Was Abraham a Prophet?

Hello readers! It has been a very long time since I posted anything up on this blog. Today we will deal with an important part of The Bible where most of us hardly paid any attention, including me. Being a Christian, I clearly know who a prophet is and what it takes to be a prophet. I have always perceived that the prophetic ministry began with Moses since he mediated between man and God. Before deeply entering the topic today, I invite you all to study who a prophet is generally. Well, most part of The Bible gives us a clear picture of who a prophet is. A prophet is one who mediates between God and man. He reveals the message given by God to the people, in other words, he is a mouthpiece of God. We also see that a prophet represented a group of people to whom those messages are revealed. Prophets never speak of their own but always deliver the message of God. They also speak with the power given by God where as they prophesy, God imputes necessary feelings along with the message, let it be fear, hope, faith and so on. A prophet is also one who intercedes for the people whom he represents. He is found to be always praying on behalf of the people and pleading for their transgressions. A prophet also encourages the people to be faithful to God in all conditions knowing that that's the only way to escape wrath. Hence, though there are many more other characteristics, we are generally going to look at these characteristics:

a) One who delivers the message of God to the people whom he represents.

b) One who intercedes for the people to God.

c) One who encourages the people to be faithful to God always.

A month ago, in some random discussions with my house mates, we discussed about how can Abraham be a prophet. Now Abraham was called prophet by God in Genesis 20:7, where Abimelek had a dream in which God mentioned so. Looking at the verse at a glance, I pondered how Abraham was called a prophet, which made him the first prophet of all time mentioned in The Bible. Abraham was the father of Israel and so he could not have represented any other nations to deliver the message of God. I prayed about it and God revealed to me the answer I was seeking for. Prophetic ministry differs from prophetic role. What Abraham did was prophetic role, which means he was not a full time prophet who was called to prophesy to people and nations but he carried the prophetic role in his life. How is that possible? Simple. Abraham was the father of nations and to him a promise was given that through him a nation will be born. This was the message of God to Abraham. Now Abraham represented a group of people, his family. Analyse the characteristics mentioned above and according to that Abraham was a prophet to his family where he delivered the message of God to his family. He told Sarah what God had promised and encouraged her to be faithful to that promise above all inabilities and disbelief that may root from adversarial conditions.

Abraham also interceded for the family. If we look at Genesis 19, we can see Abraham interceding for his brother's family in the Sodom and Gomorrah destruction. We can also see that when Sarah lacked motivation to keep believing the promise because of her ageing nature, Abraham encouraged her to continue in faith. His relationship with God was so close that God Himself called him friend. Abraham fulfilled the criteria of being a prophet but to his family and that is why we see God calls him prophet. Similarly, every parents now or parents to be, we carry a very big responsible as prophets over the family. We might not serve in the prophetic ministry but we carry the prophetic roles in the family. What we say and proclaim over the family carry so much values.

Sadly I would say that parents nowadays lack this knowledge and in some communities they even speak negative words against their children. James tells us in his book that tongue being a small member of the body is capable of setting the whole body in fire. How we use the tongue matters a lot. I have seen and heard parents scolding their children with offensive and destructive words. Scientifically the first few years of any child is very important. What we sow in their lives at the period carries so much significance. The soil is fresh and children tend to believe what they see and hear. If they spend their childhood listening and seeing destructive elements, chances are very high that their entire life might be at risk of being led negatively. As parents, we must speak positive words over the family. That does not mean we do not correct them but we correct them constructively and not destructively. As prophets over the family, we must proclaim the promises of God over the family everytime. Praying together as a family and bible discussions are essential in shaping up a solid childhood. As a parent and prophet, we must always intercede and pray for the family, like Job for instance. Spiritually, our prayer and our words over the family carries heavy significance in their lives. Researches have also admitted the fact that most of the youngsters who involve in criminal activities today are affected by dark childhood days.

We must not be reluctant that being a prophet is a different thing and nothing to do with us. We might not serve as a prophet but we are prophets over the family. We represent them before God. We are accountable for them. If we do not step out and take responsibility, no one is going to. Speak good words over the family and build them in faith. In tough situations, practice to pray as a family and discuss the issues out as a family. Individuality will weaken the family constitution. We may have parents who failed us but let's not repeat the mistakes they did because we need to break the chain and begin writing a legacy. The smallest details that we pay attention to now in our families will result in massive fruits in future.


- All of us are called to be prophets. Some over the people but everyone over the family.

The Plank In My Eye- Ouch!!

