Bloom & Grow where you are Planted

 

Flowers bring beauty and serenity to our lives. On every occasion we present flowers to our friends and family, to bring cheer to the day. Think about how a flower, becomes a flower and presents its beauty to the world and there is so much we can learn from it.

Think about the dandelion. Dandelions are both fast growing and incredibly hardy. It can spread both by seeds and by new shoots from roots or root segments. The seeds are easily blown around by wind and will quickly spread into adjoining downwind areas. It needs no special treatment yet produces 13 benefits for humans. 

But what is more important is this:  a flower blooms where it grows. The dandelion does not say I will grow here but bloom there. It does not put conditions to its blooming. It simply shares its beauty and its scent, wherever it is, and goes wherever the wind takes it. It does not put-up conditions for sharing its goodness.

But we people do, don't we? "I wish I had more money so I could feed the hungry". "I wish I had more time, to visit the sick, or the widows, or lonely people around me". Or simply, "I can't come to Church because I don't have my car this Sunday". 

Sounds familiar? Sure, it does, we do it all the time! 

 Let us remember some key instructions - 

..... ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

The Challenge of Agape

*Image taken from Wikipedia

Adapted from the KJV devotional.

"But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you"; Matthew 5:44 KJV

Easier said than done! What does it take to forgive someone and love them despite of what they have done to us? 

The answer lies in Agape, Greek agapē, in the New Testament, which is the fatherly love of God for humans, as well as the human reciprocal love for God. In Scripture, the transcendent agape love is the highest form of love and is contrasted with eros, or erotic love, and philia, or brotherly love. How do we apply agape in our lives? 

"When Jesus says to love your enemies, does that mean allowing them to continually abuse you, maltreat you, or claim access to your life? Jesus Christ specifically gave us healthy tips on how to show God’s agape love to our enemies: to speak blessing upon them when they curse us, to pray for them that use us and persecute us, and to do a good thing for them when they are in need, even if they hate us.

We can powerfully show God’s love with healthy boundaries toward our enemies. Loving them doesn’t mean allowing them to step all over us or abuse us. (But it also means we do not retaliate)." 

Sometimes saying “no” and setting boundaries is a struggle because we feel guilty of being unloving towards others. But boundaries often equal agape love and we must find the courage to set such boundaries. Agape also sets up a boundary to their negativity to us and opens a channel of our love to them. Thats the only way one can overlook hurt or insults thrown at us and continue to love. 

"But, when your enemy is in need, don’t hesitate to offer help. When your enemy is troubled, offer a prayer and sympathize with their pain. And continue to speak good things about them even if they curse you and say all kinds of negative things. By doing this, it shows that you are truly God’s child! Let God’s agape love saturate you today!" 

"Prayer point: Lord Jesus, thank You for showing me how to love. Thank You for Your words that have so much wisdom in application. As I grow to walk in God’s agape love, especially for my enemies, may my life bring You glory and honor. In Jesus’ name. Amen".

Live Like a King! (Or Queen as the case maybe)

Read Matthew 18 21-35

This is a very important parable and teaching. Probably the essence of Christianity revolves around this principle of forgiveness. Not only in thought but indeed and action. I doubt there may be a single person in this world who does not bear some ill will towards someone else.

So today we quote from Ms. Francis Taylor on this very important topic.

"I'm sure you are familiar with the parable of the unjust servant. The servant in this story owes the king a lot of money but when he begs the king for mercy and promises to pay it all back if he will just give him a little more time, the king forgives the debt. Then the servant sees another servant who owes him some money – nowhere near the amount he owed the king! – and he demands that the servant pay him back immediately. When the servant begs for more time, he refuses and has him put into prison until he can pay back the full amount. The other servants are horrified at his behavior and tell the king what has happened. The king calls in the servant and has him turned over to the "tormenters" until he can pay back the full amount. Any offense against God is a major offense, and yet God has forgiven us, and forgives us over and over again. We pray in the Our Father asking God to forgive us AS we forgive others. I'm not sure we mean it. Is there someone we still can't forgive? I'm not saying anything about forgetting. Have we asked God to help us forgive? The problem here, is that a lack of forgiveness does nothing for the person not forgiven, but it can keep us from moving on. In families it can keep brothers and sisters apart; parents and children, and can cause problems for generations. Let us be more like the King and less like the unworthy servant."

How does a king live? Exactly how our King, the Lord Jesus Christ lives. Love as He loved. Forgive as He forgave. Let us therefore live like our king.

ReplyForward

Be Still!

“Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

Psalm 46:10 (NIV) 

Being still is difficult, but it is in that stillness when God speaks to us. Waiting is having faith that our lives are in God’s hands. Remember that He alone is in control and His plans are good. But it is still difficult to let go and remain still. How can we do it? Our minds refuse to lose control and focus on something else. But we must, because God demands that we have faith and in waiting prepare ourselves. Some of us say our faith is being tested. Some say "God helps those who help themselves". What does the Bible say? What does the Bible demonstrate? 

