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!

Anointing The Anointed...Part 3

Judas's Response

In John 12:4-5, author John has clearly and distinctively showed and explained Judas's response and his intention on what he said;

4 But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, 5 “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii[a] and given to the poor?” 6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.
John 12:5
New King James Version 

John clearly explains the raw intentions of Judas before and after Judas responded to ensure that the readers don't get confused. But if John had not explained the intention of Judas in verse 6, how do we differentiate between good intentions or greed in the face of good intentions? In other words, how John would have discerned that Judas was not telling that in a genuine manner?

Looking at the event and Judas response, it didn't seem shocking because the perfume was very expensive to be poured indeed. He even justified that the money from the trade of the perfume can be used for charity purposes. Wasn't that what Jesus always taught and preached? Even I would have supported Judas at that moment if I didn't know how to discern the magnitude of sincerity and genuineness in one's response.


Now let us see some examples and try to relate it to this scenario in the hope that we learn something from here. Why is this clear view of charity and "in the mask of charity" important is that, in today's world we see many Judas kind of people doing charity but we don't have Johns to explain and reveal them. So we are left undecided and some even trust their outward good looks and get cheated. So let us once for all clear this out? 

How to know whether Judas was genuine is his response or not?

2 years ago, when I was still a non-believer, I had a chance to see a movie titled "3 Idiots". It was a Hindi movie starred by Amir Khan and it was well received by most non-indians. Now why am I saying this? There was one scene in that movie where Amir Khan will ask Kareena Kapoor to think wisely before getting married to her fiancée because he was a "price tag"; meaning money concerned guy. So Amir tested it out to Kareena by spilling the Pudina Chutney on his new shoes. When it spilt, he screamed shouting the price of the shoes in public remarking how expensive it was to be a plate for pudina chutney. Hahah! Let's not get carried away. That was in the movie. I took this example because in today's world we do see many scenarios like this. Lets analyse it slowly. There could have been 2 kinds of response when the chutney was spilt:
a) Oh my God! My shoes! There are so precious to me. I just bought it.
b) Oh my God! My shoes! It costed RM1000.

Now what's the difference between both the scenarios? Event A shows that the guy was more concerned about the shoes rather than the money and that is why we see more emphasize was on shoes in his cry. Event B however shows that the person had more concern for the money rather than the shoes itself. Is it getting clearer? What people mention first are the basic and most fundamental state of mind of theirs. This is called basic deduction from a psychological view.

In Judas's case, he responded by stating the Value of the item first before justifying it later by saying that it can be used for charity. He even stated the exact amount . This clearly shows that he was not satisfied that such costly item being wasted away in that process but he was more interested in making money out of it but to make him travel is a safe boat, he added the glimpse of charity in it. This was how his raw intentions came to light.

In today's world we see many charitable events are being performed by all parties. But how far they are done with concern and sincerity we do not know. They might do it with great love like Mother Theressa or might be even another modern day Judas. I myself have seen many charities are done in expectation of something in return like maybe votes, support, popularity etc. Jesus did not teach us to do charity this way. He said let not our left hand know what our right hand does. Keep it down and do it big. People nowadays even reaching to the extent of publishing their charities in websites, papers, news etc. I won't deny that many NGO's today are silently helping out many, let it be Christian or Non-Christian organization for our God is one, Lord Jesus. So, He promised that whatever good deeds we perform in silent, He shall reward us in public. 

So my brethren, live to do good in the sight of The Lord and glorify His name till the last breath of our lives.
AMEN!

Anointing The Anointed...Part 2

The house was filled with the fragrance of the oil

We clearly saw the chain of events and their significant meanings in the last part. Now we see that author John goes on to describe the scenario at the moment as; the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.
Now thanks to John who enables us to imagine what happened there that time with some really good illustrations. But here, we see that John emphasizes on this wonderful event of fragrance overwhelming the house. Following the lovely scene of Mary anointing Jesus' feet, this event took place. I call this a picture perfect moment.