Hello dear readers!!! I must have been the most inconsistent blogger ever in the history. I apologise for my inconsistencies. It has been my pleasure and honor to share my thoughts with everyone but I certainly welcome opinions and comments to further enhance the quality and intensity of the posts.

So yeah I have chosen this topic to write about and to be honest, this is a very deep topic to be discussed. But then I will try my best to take it systematically. “Plank in my eye-Ouch!!” is a topic or an article I wanted to write since last year. I was urged to write about it and thanks to my friend who made me read an article pertaining cynical criticism in church recently which eventually rekindled my interests to write about it. This is what a Pastor mentioned in the sermon:

“Do not judge others. God is the judge and we are to love and encourage one another with encouraging words. Stop judging others.”

Well, it was an appropriate message to all or at least some but I was moved to think in a different dimension. I am not saying he said something wrong but word of God is able to speak in many different dimensions. He spoke from one and I am writing from the other. So coming back to the topic about not judging others, are we totally forbidden from saying anything against something that we don’t feel right? Are we to compromise with everything and encourage everything? When Jesus ate with the sinners and did not judge them, why we have to say something against someone? Jesus did not condemn Mary Magdalene and so why are we? Is it wrong to comment?

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 5:12-13 and 1 Corinthians 4:5 that do not judge others, for God alone is the Judge. So does the Bible teach us to keep silent in the midst of unrighteousness?

“Plank in my eye” is withdrawn from Matthew 7:1-5 where Jesus says take out the plank in your eye before you can take it out from your brother’s. To be honest, in these lines, there are 2 dimensions of seeing the verse. Jesus says do not judge others for you will be judged in the same manner. Stating all the questions and doubts, let me take it from here to explain further the biblical principles.

What does the Bible mean do not judge in Matthew context? What is the judging being meant here?

OK simple. Judging comes from flesh, from our senses, from what we see, hear and so on. Jeremiah says that trusting in the flesh in cursed. Judging does not edify others but it justifies the judge himself. Pertaining commenting on something that is not proper, the word “Correction” is used rather than “Judging”. In other words:

-           Judging roots from self righteousness and results in condemnation; Correction roots from concern and care and results in edification.

-           Judging is done with relation to your state; Correction is done in relation to God’s state.

-          Judging is done to justify yourself; Correction is done to edify others.

      Correction is the character of Holy Spirit given to us where He corrects us first and then prepares us to correct and edify others. Judging is only done by GOD as He is the only One who is supremely righteous. People judge just to make them feel good though they know they have not been good. People judge to put people lower than them but correction is given to raise someone up. Jesus said do not judge, meaning do not do God’s work of Judging for JUDGEMENT RESULTS IN PUNISHMENTS BUT CORRECTION RESULTS IN REPENTANCE. But Paul in 1 Corinthians 6 says that are we not supposed to judge the angels? Can’t we judge small matters around? Now this is different. Let me explain further

God has given us The Holy Spirit who makes us sensitive to biblical principles. So anything that contradicts with those principles, we cannot and should not compromise with it. For example, Jesus who ate with the sinners, drove away the people who polluted the temple? Why? Sinners were not saved to know the biblical principles and so Jesus was more concerned about their salvation rather than their sin. But for those who are saved, they should not be doing the same thing but they should be following the principles of the Bible. When they failed, Jesus did correct them. And again He did not judge them, yet. In the case of Mary Magdalene, Jesus did not judge her but corrected her, HE DID NOT KEEP QUIET. If He had stoned, though He is doing the right thing, He might have been thought to have judged. But He said “Go and SIN NO MORE”. Sin no more, is a word of correction. And if she doesn’t heed it, judgement from God will follow.

So we should not judge right? Paul says why we can’t judge small matters? It’s simple again. Jesus and Paul said do not judge men. But both of them taught us how to judge sins. Hate the sin and not the sinner. Judge the sin and not the sinner. So being saints of this age, we must be able to discern the inappropriateness in the church done by people including us. And thus, we must judge that and not the people who are doing it. Judge the wrong doings and correct the people.

Another important thing is that, in the context of Matthew 7, Jesus highlights one more essential point in verse 5. He asks the people why we always to judge others when we ourselves have plank in our eye. He doesn’t stop there. He says “Remove the plank from your eye….” It means Jesus says that we can correct others only when we are corrected, or when the planks in our eye are removed. He does not say don’t correct, but correct after being corrected. Practical isn’t it? If you are blind, how can you direct others?

