Look no further

GOD has a great way of leading you in your life. As it says in the book of Job, from six calamities he shall rescue you and in the seven no harm shall befall you. I praise GOD for having moved me through my life even in those years where I did not have time for HIS devotion to make me what I am today.

As a child going through the regular rounds of Church, Sunday-School and prayers at home, I always wondered what is it that we are aiming to have in our lives. As a teenager, with other things being more prominent in life my life tended towards facing life as it came and not spending time in devotion. As life moved on, I sat down one day to think seriously about what my purpose in life was and that’s when I got this calling from GOD. An inner voice at that time spoke out to me … Look no further!

The path to peace and contentment through Christianity is by submitting yourself to the will of our GOD and spending time in meditating about HIS word. As David rightly puts in Psalm 1 – “Blessed is the man … his delight is in the law of the LORD and on his law he meditates day and night”. It’s such a beautiful feeling to be in the presence of the LORD - something that I feel right now as I sit down to write this blog.

GOD in us has implanted what is required for all of us to be good Christians. By Jesus’s death on the cross, we are all convinced that HE has died on the cross for our sins and we are set free from the designs and the desires of the devil. We have lived lives that may be against what GOD had planned for us in the past, but as it says in 2 Cor 5 – If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation. We needn’t look any further for salvation, because salvation is here and knocking at our doors – open your heart and receive it. Most of the time, what keeps us away from GOD are the past wrongs that we have committed. We need to believe today that no amount of thinking can change the past. We all have our shortcomings and that’s something that even GOD accepts as HE says in Romans 3:21 – “for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of the Lord”. But salvation is here … as the verse goes on to say “and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus”. It’s for us to live life anew with the belief that we do not carry any of our past sins on us.

2 Cor – 4, masterfully speaks about how we need not look any further. We believe today that we have renounced our old and deceptive ways and have accepted the LORD as our Savior. We are all set to leading lives that speak about the truth and the signs of deliverance to others whom we meet and interact with. Our unveiled faces reflect the glory of GOD, because we have come out of our sins and transgressions and are connected with GOD who gives us his guidance and support. We need to fix our eyes on seeing the unseen for that is eternal rather than being satisfied with seeing what others see.

GOD lives in each of our lives - look no further. Don’t try to get into overdrive trying to search for GOD. GOD is like your 24X7 helpdesk, always present in you – it is for us to dial in to that number – and is fully at your option and discretion. Coming into his presence is the easiest thing that I have learnt in my life. It’s just about submission of our spirit, your body and your senses to the LORD Almighty. GOD has spent enough time preparing the best for you … it is right here right now … GO GET IT!!

Christianity V2

Like the old pop group of the 90’s – Big sang in their hit song of those times … Ooh baby baby it’s a wild world, its hard to get by just upon a smile, its pretty much the reality today. Or more as what Aerosmith would say … We living on the edge! As Christians though, we are in a position of advantage. We have a well defined framework – The Bible around which we know what is right from wrong. The word is the power and it is for us to apply and put into practice what we learn from the book into our lives.

Job’s life Vs. our life today
For all the while that I have read and meditated on the book of Job, he has come across as the typical man that all of us are today; being with GOD in our moments of happiness, turning around - rebuking and questioning GOD’s will in moments of darkness. We all have our moments in the sun but we shouldn’t forget that as much as the night comes after the day, our lives are filled with moments of sadness which may not be in the same proportion as that of happiness but we sure will have our fair share of both in our lives. Jesus was not the only to go through suffering. Jesus says in the book of Mark, that all who have chosen to follow him will be denying just like HE was and will have to carry the cross just as HE was made to carry. Don’t expect smooth sailing when you come into the LORD. I would say, your problems and strife now are going to be a responsibility to you and will form the cross that you are to carry everyday.

Most of us have already lived our lives like regular Christians, been to church regularly, done prayers, read the BIBLE and all that comes with it. Sometimes we still feel that we are at this point where our prayers are remaining unanswered and our happiness not being in line with the amount of prayers that we have offered. Did we expected GOD to swoop down and pick us up from the position that we are and place us at the heights of safety but we dint get the required results? We are in the position of what Peter faced when he wanted to walk on water with JESUS. As long as his focus was on JESUS, he did not sink but the moment his gaze changed to his surroundings he cried out to JESUS to save him. JESUS empowers us to even move mountains as long as we believe that it can be moved. Not that I am trying to say that we move the physical mountains of today! Equate the mountains with the stress and pressures that we all suffer from, things that hinder our path towards being close to GOD.

The solution
Situations like what Job went through will naturally make us question the power and the guiding hand of GOD that we so firmly affirm in. How many of us live to tell the story that Job was able to do – In the end, Job was rewarded for his faithfulness in the LORD. His wealth and family were made prosperous beyond all possible imagination. The only sure shot way to get out of our moments of doubt and be victorious in our Lord is to believe in the truth that our GOD knows what is best for us and will be around us come what may. The greatness of our GOD is beyond our understanding and HIS eyes never look away from the path of the righteous. As it says in 1 Corinthians 2:9 – no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him. Pray steadfast and may your faith take you from V1 to V2, may God be your guide and light as you look to walk through the maze of the world today.

Saying NO to the Flesh and being in the SPIRIT

It’s almost a taken that the way the world operates today is different from what GOD intended it to be when HE created it. The ever increasing rate of crime, terrorism and other cases of inhumanity being shown between humans today is increasing proof of the fact that the day of the reckoning is near. In this scenario, we as Christians continuously find ourselves stuck between the works of the world and the works of the spirit or to put it in another way what our mind wants and what our hearts want us to do.
Romans Ch 8:5 specifically says that the choice of the quality of life that a man leads is totally in his control. It’s but natural to be sucked into the ways of the world through our temptations. Our minds by default are used to being driven by lust – the lust of the world, the flesh and money. The part of being in GOD is that the choice to be driven by our lives purpose is given into our hands. We are the makers of our future, for our futures depend on the decisions that we make today.
What is it that we desire today? Do we desire happiness or blessing? As per the beatitudes in Mathew 5, Jesus says that the poor in spirit shall inherit the kingdom of GOD. It further says that the meek shall inherit the world. It’s easy to interpret this as being sober and in the word and not being worldly wise. That’s not what our GOD requires of us. We need to continuously remember that we are his creation and HE never thought for us to be losers. On the contrary, HE came down to this earth to give us HIS gift of salvation so that we may never be on the back foot ever again.
All the time what we desire is happiness in our lives, its common and we would be abnormal if we did not expect that. The drawback of us humans lies in the fact that we are not equipped to see the big picture. That’s something that’s totally in the GOD domain. Many at times, what we desire to drive our happiness are not what GOD desires in our lives. The problem is that we do not give up and we try to force ourselves to get this happiness for ourselves. As teens and young adults we are exposed to a lot of worldly issues, some which we think will give us happiness but we are not capable to understanding whether it is right to have that.
We need to understand that only our meek surrender to GOD will help take us to the next level in our relationship with GOD. We need to allow HIM to play the miracles that HE so wants to do in our lives for us now. Our GOD says that we are HIS desire and our well being HIS only concern. The easiest and most effective way that we have on hand to throw open our hearts to HIM is through prayer.
So the next time a thought comes into your mind, just stop to think – is this something that my flesh desires or is it something that my spirit desires. Let the word of our FATHER come and bless your hearts today and forever more.