Abide In Me

Sometimes God speaks in a whisper but there are times He speaks over a megaphone. I’ve had quite a few of the megaphone instances in the past and when I get those messages, I know God is serious about it. The latest of the megaphone instances has been the message “Abide in me”. Be it while reading the Bible or while talking to friend or reading random article online or a random book, the message stays the same, “Abide in me”. I could no longer ignore it John chapter 15 is now probably my favourite chapter in the whole Bible. It’s a simple message but I forget it all the time. Jesus asked us to abide in him so that we can bear fruit. He asked us to abide in him so we can learn to follow his commands and love others. He asked us to abide in Him so that His joy may be in us and that our joy may be COMPLETE. But all too often, I’m tempted to do it on my own strength and I fail every single time. In His patience and grace, God is still not giving up on me and is gently pursuing me to abide in Him. God is good.

Recommended Reading – John chapters 14, 15, 16I did a very simple, very loose, watercolor painting to insist on the simplicity of the message.

A Hike Gone Wrong

Couratallam in South India is one place I loved visiting as a child. The town is very popular for its many water falls. Our family has visited this place several time. One such time, more than 40 of us, all closely related family members, made an epic trip to Courtallam. It was epic for various reason but the highlight of our trip was a hike gone wrong. Having visited many of the popular waterfalls in the area several times, we decided we should do something new. We got exclusive passes to a VIP only waterfalls called Palathotta Aruvi. It was a long hike through a dense forest to the hilltop. Thankfully there was a paved road to help us get the there. The lone security guard at the foothills sent us with a warning to return before sunset to avoid encountering wild elephants on the road as they take evening stroll to find food and water. We saw elephant foot prints on our way to the falls. The waterfalls was a hidden beauty inside the dence forest. Water was crystal clear. The aroma of herbs mixed with fresh water scented the whole place. There was a small pool of water just the right size for kids and two short but powerful waterfalls to cool us down. We had such fun that we lost track of time. By the time we started our hike down, it was almost sunset and few minutes into the hike, we lost all sunlight and it was pitch dark. It was so dark that I couldn’t see the person standing next to me or even my own hands. The dense tree cover hid any light that came from the stars. The only light that we saw was that of few random fireflies flying near the tree tops. None of us had a flashlight and so we had no clue where we were headed to. The hill was so steep and one wrong move could take us all downhill. One of my uncles found a long branch and used it to tap on the ground before him to lead us to safety. However, at one point, he almost lead us straight to the edge of the hill. One more step, we would have all fell down, one after the other. It was like a blind leading the blind. We remembered the warning that our security guard gave earlier that evening. We could encounter wild elephants! We could take a fatal fall down the hill! There were little babies in our midst. We were terrified! And in the darker than the darkest night, in the distance, we saw the dull glow of a torch light slowly moving towards our group. A huge sigh of relief, loud sounds of praises to God for saving us. Our security guard realizing we were probably grappling in the dark, took a hike to ensure we were okay. Thanks to his compassion, we were safe at last!

There’s something amazing about light in absolute darkness. It has the power to drive away fear and give hope and life.

Jesus knew what He meant when He said

I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

John 8:12

He is the life giving source of light in our darkest moments. He, like our security guard, did not wait for us to grapple around in darkness. Instead, He came into our darkness to lead us out into the life giving light. Are we struggling to find our way in this dark world? We don’t have to look any further, for the light has come into the world to give us hope and life!

The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned.

Isaiah 9:2

It’s That Simple

My little son who is 2 years old can sometimes be very mischievous. I tell him something and he does the exact opposite with a smile on his face, wanting to test my boundaries. When he sees me getting upset, he comes straight to me and says sorry like he means it. Asks for me to hug him and kiss him. How can someone refuse to hug a child with those large innocent looking eyes? Once he gets his hug, he walks away happily knowing that his wrong wasn’t counted against him. He blows kisses like nothing ever happened

One of the passages of scripture narrates a similar story, just more powerful.

Then he (the criminal) said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

A criminal who was judged to die for his crime, looked to Jesus with his dying breath and asked Jesus to remember him. And Jesus instantly said, “you will be with me in Paradise”. His records of crime were wiped clean in God’s book because His crime was now on Jesus. Jesus took on his sins and died so he could be set free. All it took for the criminal to be counted as a good man was to turn to Jesus and say “I need you”. Nothing else! It’s that simple to enter into God’s love that’s available to every single human being in this world. His love is endless, and He desires for us to come to Him just as we are. All messed up, broken, with all the failures and mistakes. He is willing to take them all and set our records clean. We don’t have to strive anymore to be perfect to be loved by our God. We just have to run to Him and say “Lord remember me!”, and He can never say no.