Correction is very important in the church for proper edification and unified growth to fulfil the goal. Failure to correct will lead to compromising and judging will result in divisions and negative growth. A balanced healthy correction is always essential and being sensitive to God’s word will correct us and allows us to correct others. Why do we need to correct?

For example, about 10 people gathered to build a house. A few of them have experience and a few doesn’t. So as they built, each of them took care of one area like painting, tiling, drilling and so on. During the process, one experienced man saw another doing a small mistake. And so he decided to keep quiet being thoughtful of what his response might be. So it continued and so when they finished though others did a great job, this one man’s failure caused the whole house to collapse and a few of them died.

We are building the Kingdom Of God together. All of us have different areas to minister. Failure to correct them, though it’s not our area, might cause negative progress wholly and also might affect someone whom we might not know. If the man had corrected the other, the house would have stood and they would have cherished. He didn’t and so it collapsed and their friends died. If he had judged and condemned the worker for his carelessness instead of correction, he might have left the job and the project will take time to finish. Judgement will delay the execution of The Great Commission but failure to correct will cause more, So it is very important to correct and to be corrected at the same time to not judge.

It is not easy as we have emotional waves within us that sometimes cause us to oscillate between correction and judgement. But with the help of Spirit of God, we will be able to grow stronger spiritually. After all the root of everything we do must be Love. Loving others will easily design our actions towards them.

So do not Judge, for you will be Judged in the same manner.

But correct others and be willing to be corrected.

Let’s build His Kingdom together!

Realigning for Reassigning

     Halli Halo! How are you all? Well, I would first like to apologize for my inconsistency in posting my blogs. But here now we're back with a bang! My church theme this year is "Realigning for Reassigning". So many pastors have talked about it the whole year and praise God that whatever was prophesied for the church this year was on par with the theme. I was supposed to write my version of it at the beginning of the year but it got procrastinated till almost the end of the year. But we will have a look on what this theme meant to me in a little different manner. Again, this is the shallow version of what I could possibly write. Please bare with me.

     The given verse for this theme was Matthew 25:33. If we could have a look at what happened throughout the chapter, Jesus was explaining some kind of division that was visible in the parable of The Ten Virgins and subsequent parables in this chapter. But towards the end He goes on to say that on that day Jesus comes again to judge the world before establishing His everlasting kingdom, He will form a division between 2 groups of people that are likened to sheep and goats. He said He will put the sheep on His right and goats on the left. And then He explain what will be done to them. This is the scenario. But how did it appear to me?
  
     Why sheep? Why goats? What was he trying to say? Actually in those days when Jesus lived on Earth, He was in an era where most people herd sheep and had goats as well. He likened the groups of people to these animals to let the people grasp the idea of what He was trying to say. Sheep and goats, though might seem similar to some, they have massive differences. Jesus referred the 'positive' people to the sheep and the 'negative' to the goats. That doesn't mean goats are evil but they were used as comparisons. So when He was telling what will happen on The Judgement Day, He said there will be a clear and distinctive division between the 2 groups of people. 

     Firstly, I would like to divide this post to 2 parts:
     a) Why sheep and goat?
     b) How is He going to divide?
    
a) Why sheep and goats?

     Sheep and goats have few similarities but massive differences. Once a pastor spoke entirely on their characters and I found out that it was way too many to slot it into my post. But I would like to underline few notable ones. Sheep generally heed the voice of a shepherd, only ONE SHEPHERD. Sheep are considered to be dependable animals in the sense that though they roam around, they need a steerer, a shepherd to direct them. They can't make decisions for themselves and if they did, most of those decisions are disastrous. In contrast, goats are more independent in the sense that they more cunning, stubborn and rebellious. They often have the mentality of being greater than sheep. They often mix around with the sheep because sheep will get to feed on juicy grasses and the goats will join the feast with them. Sheep however wouldn't recognize their presence as they are considered a little "slow". Besides all, sheep are very faithful and obedient. They will never rebel against the word of their shepherd. They will always stick together with other sheep and never go alone.  No matter where they are, the moment their shepherd calls them, they will return. Similarly, God expects His children to be as the sheep, heeding His voice all the time. Unlike the goats, we are supposed to entirely depend on God for instructions but upon instructions we should act on it and not laze on it. There are actually more characters to be compared and would spice up the flow. If I can edit it with those additions, I will do it soon.

b) How is He going to divide?

