Whose Stronghold Are You Holding On To?

We all go through times in life where we feel stuck in a situation and it takes forever to get out of it. Some days are overwhelming and exhausting, some are low and dull. But, we have a choice to make in days like these.

We can choose to hold on to God's stronghold of faith, love, joy and peace; or we can hold on the Devil's stronghold of hopelessness, hatred, despair and anxiety.

The only difference is that, holding on the Devil's stronghold will keep you bound in his sad and dark situation, but holding on to God's stronghold will pull you out of the pit and surprise you beyond your imagination!

What do you choose today?

When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion (Jerusalem), We were like those who dream [it seemed so unreal]. Then our mouth was filled with laughter And our tongue with joyful shouting; Then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” They who sow in tears shall reap with joyful singing. He who goes back and forth weeping, carrying his bag of seed [for planting], Will indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.
PSALMS 126:1‭-‬2‭, ‬5‭-‬6 AMP

Stage or Altar?

Most of us have grown up watching and enjoying worship songs by Hillsong, Bob Fitts, Don Moen and many more. We’ve loved their set up and the way they lead their crowd. Deep down, we would have even craved to be where they are. But has their journey been that simple as we see and think of it to be?

Since a long time I’ve been wanting to write this blog. Before completing this blog, I had passed on a questionnaire to a few worship teams; the response I received was overwhelming. I personally learnt a lot from a different perspective.

I had been a part of the worship team for a long time. I’ve seen many leaders and the different ways they lead their team; and I’ve learnt a lot from each one of them. When I got a chance to lead our worship teams, I understood what it actually takes to be a worship leader, or for that matter of fact, even to complete a small responsibility as a part of the worship team. What I learned, helped me get better as a worshipper. I hope my findings may be helpful!

•God has chosen you. You grow and get better where you are because God has chosen you. If not for God’s plan, you would have been a mess. God searches the depths of your heart and gives you the privilege to serve Him. https://www.biblestudytools.com/nlt/john/passage/?q=john+4:23-24
When God has chosen you, He will also give you the skill to glorify Him. https://www.biblestudytools.com/nlt/exodus/passage/?q=exodus+31:1-6 
But that doesn’t mean that you have no work to do. Your role is to remain committed and passionate about your role. One response I received about passion was wonderful. If you have a passion to work for God’s kingdom, you will be ready to take all the pain it requires and make the necessary sacrifices to give God the best in what you do. As I earlier mentioned about Hillsong and other artists, they are where they are because of their passion for God; they spend hours meditating on God’s word and practicing music. That’s how they not only are able to minister to many souls, but also attain perfection.

•The next important thing is to pass on the mantle. Are you preparing someone after you? Moses prepared Joshua to be the next leader. Joshua failed to prepare anyone after him which created chaos for a while. It is always important and good to have a backup in case you are not available. With that attitude you ensure that you would not want the worship team to lack in any area. Preparing someone after you also shows that you are not wanting all the attention; it’s not about you, but it’s all about the work in the Kingdom that must continue. Sharing your knowledge also enriches you and you may end up discovering something new each time. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews%2013:16&version=ESV

•Discipline is one of the most important principles in any person’s life. Being punctual, taking care of your resources, respecting each other, constructive criticism is all important to improve as an individual and as a team. Being disciplined does show how involved you are in your role. I am not talking about following hard and fast rules that don’t provide any space to a person, but reasonable rules that also display honour towards God’s work and maintain a good testimony. You might be elder than your leader, but that doesn’t excuse you from being submissive. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.biblegateway.com/passage/%3fsearch=Hebrews%2b12:11&version=NIV&interface=amp
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.biblegateway.com/passage/%3fsearch=1%2bTimothy%2b4:12-14&version=HCSB&interface=amp

•Stressed leader? Lack of transperancy, passion and commitment in the team members will lead to a leader being stressed out trying to hold all of them together. A worship team will get better only if each and every individual is passionate about learning and getting better; if they are ready to commit themselves totally for their calling. Rejection of constructive criticism will only lead to stagnancy. Only encouraging or only criticising will bring a stop to all scope of growing. There has to be a balance. Some people say that Church is not place to please people, but I’ve mostly seen such people end up as man pleasers. Honestly speaking, there shouldn't be any place where you please men. We should pelase God in all that we do. The Bible clearly mentions that we must encourage and uplift each other in truth and love.  https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Thessalonians+5%3A11 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Timothy+4%3A2&version=ERV
In order to improve, we need to learn to accept our flaws and work on them. We need to commit our time in practice which may require hours. When I say commitment, I mean both time and money. Without time your skills won’t get better and without money you won’t be able to upgrade yourselves with better equipments. It’s true that the heart matters more to God, but the use of instruments in worship (Zamaars) is mentioned in the Bible. It is not only the responsibility of the church to invest in better equipments, but also an individual responsibility and passion to improvise and get better. When people in the world are so passionate about giving their best, why do we limit ourselves when we worship God? I don’t find anything wrong in getting better equipped as long as your focus is God and worshipping Him and not self-glorification. At the same time, the church also has to be sensitive and supportive to the needs of their worship team and contribute in the investments. It goes hand in hand.