For these answers, we have drawn from "Today in the Word" in their article "What the Bible Says about waiting. We highlight three things - 

Firstly, don’t Focus on the End Result

God gave us this day. He has not promised us tomorrow (Proverbs 27:1). Therefore, our focus shouldn’t be on what is to come, but what we are given now. There is still work to be done in the waiting. Thomas Baurain says, “We often treat waiting as a necessary evil. It’s something we get through in order to reach a destination, to arrive someplace and have the waiting behind us.” When we wonder what the Bible says about waiting, we are headed in the right direction. “Biblical waiting is waiting with conviction,” Baurain says. Don’t focus only on your desired destination. Instead, focus on where God has placed you right now, and what He is calling you to do in this moment.

Second, Realize We Can’t See the Whole Picture

We can’t see all that God is doing in our lives, and we most likely never will. This time of waiting could be purposed by God so that you miss something now in order to gain something better. Take Joseph for instance. In Genesis 41 we find Joseph imprisoned and forgotten. He had interpreted the dream of the Pharaoh's Cupbearer in hopes the man would remember him and help free him. Two years later, Joseph was still waiting to be remembered. Finally, He was set free to interpret the Pharaoh's dream, and because of this he became second in command over the land, saved the people of Egypt, and saved his family. There was a bigger picture than what Joseph could see during those years in prison waiting. God’s plan is always better than our own. We might not understand what is happening at the moment, and might not ever, but we can trust He is working all things out. It is helpful to get a new perspective by understanding what the Bible says about waiting.

Third, Take the Time to Grow

Perhaps, God has you in a time of waiting so you can learn. Spend time in Scripture and prayer. Don’t perceive waiting as just wasted time. Instead, see it as a cultivating time in your life to live for Jesus today. Seek out a mentor, or a mentee, someone to learn from who has also dealt with the struggles of waiting. Take this time to dig deep into what God is trying to teach you. Hebrews 13:20–21 says “Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” Let God work in your life.

We hope this has been helpful for all those who are in waiting for God to answer their prayer. In case interested you can view the whole article here

Karma or Grace?

8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life...
The concept of Karma has become a byword in the lives of people today. Knowingly or unknowingly, directly or indirectly, we start believing in it. We do not realize that the concept of karma is temporal while grace is eternal. 
Just to be clear, karma is not a religion but a philosophy. The philosophy of karma is closely associated with the idea of rebirth in the schools of eastern philosophy and spirituality. In these schools, karma in the present affects one's future in the current life, as well as the nature and quality of future lives. What you do always comes back to you - much like the boomerang.
It is also widely believed that a semblance of karma is reflected in the Bible where it refers to reaping what you sow, in Galatians 6 verse 8 as quoted above. But it's not to be taken out of context. The reference is to the spiritual, which is eternal, and the physical, which is temporary, it does not mean our actions and the result of those actions. For through God's love, we rise above our actions into the bosom of God's grace.
Sarah Coleman explains:
"The Bible does not teach karma. It teaches grace. Grace is where you get what you don't deserve. Grace is unmerited favor. It is love and mercy bestowed upon us by God because He desires us to have it. As you can see, very different from karma. More like polar opposites".
God's ultimate act of grace is the salvation He provides through Jesus Christ. We do not get what we deserve for what we have done but like the prodigal son, we get forgiveness of the past and a rich (spiritually rich) future. 
Bono, the famous singer of the rock band U2, in the book, Bono: in Conversation with Mishka Assayas, commented as follows-
“I'd be in big trouble if Karma was going to finally be my judge... I'm holding out for grace. I'm holding out that Jesus took my sins onto the Cross..."
Think about it: if there were no grace but only the principle of karma, we would all, without exception, be in big, really big trouble!
It's sad if we think of karma as a fashionable philosophy of life, and adopt the principles of Karma as a guiding force of life and not grace, for we would have missed the eternal, the essence of God and His love for us. We will have completely missed His grace.

The Farmers Prayer: A story by Crystal Ross

A while back I read a story of a visiting pastor who attended a men's breakfast in the middle of a rural farming area of the country.

The group had asked an older farmer, decked out in bib overalls, to say grace for the morning breakfast.

"Lord, I hate buttermilk", the farmer began. The visiting pastor opened one eye to glance at the farmer and wonder where this was going. The farmer loudly proclaimed, "Lord, I hate lard." Now the pastor was growing concerned. Without missing a beat, the farmer continued, "And Lord, you know I don't much care for raw white flour". The pastor once again opened an eye to glance around the room and saw that he wasn't the only one to feel uncomfortable.

Then the farmer added, "But Lord, when you mix them all together and bake them, I do love warm fresh biscuits. So, Lord, when things come up that we don't like, when life gets hard, when we don't understand what you're saying to us, help us to just relax and wait until you are done mixing. It will probably be even better than biscuits Amen."

Within that prayer there is great wisdom for all when it comes to complicated situations like we are experiencing in the world today.

Stay strong, my friends, because our LORD is mixing several things that we don't really care for, but something even better is going to come when HE is done with it. AMEN

Crystal Ross 

Pastor Rajiv's Mid-week Message