If you
want to grow, you got to correct your
shortcomings And if you got to correct your shortcomings, heed to the right advice
and correction of elders and others, just admit it and say ’sorry’! That
registers in your mind and next time when you are about to commit the same
mistake “the sorry” pops up in your mind and reminds you in the matter. Before
I accepted Christ in 2004,I used to be
arrogant, proud and not willing to be disciplined or corrected by anybody. I
used to feel that I knew better than those who tried to correct me. However, after
I accepted Christ and started reading Matthew chapters 5,6 and 7 repeatedly, God
spoke to me and changed my entire attitude towards correction. Later I could realize
why others were correcting me in certain areas. Thereafter, I started readily
admitting my mistake. Today others are able to see a world of change in my
behavior and they acknowledge that only
Christ could have brought about this change in me. Now, before I preach on
anything, I introspect myself, find out my attitude and then preach. For
example: Earlier I used to preach on “forgiveness” in style when I myself was holding a lot of unforgiveness in my heart! But today, by the grace of God, I can confidently
preach on many such topics. In this connection, Proverbs 10:17 says “He who
heeds discipline shows the way to life, but
whoever ignores correction leads others astray”. So let us learn to admit our
mistakes, say ‘sorry’ and see the change in and around us. I believe even as
you are reading this, God is convicting you in this matter!
Sunday, 30 November 2014
Thursday, 27 November 2014
WHAT DOES BIBLE SAY ABOUT’TACTFUL REPLIES’?
As a part of strategy to handle inter-personal issues , people are advised by the Management Experts to handle the
matter “tactfully”. This means instead of giving a straight answer to the issue
raised, people are advised to give ' tactful' replies so that the matter does not precipitate into a problem. In
other words, instead of a straight “Yes” or “No”, people are encouraged to give
replies which are vague and not straight.
For example I receive a call from one of my friends at an odd time and
so I don’t want to attend the same. I ask my wife to pick up the call and tell
my friend that I am not in the house. Here,
my response through my wife is tactful ,
to avoid problems from my friend’s side! But in fact this is a “lie” which is
made to appear as a truth to my friend!
Similarly, we also tend to use acceptable words for
unacceptable practices. For example, often ' bribe' is called a gift. By using the word gift, the bribe becomes acceptable!
Now what does the Bible say about such tactful dealings? In
Matthew 5:37,Jesus Christ says “Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’ be
‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one”. Initially practising this
straight replies might cause problems in and around us. But in course of time, people
dealing with you will start appreciating you for your honest reply. I was a
Senior Officer handling a host of Employee and Customer related issues in a
large office. When the Lord convicted me in this matter, I started giving
straight and honest replies to the issues placed before me. True, lot of
problems cropped up between me and others in the beginning. But in due course, people
started admiring me for my honest response. Today, some of you
might be in the same position, giving tactful replies as I used to. You cannot change your
past but definitely you can make a difference in your future. If you want to
change, just repent from deep within your heart and meditate on the verse
mentioned above. God will give you the
grace to tell a straight “Yes” or “No”! God bless you !
Wednesday, 26 November 2014
WELCOME TO MY BLOG !
Hi all! Welcome to my blog-spot “livingtestimony”. Let me
introduce myself. I am Sundar, born in a Hindu family in India. Though I was born a Hindu,
I did not believe in Hinduism and was inside out an atheist from my 8th
year on wards. I remained an atheist even after my marriage till my 52nd
year. During my 52nd year ,I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal savior after an encounter. Life was never the same thereafter. As the years rolled by, I submitted
my life entirely into His hands and He started shaping me the way He wanted.
All my strongholds were broken down and the Lord reconstructed me into a new being.
It was almost like I had an “Before Christ(BC)” personality and “After Christ
(AC)” personality ! In BC,I was a worldly-achiever, bagging medals, proud, authoritative
,angry, introvert. Though I had all the material comforts ,I felt empty inside and never had any peace of mind.However,in my AC era,the Lord by His grace transformed me into a humble,loving,peaceful man with a heart to help the poor and needy through our own Ministry. My friends
who have seen me as a hard-core atheist are now surprised to see the way the Lord has
changed me. Through my journey, the Lord gave me lot of spiritual revelations
which I intend sharing in this blog-spot. I am sure even as you are reading
all my blogs, the Lord will convict you on various fronts of your life and bring great
changes in you,as he did in my life..Keep visiting the Blog spot. May God bless you!
