His Word sustains us

About 7 months back, I made a decision to run to the Word of God whenever I felt anxious. Looking back, I've not always done that! I cannot say honestly that I've completely stopped worrying. Today, Our Daily Bread devotional had another challenging message on "worry".

Worry could be caused due to:

• a lack of gratitude for the way God has cared for us in the past. (this hit me hard!)
  
• a lack of faith that God really is trustworthy.
  
• depending on ourselves instead of God.

To put it strongly, it is a sin to worry.

The Word of God, spending time reading and meditating on it, and just spending some quiet time in His presence, takes away our anxieties. His Word sustains us.

When that prayer request that you've been making to God for sometime now, does not seem to be answered, just hold on. God knows what you're going through. God knows what you need. God is in control. God loves you :)

In God do we trust?

This is an inspiring story that I came across. Unable to find the author who originally wrote this, but found many sites hosting the same story.

Several years ago, a friend of mine and her husband were invited to spend the weekend at the husband's employer's home. My friend, Arlene, was nervous about the weekend. The boss was very wealthy, with a fine home on the waterway, and cars costing more than her house.

The first day and evening went well, and Arlene was delighted to have this rare glimpse into how the very wealthy live. The husband's employer was quite generous as a host, and took them to the finest restaurants. Arlene knew she would never have the opportunity to indulge in this kind of extravagance again, so was enjoying herself immensely.

As the three of them were about to enter an exclusive restaurant that evening, the boss was walking slightly ahead of Arlene and her husband.

He stopped suddenly, looking down on the pavement for a long, silent moment. Arlene wondered if she was supposed to pass him. There was nothing on the ground except a single darkened penny that someone had dropped, and a few cigarette butts.

Still silent, the man reached down and picked up the penny. He held it up and smiled, then put it in his pocket as if he had found a great treasure. How absurd! What need did this man have for a single penny? Why would he even take the time to stop and pick it up? Throughout dinner, the entire scene nagged at her.

Finally, she could stand it no longer. She causally mentioned that her daughter once had a coin collection, and asked if the penny he had found had been of some value.

A smile crept across the man's face as he reached into his pocket for the penny and held it out for her to see. She had seen many pennies before! What was the point of this?

"Look at it." He said. "Read what it says."

She read the words "United States of America."

"No, not that; read further."

"One cent?"

"No, keep reading."

"In God we Trust?"

"Yes!"

"And?"

"And if I trust in God, the name of God is holy, even on a coin. Whenever I find a coin I see that inscription. It is written on every single United States coin, but we never seem to notice it! God drops a message right in front of me telling me to trust Him? Who am I to pass it by? When I see a coin, I pray, I stop to see if my trust IS in God at that moment. I pick the coin up as a response to God; that I do trust in Him. For a short time, at least, I cherish it as if it were gold. I think it is God's way of starting a conversation with me. Lucky for me, God is patient and pennies are plentiful!

When I was out shopping today, I found a penny on the sidewalk. I stopped and picked it up, and realized that I had been worrying and fretting in my mind about things I cannot change. I read the words, "In God We Trust," and had to laugh. Yes, God, I get the message. It seems that I have been finding an inordinate number of pennies in the last few months, but then, pennies are plentiful!

And, God is patient...

--- Author Unknown

In God do we trust? At ALL times? Even when things don't go our way? Even when we see only dark clouds and no silver lining?


Here is a true story of immense trust that a family (the Ferlaaks) showed, even when faced with a very tragic accident. They lost their 4-year-old daugther Teagan. For no fault of theirs, their lives were shattered. But yet they trusted in God's timing, His goodness, His grand plan. Even when their own hearts were aching, they could forgive the person who caused the accident!

The way the Ferlaaks handled their tragedy, is an inspiration to us, to trust God with ALL of our life. God is always in control.

Bring it to Me!

Every time the anger roars in your heart. Bring it to Me.

Every time you feel like nobody hears you. Bring it to Me.

When you think it isn't fair. When you think it isn't true. When you can't think at all.

Bring it to My feet, and I will make an altar from your suffering.

The above words are from Angela, a mother who is going through a tough time. Read her blog for details. I just couldn't help but cry when reading her posts.

Jesus said: Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Once when faced with a hopeless situation, I forgot all scripture ... I just couldn't pray. Like Angela said, "when you can't think at all", which is what happened. And I denied God. I started saying, there is no God. I'm so ashamed to think about that moment. But thank God for His tender mercies. When others knelt down to pray, I poured my heart out too and got His peace.

