Sunday, May 27, 2018

I'm "The" Way


One question that people often ask, specially in India, when you tell them that you must put your faith in Jesus and change your lifestyle, then God will forgive you of your sins, is that:

"Why only Jesus? If I don't put my trust in Jesus, then will God not forgive me? This isn't fair!"

Lets look at Revelation 20, starting at verse 11.
Revelation 20, is a prophesy of a day which is going to come, when God will judge everyone who was ever born.


11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them.
12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened.Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.
13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done.
14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.
15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. 

Verse 13 is the key verse (see the line in Bold). So, the answer to the question that people often ask, is "NO, you don't have to put your trust in Jesus, God will judge everyone based on their deeds."

As much as this sounds fair, let me assure you that it is in fact a very very very bad news.

Mathew 5 verse 48 (also 1 Peter 1: 15)

48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. 

This verse simply means that your deeds 'must' be as perfect as God is perfect.
Now anyone who ever had a perfectionist spouse, can immediately understand the intensity of this demand :)

For others, let me explain.

Bible says, God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.  (1 John 1:5b)

If you consider a white sheet of paper as an example of being perfect, then a single tiny dot will make it imperfect. Similarly any sin, howsoever small, will make your deeds and therefore you, imperfect.

And by the way, this example was a little too generous one. In reality, our sheets not just have one or two small dots but it is filled with dots, to the extent that its like scarlet or crimson (Isaiah 1:18)

Psalms 130 : 3 says,

If you, Lord, kept a record of sins,
    Lord, who could stand?

When God judges us according to our deeds, none of us can stand justified. Absolutely none!

That is why we need Jesus. He is the only one who never sinned, the only one who was obedient to God even unto death, the only one whose sheet is completely white and without blemish, and he is the only one who took the punishment on behalf of all those who'll put their trust on him.

And those who put their trust in Jesus, they'll be judged NOT based on their own deeds, but on the basis of Jesus' deeds; and will therefore be saved.

So then, this is God's offer, this is His second chance to all of us who are helpless to save ourselves,
"Whosoever, puts their trust in Jesus, and change their lifestyle, will be forgiven, for Jesus' sake."


Let us therefore, beloved, be wise; and accept God's offer before its too late; because Jesus is "the" way...!!!

Sunday, January 14, 2018

Christ - Center of our life

Is Christ the center of your life?

Every christian should ask this to himself, even otherwise, for sure, he must have heard this question at least once. 

But what does it mean!

I was pretty sure I knew.

When I  was planning to buy a house, I first prayed about it and when I found one I gave all the glory to God (which rightly, I must). When I was preparing for admission in some college, I diligently prayed about it and when I successfully got placed I knew that it's only because of the Lord's mercy and I gave all the credit to Him.

I truly depended on God for all my decisions, I earnestly wanted His will not mine. 

Does that mean Christ was the center of my life? Of course He was at the center of my life, after all I acknowledge Him in everything I do; or was He?

To know that, let's first try to define what it means to be center of one's life.

"When someone becomes so important for you that you are ready to go to any extent to meet their desires and their interests; they become the center of your life. Your whole life basically revolves around them and what they like"

The best example, that I can think of is when a child is born to a couple. He immediately becomes the center of their life. 

They are ready to sacrifice those late night parties they used to enjoy, for him; they are ready to miss that college reunion, if he's not well; they are ready to even sit and watch that cartoon series for an hour, for him. They are ready to do anything for him even if it's unpleasant and boring, and they'd never do it except if it was for him. 

In the same way, when I say Christ is the center of my life, His desire and His interests must become more important to me, than my own.

Now what is Christ's desire and his interests?

In Luke 19:10 Jesus said, "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost". He came to save the sinners, to reconcile man to God.
He did this while he was in this world and when he left, He commissioned this task to His disciples.

Matthew 28:19-20
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

So as a disciple of Christ I am in a mission, I am co-labourer with Christ in His mission.

The way I used to pray shows that God wasn't center of my life, I was. And since I can't risk making wrong decisions, I want God. Who else can make sure that I don't make a blunder other than the all knowing God?

I wanted God to be on my side rather than I being on His side. I wanted God to approve what I want to do rather than doing what God wants to do.

If Christ is center of my life, I look for a job and I make sure that it doesn't deter my mission to know Christ and to make him known; If Christ is the center of my life, I don't buy a house just because I want to, but I make a house which is open for prayer and His work.

I don't ask God, is this Job good for my future?, will I do well? (no harm in doing it though) rather I analyze the work and ask God before taking it up, to make sure that this work must not deter the mission for which I have been called out.

Truly when Paul says I've been crucified with Christ, he understood that it is no longer, his desire and his ambitions that was important but Christ's desire and His mission that is worth doing.


Let's remold our lives to make Christ truly center of our lives whatever the cost maybe!