     This is where the best part is. How is He going to divide? Most of us know, though humanity is divided by vast religions, races and so on, we stand as one big human race. Literally, the sheep and goats are mixed together in this world. Though they might have lived separate lives or even some lived a non-different life, yet it's difficult for a man to analyse everyone and separate them. Some people think God will call out names to stand in the right and the left. I say they are influenced by movies. Seriously, God has more efficient ways to do it. John 10:27 tells us that Jesus says that My sheep will know My voice and I know them and they follow Me. Simple, like how sheep recognise their shepherd's voice very precisely, we will be ultramost sensitive to our shepherd's voice and follow His commands moving to the right. And for those who didn't even get a chance to hear and for those who heard but neglected, they will be left to be in the left. 

     For an example, there was a military camp near Country A's border and they camped there and had tough trainings day and night to prepare themselves to attack the Country B army. One day, an army officer from the Country B silently entered the camp A, killed an officer and disguised as him to enter the troop to know their secrets. Country A had an army rule that during the morning trainings, those who fail to follow the general's command shall be shot dead. So this disguised officer then entered the morning training thinking that it might possibly the same commands. So when the general started to give commands, at the beginning he was able to follow it precisely. But when the general gave a command that was designed specially, the officer did the wrong thing and sadly he was shot dead right there. An example though!

     Similarly, many think it's easy to follow God's command just by doing charitable works. It is way more than that. At the beginning it might seem the same, goats and sheep will be seen together. But then when Jesus comes, one group of people will go to the right (eternal life) and one to the left (eternal doom). Because there are some special commands designed only for those who follow Jesus. The command is simple and universal. Love, and yes it is love. When you find love, you will find Jesus; When you find Jesus, you will find love. This isn't about a group of people God is talking about but He wants everyone to he His sheep and not goats. The command of love is the one that leads to the charitable works that is mentioned in the last verses in this chapter. Love that urged the charitable works and not expectations or emotions or popularity. 

     If you read those verses, it is said that "You didn't feed me... You didn't clothe me.... You didn't visit me..." It means Jesus is in everyone and it is us who have to acknowledge His call to accept Him. Not by force but by love. When His children do charity, they see Christ in the people while others see justifications and corrections to reduce the effect of Karma. 

     So this is the much the theme brought light to me and again there is more that I really want to tell but with limited sources I cannot do so. I will soon try post an update on this on how we can efficiently be sensitive to His voice. 

Till then, take care. God bless. 
      

Jesus My Train- A Journey Back to Origin

 

For a matter of fact, many have written and talked about Jesus' Second Coming and The Rapture. It is a very deep topic and anything related to it can easily stir up any minds that are attached to it's research. For those who are not Christians, it is a very "out of the world" topic altogether but basically what we are talking about is hope. Many religions and teachings offer great teachings and wonderful life, at least on earth but the difference in Jesus' teachings are that we are not only given redemption and wisdom, we are given hope. The hope is that we have a life beyond what we see and feel. We no need to ponder what might possibly happen to us when we die. We are given assurance and hope of eternity which was made possible by His ultimate display of love on the cross. Like how He once came to redeem us, He has promised us that He will come again to take us with Him, we call it The Rapture. While this is a known fact among Christians, how are we supposed to anticipate this wonderful event that will stall the whole world one day. So since the knowledge about it is too deep, God inspired me to relate it to something simpler. Actually, God allows certain things to happen in life for some reasons. For the last 3 months, I spent half of my life in train and I thought all of it were in vain. But then now, God inspired me to use the experiences in there to write about His wonderful will.

All of us have definitely travelled in this long, convenient (sometimes irritating) and high-tech vehicle. But we hardly noticed the knowledge it might offer to us. Now let's further discuss about this Rapture by dividing the Train Journey (KTM) in to 2 parts:
a) Outside the station
b) Inside the station

a) Outside the station
Let us now imagine that we are about to take a train back home after staying in a foreign land spending some time working or doing something worthwhile. We have not been home for the past 20 or 30 years maybe. This is the scenario. While we anticipate the journey back home, we will actively prepare ourselves prior to the journey. One of the most important things that we will do is packing up. We will actively sort out important things and pack them up to bring back home. We won't want to leave anything valuable behind. We pack clothes, gadgets etc. Sometimes packing alone can go up to days if you are planning to shop some things that you want to bring back home. Similarly, as for the Rapture where we will journey back Home with Jesus, we have to pack our things up. We have to store up all the valuable things with us. The valuable things here are the unsaved souls around us and knowledge of GOD. We have to meditate daily on the word of God and fill ourselves with more of Him. We also have to be keen on finishing our job that was given according to Matthew 28:19-20. Which is to spread the Good News to the unsaved. We won't want to leave any of these valuable souls behind. 1 Thessalonians 5 says about preparing to leave. We have to pray and actively work out the salvation so that valuable souls are added to His kingdom. The hope of eternity should be told to everyone. Finally we have to arrive in the station at least 30 minutes before the train arrives. Similarly, we have to be ONTIME EVERYTIME when it comes to Godly issues. We should not take His grace for granted.

