1Peter 1:3: "May grace and peace be multiplied to you…"

Recently I was sitting with a business man in one of the government offices, our talks strolled around opportunities and threats that businesses in India faced, and as we discussed the threats, presumably, one of the threats that figured most poignantly was the government itself! Though it’s ironic, yet on one side as minister after minister, government after government, makes every effort to twist and turn the policies and juggles with figures to somehow finally create a ‘feed good’ factor in the business milieu of our country, not only for our own people but even for conglomerates outside the country that are viewing it keenly to hawk in, the same government has not got purged from corruption & red-tapism and these in fact are as red as crimson. Though the intentions of the government are apparently good, the custodians, guardians and heralds of the government are surely not emulating the same spirit.

My counterpart in this discussion that lasted for some time, finally declared, "We business men do not have the time, in fact we cannot afford the time to run after every small issue that is raised up by the government officials, so we adjust!" I thought, "Yes surely, we have become an adjusting nation!" We adjust and we expect others to adjust too!!

We have adjusted to the poor infrastructure. We have adjusted to the poor facilities we have in even the basic amenities. We have adjusted to the power cuts. We have adjusted to the open drainages. We have adjusted to the frequent bandhs and hartals. A peek into the trains, buses, scooters, jeeps and public spaces gives us a galore of specimen of the ‘adjustments’ Indians make through the day.

I looked inside and saw that the church was making adjustments too. I am not elaborating, but we know the variety of adjustments we have made in the light of the requirements of the true glorious church. I myself am not excluded from this in any way.

Adjustment has become out motto. So much so that now we have started making God adjust to us! Like a student who begs the teacher to reconsider and give him some grace marks, we ask God for more grace. In fact, more than being a ‘providence’, grace now looks more like an adjustment that God makes to somehow fulfill his ultimate number. It’s almost like, if God will not adjust, he may not get any representatives in eternity from the present generation of believing Christians, especially in India!! So God, please adjust.

And then we come across verses like this one in 1 Peter and we bask in its shadow, relish under its influence and reach, lounge in its abundance. After all our work is done and only after we are dead sure that there is nothing else to do, its only then that many of us even consider going to church! We will bunk church at the smallest pretence. God please adjust.

Since this is the story in attending church itself, I dread to go further down the lane and look at the big chasms and giant holes and gaps that we have created between us and our purpose, between us and our duties, between us and God!!

Grace is not a "fill-the-chasm" or "fill-the-hole" tool. It surely is ‘sufficient for’ and ‘needed to’ fill-in where we fall short, but it’s not a tool to make up where we have not moved at all!

Moreover, let’s remember, it’s not God who has to adjust or will adjust. It’s we who have to adjust, even adjust all the time. We are busy making our small kingdoms and small homes while God is actually out, shopping to fill up his celestial and heavenly mansions. He is preparing a bride.

God will not adjust. God will not wait. We have no options here. God adjusted his greatest, when his only son became sin personified and died on the cross. That’s it. With or without us, his kingdom will progress.

Grace multiplied is available to us to take us from our highs to the highs of God. It is not available to make God stoop to our lows to take us to our highs. God please help.

2Kings 3:7 (NKJV), "Will you go with me..?"

This question features at the beginning of almost every crisis that I have got myself into. Often it is for the same causes and situations that this question pops up and always I answer it in a way that makes me feel that I will never learn. When the devil, this world and my flesh ask me, "Will you go with me?" I never seem to be able to say 'No'. But then, everyone is challenged with this question and some at least seem to be faring much better than me! Where then is the key to door that opens to the path of righteousness?

Submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee, James 4:7. This I was told was the mantra for success. So when I face this question, I need to submit to God and resist the devil. But I tried it many times and yet could never really escape the quandary at all times. It's either because I am not submitted fully to God at all times, or because I simply just can't resist with the same tenacity and zeal all the time. Wretched man that I am!

Who will deliver me from this body of death? Who will rescue me from this question?