But why was this so important the John had to say it in the midst of other important events happened concurrently? It was because "It wasn't the fragrance alone that filled the house but the Glory of God covered the place because He sensed a pure and loving heart in Mary". When the most expensive perfume was poured on His feet, all the people felt fascinated and humbled with the love of Mary towards Christ and it was expressed better along with the filling of the wonderful fragrance of that oil throughout the house.

Jesus' said in another context we are supposed to be lights to the world; shining in all dark places showing the glory of God and the power of redemption. All these are possible only when you are truly free and saved by Jesus Christ. Similarly, this event from The Bible teaches us one major thing. What is that?

When we lay down all our best; in time, money, effort, love, care, devotion, commitment etc at His feet, this humility shall cause the Fragrance of Christ in you to fill the place you stay, work, study or go. Put everything you have at His feet and you shall see that others will experience Christ through you. Fragrance of Christ means the resemblance of Christ through you. Don't ever think that your talents, education or popularity shall help God in His marvellous plan of Redemption but know that when you lay it down at His feet, He shall multiply all that you have in a way you can never expect. So, not for our name or fame but His name shall be glorified.  

Anointing The Anointed One...Part 1

Hello dear readers, I have continuously been unsystematic in updating my blogs but here I would like to share something new again. As usual, I was following up with Pastor's sermon in Sunday service and it encircled Judas, The Betrayer. As I was reading the context given, I had a thought of writing it in a different way. 

Lets now see the context from John 12:3-5 and this would be the foundation of this post.

We are going to see several aspects of how it unfolds by dividing the passage into 3 parts:
a) Mary took an expensive fragrant oil to anoint Jesus's feet.
b) The house was filled with the fragrance of the oil
c) Judas's response

Mary took an expensive fragrant oil to anoint Jesus's feet

We see that Mary anointed Jesus's feet with an expensive oil. How we know how expensive it was? Ok Bible never leaves us questioning and so it answers our doubts through Judas's response saying that it was worth 300 denarii and it was actually about one year's wages for a worker. If it was taken to match recent days, an average wage for a normal worker is about RM800 per month. For a year, it will total up to RM800 x 12 = RM9600. It is just a calculation for least case and we know that nowadays average wage can go up to RM1000 a month. But it doesn't matter, almost RM10000 worth oil poured on His feet just like that. No wonder Judas fell back with great shock! I would have rolled on the floor asking her whether she was mad.

But lets look at it properly. She did that because that was the highest value of appreciation she could offer for saving her beloved brother's life. She knew Jesus worth more than that but that's the much she had. The money that was saved for sustenance of their lives was spent at His feet. This shows that she wholly believed that He is more than sufficient to sustain her life and not the money. She praised Him with all she had. That's what I call a serious Worship!

But it must have been the Best Perfume at that time because it costed up to RM10,000. Jesus deserves your best and not the alternative. Even The Best, when you humble it down to His feet, it touches His heart more than anything. It is not necessarily a perfume or money. It can be your dedication, worship, praise, thanksgiving and adoration. In all manner give Him your best. He deserves it!

Ladies treasure their hair the most more than anything in the world. Mary wiped the feet of Jesus that was anointed with perfume with her HAIR! I was like what? Didn't she manage to find a towel or something? But it alarmed me something else. Woman who takes best care of her hair wiped One's feet showing great reverence and superiority He has. In front of Him, all the best shall be least and all the least shall be the best. Secondly, Jesus has said before in His messages that when you put your trust in Him, not one strand of your hair shall be moved. He also says that all our hairs are numbered. So it means He has great care for us even in a minute thing. So wiping His feet with hair symbolizes a gratitude for His great Care and Love for us.

Wow! It is just one part and so much to talk about. So in the next posts we shall see further on the next divisions of the context!

Amen.

My Anchor of Hope

                                              

Hello readers, how are you all? So this is once in a blue moon where I get to post something in the midnight. So what is this post all about? I always wanted to write about it but thanks to a Christian song on highlighting it out to me.