Finally, we need to realise that we are there to serve the people of God by leading them to the altar. It’s not a stage for our personal glorification, but an altar to get the lost and brokenhearted to. It is not the song that is annointed, but you are annointed and you minister to people through worship songs. It isn’t wrong to aspire to be like great worship leaders and worship teams, but it’s wrong to expect that any of it will come to you without any sacrifice. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+11:1

Worship is not only singing, but every person in the team playing the instruments, displaying the lyrics, handling the sound, etc are worshipping God by catering to His people with passion in carrying forth the responsibility given to them. Let us focus on getting better for the glory of God and being able to cater to the broken hearted through our worship.

Psalm 23 ~ Part 2

DO YOU KNOW HIM?

A part of Psalm 23 talks about the Shepherd. While meditating on this Psalm, all I could imagine was the intimacy between David and God. He knew His Shepherd so well. No wonder he could so freely and without any shame worship the Lord. No wonder he was so crazily in love with the Lord. He talks about how the Shepherd loves, cares and corrects. Jesus has laid down the best example of a good shepherd. https://www.google.co.in/amp/s/www.biblegateway.com/passage/%3fsearch=Isaiah+40:11&version=NIV&interface=amp

A few qualities I could understand about what David saw in the Lord were :

1. He takes care of all our needs. There’s nothing we need to worry about when we know that our Shepherd is in control. https://www.biblestudytools.com/matthew/passage/?q=matthew+6:25-34
2. He ensures that we are satisfied and that we will lack nothing. He is sensitive to our needs and proves to be more than enough for us. He comforts His sheep with His presence. When the Shepherd is around, the sheep will be at peace and will have a sense of security. https://www.google.co.in/amp/s/www.biblegateway.com/passage/%3fsearch=Psalm+27:3&version=ESV&interface=amp
3. The sight of the Shepherd rejuvenates the sheep. They can trust their Shepherd to lead them in the paths that are right and involves no danger. The Shepherd is always around and never leaves His sheep. https://www.google.co.in/amp/s/www.biblegateway.com/passage/%3fsearch=Psalm+27:10&version=NIV&interface=amp
4. He disciplines and comforts because He loves His sheep. With a rod, a shepherd can gently nudge a stray sheep back into line or, using the hook, pull a sheep from a dangerous spot. The rod is also used as a weapon to defend the flock against wolves and other invaders. He makes provision for His sheep in advance. His anointing over His sheep is enough to get them abundant blessings. When the battle seems lost, the Shepherd completely turns the table in favour of His sheep. He ensures that His sheep is always on the winning side, even if it means laying down His own life. https://www.google.co.in/amp/s/www.biblegateway.com/passage/%3fsearch=John+10:11&version=NIV&interface=amp

Psalm 23 ~ Part 1

Whom do you trust?

David had a rock-solid confidence in God. He didn’t wonder whether God was going to give him food to eat, clothes to wear, or a place to live. Part of that confidence came from his experiences. And part of that confidence came from the fact that David knew God very well. All of David’s hopes and dreams were caught up in the Lord. Even if he had been forced to go without some of the things that people consider necessities, he wouldn’t have missed them much. His trust was in the Lord. 

http://www.biblestudytools.com/nlt/isaiah/49-10.html

http://www.biblestudytools.com/nlt/luke/passage/?q=luke+12:29-31

http://www.biblestudytools.com/nlt/john/6-35.html

Your situations might make you feel that you’re alone, you’re hopeless and cannot be healed again. Rather than living in a dead situation, live in the life Christ offers you. Before you let the Devil know about your God, you need to know Him and trust him; the Devil already knows the power of God. We let him in through open doors because we don’t trust in God and we don’t realise His power. I saw every problem as a dead end in my life till I didn’t completely recognise the power of God in my life. Today when I do, I can easily depend on Him even in the times of trials. I can easily praise and worship Him, dance even when it hurts and rejoice even when there is no reason to do so. My situations may not give me a reason to rejoice; but my God surely does! 

