Sunday, October 26, 2014

Random Thoughts-46

This morning as I went out for a walk, I noticed a few birds hopping and bathing in the small water pools, near our residence. The water came from a sprinkler system that watered the grass on the lawns. As I watched, the bigger birds time and again scared away the smaller birds like the sparrows by charging at them. There was enough water for all but the attitude of the big birds was surprising. The water was not theirs, it was freely given, yet they were not willing to accomodate the smaller ones. We can forgive them, for they are just birds; not as wise or intellectual or with reasoning power as us humans.

Looking at this from a Christian point of view, the blessings that come from accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior are for every Christian to experience and be blessed. The river of blessings flow because of Jesus' atoning work on the cross. The big birds should not look down on the smaller ones, for the price was paid by Jesus. God has released the blessings because of the obedience of his son. God is not limited by denominations or human reasoning. He says, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. (Romans 9:15, 16)

I praise you Father God.

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Random Thoughts-45

God is interested in details, that's for sure. Consider the minute details of many things that he has included in his Word, especially in the Old Testament books. Some of us skip through these to more interesting portions. Reading the book of Ezra this day, I noticed the author writing about the number of silver and gold articles that were brought back to Jerusalem by them who were released from captivity. I don't think anyone would have objected if the author had just mentioned that the gold and silver articles that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem were brought back. But God, the Holy Spirit inspired the writer to mention the numbers. 

This was the inventory: gold dishes 30, silver dishes 1,000, silver pans 29, gold bowls 30, matching silver bowls 410, other articles 1,000. In all, there were 5,400 articles of gold and of silver. Sheshbazzar brought all these along when the exiles came up from Babylon to Jerusalem. 
(Ezra 1:9-11)

God is interested in the details of our lives too. Things that people may consider trivial are important to him. Not only the big matters, we can take our smallest issues to our Lord....He will hear...he will care.....that's for sure.

Monday, September 22, 2014

Random Thoughts-44

I was pondering how much a change the Holy Spirit brings in our lives once we come to Christ and submit to the Word Of God. While in college, there was a time when bad language and coarse jesting dominated my life, perhaps not when with family, but when with friends and colleagues. It became a way of life, so as to say, for the company was so. But when I accepted Jesus as Savior, things started changing. The Spirit of God used the Word to cleanse me and the words that came to my mouth were filtered before they were uttered.
Verses like.........
Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. (Proverbs 4:24)
Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. (Ephesians 5:4)
and a few more guided me in the right path regarding this.

James, the writer of the epistle by his name, writes....
If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. (James 1:26)

Saturday, September 20, 2014

Random Thoughts-43

I was reading about the history of the Bible the other day and was amazed how painstakingly manuscripts of the Old Testament and New Testament were written before the printing press was invented.
Manuscripts were written initially on papyrus (thin paper-like material made from the papyrus plant) and later on parchment or vellum (processed skin of animals). Papyrus scrolls were around 35 feet long, and about 10 inches high.
Imagine yourself holding one of these instead of the printed Bible that you have and if you happen to be the preacher reading and preaching from one of these.

To add to that, until the Bible was divided into chapters in the 13th century by Stephen Langton and into verses in the 16th century by French printer Robert Estienne, everything was put together. The oldest manuscripts were in Capital letters called Uncials and there were no spaces in between words with very little punctuation. Try reading IAMTHEWAYTHETRUTHANDTHELIFENOONECOMESTOTHEFATHEREXCEPTTHROUGHME. One may have to read a few times if not familiar, and imagine the elderly ones woes without proper vision.

Now when God has made it easy i.e. we have the printed God's Word in our hand's....people fight over versions, punctuation's and interpretations.

If you have a Bible, praise God brother, praise God sister.

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Random Thoughts-42

Reading about William Tyndale recently, I realized that many are the heroes of the Christian faith, some among them martyrs, who have paid the price for the translation, printing and publication of the Bible in English.
Tyndale, called by some as "The father of the English Bible", underwent immense persecution, imprisonment and finally was strangled and burned at the stake in 1536 for translating the Bible in to English.

