A woman was once asked: What do you "gain" from praying to God regularly? She replied: Usually ′′ I don't earn anything ", but rather ′′ I lose things ". And she quoted everything she lost praying to God regularly: "I lost my pride. I lost my arrogance. I lost greed. I lost my urge. I lost ′′ my ′′ anger. I lost the lust. I lost the pleasure of lying. I lost the taste of sin. I lost impatience, despair, and discouragement". Sometimes we pray, not to gain something, but to lose things that don't allow us to grow spiritually.

With Thanksgiving around the corner next month, Pastor Rajiv talks about the importance of giving in a Christian's life.    As Thanksgiving approaches, we may consider submitting a part of our blessing to God, which, in todays world which is tantamount to sharing His Blessings with others as well. Pastor Rajiv talks about the importance and more, of sharing God's Blessings with others who may need what we will share.  Lets us thank the Almighty for deliverance from a pandemic which hit the world after a century; for our deliverance from it and other evils which may have befallen. From hunger, as even today 345 Million People Are in Hunger Crisis while the haves waste food (40% of the food produced in America is never eaten and. if just half of the food waste worldwide were recovered, we could end World Hunger).  In this context and background, Pastor Rajiv's message is ever so important. 

It is a done strategy in the software app industry that when you want to personalize a service, you usually add the word "my" before the name. For example - MySpace, mywhiteboard etc etc. Psychologically adding "my" creates a personal relationship. It also shows ownership. Drawing a parallel to our relationship with our creator, many of us need to personalize that - time set aside, cut off from the pressures of the outside world, when we can talk to Him in silence, relate to Him, be still in our hearts and hear Him.  It is very important that we build this personal relationship. This is where my prayer closet comes in. I go into it , shut out the world and focus on only Him. Matthew 6:6 talks about this with an outcome attached - "But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly". Jesus reminds us that the Father touche...

No, it's not the last Thursday of November. That is reserved for Americans. Since its the season we call it out today, though it could be any day in the year to stop to think of His greatness - from the universal to the personal. Yet, it is a day of Thanksgiving.  Creation, by itself, fills one with awe when you stop to think how it could have been made. Imagine this: the earth hangs in the air, with no support, rotates so that each part of it gets the sun and the moon by turns. We praise Him for this creation that we enjoy day on day, night by night, every second. Think about ourselves. Truly He knew us much before we were born . He brought us into a family or friends who brought us to Him. We thank God for their presence in our lives. For those who are second generation Christians, remember Sunday school and the teachers? We have included a short chorus at the end of this post to jog your memory! We are thankful for them. Meanwhile, lets count our blessing- on by one......

Very many folks consider it a weakness to doubt spiritually. If you don't doubt, you don't believe, for no one can doubt what they don't believe! Even spiritually, from the human logic perspective, it is by doubting and resolving, that faith is reaffirmed. A quick belief, a blind faith, is also quick to fade away over time or a rocky road. Consider, then, doubts as the growing pains of the faith. So, it's ok to doubt, but it's not ok to leave it at that. Unresolved doubt will surely lead to apathy and apathy is the enemy of faith which will direct you to failure when it matters most. John the Baptist doubted too. But he did something about it. He asked questions! No one stops us either. How does one resolve doubt? By seeking answers diligently. First from His Word and then from His appointed shepherds. Research, read and double check. Don't just depend on Google. Read . The most researched book is the #Bible. There is no dearth of information. But, come to a con...

  ***Based on a KJV Devotional "And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?" Matthew 14:29-31 KJV When God calls us to go deeper in our relationship with Him, it takes deep trust and stepping out in faith in order for us to accomplish what He is calling us to do. Consider the Apostle Peter, who was the only one who boldly got out of the boat and took the risk and leap of faith in order to come closer to Jesus. Like most of us, Peter got so distracted by the surroundings that he almost drowned; but Jesus came to the rescue. Things like bridling the tongue, practicing speaking only words that bring life, and so on may seem an impossible quest, for we are weak and easily tempted....

  Hemant Mehta, author of "The Young Atheist's Survival Guide , wrote in  New York Times, "prayer is useless (without action... It lulls believers into a false sense of accomplishment". ) All of us at some time in our life have faced situations when, in spite of intense prayer, the answer does not seem to be forthcoming. When that happens fear, uncertainty and doubt creep in. We may feel that it is futile to pray as God does not seem to be listening. It may be  a prayer for a job, or the life of a loved one, or sickness or financial disaster. It could be so many things life throws at us. Or  it could be something we crave for- like a new home or a car or a life partner. When we feel it is all futile, we need to remember that delay in answer is not dismissal.  Furthermore, what is the purpose of prayer?  Dr. Michelle Bengtson says this - "  Our prayers are not just an avenue of petition. While God does encourage us to ask Him to meet our needs...

Read James 2:17-26 17 "In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead....." A gift needs to be accepted. I can buy the best gift I can think of and afford for someone, but if he/she/they do not accept it, it is a wasted effort. Non acceptance can be through silent rejection, recycling or any other way of getting rid of it. We all do it sometimes. God's gift to us is Jesus. How do we show acceptance of that Gift? In the quoted verse James makes that pretty clear- that the way we show acceptance and appreciation of God's gift is through our actions. As Rev. Francis Taylor says - " Our works will never earn us salvation, but it will let God know that we have accepted the gift". Is God's gift reflecting in our day-to-day life? Do we show prejudice? Do we show integrity in even small things, at work or at home? An example of integrity, very common at work, is simply doing what one has promised to do. Not making a commitment and ...

Have you ever wondered why is a structure called a building when it is already been built?   The simple truth is nothing is ever completely built, whether it's a building, or a company or a human being. Everything is work in progress . This also reminds about Nehemiah in the Bible, the governor of Persian Judah, and his efforts in rebuilding the temple and one often wonders Why is it in the Bible in the first place?  Is it for historical reasons or is God trying to tell us something today? This rebuilding of the temple, in the face of great odds, represented the people's renewal of faith, and the reforming of their conduct.  Like the Israelites of old, we too backslide and tend to forget our God. We tend to let life overcome our duty. Nehemiah was not an ordinary man, he was an important man and occupied a high position. Yet he made it a point to make the time and effort for this great endeavor. Today, we are the temple of the Lord 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 and...

*** Image from Mashable We take War too lightly. We even teach our children war and other violent games on video games, XBoxes and other devices, including phones. Gaming is big industry and war gaming as big and as popular. We have call high level meeting rooms as War Rooms.  Yet, when it happens in real life, we are shocked. Why?  On the 8th of October #Israel was attacked once again, after 50 years, to the day, by a terrorist uprising in Gaza. A huge public outcry followed, with one of our readers sharing the Israel PMs speech (available at the link below).  What does this war mean to us? Will it end in a peace treaty with lots of fake handshaking by world politicians and we soon forget the thousands of innocent people who have and will have, lost their lives, families destroyed, and homes lost, as we, the people of this world are prone to do? Some countries have sworn to destroy Israel. Can they? Zechariah 12:3–4 God says, “I will make Jerusalem like an intoxicating ...