1Corinthians 8:18 says, flee sexual immorality. 1Corinthians 10:14 says, flee from idolatry. 1Timothy 6:11 says, flee from greed of money. 2Timothy 2:22 says, flee from youthful passions. Five times, the word 'flee' appears in the New Testament (in the NIV) and four times out of five, it is I who has to flee and only once, the devil! And till all this while, I always stood ground and tried to win every battle with the devil, while many times he wasn't even there! No wonder I suffered fatigue; Emotional, mental, psychological and spiritual fatigue. And the Bible all the while had been asking me to flee! I always thought it was cowardly to take flight. But it seems, there is wisdom is fleeing! So next time, when I am confronted by the devil, or the world or even my flesh, my foremost urge will be to flee from the situation, especially for circumstances with sexual over or undertones, or monetary manipulations, or situations that are outright or somewhat idolatrous in nature and also situations where my adrenalin is at the helm and my youth snubs at the counsel of even my conscience.

Joseph was asked the question by Potiphar's wife and he fled his way into the prison (Genesis 39), but he surely refrained from sinning against God and displaying his wickedness though he had every opportunity to live the moment for himself. God exalted him to the highest place in the nation, albeit after a few years in prison. Solomon however could not say 'No' to his countless wives who took him from one mountain to another and made him bow before stones and woods, to his own sad doom and even of his kingdom (1Kings 11)! People with greater responsibilities have higher standards of accountability and have to flee more often than mere mortals because of the wider repercussions. Jesus however, fled from the scene when he realized that people were about to come and take him by force to make him the king of the nation (John 6:15). This was despite the fact that the very mission of Jesus was to establish the kingdom of God on earth, the kingdom of which he himself was the king!

So 'to flee' is the key, on most occasions, to the door that opens to the paths of righteousness. And every time I flee, I submit to God and therefore, I slowly mature to become more and more like our head, Jesus Christ, and then when I resist the devil, he was no option but 'flee'.

2Kings 3:7 (NKJV), "Will you go with me..?"

Though the format of the question may differ, yet, it is a question that is shot at all people, perhaps many times during a single day! So many times in my life I have faced this question. During my primary school days, I remember the boys in my colony asking me that question and interestingly their timing used to concur with my parents decision that I should be studying! Were my parents and my friends colluding to make life and study difficult for me? During my secondary school days, such a question from my peers led me into the discovery of the facts and truths of life which I vehemently denied in the beginning, but then reluctantly and shockingly recognized and then ultimately got lured and smitten by the charm and more particularly the mystery of it.

But in hindsight, surprisingly, almost every time, it seems as if I had a penchant towards getting into trouble with my answer to that question. I almost always managed to answer the question incorrectly. My life graph now has an array of troughs which need not have been there at all.

King Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, was not being asked that question for the first time. Interestingly, in 2 Chronicles 18:3, King Ahab, king of Israel had asked it to Jehoshaphat and he had almost lost his life as a result. God had to intervene and rescue him from that mess and he had also received a good chiding from God for his goof up. However, years later, when Ahab's son, King Jehoram, asks him the same question, he answers in the same words!! Can you believe it! Even the words have not been changed!! Some people never change. Rather I should say, some people never learn. Oh yeah yeah yeah. Look who is talking!? Mr. Always Right and Mr. Right-to-be Critical that I am, I could not have come up with any other conclusion for this equation, despite the bare fact about the number of times I myself have fallen and fallen again at the same place, year after year after year. It is so easy and convenient to make Jehoshaphat the scapegoat and gloat in delight while a gleaming righteousness emerges in its backdrop, albeit for a few moments. Satan is interested in our souls but has no time for leisure and discovery and so he pokes at our weakest patch, pulls at our weakest link and keeps poking and pulling again and again and again and we cooperate.

Moreover, the question, 'Will you go with me?" is timed so ingeniously that a 'No' would make me look like an enemy of mankind or an anti-social or at least a pre-historic or even a baboon. It surely does take guts to say 'No'. A 'Yes', mostly will spiral me down the counsel of the ungodly and the way of the sinners into the seat of the scornful. Blessed is the man, who says, 'No'.
Working on it conversely, and looking back at all the major blots and debacles in my life, I have figured out that our question of reference appears somewhere at the beginning of every spiral down!!