 b) Inside the station
Now when we are done with the outside-station issues, we are now stepping into the station. First and foremost, we need to take care of our ticket. Without the ticket we will not be accepted into the train. Sometimes I see people sneak into the train without the ticket. I have also seen them getting caught. So to get inside the KTM train, we need to take care of the ticket. Salvation and Redemption are tickets given to us by Jesus to enter Heaven. It is our duty to take care of it. He died on the cross to give us the ticket and the ticket's price is PRICELESS. And not everyone who has the ticket can get into the train. Those who can take care of it until he gets into the train will be the one accepted. So with our lives and all our efforts, we should take care of our "ticket" which is our redemption. Ephesians 6:17 says that we should put on the helmet of salvation and hold up the sword which is the word of God. It is used to guard our precious "ticket". Besides, we also wait for the train eagerly. Who would not be excited to return home? In the KTM station, there will be one LCD board showing the arrival time of the train. Let's say KTM arrives at 10.00am and we are already in the station at about 9.30am. Though excited, we would sit down awaiting the train. But when time ticks away to 9.55am, we will stand to our feet to await the train eagerly. Most of the time (almost everytime) the KTM delays by few minutes. Though the time passes 10.00am, we would not be possibly sitting down now yet after knowing the train has not yet arrive. We would anticipate any moment arrival and we will get more and more anxious. Awaiting the train we will not even realise that 30 minutes have passed yet we choose to stand. We know that after 10.00am, any minute the train will arrive and if we sit, we can't sit actually. I tried it but it's just man's nature that he chooses to stand. As time passes more and more, we will start looking for signals such as the "screeching" sound of the track that signals the position of the train that is not far away. We will pay attention to the announcements given and also constantly checking our clock. 
Similarly, in today's world, we eagerly anticipate Jesus' return to redeem us with Him for eternity. There are some important events that we have to look so that we can get the whole picture of it. When Jesus first came, He came to redeem Israelites and not the Gentiles. But God's ultimate will is for everyone. Jesus said to His disciples that He will die and rise up again and then He will be taken up to prepare mansions for His believers. He went on to say that He will return shortly to take His disciples with Him forever. The time He gave was the duration one will take to go around the villages in Jerusalem(not sure whether villages or mountains). That would take less than a week. So after Jesus was taken up, He was supposed to return within a month at least. But after He rose from death, things changed. He opened the redemption and salvation to the whole world and now He said that His coming is not known by anyone except for His Father. Which means The Rapture or The Train has been delayed. The delay is to make sure that every breathing man and woman has heard about The Hope and The Good News. His abundant grace is now opened to the world and that was why He said to the disciples to go and make disciples in Christ in Matthew 28:19-20. And a new age started and we call it Grace Period, Holy Spirit Period and so on. In comparison, Jesus was supposed to come at 10.00am but He intentionally delayed it so that everyone can have a chance to know the love of God. 
But compared to 2000 years ago, we have more reasons to feel the highest level of anticipation because they were at the 10.01am moment and now we are already in the 10.20++am moments which means the possibility of the train arriving any time now is more likely than before. Jesus' coming is becoming more likely because He has given us signs in which we have to keep watch so that we can prepare ourselves for His coming. War, famines, nations' uprise etc are some of them. Paul goes on to say that there will be a time where the world will run about for reasons and at one time they will settle down in calm situations when The Most Anticipated Rapture will happen. If we look around now, though all these have already been happening centuries back, they are in peak in our days. Aren't they adequate to further strengthen the fact that He is at the doorstep? So what are Christians supposed to feel? Worried? Excited? Anxious? Relaxed?
Paul said that The Rapture will happen out of a sudden like a thief in the night. Others have to worry but not Christians, or those who believe in Jesus. He is coming to take away the "valuable things" from the world. We are the valuable ones. Those who live in the dark should worry and be afraid of theft. We live in the Light and all we have to do is peacefully anticipate. Though we are anxious about the arrival of the train, when we see the light or glimpse of its sight, our raging heartbeat will slow down. We will be cool and calm. So we need not worry about His coming. Our inner man, the spirit of God will know when Jesus will come and He will calm us when it happens. 