Yes it is all about The Anchor of Hope. We often, knowing and unknowingly, refer to Jesus as The Anchor of Hope. I wondered why and as usual it led me to a beautiful revelation of whom He was. I really feel blessed to share this in my blog. Let's systemically see how to opens up from the very basic understanding of an Anchor.

Wikipedia defines Anchor as a instrument that is used to hold a boat or ship from drifting away. While in normal words we can say that an anchor is used to station a ship or a boat. Based on my knowledge so far, I have listed down the basic facts of an anchor. I believe there are plenty more.

Facts of Anchor:
a) A tool to hold an object from drifting away
b) Though it holds the boat in place, the boat still moves to and fro, propagates.
c) It enables the process of loading and unloading to take place.
d) It has to go down to make sure the boat stays up safe and stable.

Lets see how it applies to the term Anchor of Hope. We need to understand the symbolic meaning of some terms before we can see further. Boat here refers to the hope and Anchor as Jesus.

a)  A tool to hold an object drifting away

Jesus is referred as The Anchor of Hope. Like the anchor holds the boat from drifting away, Jesus holds us with His Gracious Love from drifting away to the tragic pathway of the world. His love is more than enough for us to survive in this world. Once we believe in Him, or like the boat trusts the anchor, He shall hold us tight in the stormy, tragic and disastrous world. 


b) Though it holds the boat in place, the boat still moves to and fro, propagates.

We often see that boat on shore doesn't really stay stationary. It propagates to and fro due to the wavy sea waves. But no matter what, it has its limits and shall return back to position being pulled by the force of the anchor. Similarly, Jesus being our Anchor of Hope, might seem silent in some issues causing us to doubt our hope in Him and start to drift away little from the true path. We might seem like going very much away from safety and comfortability but when we allow it to happen and keep calm and also trust in Him, we shall definitely come back to safer and stable position because Jesus is a Restoring God. He shall pull us back and keep us stable in our life and problems.

c) It enables the process of loading and unloading to take place.

So this is mere common sense. The boat needed to be anchored in the shore to enable it to be loaded and unloaded or else it might be almost impossible to do it. Similarly, when we stay calm relying on Him as our Anchor of Hope, though it might seem a little unstable, but it the most ideal position to load and unload data. Data is refers to a massive amount of matters. Namely blessings and curses, good names and bad names, love and hatred, etc. A boat has to be unloaded first to be loaded with newer goods. So negative gets unloaded and positive gets loaded when we have complete hope and trust in Him.


d) It has to go down to make sure the boat stays up safe and stable.

Finally, the anchor has to be thrown down to enable the safe and stable position of the boat. Without it being thrown down, it is impossible to station a boat. So, Jesus was thrown, rejected and crucified for our sins and trespassing when then He rose to defeat Death and have complete control over the universe. So now being the Cornerstone and Foundation as well as Anchor of Hope, Jesus is able to hold onto us from drifting, toppling and sinking. He went Down and Rose Up to make sure we always stay Up.


These are some of the reasons we call Him The Anchor of Hope. He is the Only One who is completely reliable and trustworthy. With Him beside, our boat shall not be moved. 
MY REDEEMER LIVES.
Take Care. 

Cheated? Trust me, it is temporary..