I need more wisdom and unction to succeed in this test than I will need on the greatest stages or pulpits that ministry opportunities will open for me. If I fail here and keep going around in circles, I will never need an unction and wisdom for the latter!

May God graciously grant it. May I be able to muster up the strength and guts to say 'No' when the devil, this world and my flesh ask me, "Will you go with me?"

Mathew 10:22 (NLT), "And everyone will hate you because of your allegiance to me.."

This story that I came across recently just brought up some pending issues to my mind. This is how the story goes.

During First World War, Donald Barnhouse, led the son of a prominent American family to the Lord. He was in the service, but he showed the reality of his conversion by immediately professing Christ before the soldiers of his military company.

The war ended. The day came when he was to return to his pre-war life in the wealthy suburb of a large American city. He talked to Barnhouse about life with his family and expressed fear that he might soon slip back into his old habits. He was afraid that love for parents, brothers, sisters, and friends might turn him from following after Jesus Christ. Barnhouse told him that if he was careful to make a public confession of his faith in Christ, he would not have to worry. He would not have to give improper friends up. They would give him up.
As a result of this conversation the young man agreed to tell the first ten people of his old set whom he encountered that he had become a Christian. The soldier went home.

Almost immediately--in fact, while he was still on the platform of the suburban station at the end of his return trip--he met a girl whom he had known socially. She was delighted to see him and asked how he was doing. He told her, "The greatest thing that could possibly happen to me has happened." "You're engaged to be married," she exclaimed. "No," he told her. "It's even better than that. I've taken the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior." The girls' expression froze. She mumbled a few polite words and went on her way.

A short time later the new Christian met a young man whom he had known before going into the service. "It's good to see you back," he declared. "We'll have some great parties now that you've returned." "I've just become a Christian," the soldier said. He was thinking, That's two! Again it was a case of a frozen smile and a quick change of conversation.

After this the same circumstances were repeated with a young couple and with two more old friends. By this time word had got around, and soon some of his friends stopped seeing him. He had become peculiar, religious, and -- who knows! -- they may even have called him crazy! What had he done? Nothing but confess Christ. The same confession that had aligned him with Christ had separated him from those who did not want Jesus Christ as Savior and who, in fact, did not even want to hear about Him.

This is so very true for all those who have sincerely accepted Christ. It is true for my life too. Everyone in my school, college and business circles knows of my allegiance, and my orientations and many have, over time, separated themselves from me. They have guessed my topics of conversations and the reasons for my invitations to even Christmas or other gatherings and they simply avoid it. Now It has become so bad that today, if I call a social event, I am hardly in touch with many of these dear ones to even invite them. Most of my invitees will be people who have already accepted Christ as Savior or are in the process!

It saddens me thinking that people with whom I have shared a good part of my life, laughing, learning and growing together are now wary of me. But much more saddening has to be the fact that in doing so, they are also distancing Christ my Lord, the only name under heaven, by which they can be saved. They are rejecting Christ in me, hope of glory! And what shall I do now? What can I do now? The only lesson I have derived, from the Bible and other incidents related with this situation, is to pray. Keep praying for them. If God doesn’t force them, neither can I.

Most of the times, the reason why people reject Christ is, accountability. But there is no other way. People are accountable for their decision. I have to be accountable for my decision. I have to remain aligned to Christ, even at the cost of rejection by all my friends, the entire society, even the whole world. It’s a heavy ask, a gruesome task. However, it will be worth it, and much more. That’s how God has been and will be.

Philipians 2:13, 14 (NIV), "Work out your salvation…"

Painters, Carpenters, Masons, Construction workers, Farmers, Plumbers, Electricians, Fitters, Welders, Laborers etc are people who have a very active work routine. They really earn their living through "the sweat of their face". I am using that ‘expression’ to signify hard work. There are other classes of professionals, the white collared ones, who do not have to sweat while they work. Though the turnover of the work in economic terms may be significantly higher for these as compared to the former class, however they are not absolutely relieved from ‘the sweat of their face’ aspect.