At a time when Bible translation was prohibited by the church, he had a burning desire to make available the Bible in English, so that the commoner in England could easily read it. Educated in Oxford and Cambridge, he could speak seven languages and was good at Hebrew and Greek.
He traveled to Hamburg, Germany and worked on the New Testament and got it printed in Cologne, but the press was raided; he however escaped with the printed pages to the city Worms where the New Testament was soon published. Around 6000 copies were published and smuggled to England. King Henry VIII was furious. Some bishops burnt the bibles, others bought them to destroy them. Another called it the
"Testament of the Antichrist."

Tyndale hid in Antwerp and began translating the Old Testament while the King's soldiers searched England and Europe for him.
Finally, Henry Phillips, an Englishman, who befriended him, betrayed his trust and Tyndale was captured by soldiers.
On October 6, 1536 he killed by strangling and burning. Some say, his last prayer was "Lord, open the eyes of the King of England." Around 3 years later, King Henry VIII ordered every church in England to make a copy of the English Bible available to its worshippers.
Around 90% of the King James Version and 75% of the Revised Standard Version are from the Bible translated into English by William Tyndale.

I believe when he was burnt at the stake, Jesus was welcoming him in heaven saying, "Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!" (Matthew 25:21)

Monday, September 15, 2014

Random Thoughts-32

Most of us have fire extinguishers at homes. At least that's the norm in the place that I stay in the Middle East now. Looking at the fire extinguisher attached to the kitchen wall this morning, I wondered how the thing worked, so I took a closer look. There were instructions for using it; they were simple. In case of a fire, remove the pin at the top, point the nozzle at the base of the fire and press the lever to release the gas to extinguish the flames.The thought that crossed my mind was that the thing had been there for a long time but I had cared not to read how it could be used. Why wait for an emergency and then read the instructions when there may be very little time.
It's the same with some Christians. They have their Bibles at home, kept neatly somewhere, but they care not to open it, nor read or meditate on it. Of course they give it some importance on Sundays; a few don't bother about it then too.
But for them who read, meditate and live it, it is life giving and much more; even an extinguisher of fires started by the enemy of their souls.

Sunday, September 14, 2014

Random Thoughts-41

An old pastor used to visit my clinic in Kerala, India, a few years back. He was in his nineties, short, bald and very frail. It was on the insistence of his children that he used to come for check ups. The moment he stepped in to the clinic, I knew he was there, because he always had a song in his mouth regarding the Lord Jesus Christ. Most of his songs were regarding eternal life and life with Jesus in heaven. It seemed that he was already living in heaven though on earth. Hope and confidence ++. Not that he was in the best of health, yet the praises were flowing. I marveled at his love for the Lord. Later, one day, his son, also a pastor, called me to tell me that his father had passed away, the previous night. He continued, "Last night, my father called us as a family to his bedside and told us that his time was up and he was ready to meet his Savior. He spoke of angels coming to take him and breathed his last with a smile on his face." I was at his funeral and testified regarding my observance of this holy servant of God. Praise God for such confidence, such hope........

Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. (2 Corinthians 5:1)

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Random Thoughts-40



Travelling to work the other day, I happened to be driving my vehicle behind a huge trailer truck. It moved so very slowly, almost creeping, making me impatient, when the still small voice spoke in me, saying, "Patience".

Traffic accidents happen all around us because of people being impatient and rash. Many vehicles zoom past us; hardly any of them are emergencies. Most eventually stop at the signal and the tortoises catch up soon.

We learn patience standing for our turns in various queues, be they in shopping mall counters or at the immigration department.

Believers in Jesus Christ have to be patient too, for them to receive answers from God to their prayers. Waiting can be trying at times, but praying and waiting patiently on the Lord brings results eventually.

You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near. (James 5:8)