The other day I was watching a program on the History channel about the church history. It was about the books that were left out of the Bible. I was a little intrigued by it. I started wondering what would be the state of the millions of Christians if the whole Bible was written by man with his own prejudices. What if the books that were missed out of the Bible painted a different picture of God? I started meditating on it. Then some interesting things popped into my mind.
First and foremost our God is a living God. He is not the one that was there 2000 years back and everything he wanted to talk is all over. Our Christian life is a constant walk with God. The Bible just works as an aid. Like all other aspects in my life, the answers are again in the Bible. When I look at the lives of Noah, Abraham, Isaac and others, they did not have the Bible. They all walked closer to God than most people. Bible is a faith based document, when we read the Bible our living God talks to us through it. So even though the things in the Bible might thought to be inaccurate it is how it relates to our current situation and how it talks to us that is more important. If Bible is the only way to God then what about the people who cannot read the Bible - are they all doomed? What about the people who cannot see?
He finds you and not the other way round.
Tell me a biblical character who compared all the existing religions and then felt that they agree with the teachings of Jesus or Judaism and decided to follow that religion. There is none, every character in the Bible is called by God to do His purpose. In the same way God still calls each person to do His will and we are not the one doing the choosing. It is not a phillosophy or a set of steps to get to heaven. If a real God were to create this world this is how it would be. How can you who does not know where you come from (before birth) and where you are going (after death) find the path for how you will live after you die. There is no way for human minds to comprehend it or for them to choose a path of living now.
The only way you can live a sinless life is to let his spirit live in you.
There is no way you can justify your passage to heaven. This is because we all have sinned and all sins are abominable in his sight. The only way is if you let the spirit of Jesus live in you. The calling and your acceptance initiates this process. It is a process where God takes over every part of your life as you surrender each one of them. It is in this surrender where there is tremendous struggle. The proud, the rich will fail here as this comes easy for people who hate their lives but hard for people who love theirs.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
If you want to walk on water you need to step on it
I am always filled with ideas on different things that can be done to make the world better or my life better. I would think about it and analyze it and once I see the potential pitfalls will never do it. The other day I was reading a story in the Bible and I found something which was very interesting and it made an impression. It is the story about the widow and Elisha. The story unfolds in 2 kings 4:1-7. The widow and her sons did not have money to pay their debt. They go to Elisha and tell him about their situation. He asks her what do you have in your house. It is a very interesting question to ask. If some one comes to me and asks me for help I will never ask him what he/she has in their house. I was thinking about it and remembered the story of Jesus feeding the multitude with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes. There was a striking similarity. Then I started combing the Bible for similar things and I noticed that God wants to build on top of what we already have. He wants us to make the initial begining.
Then I came across a book with a title "If you want to walk on water you need to step on water first". I realized that if we want to see God's glory there has to be opportunity for that to happen in your life. In morden day world where we are able to control every aspect of our lives it is very difficult for us to take that first step. Trusting that God can build on it. It is a leap of faith that you need to take.
The good news is that God is very happy to provide us with support along the way when we stumble after we take the first step. He is right behind you like father watching his kids learning to ride a bike. It is depicted very well in the story of Mary. Mary finds that she is pregnant and it is a very scary situation. If anybody finds out she will be stoned to death. It is very unrealistic for anyone to accept her story. I am sure she would have been scared to death and probably considering aborting the baby. She tells her fiance and her fiance is not that happy. He is thinking of divorcing her. Then an amazing thing happens he has a change of heart and accepts her version of the story. That is the first sign that she is on the right path. The next thing happens when she is about 6 months pregnant. She visits her cousin and she says that this is the son of God and also the sign that the angel gave could be verified. This is further confirmation that it is from God. These signs strengthen her and probably helped her go through the whole ordeal. If you look at other stories there are many places God provides signs as re-assurance as we stumble along to show that we are in the right path. It happens in the life of Gideon, David, Daniel and others.
Life following God is not going to be a bed of roses. It will be tough but we will be supported along the way with assurances that we are on the right path. David had to run for his life for 40 years after he was anointed as king.
So if you want to walk on water like jesus you need to step on water first.
Then I came across a book with a title "If you want to walk on water you need to step on water first". I realized that if we want to see God's glory there has to be opportunity for that to happen in your life. In morden day world where we are able to control every aspect of our lives it is very difficult for us to take that first step. Trusting that God can build on it. It is a leap of faith that you need to take.
The good news is that God is very happy to provide us with support along the way when we stumble after we take the first step. He is right behind you like father watching his kids learning to ride a bike. It is depicted very well in the story of Mary. Mary finds that she is pregnant and it is a very scary situation. If anybody finds out she will be stoned to death. It is very unrealistic for anyone to accept her story. I am sure she would have been scared to death and probably considering aborting the baby. She tells her fiance and her fiance is not that happy. He is thinking of divorcing her. Then an amazing thing happens he has a change of heart and accepts her version of the story. That is the first sign that she is on the right path. The next thing happens when she is about 6 months pregnant. She visits her cousin and she says that this is the son of God and also the sign that the angel gave could be verified. This is further confirmation that it is from God. These signs strengthen her and probably helped her go through the whole ordeal. If you look at other stories there are many places God provides signs as re-assurance as we stumble along to show that we are in the right path. It happens in the life of Gideon, David, Daniel and others.
Life following God is not going to be a bed of roses. It will be tough but we will be supported along the way with assurances that we are on the right path. David had to run for his life for 40 years after he was anointed as king.
So if you want to walk on water like jesus you need to step on water first.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)