     So yeah today is 6th May 2013 and I am certainly writing this after Malaysia's Historical Election Day. Many speculations, events and activities took place on this day that stirred up most Malaysians even to this morning. I am supportive towards better Malaysia and so I practically got angry as well as upset with so much of unjust around me.
     Since this is not a political blog, I am not going to comment on any parties or candidates, though I wish to. But reviewing what happened yesterday, I can't stand it, I need to write it out. So it happened in front of my eyes. Biased, unjust, one-sided, democratic failure etc all took place at once. I felt so cheated and heartbroken of the incident yesterday. We all know who supposed to win and we all know who won. 
     I couldn't take it and at one point I started questioning God on why such things happen? So practically let's see what Bible has to add to this situation. It is very important for us to reflect back everything to The Bible because Nothing happens without His knowledge. If He knew it and it happened, there must be a reason or similar events in The Bible as well.
     Looking back in the Old Testament, I realised that so many injustice and cruelty have taken place and God might seem silent about that matter but finally we can see what was His reaction. Firstly, in the case of Jacob. Jacob was a prophetic child who was well pleased by his parents. But he had an elder brother and we know that olden tradition suggests that oldest son gets twice the property and they have certain specialities. Esau, the elder brother being exposed to this was willing to sell his birthright to Jacob for a small issue. Rather than looking that way, Jacob cleverly pushed Esau to such situation to buy his birthright. Jacob indirectly cheated his brother. He went on to act as Esau to his old and eye-blurred father to obtain the fullest blessing and older son's specialities. So, Jacob cheated his father as well.
     But God rather seemed silent in this two occasions permitting it to take place. I wondered why? But reading on further gave me a clearer picture of what God intended to do. He needed Jacob to accomplish His plans and He didn't want Jacob's shortcoming to delay His plans. But once His plans are done, Jacob's attitude and his mastermind in cheating gets its reward. Jacob was cheated by his father-in-law on giving his daughter for marriage, Jacob was cheated by his wife and worst still his son defiled Jacob's bed. 
     God never lets anyone or any sin unpunished. They have got to meet their reactions of what they did so that they can learn how others felt when it initially took place. In our country, we might feel that people have got cheated, they have been snatched off of their democracy or even our country is doomed. We might also feel that God is rather silent on this issue.
    But Bible teaches us that all this are allowed to happen for a moment and for a purpose. Job says God's plan can never be stopped or delayed by anyone, absolutely anyone. So as true Malaysians, we should not loose hope. What happened yesterday might be temporary necessary to bring His plan to come to pass and then we shall see His true reward for those who have 'sincerely' participated in the General Election.
     Bible says what we declare by our mouth, He shall make it come to pass. Don't loose hope and say negative words. Say positive words and encourage others to keep fighting to transform this country to a better Malaysia. Besides, there are many events in The Bible that might give us some inspiration in this time of let down. More to come and stay tuned.

God says My plans are to prosper you and not harm you. So why worry?
Keep calm and Pray Hard!
God Bless.

Be As Wise As Serpent

Hello everyone! Sorry for the delayed upload as I was very worked up with college assignments and Good Friday arrangements. With His grace, all went well.

Now regarding 'Be as wise as serpent', I have chosen this topic to discuss it in my blog quite long time ago. But I realised that it is a very wide topic with so many perspectives of view. Well I chose one but there are many untouched views on this context. I've heard Pastors speak on this in total different manner and so yeah one verse can speak in many different dimensions.

Starting with a testimony:

Last night (4/4/2013), when I was coming back home, mom and I happened to see a snake, actually not us but the street dogs spotted it. But it was like the first time ever we saw a live snake in motion in front of our house. Filled with great fear, come on I am also a human, and also with so much anticipation of what's going to happen next, we called the Pertahanan Awam and they came in time to catch it. This incident greatly rekindled my thoughts to write about what Jesus said by "Be as wise as Serpents".

He called us to be different, holy, innocent, not evil, good-hearted, helpful and so on. He used animals as an example in some cases. We Christians and even the world know that snake is the earliest reptile that was deceived by Satan and it became an active agent of him. It was cursed, isolated and lowly looked at. 

I always asked myself, Wisdom is something that comes from God and why did Jesus say be as wise as serpents and not as Jesus Himself. He is the Highest form of Wisdom. Why did he ask to be like the snakes? Was He kidding or He had some in-depth meaning behind it?

Praise God, it was revealed to me few days after I questioned Him about this. Godly wisdom is indeed the highest of all and it has no words to be described. Fearing God is the beginning of wisdom Bible says. Then why serpent? I remembered a childhood story or incident in my life. I used to call my sister dog and scold her so. And elders used to ask me why I called her that and I had no answer. They told me that only a dog knows the behaviour of another dog. So I was a dog to call my sister a dog.

