Chocolate wisdom!

I was watering the plants today, and noticed as the water hit the soil the color changed. The dirt, black and well, dirty dirt, mixed with the water was creamy and I don't know why, but it reminded me of CHOCOLATE. Yes, the creamy, yummy chocolate.

And I wondered, how chocolate became so famous, and favorite. Inspite of its dirty color. The yucky color is more a yummy color now!

And this dawned, what God was trying to teach me: It doesn't matter how you look. It only matters how you taste! To people around you. :)

Col 4:6 'Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt...'

Outlive your life

What can you do with your life? Max Lucado, puts forth a challenge, that prompts you to look into the book of Acts, at the ordinary lives of disciples, who were empowered by God, to do the extrordinary. We are no exceptions.

It starts, with exploring, to discover who we are, as God 'unshells' you. The way God has designed you to feel compassion, and longing for people. Is it the homeless, sick or the elderly? Find it out.

Then team up with people, look for avenues where God can use you. As simple as opening homes for dinner and being hospitable. Seeing people, the way Jesus saw. Into their eyes, and giving the touch that people need(Peter healing crippled beggar.)

Preparing for persecution ahead, saturating in His presence to be strong( Peter before priests). Being careful not to be a hypocrite and doing good with no one seeing you( Ananias & Sapphira).

The book focuses on Jesus target audience. The poor, the blind, broken hearted, captives and the opressed. Do we have them in this century? Don't we all around us?

It also reminds you not to forget the bread of heaven. Jesus. And not to forget who is holding you life. But to move ahead, and identify the walls we have boxed ourselves in. ( Philip ministering to Ethiopian Eunuch).

Not to write-off people like Saul! (Ananias and Paul.) How to treat discarded people.( Peter & Gentiles). Treat them right! Prayer, the praying first and most (Peter in the jail.)

Max closes with Jesus on the Judgement day separating the sheep and the goats. The question asked was not salvation.But consequence of salvation - Compassion. Did/Do we feed the hungry and the thirsty? clothe the needy? care for the sick? invite a stranger? visit a prisoner?

It is a challenge to listen to the inner voice and be obedient to take one little step at a time. It throws open a whole wide view of opportunity that is all around us. Are we ready to obey?

I am thankful for booksneeze to send me this free copy of Outlive your life. I am really overjoyed, and humbled to be 'considered' a blogger! I have greatly been blessed by this book.

Plastic smile

I guess this is my third blog on smile. And I wonder if I will ever stop. A person with a beautiful smiling face inspired me to write this. The problem is, it always has 'fake' written all over it.Always! How does he do that? yickes. I hate it.

Thinking of which, do I fake a smile? Obviously yes. Sometimes. Many a times. When I am sad, angry, frustrated, someone comes with a hi, hello, howdoudo? A wry forced smile. Can you spot it. Oh yes, you can easily spot a plastic smile.

Plastic smile is no good. For the giver nor the taker. A smile from the heart, enriches, encourages, and strengthens. A plastic smile, dries you up and who would want a fake smile!

How do we smile from the heart? At any, and every situation? Knowing that Jesus has the whole universe spinning under his control, and that I am his apple of His eye, and that he has drawn me in his palm of his hands, gives me the trust and strength to face, come what may. As I learn to throw my burdens as quickly as I get, onto him, I can. Don't I now, have a reason to smile? To smile from the heart?

Love at last sight!

Yes, you read it right. Love at LAST sight. Not the head over heels, butterfly effect and pretty rainbows. Way past that, till death do us part. Through thick and thin. Through awkwardness, differences, silence, frustration, discouragement, arguments, disappointments. A love with all your heart, mind and soul.

In their book, Love at Last sight, Kerry and Chris Shook share the Word of God about relationship, in a down to earth practical way. Walking through the relationship puzzle with all its complexities, twists, turns, failure and challenge. Relationship is hard work. Intentional than convenient. Commitment rather than feelings. Action Adventure. Risking awkwardness, to move to the danger zone from a complacent comfort zone, giving up control and giving over to God. Pleasing God and not men. Accepting and not expecting. Learning to ask, listen and not assume. Accepting change as growth. Serving with humility and not selfishness. Treating people as priceless and not as perfect. Appreciating and not discouraging. Taking conscious effort to work togethar.

We hardly ever think seriously about it. Things that we take granted for, gets the special limelight on this book, as we learn to pause(STOP), challenge ourself into growing the kind of person God wants us to be. Nothing else matters. The insights on 'relationship lessons' from Jesus when he walked on earth, is amazing. I never realised there were so many.

"The next time you're face to face with someone you love, ask yourself, If this were the last time we were togethar on earth, what would I say, what would I do? " check out www.lastsightchallenge.com, you can read the first sample chapter under Books.

Show off

My mom/ bro called it the Red Sea Event. When you face a huge Sea in front, towering mountains on the sides, and an enemy army behind, you are frozen in your thoughts, and your foot is unsure of where to step into. Confused, perplexed and fear struck.

Frozen. Big time. I was into one such stuck inbetween period, when a friend of mine at lunch, just smiled and said, 'Well, that's the show off time'. I said,'a what?' He beamed, and said, well 'It can't be better than this'. Better??? I am all stuck on all 4 sides, and its better? He went on. 'This is the time for God to show off. You can't do anything, but he's gonna display his power and majesty so beautiful as you hold on to Him.'