I pray that when we're facing the worst crisis of our life, we'll remember Jesus' call: Bring it to Me!

You cared for me (Matthew 25:31-46)

Sometime in 2006, we had gone on a visit to Little Drops a home for destitute, elderly people, and Rehoboth a home for the mentally-ill. These homes are fully donor-supported, and receive no grants from the Government, or any other organization.

What touched me a lot at the end of that visit, was the little conversation I had with an elderly lady, old enough to be my grandmother. She said, "You look just-like one of my grandsons! But my grandsons never come to visit me ... I want you to take a photo with me, so that you'll remember me and pray for me." No words to express the sadness of that moment ...

Here's a small video clip of Little Drops and Rehoboth, made by a couple (Mr. & Mrs. Howies?) from All Hallows Parish Church (USA?) - thanks a lot for this wonderful video clip! Take time to visit this place and spend some time with the people there. It makes a difference in their lives, however small it maybe.


Read Matthew 25:31-46.

You took the fall and You thought of me

A long time before I was born ... in a far away place unknown to me .... there was someone who went through excruciating torture and inhuman treatment .... he was spit upon ... despised ... mocked .... and all for no crime of His. He could've very easily silenced all His accusers through His unparalleled wisdom. But He didn't. At a snap of His fingers He could have struck down all his enemies. But He didn't.

He humbled Himself to the point of death. Just so that I can escape eternal punishment, He allowed Himself to be tortured to death. And through it all, He thought of me .... What? WHY? Who am I that You're mindful of me? What did I do to deserve Your gift of life?

And He said ....
"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends" - John 15:13

He called me friend! He's still alive ... His name is: Jesus.



Compared to all the best that this world has to offer - power, riches, fame, ... - Jesus is above all. There's nothing greater than knowing this Jesus as my best friend. And He wants to be your best friend too!

P.S.: Paul Baloche and Lenny LeBlanc, wrote this beautiful song: Above all powers. They have written, how they came to write the lyrics for this song.

Courage and Time Management

It's been a while since there was a new post in this blog. In the meantime, I got married! Was also involved in a whole lot of activities at Church and in our local prayer group. 2008 has been an exciting time so far. And unbelievably, almost 2 months are already gone! Time is flying away so fast ...

So what's Courage got to do with managing our time? Read on ...

I was reading this particular devotional from ODB about "Courage: Live it" by Dave Branon. He says:

Perhaps you need someone to tell you: Volunteer for that job at church—they need you. Have lunch with your co-worker to discuss matters of faith. Or join that small group.

Be courageous for Jesus. Sometimes it takes just that first step of courage to serve our majestic God.

Just last Sunday, when we had a discussion in a small prayer group, we all agreed on one thing. All of us lead busy lives. But when we make time for God and the things of the kingdom of God, inspite of pressures from our job, our personal work, our family, etc. , God does something marvelous. He works for us in parallel, even as we're working for Him. He fulfills our most pressing needs. Isn't God so amazingly loving?

Just a few years back, I used to give one excuse for not going to Church, for not taking time to do something for God. And that excuse was: my job. I said I had to be in office 7 days a week, and often spent a few continuous days living in office! I was so self-righteous about doing my job. After all, my job was a God-given responsibility! This slowly hit my prayer life, sin creeped in and finally I was far, far away from God.

When I started making time for God in my life, He started working for me in my job. He made me realize that when I seek His kingdom first, everything else I need is automatically added to my life. He changed my life.

That's why when I read what Dave Branon wrote, I felt compelled to write about it. It needs courage to steal time for God from our busy schedule, but it's well worth the effort. As you start doing this, You'll rediscover what an amazingly loving God He is :)

We worry

We worry. We know it’s a waste of time. Yet a lot of us find ourselves in this dilemma—we know we should trust God, but we wonder just what He’s going to do.

The above lines hit me hard when I read the devotional passage from Our Daily Bread!

I've been going through some anxious times running around for my wedding preparations, balancing my commitments to places where I've volunteered, my job, the need to rent out a house to start my family and so many other unexpected tasks. I've started praying more than I usually do (which isn't much in the first place). But still I seem ill-equipped to face all the challenges. Frequently, I'm getting anxiety attacks and get down to dangerously low levels of faith.

And yes, I realized that worrying is a waste of time. But I just couldn't help myself.

Through the devotional passage, the truth has struck me that I need to run to His Word, cast all my cares upon Him, for He cares for me.

Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you - 1 Peter 5:7

I'm going to do that from now on to overcome my anxiety attacks.