Peace Through Appreciation!

We take too much in life for granted don't we! Express appreciation to God for His blessings; to your wife or husband for what he or she means to you; to you children for who they are; to your friends; to the people with whom you work. Never miss an opportunity to make an expression of appreciation for something. Really what life is all about is our relationships...people loving and helping each other...we get and we give...we are thankful. Then we find it easier to accept life, and as we accept life, we find peace.
         Here are some words which inspire me:

                                           Celebrate the temporary...

                                                         Don't wait till tomorrow

                                                         Live today.

                                                         Celebrate the simple things...

                                                         Enjoy the butterfly

                                                         Embrace the snow

                                                         Run with the ocean

                                                         Delight in the trees

                                                         Or a single lonely flower

                                                         Go barefoot

                                                          In the wet grass.

                                                          Don't wait

                                                          Until all the problems

                                                          Are solved

                                                          Or all the bills

                                                          Are paid.

                                                          You will wait forever

                                                          Eternity will come and go

                                                          And you

                                                          Will still be waiting.

                                                          Live in the now

                                                          With all its problems

                                                          With its agonies

                                                          With its joy

                                                          And its pain.

                                                          Celebrate your pain...

                                                          Your despair

                                                          Your anger

                                                           It means you're alive

                                                           Look closer

                                                           Breathe deeper

                                                           Stand taller

                                                           Stop grieving the past.

                                                           There is joy and beauty Today

                                                           It is temporary

                                                           Here now and gone

                                                           So celebrate it

                                                           While you can

                                                           Celebrate the temporary.

                                                                                               AUTHOR UNKNOWN

Satanic IF's!

          Here I would like to share some of the Satanic IF's in the Bible which challenged Christ's Divinity.

At the Temptation

• IF You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread, Matthew 4:3.
• IF You are the Son of God throw Yourself down, Matthew 4:6.

At the Cross

• IF You are the Son of God, come down from the Cross and save Yourself:

         The cry of the crowd, Matthew 27:40, "and saying, "You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross."

         The cry of the soldiers, Luke 23:37, "and saying, "If You are the Son of  the King of the Jews, save Yourself."

         The cry of the criminal, Luke 23:39, "Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, "If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us."

Who Is In Control?

Q1. Whom have you made to control your life?


Q2. What is Controlling you?


Q3. Where is your Obligation?

Is the trouble in your life controlling you?

Is problems- physical, mental, emotional or spiritual making your life shrink?

Is relationship- between friends, families, lovers, desire or wealth controlling your life?

I. We are living in an age of anxiety.

          Wystan Hugh Auden (a British author) wrote a poem two years after WWII entitled- 'The Age of Anxiety'. His poem half a century work, still has relevance in our time.

1. Having sleepless nights thinking about our future.

2. Experiencing distress and worrying about this and anxious about that.

          BUT if you are a Christian, you needn't allow worry to plague you. Instead turn over your worries and anxieties to your Father in Heaven. I Peter 5:7- "Cast all your burdens unto Him. For He cares for you."

          Envision ourselves, lifting our worries/burdens like a large stone and handling it to Jesus. When Jesus take hold of it, suddenly the rock shrinks to a pebble. Indeed it is true in its real sense.

          Illus: A missionary teaching a recently converted Hindu woman how to pray the Lord's Prayer. The woman prayed- "Our Father, which art in heaven." Then she said, "Stop! Do you mean that God is our Father?" The missionary replied, "Yes." She said, "That is enough! If God is our Father, then there is nothing to worry about!".

          Remember as a child- trusting our parents and guardians for them to take care of our concerns? In spite of our fear, with the thought that they are there, and every fear dissipates.

II. We need Transformation.

          Transform and Reform are two different forms, though they are related to change and so people often use them interchangeably.

          Reform means to become or make better by removing evils. Reform is slightly liberal in nature. We make reformations in our existing society and life. We are already tired and fed up of the same type of habitual tasks and happenings around us, that we want some changes to come to break that consistent habits by resorting to reformation. So, that's what it is...Reform.

          Transform means to change the appearance or structure of something or somebody absolutely-completely. Yes! I am still quite not really satisfied by the description. But, hope it rings some meaning into your ears. Anyway, that's the closest I can get. Transformation is a radical change. Quite different from reform [we will get into the little details further down].

          We hear people talking about being transformed into a different person, by judging by their character, personality and other psychological traits. But let me make myself very clear here: Only Christ Can Transform Our Lives.

          We see people approaching personality gurus to bring about changes and transformation   

in their lives and they are content by saying those 'stuffs' works! Let me tell you, for some, those might last only for some moments...but they cannot have it forever. Because they have approached the wrong guy! And if at all some people claim to have proof of how those 'stuffs' works, those are just the varieties of reforms not transform.

          I think I might have well made some points clear about the relation and difference between the two. Now, I would like to ponder for a while on what transformation is all about.

          Let me direct us to a Biblical reference in John 9:25 "One thing I know; that though I was blind, now I see." This is the catch word of transformation.

          Illus:   A non-believer once taunted a Christian who was converted drunkard. He speared, "Surely, you don't believe those Bible miracles, such as Christ turning water into wine." To this the ex-drunkard replied, "If you think that's a miracle, come to my home and I'll show you how Christ changed beer into carpets, chairs, and even a piano!"

          Christ has come to dwell in the heart of that converted drunkard and had transformed his inward life as well as his outward circumstances. As the Bible says in Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new."

          Q. Have you tried allowing Jesus to transform your life? Don't you think He can possibly transform it no matter in what state it is now?

          Jesus is in the business of changing lives. He has done it throughout the centuries and continues to do it even this day! Are you ready to accept Him?

          And all of those who have been changed and transformed by Him can echo what the blind man said when Christ gave him eye-sight for the first time in his life, "One thing I know; that though I was blind, now I see!"

           "I once was lost, but now I am found" [Amazing Grace]

           " Was condemned, but now I am accepted." This shall be our song from today!

III. We need assurance of Salvation: I John 5:13 "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life."

           Here is the big and tough question, Do you know for sure that when you die, you'll go to heaven? Well, that can be easily answered with out-most confidence if we have given our lives to Christ, and we can know for sure that we'll have eternal life because the Bible has clearly promises us that. God's Word is true, and It has greatly comforted those of us who have crossed death's door, the great and wise as well as the poor and humble.

           When Sir Michael Faraday, the brilliant scientist who discovered magnetism, was at his deathbed, someone asked him, "Sir Michael, what speculations do you have about life after death?" And he replied in astonishment, "Speculations! Why, I have no speculations! I'm resting on certainties!"

            "But I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able 

            To keep that which I've committed

            Unto Him against that day." [I Know Whom I Have Believed]

            That sure he was of his salvation! and you and I...how far have we come or are you yet to start? It's never too late to accept Him, but for those who haven't it's already late!

            Illus: An elderly Scottish lady lay at death's door, her pastor asked her, " Sadie, suppose that after all God has done for you, when you die, He should still allow you to perish; what then?" She said, "Well that's upto Him. He will do what He will. But if He does allow me to perish, then He will lose more than I. For though I lose my soul, He will lose His honor. He has promised me in His Word, "He that trusteth in Me shall never perish."[John 11:25]

            Do you have a burden causing you to worry today? Hand it over to God, your Father who cares for you, just like the Hindu woman. Allow Him to give you the peace that comes from trusting Him with everything that concerns you.

            Have you been changed by receiving Christ's lovingly offered gift of eternal life? If not, what are you waiting for? I urge you today to give your life to Him and watch Him change you for the good from the inside out. Let Him Control Your Life!