The Endless list of Diotrephes!

 

Diotrephes was a self-assuming, monopolizing leader who acted as though he was preeminent over others in the church. The New Testament describes him as an abusive leader “who likes to put himself first,” and he is strongly condemned in 3 John 1:9-10. The Christianity Leader magazine and many other Christian magazines in the recent past have pointed out the fall of many renowned Christian leaders and preachers like Mike Bickel, Steve Lawson, Tullian Frank Viola, Bill Gothard, Ravi Zacharias, Michael Brown, Paul Pressler, Robert Morris, and so on … Every country might have such list of names.

Lately, it seems that God is increasingly exposing abuse and corruption among “churches” and “ministries” that embody unbiblical notions of the Body of Christ and leadership. As I was reading some of the news in social media, I noticed each of these fallen “leaders” share two recognizable dimensions: 1. Their “ministry” revolved around them and their own “gifts” and “vision” as they assumed the rights of pinnacle “leadership” over everyone else; and 2. They had no true integration or submission to a Biblically functional local congregation in their own lives and hometowns, where there is diverse ministry and mutual accountability to one another, along with multi-gifted, balanced leadership. 

Apostle Paul cites examples of people who disobeyed in some form and perished, “these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our instruction on whom the ends of the ages have come.” (1 Corinthians 10:8-11). God is compassionate and long-suffering but at the same time one cannot get away with it if he/she continues in the debauchery and scandal. The Church in today’s context is framed under a banner of institution that a Pastor can deliberate and execute immense power to remain in that position. Most of the time the Pastor/Bishop and a leader is a celebrity. He can get what he wants. People never question the intention. Unfortunately, it is the common believer who elevates the leader to a pedestal that the leader comes crashing down. 

Today, for a believer the place, facility (Church building) is of paramount importance. The pastor’s credibility is irrelevant. Weirdly, the believer may be more qualified in the knowledge of the Bible than the Pastor or a leader but because of the position, a Pastor/bishop/Leader is looked upon as a saint and God. Diane Langberg advise is worth considering, “know Christ so well you can discern what is unlike Him no matter the seductive or religious garb it wears. God is building His kingdom in the hearts of men and women, not in the externals we have come to love to protect and praise.”.

Just because the Church/Ministry leader is renowned and powerful, it does not give him the leverage to institute what he feels is right. We forget that anything done in the name of God that does not bear resemblance to His character, is not of Him at all. We become more loyal to human words than to God’s commands. 

Paul while referring to the Corinthians talks about Satan disguising himself as an angel of light. 2 Corinthians 11:14 in verse 15 he cites, “so it is not great surprise if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will be according to their works.” The Corinthians Church was swayed by the “Super-apostles” eloquent, charismatic, and self-aggrandizing leaders who were preaching a different gospel and demanded payment for their services. These men boasted of their spiritual authority and worldly success. Watch out and be careful. Give all glory to God. Let your Church be the institute that nurtures you and equips you to be the carrier of the gospel. 

 

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Dare to correct your misinterpretations!

 

If all that is required in Christian life is that you have significant faith, to get whatever you want, claim what you desire, conquer any mountain, heal all sickness and raise the dead, then you are not any less than a god. And by this standard, you should not die too. Do you realise how people are seen contradicting with God and the theology of the Bible? Think about it! Let’s analyze few prominent verses that are recurrently misinterpreted and used out of context to support our selfish motives. 

Allow me to discuss the “faith of a mustard seed.” 

“And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you. (Luke 17:6 KJV)

Jesus said this in a context explaining about forgiveness in the 17:3 of the same chapter. He chose to use this tree as an example of bitterness and unforgiveness in Luke 17:6. In that verse, Jesus told His disciples, “… If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you”. Notice what Jesus said, “…Ye might say unto this sycamine tree.…” The word “this” indicates that Jesus was pointing out something very specific to them. The sycamine tree was known to have one of the deepest root structures of all trees in the Middle East. It was a vigorous and robust tree that grew to a height of thirty feet or more with its roots going down deep into the earth. It was very difficult to kill. Hot weather and blistering temperatures had little effect on this tree because it taps into a water source down deep under the earth. Even cutting it to its base would not guarantee its death because its roots, hidden deep under the ground, would draw from underground sources of water, enabling it to keep resurfacing again and again. In other words, this tree was very difficult to eradicate.

