What the World Needs Now

This post is from a writer whom I adore. A must read for all who are interested in politics than bible:)

Elihu's Corner

Some songs make me cringe.

It’s not necessarily the lyrics—although cringe-worthy lyrics abound. Often it’s the style of singing or instrumentation. Sometimes it’s an associated memory. For instance, whenever I hear Andy Williams’ voice belt out, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!” I can’t help but groan inwardly. I associate it with disgruntled black friday shoppers and unhappy ugly-Christmas-sweater people. I don’t know why…. it’s probably related to some lame commercial. Then there’s Burt Bacharach’s “What the World Needs Now.” The words aren’t bad, it’s just the way it was sung or the melody or… something. Think “nails on chalk.”

And yet…

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Congrats for the New President, Mr.Trump!

Missed being a blogger for few days because of being unwell. But didn’t miss being a reader.

One of the hot topics wherever I turned was US Elections. Donald vs Hillary. One joke which was pretty hilarious was “US is going through 24 hour labor pain to know whether it’s a girl or a boy”. It was hilarious.

To my surprise I saw the whole world was interested in U.S. Elections. I don’t know why so much of wide eyes for the nation. I am not that good in politics or history to know. But somewhere I knew that this nation was special in God’s eyes.

And our God all powerful is watching over every step of an US citizen. But I don’t know whether the Christian American citizens realise this truth. I read and heard lot of good and bad about both the leaders. My question to those is “Is there someone whom you know is always right?”. Even biblical anointed leaders fell. What more you want.

I saw many bloggers raised for prayers before election. And when the results came, they started cursing the elected. Why? Is it because somewhere we have already decided or trusted God will make this person as a leader. We failed to come under His will.

I believe God has ears and heart. So much of prayer has not gone in vain. He knows the best for His children. If Mr. Donald has been elected as a President, then there is some divine secret behind it. Let’s thank God for His decision.

Our next idle step is to obey the word of God. God said to pray for your own nation so that you can live in peace. It’s our responsibility of being a citizen of any nation to pray for our respective leaders even if they are bad or of good reputation. The command is just to pray.

I will say to all the citizens of US to acknowledge the leadership and pray for Mr.President daily because that is what is expected.

Don’t forget God created the world and He knows what is best for His people.If He feels Mr.Trump is best, then Congrats.

Remove Gehazi’s from the Church

What is the punishment that we have received for a lie? It depends. Whatsoever , it stops with us but Gehazi’s punishment was much severe. It was for him and his descendants!

We see a man of God, a great prophet, Elisha was put down by his own trustworthy servant, Gehazi.

Read 2nd kings 5.
We see Naaman, a mighty man of valor from Syria seeking for a healing from the hand of Elisha, the prophet. In v 11, we see Naaman as a ‘furious man’ because he was told to do an unbelievable task to receive his healing- Dip in Jordan river seven times to be cleansed. Naaman who was disappointed turned back to Syria in anger but thank God there were few wise servants with him. Because of their counsel, Namaan turned to Jordan and dipped himself for seven times. Surprisingly, he saw his skin as of a little babe after his seventh dip. He and his servants must have danced with joy in the river banks. Naaman returned to Elisha to testify that “Jehovah is the only living God in all the earth”. Wow! What a great declaration to hear from an unbeliever. Many of us are still praying to hear from the people whom we are praying for.

Naaman with his joyful and cleansed life, wanted to gift Elisha. But He refused to receive it. How many of us are like this? We all are so fond of gifts and there is nothing wrong to receive gifts, especially when a man is poor and in need. Elisha was not living in a palace nor had hundred servants serving him. He was a man of simplicity but with double anointing. And being a servant of such an honorable and anointed prophet was a blessing to Gehazi but couldn’t see his worth?

 Gehazi’s eyes was sealed by his greed. When he came to know Elisha didn’t receive the gifts, he was shocked and upset too. Instead of accepting the decision of his master, he ran after Naaman to take the gifts by saying a holy story. Naaman gave twice what he asked.

Imagine what he must have told to his wife
” My love, see I am cleansed by the hands of a great prophet of Israel and he received rewards from me”
Or
“My love, see I am cleansed by the hands of a great prophet of Israel but surprisingly he didn’t receive any of my rewards. How big His God is”

Which one was the best? Of course the second one.

Because of Gehazi’s act of greed, he had put down God’s and a prophet’s name one step down in a foreign country.

God’s healing is free. One simple requirement is BELIEVE. But Gehazi added one more burden for the people ‘MONEY’.