Touch Me Not!

All of us have learnt about sensitive plants like the mimosa. They close themselves when touched. As kids, we used to find that very amusing. And as grown ups now, it is equally amusing to find people with so much of sensitivity. As Vishwas, a brother in church once told me, ‘I find people become more sensitive after accepting the Lord.’ As I pondered over it, I found it to be a fact. We can find ‘touch me nots’ more in the church than what we may find in the world outside. All of us, somewhere down the line, feel bad about almost everything and anything thrown at us, sometimes intentionally and sometimes unintentionally. 

We feel bad about not being smiled at, not spoken to, not taken extra care of, our needs not being noticed, being discussed in our absence, being addressed in our presence, and so much more!! And each one of us has gone through this phase at some point of our Christian life in our fellowship with our spiritual family. Some of us have matured through it while some of us prefer to remain stuck down there. 

Most of the sensitive people would be the old members who demand personal attention for everything. The scenario should actually be the other way around; the new members should be given more love, care and attention by the older members. That’s how we work together in the family of Christ. Not putting down one another, but encouraging one another. When we gossip and not be open about how we feel, we create barriers for ourselves. Much of those barriers are unnecessary and wouldn’t have ever existed if we were open and clear in our communication with each other. 

Philippians 2 : 1 - 7

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians+2%3A1-7&version=ESV

Hebrews 5 : 12 - 14

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews%205:12-14

When God was dealing with this issue in me, I realised why did I feel so bad about little things that shouldn’t make a difference? And God showed me the answer through my mom. When I see her serving people in the church, as their spiritual mother, I see her love for them just as her love for my sister and me. I don’t find her service for them any different from all that she does for us. When I learned to embrace people as they are and love them, even though we do not belong to the same biological family, I found it easier to accept correction from people, take jokes lightly and be open about how I felt. I realised that just as you can’t develop a close bond with every other person in your family, you might not be able to bond closely with everyone in your spiritual family. In spite of it, the love of Christ keeps us bound and even if we are not closely bound, we can still be available for each other to help, love, care, share and pray. When we view our spiritual family like our biological family, we’ll be able to stand by each other at all times with unconditional love. My mom has always taught me that the spiritual family is as important as the biological family and she has lived by it. 

1 John 4 : 7 - 21

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+4%3A7-21&version=ESV

My Glorious!

Psalm 19 : 7 - 10

This is a Psalm of eloquent praise of the Lord and His laws. Verses 7 - 10 mentions the excellencies of the law in its manifold uses. 

It took me a while to write this one. Even as I continued to meditate on this Psalm, verses 7 - 10, to be precise; I could draw out 6 points about the the faithfulness and glory of God. These verses just provide a ‘perfect revelation of the Lord’. 

1. The law of the Lord : All the laws of the Lord are perfect - flawless. When we love the Lord with all our heart, mind and soul; and when we follow His laws, it has the power to convict us and change us. It is by following the law of the Lord that we are able to live righteous lives.     2 Timothy 3:17, ‘All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.’
2. The testimony of the Lord : All that the Lord says, He does. All the works that He has done in the past, the mighty works He still does, and the faithful works in the years to come has proven and will continue to prove His steadfast love. If you can, just take a moment to remember the recent wonderful surprise from God in your life. And I’m sure that there will be many more such incidents in your life and you won’t be able to stop thanking God for His faithfulness. In times of difficulties, these experiences and testimonies that God has raised in our lives gives us wisdom and helps lift our spirits because we know we can trust God. We know that we can encourage each other because of His goodness that we have experienced in our lives. We can rest in the fact that ‘He is the same yesterday, today and forever.’ Hebrews 13 : 8
3. The statues of the Lord : Whenever we hear of some court case going on in the country, we wish for the honest side to win. And when that happens, we do feel happy about it. Similarly, the percepts of God are true, just like Him. There is no hidden lies or compromise in it. It is true in itself. Following His statues helps us live life the right way. Because His percepts are true, it brings joy and refreshment to our hearts. God’s truth and justice will always stay supreme. All those who rely on His truth and justice will never be disappointed. Psalm 119 : 128, ‘and because I consider all your precepts right, I hate every wrong path.’
4. The commandments of the Lord : At times, we find the instructions of God irrational. But God knows best. All His commandments are pure, unadulterated. He gives us instructions only because He loves us and wants the best for us. Following His pure instructions only purifies us further. It refines us. It displays our trust in Him. When we embrace His commandment which is without darkness and surrender to it, the Spirit will enlighten us, convict us and cleanse us. Psalm 119 : 9, ‘How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word.’
5. The fear of the Lord : God will live forever. When everything on earth has decayed, He will still be Lord. And all those who chose to worship Him, will still be singing His praises. There will be worship in heaven for all eternity. Revelation 15 : 4, ‘Who will not fear you, Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.’
6. The judgements of the Lord : His judgements are grounded on truth and righteousness. They help us stay alert and be thoughtful about our thoughts, words and deeds. They are right and help us stay upright in our ways. They are to be valued more than gold and silver, because His judgements will not rust away or reduce in value, but they will endure forever. Psalm 119 : 103, ‘How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!’