The bottom line is that the Lord isn’t saying that if you had the very least amount of faith then you could command sycamore trees to replant themselves into the ocean. Rather, Jesus is giving us an amazing example of faith that should be an encouragement to all who believe.  There are no incidents that someone exercised his/her faith to us this in literal terms.  Jesus' teachings and parables are meant to transform us in a specific manner.  Douglas  D Webster states this beautifully, "Parables are time bombs that only explode after they have penetrated our hearts. Their purpose is to turn admirers into followers."

Well,  if  you are steadfast to take such verses in a literal meaning, then how do you explain this verse: 

“For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him” (Luke 14:28-29)

Why Jesus had to give this piece of instruction to count the cost and plan a strategy in the first place before one starts to lay the foundation?  Shouldn’t the same emphasis on faith to move the mountains be working here too? We seem to confuse things and contradict what Jesus was emphasizing to something else that we think will work in a particular way and is fancy to our thinking process. This is called a bad theology.

It is important to translate most of the scripture portion based on the “Context” and “Content” failing which we will have our own takeaways which can be detrimental in the journey of faith. Let’s take this verse for example.

 “And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” Matthew 17:20. While the disciples were unable to cast out the devil from the only child of the father, they approached Jesus disappointed, and He immediately rekindles the faith in them. 

As God’s children or servant, it is not your place to ask or worse to demand that God move a mountain for you. God is not your servant, slave, or puppet. That was never His purpose in calling you to be His servant.  If He tells you to move a mountain, then go tell that mountain to move by His authority knowing ahead of time that it will obey you. 

Are you aware there are Churches, pastors and many Christians who are going to the forest to catch venomous snakes and prove to people that they remain unharmed based on Jesus said in Mark 16:18 “they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them…”.  Today, Christianity is also striving to be identified as a fancy religion as there are many Christians who have developed their own Bible interpretation. Lord have mercy on us! 

I keep saying this often in the passage where Hebrews 11 discusses about the heroes of faith were also people who did not get what was promised to them. Your faith should be on Christ preparing you for here and most importantly,  the eternity.  Don’t misread passages for your convenience and miss the whole point. The God who taught us various lessons on faith also said the following would happen: 

You will have suffering in this world (John 16:33)

You will be persecuted (Matt 10:22-23; 24:9, 11; 2 Tim 3:12)

You will be hated by people (Luke 21:17)

You may be thrown in prison (Revelation 2:10)

You will be brought before kings and governors (Luke 21:12)

Many will be killed for His name’s sake (Matthew 24:9)

Will be betrayed by own family members (Luke 21:16-18)

Seek God for answers especially, while you go through a difficult situation. Remember, everything happens for the glory of God. Sometimes He allows tough situations to shape us and transforms us into a new person with a heavenly perspective.  It's good to be reminded from the scriptures, when Paul went to the town they preached the gospel, they encouraged the disciples by telling this “it is necessary to go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” Acts 14:22. You continue to be a co-labourer in Christ (1 Corinthians 3:9) for the mission Christ initiated i.e. to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10)

 

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Prayer for the Year 2024 – 'Lord, Increase our Faith!

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” Luke 17:5 CSB

Having entered the New Year 2024 what is the biggest need you expect God to fulfil? We are at times ritualistic in making wishes to God only to forget them over the following days and months. Usually it’s the unfulfilled needs, wants and wishes of the previous year, which become our new year goals. If we are asked to make a list of expectations for the New Year, the list will be filled with tangibles like commodities which can make one wealthy and self-sufficient. We all like to present a Wishlist to God and then start chasing them. We improvise and plan to make things happening exactly as we wish. The cliché “better life” is defined based on one’s status and position, which usually changes and shifts its position much earlier or once they reach their desired point and state of life.

When we read the gospel about the disciples, we find that their need was to have increased faith. The kind of faith where you will need to have 100% dependence on God.  You don’t find a single prayer or request from the disciples for a better life, enriched family life with a great social status, riches, or any other things that is to do with this earthly life. In fact, we are all aware of the great sacrifices each of the disciples made as martyrs. The greatest need of the mission invaded them so deeply that they all became radicals and revolutionaries.

The disciples were clear about the difference between the present life and the eternal life. The beautiful thought Paul reminded is as follows, “If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone.”. 1 Corinthians 15:19. Christian life is filled with cares of this present life. Today’s Churches are battling and trying to manage physical and economic well-being of their members by trying to build fellowships, address family issues, prayers for sickness, blessings for their business, prayer for job needs, counselling the wayward youths and so on. Enormous materialistic needs and brokenness is what the Church Pastors and leaders are firefighting to manage.

