God and the Sea

Jesus says come unto me all who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Our relationship with Jesus is like the sea. When you look at it from the shore, it is a very rosy picture. Similarly, when a person looks at people who are saved, they love the peace and joy that is seen in the faces of the believers or born again Christians.

But, when you get closer and stand in the water, you feel the waves are pulling you forward into the sea and at the same time pushing you back. You are scared when you see the huge waves that come and crash on the shore. Also, you feel safe when the smaller waves push you back. The big waves are like the love of God. It compels you to move forward, tries to pull you in to soak in His love where the external factors don't matter. The small waves are the external factors that push you away from God. This is the life of a new believer. Throughout your new Christian walk, you feel like you are being pushed back and forth. You take two steps forward and the smaller waves push you twice the distance backward.

When you surpass this and swim into the sea, you will find that it is calm on the surface, nothing will trouble the surface (I know, I know, I am coming to the dangers). Of course, there are earthquakes, volcanoes, sharks, deadly fishes, and so on inside that peaceful surface. Similarly, when we fall in love with Christ, His love will surround us like the water in the ocean. We will be covered in His love and will operate in His love. The earthquakes, volcanoes, and deadly fishes, just go on to show that choosing Christ does not take away your problems. He helps you to solve them, you will not be ruffled by them. He will give peace though you have problems.

Jesus does not say come to me all who are heavy laden and I will take your problem completely away. He promises us peace, joy, and love. He will help us solve the problems and enable us to grow in Him and in Character.

Where do you stand in this scene? Are you on the shore, in the water, or inside the sea?

Forgive Yourself

Sometimes, as human beings, you find it hard to forgive yourselves, even though God has forgiven you. You wonder how you could have done something as terrible as that! You wonder if God has really forgiven you. You become angry at yourselves and at others. 

These guilt rides are not from God because it says in the Bible that when you ask for forgiveness, God is faithful and just, to forgive your sins. Also, when He forgives, He throws your sins as far as the east is from the west, and then you become whiter than snow. 

So, the next time your past haunts you, remember the promises of God. Remember that you don't want to spend the rest of your life as a pillar of salt (full of bitterness) like Lot's wife in Genesis 19:26.

Light to Shine in the Darkness

Jesus says, you should be like the light, set on top of the hill to shine brightly to those in the darkness. Its something like a lighthouse (sounds crazy huh? you'll see). The lighthouse is safe on the shore guiding the ship to the shore with its light. You are like the lighthouse. You need to shine the light of Christ from the safe shore to those in the darkness (those who don't know Christ), guiding them to the shore through Christ.

Imagine what will happen if the lighthouse is placed in the middle of the sea??? (Yeah, you are right. It will go down faster than the titanic.) The lighthouse has to be firmly rooted to the ground and needs a power source (electricity) to actually work. Similarly, you need the Bible as your electricity and Christ as your firm foundation.

Where do you think it is safe? The sea or the shore? Now think about it... Are you on the shore or are you in the sea sinking?

Love

Love can never be understood
It comes like the breeze
And leaves like a storm
No one knows why it comes or where it flows
But, when it hits you, you know you're floored
There is no escape,
It's like a leech,
Sucking the life blood out of you without any pain,
And you have no gain!!!

• Pondivya Elizabeth

Love Re-edited

Love can never be understood,

It comes like the breeze

And leaves like a storm

No one knows why it comes or where it flows

But, when it hits you, you know you're floored;

There is no escape,

It's like the vast ocean,

It keeps you afloat;

You want to reach its core,

You don't want to find the shore;

The future seems bright,

Passion alights;

Thoughts collide;

Hormones and heartbeat race,

Common sense slows its pace,

Dreams forever prevail...

• Pondivya Elizabeth
  

The Truth

You are never sure what you should do when you posed with a situation above and beyond your age. You are pushed, during those circumstances, to think above what you are capable of. You are pushed to push your limits and to fight against all those mind blocks that confront you. You are forced to questions those things that you believed were correct. You are forced to question your near and dear ones who you thought were always right and reliable.

When you do, you unveil the ugly truth that haunts you because, those were truths you were supposed to uncover much later in life or even never uncover them at all. The profundity of the truth confounds you.

Case Study for My Kids

John Christenfield was a sixth grader in St. Bartholomew's matriculation school. He was the son of Marcus and Daphne Christenfield. He was a very good son at home and a responsible student in school. He is a born again Christian who attends Sunday school regularly. He has, from his birth, been taught not to do anything against the Bible. He reads the Bible regularly and therefore understands what is good and what is bad.

Yesterday, John was walking down his school corridor, when David, a seventh grader, who was hurrying down the corridor, bumped into him. John and David went reeling back at the intensity of the impact. David, as soon as he recovered from the dash, he runs towards John and catches him by the collar and says "Look where you are going, you dumbo!" John is taken aback and then he screams at David saying
"You bumped into me, you idiot! Don't go mouthing off like that!" David raises his fist to hit John and John gets ready to fight back. Mrs. Sakunthaladevi, John's class teacher, comes out of her class to see John and David raising their fist against each other and she screams "Stop! What do you two think you are doing? How dare you fight like this in school of all places?" John and David let their hands fall to their sides and turn towards the teacher apologizing. David smiles at the professor and says "Good morning ma'am. We were just trying to enact a fight sequence from Jackie Chan's cartoon series." Mrs. Sakunthaladevi looks at John and asks, "Is that what was happening here, John?"

John stays silent for a little while and answers "Yes, ma'am, we were just showing Jackie's moves to each other." He then bows his head and looks at his feet. Mrs. Sakuntaladevi says, "In that case, both of you, please head to class, you can do your demonstrations later." She then turns around and walks away shaking her head saying, "Boys!!!"