So be as wise as serpents comes to light here. Godly wisdom brings you near God and make you walk in His ways. But when Jesus says Be as Wise as Serpents, He told that to the disciples when they were supposed to go out to the public and preach to them. They were ministered to heal and preach. So being as wise as serpents here means, if Godly wisdom enables you to know God more, serpent-ly wisdom enables you to detect his(satan) movements in your journey. This wisdom will alarm you even before you could do anything anywhere. Getting alarmed gives you a chance to get rid of it before starting your ministry. World is filled with vanishing wisdom in other words, serpent-ly wisdom. And that is why one with Ipad and Iphone still longs for Ipad Mini though it just another version of it. This wisdom doesn't bring you anywhere near God but Christians with this wisdom would know what are Satan's strategy to weaken their efforts in life.

Track down his strategies and weaken it with the power of God and just keep moving forward. We have a lot of work to do. Time is ticking by and there is only little time left alongside with massive work to do. When Master comes to ask what we've done so far, let's not show empty hands.

Be as Wise as Serpents but as Innocent as Doves.

Burn Your Boat

TAKEN FROM "BURN YOUR BOAT" BY REV. PRINCE GUNERATNAM, CALVARY TODAY.


As the title suggests, you will read about What Boat You've Got To Burn in Christian Life. I was practically travelling to my University on fine morning when I heard this message from Rev. Prince Guneratnam. I got so excited and marvelled at the depth of the message. I was quite attracted to his English as well. But to be clearer when you read the post, I would suggest that you should read it with an open mind.

So before you can burn your boat, what boat are you in now? Looking at The Bible, Simon called Peter was initially a fisherman. He was one of the finest in his town and great career man. He had great moments with his nets and fishes. And obviously he travelled to the mid sea with a boat. But that isn't the matter yet.

When Jesus called him to follow, he was called to fish men. He left behind the boat and the net and followed Jesus alongside with his brother. I mean like if Jesus called me when I was playing FIFA 2013, I would have surely asked Him to wait (sincere lar). But Simon Peter followed without a word. That was fascinating.

He just left behind his career, hope and life supporting job to follow Jesus. And the story goes as he followed Jesus till the synagogue judgement and then ran away. But it is admitted that he is indeed one of the most promising disciples of all whom Jesus himself called the Rock of the Church.

But after Jesus had died and resurrected, which Simon Peter did not know, things were different than it were before. When Jesus lived with them, they forgot their past and followed Jesus. Faced everything with Him and even came forward to die with Him. But when He died, they all were affected by great sorrow and confusion. Simon Peter especially, was clueless of his future. He was called out of his older profession of fisherman by Jesus to be assigned to another job.

But due to the uncertainty of his future or in other words, a small hole in the faith in Jesus, Peter return to the sea and to his boat to continue his work. Jesus said Fish-Men but he chose Fisher-Man. He had a choice to go back to. And then Jesus appeared to him and tested him again before assigning him to do His ministry.

What we've got derive from here is that, Jesus doesn't call free people who has nothing to do to give them something to do. He calls busy people who would have had their future well planned. He calls people who think they have nothing to do with ministry. If you think that it's because of your qualification He's going to call you, no, He calls you as He wishes.

When He calls, our life needs great transformation. We need to become Peter from Simon. From wild to soft; rude to polite; arrogant to humble; unavailable to always available. Simon was a fisherman but Peter was a Men-Fisher. Both might look alike but the latter needs the Help of the Holy Spirit to do.

Secondly, BURN YOUR BOAT! Peter did not burn his boat and that's why when he was stroked by adversaries, he turned back to normal life. NO! God doesn't work that way. Burn your past when God calls you. Don't ever think that it might back you up when trouble arrives. Instead, place Jesus in Your Boat who will safely sail you through in all aspects of life.

If you think your degree, work, talents, influence etc might back you up when you face problems in ministries, I tell you, please press Ctrl+A and Delete it now. It's just to survive in the world today and THAT'S ALL.

