I cannot forget a Book by Robin Sharma called "Who will cry when you die". The title inspired me to think,  and often I ask myself the same question: who will cry when I die? Maybe not literally, but who will genuinely grieve?  Apart from my family and a couple of friends, I really can't count any. We are so involved with self and careers and God knows what else, we forget to carve out a legacy which we can leave behind. And why should we ?  Because "Life" is not a career; life is not about just us. There is nothing wrong about doing things for us but that is not the ends. Life is the means to the end. Life is living in harmony with the world around us. Taking care of the world and people around us. Using our talents wisely for the benefit of others.  Everything we have comes from above. Do we even stop to give thanks? here is how Hen Smith defined it nearly 50 years ago and presented by Rosemary Seimens in a musical format https://youtu.be/qCm8isaSoiI But serio...

Excel in Giving 1Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia: 2that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. 3For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, 4imploring us with much urgency [a]that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. 5And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God. 6So we urged Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also complete this grace in you as well. 7But as you abound in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us—see that you abound in this grace also. 2 Corinthians 8 Verses 1 to 7 Continuing our study from yesterday, PAUL’S PASSAGE TEACHES US FIVE PRINCIPLES OF SACRIFICIAL GIVING. THESE ARE – 1. SACRIFICIAL GIVING ...

* Photo Credit: The Kindness Blog  ___________________________ Stewardship can be viewed from the biblical sense as the use of God-given gifts and resources for the accomplishment of God-given goals and objectives. As stewards on this earth, it is our responsibility to use what He has given abundantly, for His purpose. Sharing and giving are all part of it, specially sacrificial giving. The text book definition of sacrificial giving is “Giving beyond your means (Giving money that you really should be putting somewhere else, not giving money that you don't have) Giving that hurts. Going without something that we want/need in order to supply for the needs of another”.  The most glaring example of Sacrificial is in Mark Chapter 12:44 - " For they all contributed out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.” Are there justifiable opportunities to do this? Sure! Look at Turkey and Syria where the death toll has crossed 40,000 and more than 9 M...

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 fro...

When the earth in all its splendor was created, as was man, his one bounden duty was to manage the earth and its resources, animals, plants et all. Every part of nature creates and supports another part. Except man. Nature is still providing human beings at this point in time, but it's anyone's guess for how long. Man takes away from nature and gives nothing in return. Nature is one of God's beautiful creations. Through nature, God is able to teach us, speak to us, and provide for us. For this reason, we can find in scripture that we humans are called to protect all of which He has created . And this is our greatest failure , that we have not protected and renewed Gods gifts to us, exploiting His gifts. Our greed, materialism and our selfishness reign supreme. God said in Ezekiel Chapter  34:3 "You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock". So what do we do about it? How can we replenish...

Some time back I was having a business lunch with a person from a non-Christian background, for some business planning in the following financial year. As our food was served, I dove into it, but this person bowed his head for about 10 seconds and seemed to have prayed. I asked him and he said he was giving thanks to God for his food. He had picked up the habit in school. It is called saying grace and is fast being forgotten. Sometimes we’re so busy worrying about the future that we overlook what we have already received, taking everything for granted.  Food is one such blessing that we have started taking for granted. But look at the stat's. From 2019 to 2022, the number of undernourished people grew by as many as 150 million and 10% of the world goes hungry even today. That's more than 800 million people! Today, saying grace before a meal is slowly being forgotten. We specially do not say it when we are outside or in a business lunch or dinner, though I think it is an admirab...

The truth will set u free. What does it mean? God's word is the truth and God’s word offered us not only freedom from fear but also perspective and hope. Our unknown future is extremely frightening. But let's look at another perspective. Do we really know our future, even in parts, that when we face uncertainty, we become fearful? Do we know our next one second from right now? When we plan for the future, do we even know if we will live to see that plan? There is only one certainty: that is uncertainty. At first, we let our fears overwhelm us. Lies and assumptions take root in our minds and grow ferociously. Fear chokes us. Yet, we claim to trust God. This is not really trust, when we are so afraid! So how do we create that trust, which gives us peace and freedom from fear?  The simple answer is, ASK HIM! How do you build trust in another person? By knowing that person! Similarly, Firs we need to know God. And we can do that only if we read His word....

A partnership is always formed in order to attain a known objective, such as providing a service to the public with some benefit for the partners.  In our religious life we too are invited to partner. In fact, throughout time, Biblically, every patriarch had a partnership agreement with God to achieve some objective. T hey were called covenants. Today, we can all have our personal covenants with God as well, for our personal needs or for someone else. There is an old hymn with  the following verse "I can only spread the sail; Thou! Thou! must breathe the auspicious gale.” There is deep meaning here about a partnership or a covenant between us and our maker, creator and keeper. We must do our part and God will do His. Don't forget, man was created to partner with God in achieving Godly objectives of keeping His world beautiful and maintained and while we endeavor here on earth, we need the driving force to come from God. Here are a few pointers for a successful partnership or a...

Decision making is a much debated and much learnt subject with courses and books to guide us in our professional development. We are told there are multiple building blocks to this Decision making process, and which qualify the quality of our decisions. But one building block no one really talks about is the state of our mind when we are taking decisions. If we do so in a state of panic and fear, we are bound to make mistakes as our analytical abilities goes down. Psalm 37 verse 5 gives us the key to making good decisions when it says Commit everything you do to the LORD. Trust him, and he will help you. In addition to committing we also are given multiple resources, like wisdom, peace and understanding. James 1:5, says If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. Proverbs 1:5, NIV let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance. Proverbs 11:14, NKJV Where there is no counsel, th...

Can you sleep amid a storm? Can anyone?  In all honesty, left to ourselves I don't think anyone can. The fear of uncertainty created by a storm just does us in. But someone did. While on a boat, in the middle of the storm, someone was fast asleep while others were going crazy with fear.  If we take a storm in the figurative sense, we all face it many times in our lives and most times reacting negatively (in fear and panic) with a crushed spirit to those around us, hurting them as well as hurting ourselves. How great it would  be if we could sleep through them, unconcerned about our post storm future! Here is the thing. We can. The man who slept through the storm was able to do so because He had peace within Himself. He didn't have a care about the future because He knew the future.  Today, He has promised us that same peace and it is ours for the taking. He asks us to cast all our cares upon Him and in return take His peace to enjoy.  This has some very practica...