Rich Villodas says 'The disciples being with Jesus at one point finally understood and felt the dire need of having a good amount of faith. And therefore, requested Jesus to increase their faith. Sometimes I feel faith is overly used in Christendom without its right implications. Every individual puts his/her faith in some god and have stories of how he/she has been blessed. The non-Christians don’t always need a message from us to tell how God will bless them abundantly, as they assume their gods have already blessed them a lot. Unfortunately, we have failed to understand that this is not a blessing competition.  Often, we confuse the gospel with the over usage of the word ‘blessing’. Increase of faith, was not used to request materialistic blessing but to be witnesses and carriers of the gospel.  Jerry Bridges states, “In order to trust God, we must always view our adverse circumstances through the eyes of faith, not of sense. And just as the faith of salvation comes through hearing the message of the gospel, so the faith to trust God in adversity comes through the Word of God alone.”.

Jesus expressed His concern while He stated this, “… Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”. Luke 22:10-11 CSB. We are all street smart, functionally literate to be self-reliant, trusting our possessions and wide worldly knowledge. Only when things are out of our control do we find the need to approach God, worse through our favourite spiritual gurus of whom we are ardent followers. It is time to put 100% faith in Christ Jesus and demonstrate our responsibility towards the mission in this New Year. The author of Hebrews in his book 11:6 states “Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him much believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”. Let’s not be tempted with the usage of the word ‘reward’ here to some materialistic blessings. Faith is used in chapter 11 in a totally different connotation. We all love the first few verses of Chapter 11 and wilfully ignore the verses from 36-39 where it narrates incidents of people whose faith were approved “…but did not receive what was promised.” Do you have enough courage to accept this as faith and be prepared? May you find the need for increased faith as a dire need in this year 2024.

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Set right what is left undone in 2023 – Titus 1:5

 

The Epistle to Titus was written in approximately A.D. 66. The summary and purpose of this small book was to document Paul’s many journeys which he wrote to Titus from Nicopolis in Epirus. The letter lays down the qualifications to look for leaders in the Church. He also warns Titus of the reputation of those living on the Island of Crete (Titus 1:12). Paul makes a statement which should never be forgotten. “They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for doing anything good.” (Titus 1:16). The biggest disappointment today in Christendom is to witness those who talk about the Body of Christ, Great Commission and Global missions, yet live an unholy and a contradictory life, blissfully ignorant that they are detestable to God. In this book Paul instructs the elders (pastors), overseer or even for that matter an ordinary lay person to be blameless, not to be arrogant or hot-tempered, nor an excessive drinker, not a bully, not greedy for money, not to be rebellious, filled with empty talk etc. (Titus 1:10-12)

Today people are focusing more on accomplishing things than living a holy life. Accomplishment can be a cover for achieving one’s selfish motives. When only accomplishments are celebrated, then it is dangerous. We assume that familiarity, popularity, and abundant resources will help accelerate the gospel, forgetting that God’s mission in this world does not depend on our favour. The foremost requirement is to be holy (1Peter 1:16), faithful /Trustworthy (1Timothy 1:12) and maintain a clean conscience before God (Acts 23:1). And in this book Paul adds by saying “…holding to the faithful message as taught, so that he will be able both to encourage with sound teaching and to refute those who contradict it.” (Titus 1:8-9).

Rather than taking stock of our achievements, work progress and accomplishments, can we retrospect and take stock of areas of our genuine relationship with God first and then obedience to the Great Commission? Your attendance to Church services, or promptness in paying your tithes/offerings or observing religious rituals are of no use without a genuine relationship with God. The pharisee claimed to pay his tithes regularly and fast twice a week (Luke 18:12), the young man claimed to observe all the commandments of Moses (Matthew 19:20), a leader like Theudas, or Judas the Galilean (Acts 5:36-37) claimed to be somebody and used Christ for their selfish agenda. They were all found guilty and unacceptable. Beware!

In recent times any spurious activity in Christendom is welcomed and popularised. Spiritual heresies and garbage are channelled through famous Christian leaders/celebrities and pastors. We all want to believe everything is okay. Not really! We are in danger, and we need to check and test if you are in the Lord as Paul Says in 2 Corinthians 13:5 ESV “Examine yourself to see you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realise this about yourselves that Jesus Christ is in You? – unless you fail it the test.”. Jesus was not famous but faithful to His father and obedient till the point of His death. 

 Let me give you an excerpt to explain this point:

“Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another obscure village, where He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty, and then for three years He was an itinerant preacher.

He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never owned a home. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put his foot inside a big city. He never travelled two hundred miles from the place where He was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself.