Burn your boat and Don't turn back! He will provide and protect!

Amen.

Live to Know it, Know to Live it!!

John 3:16

For God so loved the world, He gave His One and Only Begotten Son,...

Being the backbone of the Bible, this verse has been a compulsory verse that every Christian should know by heart. Do they know it? Doesn't matter because most people who know it by heart don't keep it in their heart. Knowing it and living it is two different things that we need to clearly know.

When I was a teenager, I loved to listen about my childhood stories from my grandparents, uncles and aunts, my parents, sister and so on. It was very exciting and inspiring as well. As I grew even more, I started observing kids whom I saw and related myself to them. Many things that were forgotten came to my memory.

Many of them were entertaining but some of them were inspiring. For example, when I was small I used to get obsessed with some kind of toys, as we all do right. I myself have observed my cousin babies getting obsessed with something that might be dangerous or lethal. Its not easy to get that thing from their hand. You have to be an expert I would say to convince them to get it.

We know it might harm them, like pins and knives, but they think we want to share their toy. So as it goes in that manner, one easy way to get rid of it is to introduce something more interesting that they might love it more than the previous so that they will get hold onto this. Like keys and colourful stuffs, we always try to compensate something to get that thing from them.

We also can see this character among animals and adults sometimes. But it taught me a deeper lesson regarding John 3:16. When you love something so much, you won't want to let it go unless for something else that you love more that what you have. I will give you another example.

You own a Wira and you love it so much. No matter who asks it you won't give it, not that you don't want to but they might not take care of the car the same way as you did. But when you want to get a Ferrari maybe, you would give up on this car because you love it more than Wira. Some people maintain both but trust me, their heart lays more towards the Ferrari. Done with the example, simple one I guess.

Similarly, God loves Jesus more than anything and He will Never give Jesus up for anyone. But He did give Jesus up, but why? God loved someone more than Him? Yes, God loved His children, us so much that He gave up Jesus to redeem us eternally. How deep His love could have been that He gave up something that He loved so much for our sake? How graceful and merciful He could have been in letting His only Son to die on the cross for our sins?

From the beginning, He always wanted His children to be with Him. Trust me, when He can give Jesus as a redemption for us, He can do anything to bring back His children. So, this life is purely a grace and gift of God because His Son has redeemed us eternally. Let's appreciate it and bring our fellow brothers and sisters back home. TIME TO GO BACK HOME!

Amen!!

Jesus started the Gotong Royong

I always felt irritated with the term "Gotong-Royong" whenever it popped out in my school. Not to be surprised that I skipped most of it during my primary and secondary days. But as I entered my high school life, I attended one of the Gotong-royong in my school just to claim my KoKo marks. I realised that it wasn't bad at all. Despite having fun, I learnt a lot of things, physically and spiritually.

My church pastor, Ps Steve has always inspired me to think in different ways where most people would not do. He is a pro and one of his kind. But sometimes, when I have nothing much to do, I tried doing it and surprisingly I learnt massive stuffs. This post will elaborate more on one of my own thoughts (inspired by The Bible).

One day, as I was talking to my mother pertaining a context from The Bible, I had to exemplify something to clarify my stand. I wasn't that spontaneous and all I had to use was a drain. But somehow ( I would say Jesus ) it made sense to me as I finished explaining. It was about Christian life again but in another manner instead.

I said all Christian Life should be like a drain. My mom stared at me, but yes it should be like a drain. Most people think it's a dirty thing, and for some it's a ancient technology and for some it's something smelly. But very few would relate it to Christian life. I did it because I remember a song called "Picked me up from the Miry Clay".

We were initially like some clogged drainage with massive rubbish and unwanted creatures living in. We had no control over ourselves and we couldn't clean ourselves. We stood stagnant and never made any move to get better but did everything to worsen the situation. As time passed, we learnt how to live in the smelly surroundings. 

