Why are we to glorify God and thank Him? Why do even the wise need to think godly? Why should we guard our hearts? Rom 1:21-32
Lord let our lives be guided by our knowledge of You so that we will glorify You through right thinking and righteous action.
How does the valley of weeping become a place of joy? Why is there no despair in a dry and barren valley? Do we step towards this promise or allow our minds to wander till God makes a difference? Ps 84:4-7
Lord thank for the promise of joy and strength even in despair and sorrow; so we will dwell in Your presence and set our hearts to walk in Your ways.
Why was the Book of the Law hidden and it has to be “found”? How will you respond to the hearing of God’s word? How will you involve your heart, eyes, and ears? 2 Kgs 22:8-20, Acts 28:23-27
Lord let us meditate on Your word day and night with a responsive heart, listening ears, and open eyes; we will not neglect it so that our generation has to find it hidden under many things.
Whose presence have brought encouragement for you when you are weary? Have you thanked God for such people? Will your presence bring peace in others? Acts 28:11-16
Lord as we thank God for all who have encouraged us, we ask that we will be people who carry Your presence to the weary.
Will you be able to encourage and enable someone even after he/she 
has ignored your warning? What will be the different emotions at that juncture? How will you subdue ungodly emotions to bless those around you? Acts 27:9-38
Lord let us clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, gentleness, and patience to strengthen and to encourage those who have ignored Your word spoken through us.
Jan 1. 2016! I sat down in my usual spot, near my bed on the mat. As I turned my The 365 Day Bible to the page that says, January 1, I was overwhelmed with a sense of awe. I have been using this Bible for over 20 years. Thus I have turned to this page numerous times. So nothing new, a routine by now! Then why did I have the emotions I experienced? Why was I filled with a new expectation, a new apprehension and a new hope? Of course, the New Year has something to do with it. But that’s not it.
I realized that it has to do with my spirit tuning in to the Spirit of God to listen to what He will speak to me through His Word. As I have quieted my spirit, mind and body, I was ready to listen to Him. And He spoke. As I journaled my reflections from my reading for the day, my eyes welled up with tears. I knew my spirit was connecting with His Spirit. Something I want to experience all throughout my days.
I have shared my thoughts about spending Time Alone with God in my earlier blog, A Habit Worth Investing Your Time. There I shared a method for reflective reading of the Scripture. In another blog, A Gift and a Shift I have penned how I was drawn to the desire to read the entire Bible in one year through the gift of my great uncle.
I want to encourage all of us to enjoy the experience of spending the Time Alone with of God through reading of the Bible. Besides, I encourage all of us to read the whole Bible in one year. There are many Bible reading plans to guide us in this process. The one I follow is found in http://www.biblica.com/en-us/bible/reading-plans/ This guides us to read the entire Bible in a year. Recently I heard about M’Cheyne’s Bible reading plan http://www.mcheyne.info/calendar.pdf. Robert Murray M’Cheyne (1813-1843) developed this plan to guide the reader through the New Testament and Psalms twice, and the rest of the Bible once, each year.
It is not about deciding which plan is the best, but adjusting our schedule and prioritizing our time to escape to a quiet place with the Bible and see what God wants to speak to us every day. As the years go by we will find ourselves in the same page but with renewed expectation to hear from our Master and Lord. May we enter into His presence to taste and see that His mercies are new everyday!
Happy New Year 2016!
I grew up in an extremely hospitable home. My parents went out of their way to literally accommodate 100’s of people. Some of them made our home theirs for couple of days every week, others stayed couple of weeks every year, while some stayed with us for many years. This is beside those who ate at our home every day.
Without realizing hospitality became part of my nature. Couple of days after I arrived in 
my husband’s apartment, we invited his friend’s family for dinner. Even though I was not at all an experienced cook, I tried to make a special Indian dish for them. In the last 26 years of our life together we have invited many to our home. Yet I don’t claim that I am as hospitable as my parents.
Only recently have I begun to realize that I am the guest of the Divine Host. I did not realize that I have an open invitation to share in the fellowship with Him, so He came to me and said I am your Immanuel who stays with you forever. Actually I was not in a state to know the depth, height and width of this fellowship so He tried to explain it with his deeds. But still I didn’t get it. Then He invited me to His table, Lord’s Supper to show me the extent of the fellowship He sets before me.
I was not part of the elite group when I received the invitation. Nobody would have called me to such a great banquet. He found me among the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame in the alley and in the street. Thus I became the guest of the Divine Host. I got the glimpse of His unconditional love for the first time.