Now all we have to do is simple. We have to be ready for our journey ahead. Constantly pray, meditate on His word, share the faith, help others, attend church regularly. Most importantly we have to protect ourselves from shades of the world. It is only possible with the Might of God. Seek His strength for the slightest bit of it can shake the foundations of the cosmos.

Note: There are few theological differences between Jesus' Second Coming and The Rapture where the Second Coming is preferentially referred to the Armageddon war. But since these are chain events, the signs given prior to this can match one another. But there are specific individual explanations for each of the events.    

Unbroken Bones-The Power Behind The Suffer

                                     

Hello readers! I'm delighted and feel blessed to write about Our Dad again. I thank Him for this wonderful grace He has given to me. Thanks to UTAR computer lab as well. Hahahaha! 

As usual I was inspired to write about one of the most prominent yet amazing prophecy that Jesus fulfilled on the cross. I call it"Unbroken Bones". It wasn't so appealing to me in the past years but recently after a Sunday sermon I had the urge to research and write about His unbroken bones.

We all know that Jesus had to die and rise again to deliver us eternally from the power of Hades. But what we often don't take initiative to know is that there were numerous prophecies that were put to rest alongside with His crucifixion because all happened in the most perfect order. I can't get the numbers right of how many prophecies were there but what was very visible to me was these unbroken bones.

What is it so special about unbroken bones? He was completely dead and rose again, breaking the bones was nothing significant? Why is it so important for the prophets to prophesy this event and why this has to come to pass? All these were my questions and I saw how God answered me one by one when I was sitting down among the crowd listening to the sermon.

Ok let's do some study and get to the topic step by step to ensure that we absorb every drop of knowledge God reveals here. Let me list it down to ease you:

a) What do bones symbolize biblically?

b) Where in The Holy Bible these prophecies and fulfillment were written?

c) Why were they so important?

What do bones symbolize biblically?

I would like you to have a Bible with you so that you can relate the connections with me. The references used for this section would be 2 Kings 23:16-18.

Bones are important parts of the skeletal system of the body. They provide structural support and enable voluntary and involuntary muscle movements. Their roles are significant in most systems in our body. They protect the important organs in our body as well. In short, without bones we are mere nothing. We might probably live like snails or caterpillars. When we understand the basics of the bone in us, we will be able to relate it with The Bible. 

In 2 Kings context, it is written that King Josiah burnt the bones of rebellious and evil workers' at once. But he left the bones of the prophets of God as it is in the tomb. The evil doers were dead, why Josiah had to burn the bones? When you read the whole book we know that most Kings during that period rebelled against God adding curse to the nation. But Josiah wanted to get his nation out of it knowing the Commandments of God. He then destroyed every pinch of evil in that nation including the bones of evil workers. Now it symbolizes that he destroyed the ultimate "support system" of evil in his nation to keep it out from curse and destruction. 

So we see here that bones symbolize some "support system" in The Bible. 

Where in The Holy Bible these prophecies and fulfillment were written?

We see that olden days prophets did not only prophesy for contemporary situations but God hid futuristic messages in their prophecies. Like in Psalms 34:20, it is said He keeps all His bones and none were broken. It means the said Messiah should not have his bones broken during his death. It was significant because crucifixion was common in those days and whoever was crucified not necessarily The Messiah. And so to clearly distinct this scenario God hid the prophecy of "Unbroken Bones" in this psalm.

We also see the fulfillment of this prophecy when John quotes it in a very beautiful manner in John 19:33-36 saying none of Jesus' bones were broken. The soldiers couldn't do it, the priests couldn't do it and no one had the power to break them because Jesus kept them.

Why were they so important?

This is the main part of the post. Why are these hyped "Unbroken Bones" so significant that God wanted to highlight it as a very important prophecy?

We know that though Jesus was the Ultimate and Highest form of Power, and He could easily make anything or destroy anything, heal anyone etc, He chose not to do that on Himself. He rise up to conquer the power of death and to redeem us. No one has the authority to kill God. He chose to die for us. But He didn't want his wounds healed though He could've made it happen because He wanted to heal us with His stripes and wounds. He regards them as a honorable award for saving His children. Every single stripe and wound the soldiers gave Him are still fresh on His body. So if His bones were allowed to be broken, probably it will be retained so. But His bones should not be broken.