While still a young man, the tide of public opinion turned against Him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth while He was dying—and that was His coat. When He was dead He was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.

Nineteen wide centuries have come and gone and today He is the centre piece of the human race and the leader of the column of progress. I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, and all the navies that ever were built, and all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned, put together have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that One Solitary Life.”  - James Allan Francis (1864–1928)

What an estimate about our Master and Savior Jesus Christ? Do you wish to take this time to set things right and address those areas in your life which are left undone in the year 2023?

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Selective Believing!

Have you noticed that our belief system most of the time revolves around a selected zone? Usually we believe what we want to believe and most importantly, it is based on feelings and our mental state at a particular point of time. But when we go through a difficult phase then it becomes even more hard to hope and think positively. This is not the case in children, their trust level is usually very high.

‘Object permanence’ is an expression used by psychologists of a child’s ability to understand that objects still exist even if they are no longer visible.

It is said up to about four months old, babies don’t have the capacity to believe something exists if they can’t see it. If you hide a toy it no longer exists as far as they are concerned. They reach a stage where if you hide a toy, they will keep on looking for it. They realize that objects exist even when you don’t see them.

This is a sign of Christian maturity: when we continue to believe in God’s love even when we don’t see it or feel it. We remember and recall. As we believe in the sun even when it is not shining, we continue to believe in God’s love even in times of darkness when we don’t feel his love.

I read an incident about Alex Buchanan who was well known as a ‘pastor to the pastors’. He was profoundly deaf in one ear, with only 5% hearing in the other, and one side of his face was paralyzed after he suffered nerve damage during a major surgery. He was once speaking about God’s love and he kept repeating the words, ‘God loves you unconditionally, wholeheartedly and continually.’

When he finished his talk he came up to a renowned leader and said, ‘Do you believe that God approves of you?’ to which the leader responded ‘Actually, I really struggle with that because I know things about myself that mean I find it difficult to believe that God approves of me.’ Alex replied, ‘We all struggle with that. But God wants you to know that he approves of you. He wants you to know he loves you unconditionally, wholeheartedly and continually.’

Yes, it so true that at some point we also struggle when we see things that we expect does not go as we anticipated. We have to trust and believe in His word, be encouraged by the history of His redemption recorded for us in the Bible and not go based on our feelings and context. God said in the book of Jeremiah, ". . .I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, I have continued to extend faithful love to you". Jeremiah 31:3 CSB. He is too generous to assign days of misery in your life.

Blessings.

Teacher! Do you not care that we are perishing?

Life schedules series of challenges capable to immerse even the strongest one in order to break every hope someone has on God. One learns to understand that the latest victory he/she had is not the final and the last one. What you hope for becomes a mirage and what you dread becomes more and more a reality. 

The tempest is bellowing and the storms are swaying you all over, you just wish if you can have a breathing space and the Savior notices you and rescues you to safety. Yes, my friend, I understand what you are going through because I go through the same and mine is also very intimidating and life threatening too.

I am clinging on to His promises and quietening my heart in the fact He watches over me. Even if your heart refuses to believe that God will help you, yet force yourself to trust on His sovereignty because no trouble is too tangled for God to untie. No path is too twisted for him to straighten. No heart is too shattered for him to gather up and put back together. Your problems may be agonizing, but your God is tender. Place all your fears and frailty before him, and ask him to quiet you with his love.

 I want to draw your attention on Jesus traveling in the boat along with His disciples, when the storms were fierce and loud. The first reaction while they were battling to keep the boat to sail was questioning God if He was not concerned of their lives. “Teacher! Don’t you care that we’re going to die?”  Mark 4:38 CSB What they failed to understand at that point is God was in the boat too and He was tossing all sides yet sleeping peacefully. How could they forget all the greatest miracles performed by Him and now believe they will sink to death along with Him? We all know the story thereafter, He hushed the storm by saying, ". . Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. ". Mark 4:39 KJV.

When the promises of God seem powerless to quiet our fears, soothe our grief, lift our worries, or motivate our obedience, we need to do more than simply hear his promises again. We need to behold the God who gives them. Jesus is just there beside you. Try to come out from all your personal entanglement and focus on the savior.  Jesus does understand. He’s felt every sorrow you have, and he’s walking with you in yours right now. The God who did it so far will do it again. Listen to this beautiful song.

Blessings.