Finally, we know that God is all powerful. He alone can work wonders for us. He alone can do the impossible and all glory, honour and praise is due to Him!

Forget Not His Benefits

Amidst the storm I have felt your peace,

In your embrace I feel my fears release. 

In your light my darkness flees,

Your goodness, Oh Lord, will never cease!

You healed me when I was sick,

My thoughts, my words, my deeds you fixed. 

You consecrated me and set me apart,

Now from Your love, will I never part. 

You bring joy to every mourning,

And heartfelt praises for You are unending. 

Your grace never leaves me forgotten,

So I offer my praise unbroken. 

Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not His goodness,

Surrender to Him, He will impart His righteousness. 

Obedience He seeks, and not your sacrifice;

Trust Him, His grace will suffice!

Repentance 2 Restoration

Job 42.

We all know the story of Job; his suffering and then his wonderful restoration. The way to that restoration wasn't easy. It was painful and required Job to do one thing : Repent. He had to humble himself before the Lord in order to be restored. 

Throughout the book of Job, you will see conversations between him and his friends. Job continues to question what has he done to deserve this suffering and his friends continue to condemn him instead of comforting him. Finally when the Lord speaks, Job repents before the Lord and suddenly finds a sense of peace within himself. He doesn't find the need to justify himself any longer. He realised God's truth and His ways of working. He repented and prayed for his friends, only then was he restored. Repentance frees us and makes it easier for us to pray for all those who hurt us. 

Job 42:10 NKJV

And the Lord restored Job's losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.

Acceptance of our faults and true repentance brings restoration of God's peace and joy in our lives. The need for justifying ourselves doesn't arise, because we realise that truth, in itself is justified. We find easier to pray that God blesses those who are against us rather than praying for God to give us justice, because we can rest in the fact that God is just and knows best what to do and when to do it.

Luke 6:28 NKJV

bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.

Walking in repentance and humility, and walking in His truth will lead us to the restoration God has planned for us. 

James 4:10New Living Translation (NLT)

10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.

It's All About Love ~ Part IV

How Long Can You Endure?

“It is not irritable,”
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭13:5‬ ‭NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/1co.13.5.nlt

Now here comes the most difficult part! We all have that one point in life where we know we are about to explode. The only difference is that the boiling point of every individual is different. Some can be the epitome of patience while some can be so irritable that it takes only a small prank to get them to lose their patience.
Well, Paul clearly says that you will be extra patient if you have love. It simply means that you understand everyone here on earth is weak. We all have some weak areas that we struggle to deal with. Understanding that helps us to be patient. We give the other person time to deal with their weaknesses. We realise that we can't change a person, only God can. It's not our duty to change a person.
“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭3:23‬ ‭NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/rom.3.23.nlt
We all have fallen short pf His glorious standard, yet He loves us; He is madly in love with us. He is patient with us and keeps accepting us when we run to Him. The story of the Prodigal Son explains it the best.

But then there's another side to it as well. There are people who are teachable and those who are not. There are people who are really struggling with their weaknesses and there are people who will try their best to provoke you. And the Bible clearly mentions not to provoke.
“Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.”
‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5:26‬ ‭NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/gal.5.26.nlt

“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭6:4‬ ‭NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/eph.6.4.nlt

It's better to distance ourselves from such people and let God deal with them. But with people who are genuinely struggling, let's be patient just as God is with us.

All About Love ~ Part III

I Love You; But........

“Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way."
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭13:4-5‬ ‭NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/1co.13.4-5.nlt

Do we find it easy to rejoice with our loved ones when they are blessed with something that we wanted to have...and desperately have it? Well, the Bible clearly mentions that love is not jealous! Some versions also state the word envy.
Sometimes, we have been praying hard for a new job, a better salary, a good house, etc. And we see the answers to our prayers in the life of our loved one. What is the first thought that crosses over our mind? Are you really happy for your loved one? Let me put it in a simple example:
You have been wanting to go abroad and you've been praying hard for it. But things don't work the way you want it to. Your brother's passport gets done without any hassles and his visa also gets cleared. You surely would be sad in the first place, and that is a completely natural reaction. But do you continue sulking or decide to just be as excited as your brother is? There's a serious problem if you keep sulking, throw tantrums, don't help your brother shop and pack his stuffs, etc. In such a case, you need to sot in the presence of God and deal with it.
We need to realise that God knows what's best for us and He won't withhold the best from us. There are times when we block our own blessings because of disobedience and compromises we make in order to fit in this society. Even the 10th commandment says Do Not Covet. Wanting something that doesn't belong to us or envying the person for his/her blessings, is simply not love. If you truly love the person, you would rejoice with him/her as if you have been blessed. You will thank the Lord for working in his/her life. You will also introspect the hurdles you have created that are blocking your blessings or if you need to just trust God and His ways.

There's no point in just talking about how much you love the person when your actions speak otherwise. If you really love a person, you'll take care that you don't hurt that person. You won't look down upon that person and uplift yourself instead. You will show them their mistakes with kindness. You will happily accept that you don't know it all and give some credit to the others. You would also want people to treat you kindly, with respect and love.
“Do to others as you would like them to do to you.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭6:31‬ ‭NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/luk.6.31.nlt

And finally, love is about making adjustments for each other; not compromises. Each one has to bend a little in order to mend.
I've heard people say 'Don't get me wrong. I do love you, but I expected it to be done this way.' 'I want you to live upto your dreams and have the best because I love you; but I felt you should do this because I know things better than you. You're too young to know it all. I've seen worse days.' 'I Love you, but I can't do it your way.'
If it's with conditions, it's not love. Love is not meant to be sold with *Conditions Apply*
“Give as freely as you have received!”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭10:8‬ ‭NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/mat.10.8.nlt

It's All About Love ~ Part II

Patience and Kindness
"Love is patient and kind."
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭13:4 NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/1co.13.4-5.nlt

Patience:
By the grace of God we can freely approach Him. Even when we do something wrong or when we sin, we can go to Him, with a true heart repent for what we have done and be cleansed by the blood of Christ. In the same way, we are expected to be patient with the ones we love. Being patient includes forgiving them each time they hurt you and encourage them each time they try hard to allow Christ to change them. Change is a gradual process and we need to be patient with the ones we love. The parable of the Prodigal Son explains it the best. Forgiving might not seem easy each time, but when you can see the person being determined to change ways, we must ask God to help us be patient with them not forgetting that He is patient with us too.

"So watch yourselves! "If another believer sins, rebuke that person; then if there is repentance, forgive. Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must forgive.""
‭‭Luke‬ ‭17:3-4‬ ‭NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/luk.17.3-4.nlt
As Jesus clearly says to forgive, He also says to rebuke the person who sins. And here is where 'Love is Kind' is applicable.

Kindness:
You will never want your loved ones to perish and that's why you would correct them when wrong. God has placed spiritual leaders over us to discipline us. Even God disciplines us. But the word discipline only helps us think about how to be harsh and how to use the rod to hurt and help someone realise how wrong the person is. But we often forget that: His rod and His staff comforts us. (Psalm 23:4)
Discipline doesn't mean to look down upon someone and hurt someone. It should bring comfort. Using the rod does cause a little pain, but when used with kindness can work as a healing balm.

Earlier people offered animals and birds as sacrifice. Jesus Christ became the ultimate sacrifice for our sins and restored our relationship with the Father. Through His sacrifice, we receive grace to boldly approach the Father. It is because of His grace that He easily forgives us and accepts us each time we approach Him. It His love demonstrated to us through Him being patient and kind with us. But that doesn't give us advantage to play around with the grace we have freely received.

"Well then, since God's grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not!"
‭‭Romans‬ ‭6:15‬ ‭NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/rom.6.15.nlt

God's love for us knows no bounds. He gave His only son for us. Jesus paid a heavy price for our sins. And it is only because of His love for us that He can't let us ruin our lives by playing around with sin. We might end up losing patience with some people. We might not be able to display kindness. Such actions of ours will only be justified when we are aware that the person is stiff necked and doesn't want to mend ways. It is not our duty to change people, only Christ can; but when the person doesn't surrender to Christ willingly, the only way left with us is to pray for that person. Sometimes, remembering people in your prayers can be the best and the only way to maintain relationships. You might cut off every means of communication and yet display patience and kindness by praying without ceasing for them.

