyramid,” servant leadership is different" (Greenleaf). This was best demonstrated by Jesus Himself when He washed the disciples feet.

Now measure each of the Biblical leaders against this definition. What do you get? 
Again, let's measure our own leadership - are we dictators or bullies? Is our leadership objective over riding people or are we inclusive? Can we liken ourselves to any one of the Biblical leaders or none?

We don't need any consultants to teach us good leadership. We have a proven resource- the Bible. No other really has a clear-cut curriculum and framework, which is reproduced below for reference.

Attitude of humility and service	Intolerance of injustice or wrongdoing.	Attitude of humility and service
Share a Vision	Empower people	knowledgeable
respectful and hardworking and demand that from others as well	Lead by example	Change Makers
Prudent	Motivators	50K Feet Vision

The Apple or the Orange: The Professionals Bible

 

We are not Robots. We all have the ultimate freedom - the freedom of choice.

“Thou mayest choose for thyself, for it is given unto thee” (Moses 3:17).

As did Adam, we are also free to choose between good and bad and live our life the way we choose to. These choices reflect both in our professional and personal lives. I can choose to make good decisions or bad decisions for both. 

God has given us this gift of free will, the freedom to choose. Why? Because He would have us as His children, not as His slaves or robots. God created humanity in the image of Himself and called them to partner with Him in expanding his creation. But partnership requires trust, so God trusted us and gave humanity the freedom to choose. 

So, we can either choose to work and live with God, following His wisdom or we can choose to live our life, according to our minds and heart. Sadly, humans often make the choice to trust their own wisdom over God’s, and our own understanding while making choices.  Like Uriah Heep said (in Choices) " we all make our choices, Like a blind man feels his way.....". Come to think of it, that is exactly what we do, because we do not have a vision of the future nor can we change the past. 

But those who do consult God in their business or personal life, do eventually end up with the right choice. So how do we do that? 

Ask yourself these two questions as you consider decision-making - 

• When did you last seek God’s wisdom regarding any choice you were faced with AND gave God time to revert to you? 

• How often could you or perhaps should you, seek God’s wisdom? 

If we do that, we are not only growing in wisdom through biblical values or advice, we are also creating wisdom-building moments in our business and into our life. This is the key to our growth as a leader at home or at work. 

Now how do we do that? The question is - Do I really trust God with this problem or this choice? Or are we doubtful we may not like His answer. 

Today, the choice we have is not between a good decision or a bad one. The Choice always is this:  a Bad decision or God's wisdom. 

The moot question is do we really believe Him and trust Him in ALL aspects of our life? A lot of us will be surprised by an honest answer. 

And if we do believe and trust Him, then let's believe in this verse as well and make that choice.

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight" 

The Leap of Faith: The Professionals Bible

 

Sometimes, challenges can lead us to complete inactivity and paralyses. We do not know what to do or where to go. This is not new. Read 1 Samuel Chapter 14 to see what I mean.

Saul was paralyzed and sort of gave up fighting the Philistines because they outnumbered him and had superior war technology.  

But while he sat under a tree in dejection, surrounded by his six hundred men, Jonathan decided to take some action. He reasoned with himself and his armor carrier, in complete logic built on his faith in God's promises, on why and how he could possibly defeat the Philistines alone, only assisted by his armor carrier. It is worthy to note that the carrier did not flinch from his duty, and supported Jonathan verbally and in action.

From all human aspects, Jonathan took a leap of faith, supported only by his belief.

How many times are we faced with similar hopeless situations and succumb to inaction like Saul?

Jonathan lays out the perfect example of battling our own fears, by going ahead with complete trust in God. In time of trouble, we all have our confidantes and armor men, and if they are believers, their support is all the more powerful. But above all, it's God we should trust and take that leap of faith, not blindly but following Godly wisdom as Jonathan did.

This story has a very engaging analyses and can be found here https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/1-samuel-14/ and I would really urge everyone to read this.

The Professionals Bible: The Leap of Faith

Sometimes, challenges can lead us to complete inactivity and paralyses. We do not know what to do or where to go. This is not new. Read 1 Samuel Chapter 14 to see what I mean.

Saul was paralyzed and sort of gave up fighting the Philistines because they outnumbered him and had superior war technology.  

But while he sat under a tree in dejection, surrounded by his six hundred men, Jonathan decided to take some action. He reasoned with himself and his armor carrier, in complete logic built on his faith in God's promises, on why and how he could possibly defeat the Philistines alone, only assisted by his armor carrier. It is worthy to note that the carrier did not flinch from his duty, and supported Jonathan verbally and in action.

From all human aspects, Jonathan took a leap of faith, supported only by his belief.

How many times are we faced with similar hopeless situations and succumb to inaction like Saul?

Jonathan lays out the perfect example of battling our own fears, by going ahead with complete trust in God. In time of trouble, we all have our confidantes and armor men, and if they are believers, their support is all the more powerful. But above all, it's God we should trust and take that leap of faith, not blindly but following Godly wisdom as Jonathan did.

This story has a very engaging analyses and can be found here https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/1-samuel-14/ and I would really urge everyone to read this.

The Professionals Bible: Can I be trusted?

 Today's Reading - 

Genesis 1 and 3 and Luke 16 1-13

We trust God, maybe in totality, but a question we need to ask ourselves is this: can God trust me?

This is a personal question and needs to be probably asked by each of us of ourselves.

Unfulfilled vows, so small we may have forgotten. Unkept promises to God and to fellow man, misuse of resources provided by employers, friends, or God Himself, are all indicators of untrustworthiness. 

Man has a white washed memory, that is, we tend to forget things which are not convenient, even though we had committed to them. So it is not easy to remember. When we ask of ourselves, in complete honesty, we need to make the effort and remember where all we committed such acts of omission.

In the professional world, the hallmark of quality is simply doing what we have promised to do. But do we ? Do we do personal stuff on the employers time? Do we use official resources for personal work? Do we use God given talents for His use or do we just ignore them. Do we while away official time?

Like the steward or the manager, we have been entrusted with some resources, by our employers, by God, by friends etc. What are we doing with those resources?