Yet my story didn’t end with the banquet. He did not ask me to leave the banquet after it was over. I realized that He has invited me to Himself not just to a meal or home. The ultimate hospitality! I was invited to share His life, to be His daughter, precious indeed as He purchased me for God to serve Him as a royal priest. Forever I belong to Him and He belongs to me.
Then He said, “extend the same hospitality to others in the alleys and streets.” I missed the point at first, then I put a small step but feared that my new friends would call me “friend of sinners, drunkard, and glutton.” I valued their opinion more than His commission. I often looked to others and not Him to whom I belong for eternity.
He waited all these years to teach me the implications of being the guest of the Divine Host. Now at least I have turned in that direction of being one. Yet, “Lord, there is more to learn. Give me the grace to lean on You every day to be hospitable like You to extend Your love to the unloved and unlovable.”
How has this thought inspired you? Please leave your comments.
Have you ever been in a situation where you can feel the tension rising in the air when one is trying to prove that he/she has the right opinion or view? Even when no one is trying to prove anything the monologue continues with great zeal. Usually the more mature ones opt to nod their heads approving of the other. They know that there is at least some truth on their side but are still willing to let go. The other settles down knowing that he/she is always right. The insecurity masked under the zeal is clear but never addressed. 
If our children behave like that then you know they are going to grow out of that. Or if the person is a stranger or someone you see occasionally, then you can afford to ignore it and be kind. But what if you have to face it from the close family member or a co-worker who is 40+? This can be quite an exhausting and choking experience after some time.
Yet whether in family or work we are called to be different. Paul exhorts us “And may God, the source of patience and encouragement, enable you to have the same point of view among yourselves by following the example of Christ Jesus” (Rom 15:5, GNB). As I read this, I felt like God is inviting me to be more than what I can be. Then I was reminded of the times when God stood by my side showing His patience and encouragement proving that my fear and others’ judgment were false.
I have missed the mark many times, but His patience made me cross the Red Sea, scale high mountains, and walk on the water. When I thought sitting in the right and left of His throne was the best place for me, He nudged me to see the bigger picture of being with Him. He showed me that being humble, gracious, and forgiving is better than being ambitious, judgmental, and arrogant. He continues to show me higher planes telling me there is more to grasp to be where He dreams me to be for which He persistently invests in me His patience and encouragement.
And next time when someone is trying to prove that they are right it is better to guard your heart rather than destroying the relationships while trying to prove that you are right. So bite your tongue, take a deep breath and fall into the bosom of God who is the source of patience and encouragement.
Allow all your insecurities to melt away. May we become cheerleaders as we watch God taking people to the place of security in Him which we treasure.
This is quite a journey, journey of dying to self. God is always right, He is not done with us as He shepherds us in the journey.
Photo Courtesy: www.123rf.com
Time has come to say bye to my son again. The one week we spent together was a blessed time of renewal for our soul and spirit. It was indeed the answer to my daily prayer.
Tossing Thoughts
As I packed his breakfast my heart became heavy and my mind tossed between two thoughts: My son needs to be where God wants him to be; how can I not see him for such a long time?
He Knows the Pain
Immediately another thought flashed into my mind. Jesus knows this pain. I was reminded of His mother Mary who stood outside the temple hoping to see her son. Later on Jesus was away from his home for almost three years. Being on the road means being away from the safety and security of His home and His loved ones. However, being on earth means away from the safety of heaven. Where will He sleep? Where will He eat? Who will provide for him shelter and food? Neither His mother nor He knew the answers for these questions.
Family Away from Home
But definitely His heavenly Father knew the answers. Being away from heaven or from His earthly home never meant away from the presence of His Father. Besides, Jesus clearly knew that He had many mothers, sisters, and brothers away from His home who do the will of the Father just like He does.
Clarity for the Voice
I was just thinking about how I will miss my son quite ignoring how my son would feel being alone in another country. I could not see how the thought “Jesus knows the pain” can bring comfort to a mother grieving over the imminent separation from her son.
But as I write this blog it became clear that Jesus wanted me to see the turmoil that may be in my son. I am being filled with the assurance that God will surround him with many who do the will of God and they will be his family away from home.
Indeed an Eternal Family
As long as we are in the will of God, our heavenly Father will provide for us many mothers, sisters, and brothers. They will be our eternal family. So my prayer for my son, “O Lord, may he always stay in the will of his Father. “
Thoughts For You 