Is all well, within the 'well'?

I was thinking how to put this across. That's when I remembered the story of a frog, or let's say, God reminded me about it. So here's the story first in brief...
There was a frog that was born in a well and grew there. It spent so many years there, that the well was the world for the frog. But one monsoon,there were heavy rains, and the well overflowed. It so happened, that the flood carried away the frog too, out of the well, into the outside world. Finally, when the flood water receded, and the greenery was visible around, the frog was amazed to see an entirely new place around. The creature that thought the water in the well to be everything, was surprised at everything that was around.
Now, the question... Can the frog tell to itself that this is all a lie and all that is true is the well where it grew up? This is where we all are, some time or the other.
For some of us, truth is confined to our religious beliefs, our good works, what we have been seeing, since we were born, all that we were taught since then. And just like this frog, we all end up, thinking "That's all! What my parents taught me is all. What my church taught me is correct, nothing else. What our priest/Reverend/Pastor interprets to us is the truth. Nothing else". We end up, making our parents, leaders, religious authorities - God for us, rather than the Word of God! Isn't all this idolatry? Of course, it is!
In John 14:26, Jesus says: "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you". Further in John 16:13,14 also, He says, "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you".
It is the Holy Spirit alone, who can lead us into all truth. So it is futile to depend on others for the help that comes from Him. Search the scriptures under His guidance, and you will know the truth that sets you free. God has ways, and if we don't obey them, our life is not much different from those around. Jesus says, "I am the Way, & the Truth, & the Life; no one comes to the Father but through Me". We cannot approach God the way we want, but as He wants. If we keeping on stressing that what we believe, where we are, is true; God is not going to send any other sign to turn us from our errors. Jesus is clear on this, "An evil & adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth"... Matthew 12:39, 40
Do you boast because you have a good job, you are prosperous, you have a wife/family, everything that you want? Look around into the world. There are many who don't even believe in God, who have all these. Don't be deceived into thinking that all these are qualities that mark a true Christian. God has not sacrificed His only Son for just these, of course, He blesses us with our needs, but beyond all these, a life that never ends... with Him in eternity.
This 'well' is not our world. There's lot's more. I pray, God open our eyes and help us realize this truth.

What a glorious salvation!

"It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. " 1 Corinthians 1:30

What a privilege it is, to be those who are chosen by the Almighty, Sovereign Lord. In these days, when we see all forms of evil around us, and so often, when we ourselves struggle with sin, it is so wonderful to have our Father, who gave His only Son for us. Such is His love for us, who never deserved it. He's been so gracious to have mercy on wretched ones like us and choosing us even before the foundation of the world, saving us by the redeeming work of Jesus Christ on the cross for us. Paul puts it so well, when he writes, 'For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate."' 1 Corinthians 1:17-19.
Praise be to Him for all that He has done for His chosen ones. It is with this similar God given vision, that enabled some of His body members, to gather together for fellowship. He's constantly teaching us and building us up in Him. In these last days, the truth is being revealed in its purest form, undoing the work of the adversary.
 

Christmas! What does this season mean?

Around the world, in some way or the other, most of mankind is in touch with this term. Either through the celebration, which mostly involves Santas, Christmas trees, festivities, celebrations, sweets, gifts, etc. But is Christmas really about all this? No. For a born again Christian, Christmas is not any of the above mentioned reasons. The term 'born again' may be new to some of you.

Let me try to explain this term first. In the Bible, (New Testament), in gospel of John 3:3-5 we read about being 'Born Again'.

'Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?" Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.'

So what does being born again have to do with Christmas? Another book in the New Testament, Ephesians 2:1,2 says, "And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience."

In short, there is no one in the world, who ever lived a life as God wanted. In some or the other way, all are born in sin and by birth are sinful in nature. Even if we tried our best to live a righteous life, we may be successful in portraying such a picture of ours to those around us, our family members, our friends, those who love us most, etc. But, we can never be righteous in the eyes of God. And it is God's desire to see us walk in His righteousness.

That's the reason, why He sent Jesus into the world. He knew that we can never meet His standards, so He Himself paved the Way. John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life". That's the truth. That's the love, God our Father, has towards His children.

Jesus came into this world, lived a righteous life, as being God Himself, He was sinless. He suffered on the cross, died for the sins of each one of us. He was buried, but He rose again from the dead, giving us a hope of an everlasting life in Him. Those who believe that they are sinners and can be saved only by this redeeming work of Christ, are saved. Having repented of their sins, they are baptized in water, and by the Holy Spirit, which confirms that they are the redeemed ones of God. Such people are called 'Born Again'.

Having said that, now I can mention the fact about Christmas. For a born again Christian, every day is Christmas. Since the day, that he/she comes to know Christ, Jesus is in his/her life. The person is a new creation in Christ. He/she is no more the old person. Simply by being born into a Christian family, no one is a Christian. Each one needs to have that personal encounter with Christ. And this call is for each individual born in the earth.

For the Bible says in Acts 4:12, "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved." Some may argue, may feel uncomfortable with the above statement. But that's the truth, Jesus is the only one who can save us out of the evil that we see all around. But God alone can open our eyes to see and know the greatness of this salvation.