This latter class of well-off people joins gyms and health clubs to ‘work out’. Doctors and fitness experts are the major advocates and campaigners for a physical work out for this class. They finally end up spending much for this. I am reminded of the old saying that most people spend their health for most of their lives and gain much wealth only to spend much wealth later to regain health. Also satirical is another observation that the former class earns money for sweating and the latter, pays to sweat! Dwelling on it is making things more difficult for me too, for I belong to the ‘work out’ class.

The curse on Adam was, "In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground" (Genesis 3:19). It is God who spoke it and therefore, it’s a Law and is applicable to one and all. All, born into humankind have to sweat as a consequence of this verse.

Now let me play with words. The white collared ones are asked to ‘work out’. It is almost like saying, "Force out the work trapped inside of you (as a consequence of the Adamic curse) and only then do you deserve to eat, rather live!" Well, the language used by the well wishers behind the advise is not so cynical, but I prefer today to stick to this kind of a tone to make the advice sound crucial and critical to my soul. Those who have seen me know how much cynical I need to get on myself on this matter. When a person works out, sweat oozes from every inch of his body so much so that it is evident all over him/her that he/she had a work out!!

All this background building was done only to understand what work out needs to do to our bodies.

In Philippians 2:13, Paul asks me to work out my salvation. I am choosing to think that he was meaning something very similar about salvation just as I just expounded about ‘work’. He was perhaps saying, the salvation that I have received, I need to work it out so that it oozes out of every inch of my body.

Of all the traits that mankind exhibits, its attitude that is seen in every inch of his body. I can make out a person’s attitude from his leg and hand postures, his movements, his expressions. Attitude is reflected in every inch of his frame and my frame too. Putting all these things together, I am concluding that my salvation should ooze out me, as my attitude.

Interestingly, when I look into the context of the text in Philipians, where Paul makes this statement, it begins by saying in Philipians 2:5 Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had.

O my soul, doing the works of the kingdom shouldn’t totally and absolutely reflect the salvation inside me, its my attitude. My attitudes have a bearing on my behavior, which have a bearing on my life. I need to change my thinking, which will change my beliefs, which in turn will change my expectations, which finally will decide my attitude.

Bottom-line: It is our attitude that many times attracts or shuns people away from Christ. I suggest that we take pointers from Matthew 5 where the Lord proclaims the beatitudes. I have no doubts, why these are called "Be Attitudes". Francis Xavier said, "Preach the gospel at all times, if necessary, use words." Nothing reflects the gospel like our attitudes. Lets work on it and see that our attitude reflects our salvation.

John 14:21 (NIV), "We will make our home with him…"

Nothing has recently touched my soul like this apparently non-profound verse. I will stick to the NIV as I make these interpretations of this particular portion of the scripture.

Jesus begins the introduction of the Holy Spirit in these portions. He starts by saying in John 14;15, "If you love me, you will keep my command, I will ask my Father to give you the Holy Spirit". Reflecting upon this verse together with Acts2: 38, "Repent and be baptized for the remission of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit", I think I can almost easily deduce that the command that Jesus talks about here is water baptism preceded by repentance.

However in John 14:21, "If you love me, you will keep my teaching…" seems to give me more insight into the most important role of the Holy Spirit, once He is with me and in me. He starts teaching me and also reminding me the teachings of my Lord Jesus Christ.

If the Holy Spirit is the teacher, what should I become? A Student. No. I should become teachable. This is weighty.

Now if I am teachable and I am sensitive to the voice of the teacher, the Holy Spirit, and if I keep the Lord’s teachings, Jesus goes on to say that, the Father will love me, and "we will make our home with him!!" JESUS IS SAYING THAT THE FATHER AND JESUS WILL MAKE THEIR HOME WITH ME!

Home is the place where I am myself. Home is the place, where I can do anything. Home is the place, where I am free of requirements of social etiquette. Home is the place where I sit back with my leg on any table and chill. God making His home in me brought all these images into my mind. Though the thought of God sitting with His leg on any table is seemingly inappropriate, perhaps to some even offensive, I find no reason to not think that God wants to be as free in me, my heart, as He is in heaven.