Dare to throw a challenge

“How long will you waver between two opinions? (18:21)

1 Kings 18:20-40

The story of Elijah challenging the king and the Baal worshipers is breathtaking. It is so dramatic that it appeals to our mind and challenges us, time and time again. I am challenged by the fact how could someone dare to try the unusual and demonstrate the power of God standing alone as a protagonist. What an audacity to stand the ground firm and keep bombarding with propositions to challenge their dumbness and infidelity towards the living God. The story is so dynamic and animated that it makes a great sermon, even motivating for children. But I am afraid if anyone today would want to try something closer to show how big God is.

 Magicians and illusionists perform live and are so spontaneous but note, prior to the public show they make a rehearsal in private with all the specifications sketched and drawn in the mind. They are sure of every move while they trick the audience. But in the case of Elijah it was completely different, this is a first time, on the spot, unique act. What makes so special about this whole incident is his daring faith on God, He knew God better than the situations. If you notice in this incident, Elijah made the challenge easier for the people who wouldn't acknowledge the true God but increased the severity of the challenge unimaginably difficult for himself. The water was overflowing all over the altar, the trench was overflowing too. (1 Kings 18:35). After making the situation extremely challenging, he makes a simple, short unselfish Prayer, immediately heaven opens and people see the mighty power and act of God, rest is history which we are all familiar with.

As people of God at the foremost, are we convinced that our God is living and Big enough? And do we possess the required faith that He will never let us down however intimidating the situation can be? Most of the times we are not successful because we give specification to God to makes things happen as per our expectation and that’s the disappointment unfortunately. David Bowden quotes “God is often absent in the ways we desire, but present in the way we most require”. How often we want to hide and go invisible when we are in a plight and in some desperate situation. If we come out victorious we make a public testimony, otherwise we align our perspective based on the situation and continue to remain invisible. Can we ask God to increase our faith in order to live an extraordinary supernatural life? The only successful way to have so is to soak oneself in the word and build an unselfish relationship with God. In Romans 10:17 it says “..faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of Christ.”’ NASB. 

His power and acts are timeless. Acknowledge Him with a sincere and honest heart. British preacher Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy used to say, “Faith is not believing in spite of evidence-that’s superstition-but obeying in spite of consequences.”. Having faith does not mean never having doubts or questions. It does mean remaining obedient. The same Elijah after the magnificent performance in Mount Carmel was intimated when Jezebel challenged to kill him the very next day. Elijah ran from there and asked God to take his life, but the Lord did not give up on him. He sent his angel and provided a hot meal to nourish him and then instructed him to resume his journey to 'Horeb' the mountain of God. After every challenges you throw to satan you are likely to be attacked by the evil in order to crush your faith you demonstrated recently. Henry Kissinger quotes "Every success only buys admission ticket to a more difficult problem", but be of good courage, God will not abandon you. God is bigger than all your misfortune, most difficult challenges and unfavorable contexts, just trust on him for a breakthrough each time.

Blessings,

David Raj

Sustaining the progress

How do we keep progressing while we are battling with challenges, which seems to be life debilitating and the struggle seems to be endless? In such situations we seem to be hopeful one day and filled with utter despair the next day. This rakes up an array of emotions. We don't see things getting any better or the trouble seems to be moving at a slower pace than expected.  Our spiritual life also takes a toll like waves bellowing up and down and you feel miserable about it.

Sometimes we have something to hold on too while we go through hard times, but most of the time we may find ourself left alone with no one around us to offer a helping hand. Each one of us cling on to the Bible promises and plead to God to help us get out of the stalemate only to realize that the long duration of trouble is slowly obliterating any hope one has on God.

Before I unfold on how to keep moving steadily let this undefendable fact sink deep in us.  "God absolutely is! Let us believe and cherish this. God is. It is a wildly untamable, explosively uncontainable, electrically future-creating reality—that God is.". John Piper In 'Astonished by God'.

God takes each one of us through different challenging experiences. There is no singled out mantra or principle to follow in order to witness the deliverance. Apostle Paul in the book of Romans 12:9-21 puts down an amazing set of Christian ethics to keep moving while we are in this journey. Especially one verse that stands out is the key to unlocking the providence of God. "Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer." Romans 12:12 CSB. It is so simple yet profound. Let us try to understand this verse.

The first thing we are expected to do is "Rejoice in hope" this is the only thing  left while we are in crisis. We will be hoping for a way out. Either be doomed in our situation or rejoice in the hope to receive good from the Lord. In Corinthians it says "So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.". 2 Corinthians 4:18 CSB. Its wise to shift our focus on the unseen, rejoice in hope, which will help spear us forward.