Tuesday, 25 November 2014
AS A CHRISTIAN,WHAT SHOULD BE MY FOCUS?
‘Christian’
is one who follows Christ.’ To follow’ means ‘to obey the commands of Jesus
Christ. Jesus Christ himself has clearly spoken about this in John 14:15 “If
you love me, you will obey what I command”
Once you start obeying his commands you become his ‘disciple’. Your
character slowly becomes “Christ-like’ ,full of love for others, compassion, forgiveness,
justice ,sin-free etc. When you become a ‘full disciple’ you become a ‘walking
Jesus’ in the eyes of people around you.
Now at this point, you become eligible to
‘make disciples of nations’ as commanded in Matt 28:20.It may be noted that Jesus never asked anyone to’preach’ the gospel
anywhere in the gospel,but only ‘practise’it .So, as Christians, our focus
should be more to become Christ-like . But
now-a-days, most of the people are
driven towards prophesies, visions, deliverance, fasting prayer, blessings etc
more than becoming a real Christian inside. Jesus Christ never emphasized on
those things. Often ’ men of God’ is focused more than God! Praying to God for
yourself is not encouraged. ‘Praying for others’ is become a organized system.
People are not driven towards God, but towards’ men of God’. Jesus Christ clearly said in John 14:6 “I am
the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through
me”. Here, He has made it clear that He is the only mediator between man and
God. So, my dear Brothers and sisters, let us focus more on becoming Christ
like than going after blessings, signs, wonders etc .All these will happen in
time when the Lord wants it to happen in
our life!
Saturday, 22 November 2014
WHAT PLEASES GOD’D HEART MOST ?
When I want to please my little daughter, I offer her ,her favorite dish.
I may not like that dish, but to please her I offer her favourite. So, if you
want to please someone, you got to know what pleases that someone’s heart and
do accordingly. When it comes to pleasing God, the same rule applies.Many times
we buy for others what we like most! That is not correct.You cannot offer just what
pleases you,if you want to please God.Offer God what pleases Him! Ok,now ,what
pleases God most?
Is it, sacrifice, baptism, tithes
and offerings, visions and prophesies, signs and wonders, miracles, tongues, worshiping
continuously for long hours, spending your talents for Him? If you go through the
Holy Bible, you will come across lot of verses indicating His heart’s desire,be
it the Old testament or the New testament. Many verses declare that’ obedience’
to His commands, is the most important thing in pleasing God. This is emphasized every
where in the Bible. So being a Christian, the fore-most priority should be to
try to obey God’s commands honestly. Practical difficulties may come while following this priority. But with
God’s grace you can overcome them. If I could do it,any one can do it ! I will
be sharing my experience in this regard in another article.
Next to obedience, Lord always reveals His
love and compassion for the poor and needy, widows and aliens. God is keen on
justice to the poor, widows and aliens .He is against exploiting this group .He
hates partiality shown to the poor .He wants you to be generous in giving to
/helping the poor. The Lord commands in Deut 15:11‘There will always be poor
people in the land.Therefore I command you to be open-handed towards your
brothers and towards the poor and needy in your land.’ Exo 23.11 advises you to
offer the 7th year yield of your lands to the poor. In Lev 19:10,19:15.23:22
and in so many other verses Lord
instructs what should be done with
respect to this category of people .
I am not quoting all the Old Testament verses relating to this topic,for
want of space.
Similarly,in New Testament
,Jesus Christ emphasizes on helping the poor and needy in various verses. Matt
25:35,says “For I was hungry and you
gave me something to drink, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison
and you came to visit me”. When a rich man wanted to follow Jesus,Jesus said
,”If you want to be perfect,go,sell your possessions and give to the poor, and
you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Matt 19:21).When we
give banquets for marriages etc,we normally invite people who will invite us
back for their banquets.What does Jesus say about inviting guests for the
banquets you offer? In Luke 14:13,Jesus says “ But when you give a
banquet,invite the poor,the crippled,the lame,the blind and you will be blessed”.
That shows God’s heart for the poor!
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