He said He will destroy the temple and build it in 3 days. As He told, He rose up from death to build an eternal temple over His body as the foundation. The reference verses are Ephesians 5:23 and  Colossians 1:24. The church is His body and we see that Paul said it very beautifully in Romans 12:4-7. Now being a part of His body, the church has to be super stable to grow and multiply. His bones supply the necessary support and strength for the church to grow and propagate. Like in us, we grow only when our bones are strong. But in Jesus, His bones are and can never be broken. So, His church, our relationships with His children and with Him shall never and can never be broken. Wounds and stripes are expected as He said we will face tribulations, but eternally we know that Jesus The Rock of Salvation is our foundation and nothing can move it.

As bones in every part of the body has different functions, say in abdomen area it helps movements of hands and protects the heart and lungs etc, we are part of His body but different church has different visions or responsibilities to accomplish. We will be continuously protected by Dad. But as a whole, we all work together as one to Grow and Multiply similar to our body.

So dear readers, "Unbroken Bones" are significant enough I guess. His power behind the suffer on the cross is clearly seen in the propagation and growth of churches across the globe today.

Be Inspired and Be Blessed.

Amen.  

Born Once Die Twice; Born Twice Die Once

Hello dear readers. I guess my posts are benefiting you guys is some way. So this time I was thinking about what to write as I was walking to my college and then suddenly I remembered an incident happened months back. I named this incident as "Life Changing". It happened unexpectedly that one of my close brother's (brother in Christ) dad passed away. He passed away due to some unexpected heart problem. As I was there for the funeral and burial, my whole concept of looking at life changed. It is common to people who attend these kind of occasions but it was different in the sense that I see what people actually reflected on the one who died. The goods and bads were made transparent that day. But it wasn't that which made me write this but it was the next day. During the burial, a normal service took place with Pastor giving his warm message to those who lost their loved one. After the ceremony, another Pastor (Pastor Abraham) quoted this statement "Born once, die twice; Born twice, die once". I don't know whether he knew how deep it could mean but it was a deep quote. I decided to write about it today.

     I see that many or almost three quarter of us get the concept of baptism pretty shallow or some even so inaccurate. Before I was saved, I hardly found the logic behind this sacred ceremony. I ridiculed baptism and in fact, I took it just to shut my mom's nag about my conversion. But from that day on I made a point to know what it meant completely to value my salvation. I hear people ask and say:

a) Ok, I believe in Jesus and I will pray and obey to all what He said but I don't want to baptize.

b) I am a born Christian. My parents are Christians and so why do I need baptism?

c) Why do we need to baptize? 

etc.

     It is pretty simple actually. Baptism is not an act of tradition but a symbol of acceptance and repentance. Ok now first let us see the first part of the title "Born once die twice". Every single living being on Earth born once. That is a common thing and we also know what when there is something called birth, there is definitely something called death. And one day we will die; this is certainly accepted by all levels of humanity and creatures. But The Holy Bible says in Revelations 2:11, Revelations 20:6 & 14 and Revelations 21:8 that those who are not born in Christ will suffer Second Death. What is Second Death? We human are made up of Body, Spirit and Soul. Since the fall of due to the disobedience of the First Man Adam, we have lost our spirit and lived like animals. Thats why we hardly see any difference between man and animal in earliest time frames. When the soul departs from the body, technically when we die, body rots to dust and soul goes either to Hell or Heaven depending on the deeds. Since man naturally sin, it is almost impossible for any soul to enter Heaven. And so when we die without being saved, we suffer death on Earth and also in Hell eternally. It is said that in Hell, we have double the senses we have now and so a prick can cause pain as much as a stab. 

     Now going to the second part of the title "Born twice, die once". As told before, it almost impossible for any man to enter Heaven. So God being aware of this, came down as man like us to suffer the world's sin once shot on the cross, dying to defeat the Death and Hades and finally rising to Glory, He opened a chance for us to enter Heaven. To assure that our Body and Soul doesn't adapt with the corrupted nature again, He gave us His Holy Spirit to have governance over the two elements and to drive us close to perfection in order to be worthy of His Kingdom. Now we don't live bodily but we are given Spirit to live spiritually. But though the door to Heaven is now open, there are some rules and methods to enter it. It is very logical for these rules to exist because even in today's world, you can't enter another country just like that. So, the rules are simple. We need to live a renewed life and live as Holy as possible. It can be only done with the help of The Counselor- The Holy Spirit. So why baptism? Baptism is simply an act of imitation and acceptance of what Christ has done for us on the Cross. We go down into the water with all our corrupt nature, lust, greed and sinful characters symbolizing all the agony Christ suffered on the Cross to defeat those sins. And when we rise up again, it symbolized His resurrection after having complete control over Sin and Death. We also rise up as a New Man (A New Birth) accepting the salvation from God through Christ to get away from all our past sins. 