Now something that hit me more strongly in this verse is the readiness with which Jesus said, rather committed, even on behalf of His Father in heaven, that they together will make their home in me. I have lived all these years yearning and waiting for and hoping and dreaming about heaven, and about reaching there. I mean, I am somehow fighting this fight, running this race, suffering all trials with this one living hope, to be with my Lord in heaven, once this life is over. I face every tribulation, sorrow, and tough situation, inspired by that hope of one day walking triumphantly on heaven’s shores. Doesn’t everyone do the same? And here is Jesus saying that He will bring heaven down into my heart. Much before I reach there!

Just think about it. Is it easier for God to take me to heaven or bring heaven into me? God is beyond such comparisons but the very thought of the Father making His home in me is blowing my mind. I can somehow think about my body being His Temple, but His Home…!

My perspective of life has to be changed altogether. I don’t need to heave and sigh and look at my life on this planet as drudgery anymore. More excited than I am about going to heaven, is the Father about bringing heaven into my heart. He, it appears that, cannot wait for me to reach heaven. He wants it today and now. The prerequisite is that I obey His teaching.

I have started enjoying my life here and I no longer have the times beyond my mortal life as my only hope. Heaven is in my heart and that truth helps me enjoy heaven and God’s presence on this earth itself.

Bottom-line: Dear Reader, may you too start smiling all along your passage through the various circumstances and situations of your life because, if you obey His teaching, the Lord Jesus Christ and Father God will surely make their HOME with you. Hallelujah.

Luke 5:1, "People pressed upon him to hear the Word…"

When I, a "Disciple of Christ" go to a crowded place, I who am being transformed into his likeness with ever increasing glory that comes from God, there is no crowd of people pressing upon me for "Anything"!!

India has no dearth of crowds anywhere, and every time I go to a crowded place and remain there for a significantly long time and still fail to impact even the smallest section of that crowd in anyway, I feel strongly that I failed the Lord.

Recently, I pondered upon this very seriously, when I myself failed the Lord once more and the Lord revealed to me four major areas where I needed to work on to start creating a ripple in the ocean!

1. An Unstoppable urge to share the Gospel

The word has to be so bubbling within me that I cannot help but share the gospel. Paul said (1Cor9:16), "Woe to me if I share not the gospel". Jeremiah said (Jer20:9), "his word burns in my heart like a fire. It’s like a fire in my bones! I am weary of holding it in!"

The more I am close to God, the more I shall know His heart, the more closer I will be to this stage and greater will be my conviction to speak out the good news.

2. A spirit Sensitive to the Voice of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit knows the right time to talk to the right person. In a large crowd, the advantage is that, someone is surely there who needs the touch of God, then and there. The Holy Spirit knows that person and with our availability, he can usher in God’s light into the darkness of that soul.

The more I pray in the spirit and the more I talk to God, the more he will talk to me and the more I will recognize His voice above the din.

3. An Undoubting Faith on the Power of God at work through me

I need to have faith that the power of God will work through me. I mean, if required, the Word will be confirmed through signs and wonders. I need to always remind myself about Who and what it is that I am talking about and Who it is that is backing me. If only I had half the conviction of the door-to-door salesman, who stakes everything for the below average product in his hands.

The more closer is my walk with God, the more confident will I be of his presence with me and in me, and his wonder working power through me.

4. A Compassionate Heart that is moved by the plight of the lost

This, the Lord has impressed on me, as the most essential requirement. If I am not moved by the "lost-ness" and the hopelessness of the people around me, things are surely bad for them, but they are bad for me too, as I will then be reacting quite unlike Christ, who was always moved with compassion by the crowd that was without a shepherd, or in pain.

This again is earned in the presence and proximity of God. Also, it will dawn only after I finally realize and concede that my very existence is not about me and for me but for God, and I wake up out of my selfish existence to start looking around me, and into the needs of others.

Bottomline: Dear reader, I have not been comprehensive in all that I have to and want to say. I trust you to meditate and work on these aspects and develop a deeper insight on it and into it.

Somehow, we have got to gear ourselves up to make an impact around us, because the crowds around us, in India, are too many, and the need for the gospel, the power of God unto salvation, is dire.