"Be patient in affliction". When we are hurt or if we are suffering, we are supposed to endure the affliction and learn to cope up in order to be helped better and not broken too early. We are therefore advised to be patient while we suffer yet rejoicing in the hope because the goodness of the Lord is plenty when we look unto Him for rescue. The Bible says "My grace will be sufficient for you" (2 Cor 12:9) It will  definitely sustain us so that we are not crushed to despair and death. 

Finally, "be persistent in prayer”. Paul to Philippians says "Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Philippians 4:6 CSB. God already knows what we are going through but however we need to keep informing Him of the same. Don't lose hope my brothers and sisters. Persistence is the key. God is too generous to allow us to go through misery and breakdown. He is preparing us to operate dynamically from a new dimension. We can't afford to quit. Romans 15:13 CSB "Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.".

Stay Blessed,

David Raj

“When the bad outweighs the good”

I want to start this write up by giving a snippet on Islam. ISLAM is the world’s second largest religion with a following of over one billion people called Muslims—one-fifth of humanity. The word “Islam” actually means “submission to God.” Therefore, “a Muslim is one who strives to submit to God".  Islam is fundamentally different from Christianity. Islam is a works-oriented religion, while Christian faith is based on salvation by grace through faith as a result of the shed blood of Christ. Muslims around the world do good deeds because the Quran teaches you must have more good works than bad to get into paradise. “Then those whose scales are heavy [with good deeds], they are the successful” (Qs 23:102). On Judgment Day, Allah will put their deeds on a scale. If the good deeds tip the scale, they will go to paradise. But if there are more bad deeds, they will go to hell.

 Let us now come back to the understanding of scriptures (Holy Bible) where it declares in Ephesians 1:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boasts” We cannot save us by our righteousness or merely by our good works because the Bible says “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Thankfully it does not end there but gives us hope because of the Son given to us and who died on the cross of Calvary for the remission of our sins (Galatians 1:4).

What do you think is the problem if we borrow the understanding of trying to ensure good outweighing the bad? The Bible says in James 1:10 “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all” It is not the gross good or meagre evil that justifies you or condemns you, it’s the one disobedience itself which is capable to separate you from God. Once a theologian brilliantly quoted “Many believe that one needs to discipline himself to perform good deeds in order to master his faults and weakness. They don’t necessarily correlate except that the resources for sinning are channeled in doing good. Doing good doesn’t conquer faults which have to be handled at an entirely different level.”. We are transported from Compliance level to conscience level and He is big enough “..to cleanse our conscience from dead works..” (Hebrew 9:14) when we acknowledge and accept His forgiveness.

You relish in what you invested. Allow me to comment this before I wind up this short write up. We are all building memories therefore build it good so that it will cherish you, inspire you, encourage you and build you while you are old. Most of the people regret later because of wrong moves and failed action. Also let us understand, our mind will keep drawing out what we have invested, therefore the goodness stored will refresh us and draw us closer to God, but if it is otherwise, then it is much likely that our memories will remind us and allure us for yet another fall. Ask God for His grace to be assured of his forgiveness and hold on to the goodness of the Lord.  May God Bless you.

Blessings,

David Raj

Catch me in my righteousness

It is inevitable we go through crisis and mess things up. The magnitude of the crisis and suffering varies from person to person. It moves you from abundance to scarcity most of the time. Everything that seemed so secure slowly disappears. You are confused and grope your way through the darkness unable to articulate. All the blessings that was at your arms reach are now fleeting. You battle in your mind to know if God even exists. You compare yourself to all the bad people enjoying the good things and so called “good” people who live their lives securely with hypocrisy and maliciousness. A sudden desperateness creeps in fearing that your righteousness has let you down. What do you do? cry out like Jeremiah, 'And You have bereaved my soul and cast it off far from peace; I have forgotten what good and happiness are.' Lamentations 3:17 AMPC. It is definitely not a bad idea to make Him know your despair. 

After battling with this myriad of emotions you muster the courage and start praying to God in darkness but you are faced with a deafening silence. Times like this you are tempted to measure your faithfulness to God with your ROI (return of investment) and get even more disappointed because you think your righteousness has not paid you with good returns and your lamenting resembles with that of Jeremiah, "Why has my pain been perpetual and my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Will you indeed be to me like a deceptive stream with water that is unreliable? Jeremiah  15:18 NASB.

 You become a lunatic trying to survive in a bizarre way. The new journey finds you in a road of faltering, stumbling, mountain top experiences sometimes in extreme holiness and the next moment you find yourself in the deepest valley in a total mess. The precious learning is that the faith and the walk in Christ you had when you were living a secure life does not work here. You learn a completely different yet divine set of skills that takes you forward slowly. Then you pray and hope God blesses you before you become bad and mess up once again. In fact, you wish God notices when you live a righteous life and make things right by then. The moment we are less God conscious we mess up. 