     This act is important because it is like we celebrate birthdays to remember that we were born on that day and we are of some age during that time. Similarly, baptism symbolizes our crucifixion along with our sins like Christ and our resurrection as a new creation as Christ. It is not religious act but it is a spiritual act. After this baptism, your body and soul will be totally controlled by God Himself to be guided in the path of life. But it doesn't end there. We see in The Book of Acts that they were baptized in Holy Spirit. That was what John said about Jesus. He will baptize us in Fire and Spirit. So water baptism washes away our bodily sins and entitles us for the Salvation of Christ. After being completely cleansed, The Holy Spirit falls on and in us to remain with us to help us live in this corrupted world and to guide us to be worthy of Eternal Life. The Baptism of Holy Spirit is a topic by its own and I will certainly write about it in another blog. As for baptism, this is it. 

     When we are born once (from mother's womb), We die twice (Death and Hell);

     When we are born twice (from mother's womb and baptism), We die once (Death).

The Fruit of Baptism is Eternal Life with God. 

   

"I am Thirsty"- A global thirst for redemption of souls.

Hello everybody! It has been pretty long since I had consistent timing to post on my blog. But the delay will never fade the propagation of this blog. So now God gave me this title to write about and it all started fortnight before when I attended an Indian Classical Music Workshop by Sound of Grace. They were remarkable in their game of instruments. But I noticed that they wrote a song specially for Malaysian visit and they named it "I am thirsty". The troop leader explained it as it was one of the last statements of Christ on the cross before He commended His spirit. I realized that this title has so much depth theologically. And I decided to elaborate further from where they stopped.

We are going to see the depth of these words based on 2 passages in The Holy Bible:
a) John 19:28
b) John 4 (Samaritan Woman)

I believe that many have written and talked about this topic even before decades but God might speak something new to different people. Ok now these words of "I am Thirsty" can be divided into 2 purposes of being said. John says in 19:28 that Jesus said that in accordance of fulfilling the foretold prophecies. And we are also going to look at it as a thirst for global redemption of souls.

We can see that Jesus hardly requested or asked anything from the people or His disciples throughout His ministry. He asked for their complete commitment and divine discipline. Apart from that there is no record that He actually asked for food, money, water etc for Himself. But in these contexts, we see Jesus requesting for something for Himself, outwardly. But actually they don't mean as it's seen. 

Jesus was terribly whipped, spat on, stripped, hated, dismayed, tortured under the scorching hot sun without any food or water given. He was subjected to what we call the extreme pre-cruxifixion torture. In other words, if we were there in His place, we would have died even before getting crucified. Because we have no need to be crucified as we know we are going to die. But Jesus had to hold on to His last breath till all the nails have gone through His nerves and veins. Was it because of this He was thirsty? 

If you get a chance to watch The Passion of Christ, we see that Jesus (Mel Gibson) say that He was thirsty but when He was offered some sour wine, He refused to take it. Its because that wasn't what He thirsted for. Looking at John 4(Samaritan woman), we again see that Jesus here asking for water from a Samaritan woman. This context is an exemplary for evangelism. He asked her for water but ended up doing evangelism by turning the whole village to the knowledge of salvation. When the Samaritan woman ran into the village to tell about Jesus, Jesus refused to eat or drink with His disciples because He said He has divine work to do. It is quite obvious that Jesus did not ask for water literally but the thirst here is a symbolic display of thirst for souls. 

So on the cross, being completely stripped, knowing that He has to give up His life, Jesus thirsted for the redemption of His children. He knew that all the sufferings He went through will lay down as a foundation to redeem the lost souls. His thirst is great and as an effort to quench His thirst, He gave up His life to redeem our lives. Mark 14:25 says that Jesus said He will never drink wine again until He drinks it new in the kingdom of God. It means He renewed the covenant and stretched Himself on the cross so that he could quench His thirst once for all by redeeming us. 

When we thirst, we will turn the whole world upside down to get some water. Similarly, He is The Creator, so He turned the world Right Side Up to quench His thirst for souls. Now we as His redeemed nation, are we having the same thirst as He had? Are we ready to go through times of trouble out of our comfort zone to quench His thirst? Or are we waiting down the street seeing lives perish in vanity and emptiness?

DECIDE FOR THE LORD IS COMING SOON!