"Then Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people selling animals for sacrifices."
‭‭Luke‬ ‭19:45‬ ‭NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/luk.19.45.nlt
Jesus did lose His cool. You might also be aware of many scriptures where He wasn't very kind towards the Pharisees. Yet, He did not sin. Neither did He hate them. And I'm sure that if they would come to Him with a repentant heart, He would have gladly forgiven them and accepted them; but they didn't. Even when they knew that Jesus was speaking about them, they didn't bother to mend their ways.

"When the leading priests and Pharisees heard this parable, they realized he was telling the story against them—they were the wicked farmers."
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭21:45‬ ‭NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/mat.21.45.nlt

Similarly, we might encounter such people. It is only the Holy Spirit who can help us discern to make the right choice.

Patience and Kindness go hand in hand. They are qualities that express love. We need to ensure that we aren't playing with the grace and love we receive not only from God, but also from people. At the same time, we need to be careful that people shouldn't exploit us because of the patience and kindness we show towards them.

It's All About Love ~ Part I

Love in Words, Deeds and Reality.

"If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn't love others, I would have gained nothing."
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭13:3‬ ‭NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/1co.13.3.nlt

Right from the first verse of this chapter, Paul talks about the importance of love. We all know how important love is and we believe that if you love someone, it has to be seen in actions. Yet Paul draws such a beautiful difference between love in words, love in deeds and love- true love.

For many in today's world, love is charity. Distributing clothes and food among the poor, donating money to orphanages and old age homes, etc. Some do it in secrecy and some publicly. But is the love of Christ limited to just that? Will that be enough to love the unloved with the love of Christ?

"Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with such scum? " When Jesus heard this, he said, "Healthy people don't need a doctor—sick people do.""
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭9:10-12‬ ‭NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/mat.9.10-12.nlt

Jesus did not boast about His deeds. Neither did He only stop at helping the needy. He went a step ahead. He invested His time in their lives. And that means a lot.

We need to realise that people need our time more than the material we offer. We can share about the love of Christ only when we spend time with those who need it. Many a times we can gift someone and yet not love the person. We can easily fake an 'I love you' without even meaning it.

Love is more than words and deeds. It's more than materialistic things. It is what people are actually deprived of. As disciples of Christ, it's upto us to invest this true loves in the lives of those who really need it.

Charity might earn you a name and status in society, but service will earn you a reward by The Most High!

It's All About Love ~ Part V

Don't Compromise

“and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.”
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭13:5-6‬ ‭NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/1co.13.5-6.nlt

Forgive and Let Go is the key to a happy life. God also forgives us, accepts us as we are and and cleanses us of our sins.
“He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭103:12‬ ‭NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/psa.103.12.nlt
But we enjoy the grace given to us so much that we tend to start playing around with the grace given to us. The records of our wrongdoings are not remembered by God if we repent with a true heart. We need to ask the Holy Spirit to help us be teachable.
God forgives us easily. It is only when He knows that we will only learn the hard way, does he decides to discipline us. He doesn't enjoy while we suffer. It pains Him too. He is our Father; a Father who loves and cares for us more than any human can. He loves us and so He disciplines us. We also need to keep reminding ourselves that our God is a just God. Even before He considers a person to be an orphan or a widow, He sees right and wrong. We are answerable to Him for our deeds.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭6:23‬ ‭NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/rom.6.23.nlt
“Those who spare the rod of discipline hate their children. Those who love their children care enough to discipline them.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭13:24‬ ‭NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/pro.13.24.nlt
In the past couple of years I've realised that loving someone is not standing with that person in all that he does. Love is when you try to stop that person from compromising with God's standards. Love is not supporting your loved one to go towards the pit or jumping with him in the pit; it is helping your loved one to come out of the pit. Compromising with God's word is no where close to loving God. If you love God, you will gladly obey His words and "Obedience is better than sacrifice,"
‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭15:22‬ ‭NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/1sa.15.22.nlt
Only being true keeps the love in any relationship alive. There might be times where you will have to stand against your loved ones in order for the truth to win, but remember that pleasing the Lord is more important than pleasing men. God will honour you for taking the right stand. He loves you unconditionally and so will rejoice over you for being true.
In situations where you find yourself helpless, if you're with people who are not teachable, trust in the Lord. His grace is enough! His love will take you through and He will make a way for you.