In all my rantings above have you noticed that we have to work at being good.  We don't have to work at being bad.  Being bad comes naturally.  No one has ever taught us to do evil.  Why do they have to teach us to be good, if we are already good"?  Who is big enough to rescue our soul from our wretchedness and dichotomy, other than God. Therefore, it is absolutely fine to ask God to take notice of us and help us in our confused condition we are living in and make us strong.

God is trying to shake you up and strengthen you in His righteousness. The few messes cannot derail you. It is said "If you prefer error, truth will remain dormant.  But in the pursuit of truth, error is always a casualty, unless you want to hold both the true and false as true.". Whatever the reason is, the primary purpose is to slowly move you towards a strong learning to live and manage the situation in wantonness, despair, continual rejection, being humbled, confusion and you can go on naming all the desperate conditions you experience. Bishop T. D. Jakes in his book “God's provision for your every need” puts it this way "God brings us into the wilderness to perfect our faith. You cannot have all pleasure without pain, neither can you enjoy only good times without adversity. Your faith is perfected in the furnace of affliction and adversity.”.  It is said in Luke (22:39) "He went out and made his way as usual to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him". The following verses says Jesus went to pray when He had to face the trail and humiliation. What is your usual comfort spot when things aren't working your way. Is it the feet of the Lord or meeting a potential earthly source who can help you? Understand this "When God wants to educate a man He does not send to the school of graces but to the school of necessities". God will never let what you have lost so far be the best you have ever had. He is only in the process to make you stronger, harder, and consistent so that He can use you for a greater purpose. What you are going through is temporary. The Bible says "For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. 2 Corinthians 4:17 CSB.

Meet God when you aren't sure how long you would be able hold on to your righteousness, He will help you because He counts on you. God does not rely on cowards, hypocrites and people who use God for their survival openly or subtly. He intends taking you through this intense training for His divine purpose. You are marked, don't delay the process of complete submission because suffering and crisis are part of His divine plan. May God help you in your journey close to God.

Blessings,

David Raj
https://www.shefaservices-pune.com

When your hopes result to continuous disappointments

How do you translate your trust in God? especially after trusting for a considerable amount of time you end up with fatal disappointment. You gather up all your shattered pieces of your dreams and start hoping again to find out it was a hopeless (and you are hit much harder this time) exercise all along. It was just another calm before the next devastating storm. Nothing was better nor becoming better. In fact, you realize life has become harder than ever. You convince yourself not to hope again and brace yourself for another hit, may be even harder the next time.  This reminds us of the situation of Israelites when they hoped in the words of Moses that God is going to deliver them from the bondage only to find that their work has become more strenuous and painful (Exodus 5:6-8) to an extent that all their hope just shattered.

It stirs up a range of emotions and doubts in a situation like this whether all this is happening because of your past sin that has  brought you to the current stage of brokenness or Satan has determined to bring you to your knees or  if God is testing you to find your consistency in trusting God. My friend, if this best describes you I just want to encourage you that you are not alone in a battle like this, there are so many children of God out there who go through the same struggle trying hard to find an answer. 

We live in times where it's hard to find people who would even spare a minute of theirs to lend a listening ear. They all claim to love God and be disciples of Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, the best encouragement we get is through depersonalized forwarded messages in the WhatsApp or a false assurance of prayers most of the time. I have heard people who go through struggles say they are totally disconnected from people who love God because they act as strangers fearing they will be asked for help. Most of the time we see even Christian leaders who are in prominent positions portray great image of the love of God but turn a blind eye to the brokenness of the people in the pews or who come to them, in whatever setting. How do we comprehend all of this? where is the early church model who shared, who cared and who gave out of their scarcity?

I strongly feel that there are two major reasons for the pain, suffering and disappointments. Firstly, I personally need to understand that God is shaping me as an individual and making me to understand that there is a greater purpose to the pain and suffering. Each of my disappointments has been necessary. If they were not, God would not have brought them. Finding God in the midst of the challenges should be our greatest goal. From the life of Joseph, we learn to trust every time we suffer loss, God is preparing us for something greater. Therefore, as the pain grows more intense, we need to realize that we need to find God in the present and not wait for the circumstances to improve. I like the quote of Vaneetha Rendall, a writer, who puts it this way, “God wanted me to find him sufficient in the midst of trouble rather than just demanding that he deliver me from it.”. The second major reason for the existence of pain and suffering is (and I am personally convinced) to give continuous opportunity for Churches and the people who claim to be His disciples to exemplify the Love of Christ through their interventions to the poor and needy who live among them and make its mission complete. Whatever the case be let us strongly remain convinced that He is in control and watches over us because every individual is created in the image of God and for a greater purpose.