There are many Gehazi’s walking around with Christian ministers now. They don’t submit to their leadership and they repeat the same mistakes again and again. Why are they needed? Certain people in the church put down God’s name by saying the Pastor’s name. Beware of such people. It’s high time for them to be removed from the leadership. God will bring more faithful people to His kingdom.

Gehazi and his generation was punished for his sins by Elisha’s curse. But we dont have any authority to curse. Because Jesus said to bless those who curse you but He didn’t say walk with those who curse you!

Be Wise.

Dropsy vs Donkey

I was checking few photographs in Google to post for this article. More I searched, more I didn’t want to. It was a pathetic and painful situation one man has to go through.

It’s a normal passage which is read through often. In Luke 14, we see about a man with dropsy being healed on a sabbath day. But I have never taken an effort to see how a person with dropsy looked.

In Luke 14:2, Jesus met with a man who was standing out in the crowd. His body was reddish and swollen or may be even more worse. Jesus didn’t ask any questions like    ” what do you want me to do?” Or “Do you believe in me?”. But for a difference, He asked the audience a question and ended up in single line.
“He took him and healed Him and let him go”. Wow! And no much instructions like ” Sin no more”. It was very plain understanding that it was his time to be healed.

A simple encounter with Christ which over turned his life.

Jesus didn’t move ahead with the dinner, but he addressed an issue which was more weightier than healing. He knew the heart of men sitting around Him. They were watching Jesus closely to catch him red handedly. But Jesus was smart. He asked them the same question which they intended to ask Him.

If lawyers and Pharisees were smart, our Jesus was over smart 🙂

Their silence put Jesus into action. According to Jewish law, It was not right to do any work on sabbath. And this was observed by them from their young age. At the same time, they were hypocrites too. Thats why Jesus asked a relevant question to them to hit their conscience “if you had a donkey that has fallen into a pit, will you not immediately pull him out on the sabbath day?” . Even though they are pious or at least act pious, sometimes they do break the law (which only God sees) because they gave more value to money and material than human and also they twist the law according to their need.

In this century, how can we relate to this situation.

Sunday mornings are always a blast time in all Christians life. Mine too. There was a rush and hush in our house before locking the door. We rushed to the car and drove fast to get a good parking space which is near to church and also don’t have to walk much. Suddenly, a high speeding bike overtook us and hit the lamp post. I saw him flying across the road and was thrown harshly to the road. It was a huge shock to us. We saw many getting down the vehicle just to watch. My husband stopped the car and went to assist him. My bag vibrated and saw a new message on my inbox.I opened  and to my horror it was from my pastor’s phone “You are late.Come fast”. I pulled my husband inside and told ” Let’s go! There are lot of people around to help. We can’t miss the church”. But trust me, my body was present, not my spirit. I was not able to worship or pray or listen to the sermon. My heart was heavy and I knew why it was. On the way back, my husband got down the spot and heard a man say “The boy was young but was hit on his head. But he died after twenty minutes because the ambulance couldnt arrive on time”. That twenty minutes was a life saving time. I wish my ‘eyes of compassion’ worked more than my weekly responsibility and duties. 

Going to church is always the right thing to do but ignoring someone’s need or cry on that time is wrong.

Jesus didn’t have the intention to say that

‘following sabbath’ is wrong but his message was

“Be compassionate and discerning not judgmental and insensitive”.

Prison to Throne: Dreams and Word of God

How do we see ourselves in our dark times?

Christian life is a mix of roses and thorns. Sometimes, it’s aromatic but there will be  pricks too. Challenge here is, how we react to our situations. Do we call ourselves blessed or cursed?

Little boy Joseph was presented with colorful coat by his father and promised with a bright dream by his Heavenly Father.He was a blessed child but his journey started from pits and dark rooms. That was his pricking and bleeding phase. Then he ended up in throne room where there was God’s aroma all around him. How was this possible? Two major things he held was his dream and the scriptures which his father taught him.

Now, holding on to his dream was not easy in his circumstance. He was sold as a slave and was asked to do all kinds of work at an Egyptians home. But he found favor in the sight of his master and was promoted. I am sure Joseph must have thought about this as his breakthrough. ‘A stepping stone’ towards his dreams. Now comes the perfect scenario to fulfill his dream. One night stand with a beautiful lady. If he finds favor in her sight, then the path will become easy. He said a Big NO! to this opportunity. 