Show off, He did. Many a times. When I've hit the dead end, he shows off with a way, as long as I trust him and walk in faith. Next time as I hit the Red Sea Event, I am all eager like my friend, ready to see His awesomeness. Knowing, he will show off his Mighty power and display his love as he has already done. Yes, there is confusion,and fear and anxiety so overwhelming in every decision, step I am to take, but I know that my God has been faithfull so far, and he is forever. I can walk with faith trusting him to take me through.

All I need.

Even when men abandon me, when my flesh stinks as its rotten
When all my wealth is lost , and I am pushed over saying I am no good.
Jesus is all I need.

They sang this beautiful song in tamil ( Yesu podhumae)in a prayer meeting last evening. Last time, I sang it, was in a hospital room. We had just got mom admitted coz she had difficulty breathing. Me, dad, Praveen were there, and just before they( dad n bro) left for the night, we had the family prayer. Mom loved this song, it became her favorite after she heard it being sung by a blind leper on a cold winter morning on the streets on her way to work. The peace in the face of this hungry begger, had left a mark on her heart.

That night mom was coughing blood, and I for one, had no idea that her lung nodules, were what was coming out nor that she had just 4 more days to live. May be my brother did. He choked at the verse above. Mom gave him a hug, she had her oxygen mask on,seated (she couldn't lie down her last 4 days.)

I don't think I can ever sing this song again. But I know for sure, that Jesus is all I need. I saw it in my mom's face.

Fine print!

Last week, I was given a task of researching on LED signs installation for our Church. So I was on the lookout for signboards. I cross one on the way to work everyday. But what I never noticed was the fine letters at the bottom of the sign board that gave the name of the installer and their phone number. So past few days, I have been straining to read the fine print on it and other LED signs that I pass through.

What made the difference? The same signs, the same places. I read the signs all the time, but had never noticed the fine print!

I believe we all have fine prints. Things that say something extra, even though we don't verbalise it. We can read between the lines, when a person is upset, but still doesn't look upset. Anger, indifference, disappointment, expectation, hope, longing for love. We can see that fine print in people that we meet with, the ones at the store, our collegues, neighbours, friends and family. But do we ever notice it? Do we take time, to even notice it? Its there alright, but do we read it? and then what do we do about it?

God does! and he wants us to be like him! Now I see sign boards everywhere with a fine print on them! and I hope I do what God wants me to do about it.

1 Samuel 16:7b"... Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
Ephesians 5:1a Be imitators of Christ!

Just around the corner

More than I spend watching my face on the mirror, I spend lot of time online. Today, as I checked my messages on FB, I was horrified to read about a memorial service for a friend I had just chatted with last week. What on earth, was that! He was probably 23.

I know he is in heaven, happy with the Lord but what strikes me hard and strong, is how sudden, and how unexpected. How many do I chat with per day? What if... ( I HATE to complete that) How fragile and futile our life is! You step out on the streets, and you just never know! Forget the streets, in your own kitchen, I was thinking about all of it, and got my finger burnt. Freak/Fatal accidents can happen anytime! It's purely by God's grace that I am breathing.

What is important in life? Thoughts of what to eat for dinner today, what to wear to work for tmw, my appraisal next year, my savings this year, my career goals, what kind of house, car, health, family? Well, NONE of it is going to come with us when we die. How much prepared I am for the eternal life, and how many of my friends? In the light of an unexpected death, of me(you), or my(your) closest family or my (your) closest friends, or friends, could we bravely say, that I(u)/he/she is in heaven? What am I working towards..?

Priority!

Your best friend at school, with whom you spent hours togethar doing homework, playing, and cycling; is not around when you get to college. Your close friends from college with whom you always hangout with, are no where around, when you get a job. The collegues you were so close with, the lunch and coffee breaks, the weekends, the night outs, are not in touch as frequently as you used to be, since you moved out to a new project, new city, new company.

Your priority changes.

As a kid, all you learnt, all you looked up to was your mom, dad. Things change a little as you made friends. School friends, college friends, office friends. Things changed a whole lot, when you get married. Everything is your spouse. When a baby comes your way, the whole world takes a different turn. Now when two babies come, now that's an altogethar different story.

Change seems to be the constant factor. New people, come into our life, make a mark and leave. We don't have one person, who will always be there and be the same! There is a mismatch of time, frequency, understanding, behaviour, culture. Restricted by distance, space and way of life. How many times, have you stopped short in a conversation, because it doesn't feel the same anymore. ( I am often stuck with the mundane 'Hi, How are you? Howz work? ' with the best friends of yester years! ) Priority seems to change every time.

But thank God, we have One who can understand, love, and is the same yesterday, today and forever. One, with whom I can talk anytime, and feel close. What is my priority to Him?

Heb 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever!
Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness.

Breezee

Well, I have resisted change all my life. So when my new roomate moved in, I wasn't so sure. And we were so very different. Food, language, lifestyle, hobbies, likes, dislikes, interests, expectations, everything was different.

But looking back at the 3 months she was here, I have had nothing but fun. We did all crazy things togethar. Shopping, eating out, walking, stories we shared, movies we saw, or just the talks on and on, and boy, she is a great cook! Our favorite show on TV is the AFV. We could see that for hours again and again. ROFL literally.

Its been like a cool breeze, that was soothing, gentle and quick enough. I thank God for giving a good friend. I am not sure, how she'll respond when she knows about this blog, she's up in the flight flying home. Its been just 3 hours, and I already miss her!

'Change is good! - from Freshman Father