Jesus saw this and He had no choice but to come down and clean it Once for all. I meant He came down, meaning He stepped into the dirty, filthy and disgusting drainage and cleaned it with His blood. Like the man in the picture, He literally made us no more stagnant but running waters. Now by His grace, we are clean, fresh and running freely.

But wait does it end there? No definitely. What is the primary role of a drainage? The running water and perfect drainage system maintains the Cleanliness of an area. Similarly, what we got freely, we have to give it freely. Due to clean nature we possess now, God has blessed us with abundance in everything. Many people know how to get blessed but they fail to bless.

Like drain systems, we have to keep the water or in other words, the blessings running to others to make sure the water is running and not stagnant. When we pass our blessings to others, God shall shower us with newer one and even that we keep passing on. If we want to keep everything to ourself, we will become stagnant and the trouble begins there. Smell, unwanted creatures, dirt, virus etc.

So, remember, whenever you see the drain, thank God for His unfailing love in giving us His Only Son for Redemption. Also do remember that, bless others so that you are blessed. Keep the water running!

Amen. 

Rose, A Good Teacher?

If you're reading this article with Valentine's Day mood, I'm so sorry to disappoint you guys. This is an all out Bible study pertaining Rose. I have always wondered why among all other flowers, Roses are hyped, even among Christians.

      Many of us use Roses for numerous reasons including Birthdays, Marriage Proposals, Sign of Love and so on. But in this article, we are going to see the Rose in whole different view. I myself love Roses but it has too many 'teacher' elements which highlighted to me many useful stuffs. I would like to share some of those.

      Let's say you get a whole Rose flower and lay it on your table. Now you see a Rose with its stem connecting to the Red beautiful petals. Why am I exaggerating this scenario? Roses are indeed one of the most famous and hyped flowers of all times. You are a non-practical person if you're to enter a Birthday house without a Rose.

      But do you know that it teaches us great stuff? God said, ' Go learn from the ants,...', similarly His creations are very much diligent to reveal to us something all the time. Let's say that the root is where you are now, 'the worldly'. And the stem is the path you take. Finally, the Red and Beautiful Petals are your dream and destination which you determine to satisfy the fleshly needs. Now, these are the metaphors or comparisons will be used throughout the article. 

      When we start our life, we start from the root and we keep moving up. Walking through the stem. No matter how many leaves diverge, we are always quite determined about our life's goals and dreams and personal needs. Despite all the advises and lectures, we keep walking. Despite all the moral teachings and religious teachings, we keep walking. Despite knowing that world today will keep changing, we keep walking. It's because all we want is our personal satisfaction. Let it be smoking, drugs, prostitution, cinema etc.

      As a result of walking diligently, we do get to our destination successfully. Those who steals cigarette sticks from their dad's box shall definitely place it on their lips and light it. Despite everything, somehow we make sure that what we wanted is achieved. But if you look at the Rose carefully, it's best when it's fresh but sadly it doesn't stay fresh all the time.

      Similarly, things that seem joyous and extremely cool begin to fade and we will start to look for another Rose. And another; so on. But we can never get satisfied with one thing for long. That's when we start looking to The Creator. Now, our repentance begins with great joy but wait. The journey we had traveled had not been reversed yet. We got saved but,...

      Have you ever placed your hands on the stem and glide it according to the directions of the thorns? Trust me, it doesn't hurt much. Try this, glide your hands in the opposite way. You would end up tearing and swearing. That's what life is. You might be saved but it doesn't mean that Jesus will walk you back the journey. You have to turn back and start walking to the root and then get onto a new life. But it will be extremely painful, hurting, deadly, dangerous and you would want to die. The thorns that did not show up when you walked along will stand up when you walk against it. But Jesus will hold you and pick you up every time you fall. He will suffer the thorns with you. He will cry and bleed with you just to get you back to the root. 

      Once you're at the root, you will see His marvelous power which will lift you up above all the adversaries you suffered! Jesus never promised a Bed of Roses, but He promised that He will be with you till THE END. So, why worry! 

Amen.