Biblio

Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— (ESV) 1 Peter 2:2 Many years ago, I had taken a fasting without drinking water. After a day, I had severe dehydration. Every cell in my body was intensively craving and longing for water. It was an intense thirst for water. It was like a deer panting for the waters. When I had water, I still remember that I drank several glasses of water like a person who was drinking water for the first time. A new born baby would cry when s/he is hungry for milk. Spiritual craving is a mark of our spiritual appetite. Desire for spiritual things shows our spiritual appetite. I had seasons where my appetite was very low. Even if I see some food that I like, I could not eat them. There are many Christians who live in either low spiritual appetite or no spiritual appetite. Many lost their desire for spiritual things - No interest in word of God, prayer, Christian character, fellowship, sharing gospel etc.

8 But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. (ESV) Daniel 1:8 10 When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously. (ESV) Daniel 6:10 Leading a spiritual life was not easy for Daniel. He was living in a gentile foreign land as a captive and he was from a minority community. He worked with people who did not know the living God. His colleagues were magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, ungodly politicians and top officials of the King of Babylon. He had challenges of having a high-profile job. He had constant struggle to keep the laws of his God which would not go well with the laws of Babylonians. However, he could preserve and grow in

Having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. (ESV) 2 Timothy 3:5 Religion is a form of spiritual life without the power of God. What makes Christian lives different from religion is an active and daily power of God in our lives. Without the presence of God in our spiritual activities, we may create religion. If we do not watch out, one can easily develop religiosity by doing Christian stuff repeatedly without experiencing God personally. Today many churches have become a religion and a monument rather than a move of the Holy Spirit. Pharisees are the best examples of religion. They had religious zeal, strict religious practices and deep understanding of theology but they failed to cultivate a heart to heart relationship with God as an experiential reality. This is why Jesus called them hypocrites. We need to practice the presence of God on a daily basis to avoid giving birth to religion in our lives. We are not called to practice a religion rather exp

God created you with a purpose. You are not an accident on this earth. You are existing in this earth with a reason or cause. You met Christ with a reason. If you do not realise this reason, then you may be an unfulfilled person with dissatisfactions and longings. The reason is that God places both a general and a specified individual call and assignment (mission) in your life. General call and assignment is to preach gospel, prepare yourself for eternity and so on. The individual call and assignment is very special call and assignment that God has given to you as an individual. You all are unique with different talents, abilities, and so on. So also your individual call is unique and personal. Many times we know your call and assignment that comes from God. But we may respond wrongly. Today we may look at this issue- how we should respond to God’s call and assignment in our lives. Let us look at the passage Matthew 21.28-32. Here, Father asks his two sons to go to his vineyard. T

Jesus : Welcome to heaven. You know it is the year end. It is time for your spiritual appraisal. It is time to evaluate your spiritual walk. You know your manager speaks always to you about your KPI (Key Performance Indicator) and likewise your pastor always speak about KSLI- Key Spiritual Life Indicator. As you know this appraisal is a two way process. I like to hear from you about your KSLI and then I like to give you a feedback. Let us begin, Your pastor thinks you have a great spiritual life. He considers you as one of his best believer. He praises to others that you have good knowledge of bible, you pay tithe, You are able to lead all kinds of spiritual matters. It seems that your pastor feels that you have a great spiritual life. What do you think about your spiritual life? Believer : Jesus I really love you. As my pastor said I have a fantastic spiritual life. I pay tithe. You know many Christians go to the church only on Easter day. But I went to church on most of the

Our lives are conditioned by several factors such as our family, job, education, place of living and so on. We live out everyday a conditioned life. It is important to make sure that a Christian’s life is conditioned by God. Paul is an example for this. Let us look at Paul’s life and see how his life was conditioned by God. 1. Condition your life with final destiny He was ready to forget what is behind him. He had very prestigious background. Such background can give him good confidence in flesh. But Paul had no confidence in the flesh (3.4-6). He did not hold his prestigious background or position when he met Christ. He sacrificed what was profitable to him according to the standards of the world in order to know Christ (3.7). He was ready to lose the world to gain Christ (3.7). His priority was to be found in Christ (3.9). He depended upon the righteousness that comes from God (3.9) rather than self righteousness. He was like a runner in the track. He forgot what is behind

"Attitude" means "an internal position or feeling with regard to something else." (Merriam Webster dictionary). Synonyms are: "disposition, feeling, mood, opinion, sentiment, temper, tone, perspective, frame of mind, outlook, view, or morale." Attitude is a feeling, belief, or opinion of approval or disapproval towards something. The three components of the attitude are cognitive (belief, convictions and thought), affective (feelings and evolutions) and behavioral (ways of acting/reacting). In order to understand the importance of our attitude, let me quote John Maxwell from his book Your Road Map for Success :   “ when our attitudes outdistance our abilities even the impossible becomes possible.” “Your attitude determines your altitude.” Your attitude is your choice and so you are responsible for your attitude. WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SPEAK ABOUT ATTITUDE? Phl 2:5: Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus (NIV). Ephesians 4:22-24:

Life is full of choices. God has given freewill to all of us. In today’s globalized context, our freedom of choice increased so much. It is our responsibility to use our freewill in responsible way. Further, our choices shape our life. To some degree, we are product of our past choices. We have to make choices every day. However, we often confuse, go through dilemma and sometimes end up in wrong choices. Our every day choices are greatly affecting our spiritual life. Here are few principles that enable us to make godly choices in our practical day to day life. 1. Capturing our thought in obedience to God (2Cor 10.5-6) We rationalize several ungodly choices through arguments and deliberations in our thinking process. We can win over such rationalization through the power of God and discerning our thought on the basis of the word of God. 2. Overcoming battle within (Rom 7.14-25) When choices come before us, there is always a battle within us to make a right choices. Often t

It is very important to give the first priority to God in our life on daily basis. We need to give first priority to God over all our life needs and situations such as need for clothes, food, glory, progress in this earth and so on (Mt. 6.33). Dt. 8.10-11 and17-19 encourages that we need to give first priority to God over all our material blessings and sources. As a disciple of Christ, Jesus expects a radical priority given to God in our life even in risky situations and even over our family ties (Lk 9.57-62). How can we give priority to God in our life? 1. Giving time to God. God created time (Gen 1.14; Ps 139.16). Time is our life. God intervenes in our time to make our life beautiful (Ecc 3.11). God wants you to spend eternity with God. It is very important to give time to God in order to prioritize God in our life because our relationship with God will be built up only when we spend time with God. God will lift you up in your life in due time when you give time t