I think it is also important to understand God’s Sovereignty in such context. The sovereignty of God refers to the fact that God is in complete control of the universe. A belief in God’s sovereignty is distinct from fatalism. What do I mean by fatalism? “It is a philosophical doctrine holding that all events are predetermined in advance for all time and human beings are powerless to change them”. It is important to understand that God does not allow everything to happen, yet he does allow all that happens to happen. Ultimately God’s will is going to be accomplished. We can rest in the fact that our God is actually able to work all things for our good (Romans 8:28), even when we cannot readily see how that may happen. I want to conclude by putting down what Maxwell quotes, which is so clear and precise:

• Not everything that happens conforms to God’s will and wishes.
• Nothing that happens gets overlooked by God.
• Everything that happens will ultimately be addressed with justice.
• Nothing that happens should distract us from continuing to respond faithfully.

 May God help you and meet you at the point of your need.

Blessings,

David Raj

When the faithful ceases to exist……….

       Hi Friends Just a few thoughts I would like to pen down that I trust will help us to redefine in the way we consider Gods intervention. We are in the time when the atrocities of the so called Christians specially who are in the forefront of the ministry are becoming unbearable and heartbreaking, and we are confused whether the Lord is really beholding on the Evil that is eating away the little faith of the ones who grapple to trust God. David in Psalms 12:1-4 says “Help Lord ; for the godly man ceaseth; For the faithful fail from among the children of men.” And he ends in verse 12:8  “The wicked walk on every side, When vileness is exalted among the sons of men. When generally all think themselves to be the saviour and keep proclaiming about themselves as said in Proverbs 20:6 “Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?” .Lets examine ourselves to understand what sustains us. Ps 18:35 says “ your gentleness makes me great” sadly it’s the manipulation, Ungodliness, power, money, fame, etc & etc you can think of, sustains us and reaches us on the top. Can we seriously examine to know that,  are we still in the Lord? And if necessary recommit our lives afresh to Jesus. Even the Lord is disappointed and broken to see that he is reproached hurt from us and not from the anti-socials of the world. “Psa 55:12-13  For it was not an enemy that reproached me; Then I could have borne it: Neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; Then I would have hid myself from him. But it was thou, a man mine equal, My companion, and my familiar friend.”

Now let’s carefully understand the fact of How God will intervene. Firstly we should understand that we are in the culmination of times, where necessarily God would not bring everything to standstill which if happens yes, it may or may not build our trust in God, but it is important to understand Gods sovereign way to do things.

If there is a situation unbearable or sufferings that you go through we should understand and be prepared to know the testing of our faith and the Love for him has begun. How much obedient are you. As you read Heb 5:8 “Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;” therefore it is important that we continue to obey governance as said in 1 Pet 2:18 “You servants must submit yourselves to your masters and show them complete respect, not only to those who are kind and considerate, but also to those who are harsh.” GNB and ensure that you are not treated bad because of your folly 1 Pet 1:20 For what glory is it, if, when ye sin, and are buffeted for it, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye shall take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.  Therefore my friends do not loose your temper at any case James 1:20 “for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.” During the course wait patiently displaying your obedience and righteousness towards God.  We will be foolish if we think to prove a point. The lord is concern how you obey and trust in every steps. Remember we are living in a world that is called “Present imperfect” and heading towards “Future Perfect”. Eternity is our destination my friend Eccles 3:11, So keep looking ahead towards the destination that God has prepared  for us 1 Cor 2:9 “but as it is written, Things which eye saw not, and ear heard not, And which entered not into the heart of man, Whatsoever things God prepared for them that love him. Read Heb 11:37-40 It talks about the suffering and hardships of people who did not get any justification in this world. So God will honour you based on your faithfulness. Continue to cling to God in prayer and in His word. Isa 26:3 “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee; because he trusteth in thee” and read Rev 22:11 “He that is unrighteous, let him do unrighteousness still: and he that is filthy, let him be made filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him do righteousness still: and he that is holy, let him be made holy still”  and consider Malachi 3:17-18 And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

I trust these thoughts would help you to continue to Trust God faithfully.

Blessings