He feared his God and ran away from this promising future. Back to square one. He have to go through the same process but this time his offense was severe and the place was dark. In the midst of all this, he continued serving God by serving people. Once again he found favor and was promoted. This time, the given opportunity turned out to be a success. Read more on Joseph…

I am sure that we all have dreamed for a bright future or someone prophesied to us about our calling. If you have decided to hold on to your dreams or prophesies, open your eyes to see the opportunities. At the same time, work out your journey. Joseph served as a slave even though he knew he was to be served. He didn’t sit idle in one corner and waited for another dream or called himself ‘cursed’.

When opportunity hits your way, do not blindly take a shot.Check whether the opportunity is aligned with the scriptures.

Because sometimes, we may feel this is God’s way. But it may not. Remember! Our God is faithful. He will not change His word.So Wait! Wait! Wait!

Time will come where you will be shifted from a hut to a mansion.

Make sure you reach your dream through a divine path. Do not compromise!

Next step after a breakthrough: Be like the blind men!

In Mathew 20:29 – 34, we see two blind men shouting for a breakthrough.

All their days, they felt the wind, heard the whispers, smelled the flowers and tasted whatever was given into their hands. But there were times they wanted to feel and do what their heart desires. Run for a shade under the tree, taste fish instead of cucumber and tomatoes,smell lilies than roses and to be in silence. All of these are buried because they didn’t have one more sense like others. ‘SEE’ was the key and they deliberately wanted it.

One evening, they heard a shout far away and knew their solution was nearing. How can they miss such an opportunity? They heard about Jesus and His miracles from the roadside whisper but there none to lead them to Him.

They jumped and rejoiced on the roadside like mad men. When they heard the footsteps of people, they started shouting “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”.Not once, but many times. Their voice was a distraction to others.

But Jesus was a life boat for them.

They shouted even more louder and harder which made the crowd come and rebuke them. But nothing bothered them.They shouted more and more and this made Jesus stop.

A cry of desperation stopped Jesus and looked with an eye of compassion.

Jesus asked what they needed as if He didn’t recognize the problem. They cried their need and the result was immediate. He touched them and they received their sight.

It was such an immense joy where no one else could explain.They jumped and rejoiced and told “Comeon, let’s go to our houses and celebrate this miracle” oops! Now that’s not the story. Read v 34, to see the perfect ending. “They received the sight and followed Him”

When we have problems, we scream, cry, shout or even yell at Jesus out of our desperation. The blind men chose to focus on the footsteps rather than reasoning with the distractions. They didn’t loose hope but cried, cried and cried. They acknowledged the power of God. In their heart they knew, that Jesus who healed the next street blind guy can heal them too.

Enemy brings lot of distractions to stop our prayers. Do not give up. Hold on to the testimonies and believe in His power.

“Praise God, my God delivered me”. What’s the next step? Give a thanksgiving party? Good. We must be thankful to God. Nothing wrong in celebrating our victories. But what are we doing after that? Are we going back to the same schedule and wait for the next problem to hit us or try to graduate in our spiritual life so that we can shield ourselves from the schemes of the enemy? Decision is our’s.

Let’s be like the blind men who followed Jesus as their thanksgiving.
Get involved in your local church so that you can share your testimony and stand as a pillar in your community glorifying God’s name.

Roman Centurion – Gentile who looked into a Jews interest.

Luke 7

1When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum. 2 There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. 3 The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. 4 When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, 5 because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” 6 So Jesus went with them.

He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. 7 That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. 8 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

9 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” 10 Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.

When I was reading this passage, the word Which striker and provoked me to think was “Centurion- A Man who was not a Jew”

There is still a debate going whether the centurion met Jesus face to face or only send the elders to Jesus. But I don’t want to get into it now. Whether he met or not, I am sure he must have heard about Jesus, His miracles and teachings. That’s why he said to the Jewish leaders to tell Jesus ” That I don’t deserve to have a great man like You under my roof”. He was a man who was highly honoured by Jews because he loved his nation and had built a synagogue for them. Synagogue for Jews! Was the centurion a believer of Yahweh? We don’t know, but this act of him surely says that He was a very  considerate man. He thought about others values and belief.

We, called as Christians turns selfish when it comes to this point. We draw a circle around us and pull others who are of same interest and thoughts. Those can be believers or unbelievers.

Luke 6:31 New International Version (NIV)

31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.

Do you feel bad if someone didn’t wish you on your special day?

Remember, that you too missed someone’s special day

Did you hear that your best friend called someone else for a movie and not you?

Remember, you too ignored someone.