God opened my eyes to realize this truth. As long as we are in the world, with our strength we cannot realize our state, as we do not consider all that we do, think, desire about as evil. But most of it is, in God's eyes. Do you find yourself in such a state? Christ is the only answer.

This Christmas, if you want Christ to be part of your life, ask Him to change your life forever. He's faithful to make each day of your life a Christmas. If you have any questions, or would like to know more, please feel free to ask. Your comments too will be cherished. May you all have a blessed time ahead.

Note: All Bible references from NASB translation.

A Precious Faith!

Even when we were dead (spiritually) in our transgressions, Jesus died for us.Though He was without sin, He took upon Himself our sins and died for us, so that through His death we may be redeemed, our filthy righteousness could be replaced by His righteousness. The access that we had lost to the presence of the Father could be gained back by His redeeming work.

Inspite of all this, even today, there are many believers who live just as the world around them does. They may appear to be a little better: somewhat better a husband in respect to an unbelieving one, somewhat better a wife in respect to an unbelieving one, somewhat better a son/daughter than an unbelieving one, in short somewhat better a human being in respect to an unbelieving one. But that is not what God has called us for!

God is interested in us having a relationship with Him, which is ever growing. He wants us to be more intimate with Him, each passing day. When we hear such things, it seems something very easy, but it is not. He has blessed us with everything that makes this possible (Ephesians 1:3), but we do usually do not let Him work those into our lives so that the intimacy that He desires with us become a reality.

God has given to us some precious promises to us, and He is a person who always keeps His promises. His promises are always a 'Yes' and 'Amen'! But, still many of us live far away from realizing these promises as a reality in our lives. I'm not just mentioning here the promises in general, because the Word of God is full of promises. The precious ones are those, which are not just promising us something here on earth, but which accompany us in our journey towards eternal life. One such promise is the one that we see below:
"Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ". ...2 Peter 2:1.

Yes, the precious faith. Peter says that we have received the same faith that they as disciples have received. Of course, first we need to realize that the faith that we have is not something which is ours, it is a gift of God (Ephesians 2:8,9). But, we often commit the error of assuming that it is something that we generate.

When our parents gift us with something, they do not differentiate between their kids (though at times, it may appear so...), then our Heavenly Father, whose love for us is so great that He did not withhold the most precious possession of His (Jesus Christ), how will He keep from us anything else, or be partial with anyone.

But then, why is it that inspite of having these precious promise from God, we don't have a life as that of the disciples. Well, if there's no problem with the Giver, or with what He has given, the problem has to be with those who receive (we). We need to look into our lives to examine the source of hindrances in His promises being untrue in our lives. May God enable us to look within ourselves in the light that He has given us (His Word), so that we may regularly wash ourselves with it and be sanctified (Ephesians 5:26). Amen!

Salvation, an ongoing process.

For many of us, being saved, is just a one time experience. We fail to realize that salvation is not something that happens to you and you are transformed all of a sudden, forever. Salvation is not magic! It is an ongoing process. We have to move on, work towards the growth of salvation in our lives; rather than we working let God work in our lives. We read about it in Philippians 2:12,13 "Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose".
Over the last few years, I've observed this transformation in my life, as well as many of my brothers and sisters in Christ. Since the day, when I had a personal encounter with Christ, to this day, it has been a learning curve, which keeps on progressing. If we find ourselves in the same place we began, when we realized His call in our lives, there is something seriously wrong. We need to examine our lives. We need to make our calling and election sure. As Peter states in 2 Peter 1:10 "Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure".
We may not realize how important it is to grow deeper in our relationship with Christ, but it is important to note that without doing so, we will never see a complete accomplishment of the Almighty's plan in our lives. We will never be able to reach our goal. It is necessary that we realize the importance of sanctification. The word of God makes it very clear that without being sanctified, we will never be in His presence. Hebrews 12: 14 says, "Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord."
Of course, that doesn't mean that we need to work too hard towards it. Everything required for our salvation is given to us in Jesus Christ and His work on the cross. We are sanctified by His work. But, we should remember, that we are always being made perfect in Him, being made holy. Let us remember this always, and submit ourselves to His grace and let the Holy Spirit work in our lives towards the accomplishment of the plans and purpose that the Lord Almighty has planned for each one of us. Hallelujah!

The Great Calling!!!

Have you ever felt like your life is simply moving on with the course without any destiny at all?? Now wait a minute!!! God says you have a great calling from above. Scrpture says on Col 1:13 "For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves". Isn't it great to hear that the Almighty has called us to His kingdom? All those things that happened in the course of time..that you accepted Jesus..you took baptism...you attended the churches..you walked with Him...You never knew it was because of this great Calling of Lord and be sure that it was never an accident. It was because His love attracted you even before the formation of this world you could experience and seek His love. Wow!!! thats mind-blowing that God decided to love us even before he laid the foundations of this behemoth universe.
In view of this great calling we can be sure of one thing. The One who called us is faithful.But we need to take heed when Scriptues says "Live a life worthy of the calling you recieved" in Eph 4:1. and in 2 Peter 1:10 "Be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure".
Since this is the most precious treasure that we ever recieved how diligent we should be to pursue it relentlessy.