‘Sorry I don’t have a penny to lend’, and you know he or she had plenty. How could he be so mean?

Knock knock, you did the same Once!

These are only few, but I believe our lists are long.

Philippians 2:21 English Standard Version (ESV)

21 For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.

Yes we all seek our own interests, but how about considering the interest of Jesus.

Are you planning to built a house? Then how much are you planning to give for the house of God?

Did you save money to buy a watch? How about spending some time with God.

Want to buy a gown which is on discount? Think about the person whom you passed by who doesn’t have a proper cloth to cover

Having a party in a 5 star hotel? How about feeding the starving stomach’s on streets?

There are many interests of God or people which we ignored knowingly or unknowingly. Let’s get back and be considerate to each other and fulfil others needs and desires.

Isaac – Promise Child:Will this happen in this century?

After a long time, I met with a friend of mine who was from my old church. We both were sharing our marriage lives, our up’s and down.
“Mary, I am very happy in my life. I got a loving and caring husband who spends his time and money on whatever I desire for. But I miss being a mother. I had miscarriage for three times. I don’t have any more courage to go through that procedure once again”
“Don’t worry Ann. God is faithful and merciful. Hang on to your faith. You said God has promised a child from the scriptures of Abraham and Sarah.”
“Of course it’s true. Myself and my husband got the same scriptures. I was very happy. But my Christian friend told, Abraham and Sarah’s promise was specific. It was for them and not for us. She advised me to go for adoption. Now I am in the middle of no where”

I didnt know what to say  but stayed calm. Why did her friend spoke against her promise, though her motive was right?

If a couple, walks into your house with the same problem, what will you say to them?

There are certain scriptures which are negotiable and non negotiable.
“Jesus died for our sins” is a non-negotiable scripture.
“Woman with 12 year blood flow was healed by touching Jesus’s garment” is a negotiable scripture because it was purely her personal faith. Jesus didn’t teach or preach on touching his garment for being healed.

Abraham was known for his faith. God asked him to Leave his own people and country not knowing what lies ahead of him. And He did!                                                                   God promised a great inheritance when he didn’t have a descendant. He believed!    God told to cut the throat of his son as a sacrifice to him without any reason. He obeyed!

There was nothing seen in front of his eyes apart from few words of promise from his God.

Here is when Abraham applied “WALK BY FAITH, NOT BY SIGHT”

If a couple is promised by God’s word, that they will have their own child like Abraham and Sarah, just leave them in their faith.Do not discourage them or judge their faith. Stand along with them through steadfast prayers and emotional support. But if you feel that their promise is not from God, prayerfully speak to them about adoption. Do not push them because adoption is a drastic step in a marriage life which can edify or harm theirs or a child’s life.

God has given you a promise then hang on. Do not take any emotional step and fall into a mess where you can’t come out.

Jesus reached His hands

You tried calling your friend in the peek time of a need and get an continuous  answer ‘unreachable’. How would you feel? Disappointed, Angry, hopeless or come to an conclusion “He is not my friend anymore?”

I wanted to bring your focus on the Gospel of Mathew chapter 4

8 When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. 2 A man with leprosy[a] came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”3 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. 4 Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

In Ancient Israel, anyone suspected of having leprosy disease had to go to a priest for examination (Leviticus 13:2-3). If found to be infected, “the leprous person shall wear torn clothes and let his hair hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ And he shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease.His dwelling will be outside the camp” (Leviticus 13:45-46).

It was the same in the time of Jesus. No leper could live in a walled town, but in an open village. But wherever he was, he was required to have his outer garment torn and call out and warn the passers to keep away from him saying ‘unclean’.

In verse 8, we see a leper man who was not allowed to stand within 6 feet to any other human or his own family members comes running to Jesus asking for healing. I don’t know how others must have responded to the leper. May be they must have taken one step back and even cursed him for his behavior. But nothing bothered him. He broke the rule when he came to know about the well known Jesus who was called as ‘Compassionate’ in his camp was passing by.He called upon Jesus for mercy and it didn’t return in vain. He was healed because of his faith in Christ.

Jesus was reachable to an untouchable

How many of us are like Jesus who took time to stop by in his busy schedule and conversed with a leper. There are many people outside our Christian camp who are in need and wanted to connect with you for their healing, comfort, love, companionship and as followers of Christ, what is our response?

Do we ignore them?

Disconnect their calls?

“I am Comfortable in my own group”?

“They are not my cup of tea”

Question is “Are we reachable or Unreachable?”

Jump In, the Water’s Warm