My Humble King

There is beauty when a powerful person stays humble. Humility is like the crown jewel and is the most valuable in people of power. Throughout history, there have been people who’ve rose to power but chose to remain humble.

There is one person in history that exhibited humility like no one else. Though he was king, he exchanged his status for living among normal people. He chose to set aside his crown to have a personal relationship with his people. He left behind His throne and sat under the feet of his followers to wash their feet and said, “this is how you lead.” And as a final act of ultimate humility, love and sacrifice, he chose to die for his people, so he can defeat the power of darkness over his people.

If he had wanted, he could have been born in a palace but instead he chose to be born in a dirty, stinking, stable amidst cows and donkeys. If he had wanted, he could have preached from a throne with a crown on his head but he chose to hang on the cross and take on the crown of thorns. If he had wanted, he could have commanded an army of Angels to rescue him from the cross but my King loved me enough to value my life more than his own. If he had wanted, he could have stayed in his palace and refused to meet with me but he chooses to live in my heart and meets with me everytime I come to meet with him. There is no other king as humble and as loving like him in this world! Jesus, my humble King!

You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges ; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form,
Philippians 2:5‭-‬7 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/php.2.5-7.NLT

Grandpa’s Love

During my childhood, I, my sisters and my cousins would spend our summer holidays at my grandpa’s. I have so many fun memories from those days. We were 9 of us and quite a handful for our grandparents to handle. One of the memories is of my grandpa’s love. We were a naughty lot and we would do everything to avoid applying oil to our heads. The Chennai heat and humidity and our thick black hair meant we had to do everything we could to cool our bodies down and tame our unruly mane. Grandpa knew we would never apply enough oil to our heads so he took it upon himself to do the honors. He would seat all of us down and pour a huge amount of fresh coconut oil on all of our heads. He wouldn’t be satisfied unless our heads dripped with oil. The smell of the coconut oil would fill the room and we would try our best to escape. We dreaded the oil time. But there was wisdom behind his action and a lot of love. He knew our energy packed bodies needed the extra cooling effect from the oil.

This verse comes to my mind when I think of my grandpa’s love. Incidentally, Psalms 23 was my grandpa’s favorite chapter from the Bible.

He anoints my head with oil and my cup overflows. Psalms 23:5

God, like my grandpa, loves to anoint our heads with oil. His anointing shows how much He loves us. I did a bit of reading on anointing. In the Biblical days, Kings and Priests were anointed. So when God anoints us, He anoints us into kingship and priesthood. In Jesus, we become God’s children, prince and princess of God our King. In Jesus, we become priests, made holy by the sacrifice of Jesus, to knock on heaven’s door to intercede for people hurting around us. The most amazing thing is that God annoints us, not because we love Him, but because He loves us.

Love Without Love?

I’ve been chewing on this scripture this morning.

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
https://bible.com/bible/116/1co.13.3.NLT

This scripture shines a light into our inner motives. Do I do the good things and help others out of genuine love or are there other hidden motives behind them. Do I serve the poor because I love them or is it because I FEEL good doing it? Do I sacrifice to boast about it later or is it an expression of true humility and love? Does my sacrifice make me feel self righteous, causing me to forget that it is God’s grace that saves me and not my good works? God tells us that we can serve and sacrifice (express love) without love and such love does no good.

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever!
1 Corinthians 13:4‭-‬8 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/1co.13.4-8.NLT

Gosh I’ve failed so many times in so many ways but praise God for His grace and love that refuses to give up on me!

Is Daddy Sad?

About an hour back, before my 2 year old daughter went on her afternoon nap, with sleepy eyes blurted out, “Amma, appa sad ayittu poitanagala?”, which means “Mom, did daddy go away because he was sad?”. My husband had come home for lunch and before heading back to work he said his good byes to his sweet daughter. But she was in no mood to say good bye or to even play with him. She was upset over something and he left hurriedly because he was getting late for work. Before going to sleep, my daughter remembered her mistake. And she asked me, quite seriously, if her daddy was sad because of her. I told her that he wasn’t sad.But she asked me the same question a second time to really make sure that he wasn’t sad. I reassured he wasn’t and when she felt confident that her daddy was happy, she quickly fell asleep.

Soon after the incident, the words “seek peace” flashed into my head. And that led me to believe that she was trying to seek peace with her dad, trying to reconcile if there was a mistake on her side. I was amazed to see how tender the hearts of children are! They have no ego and they make sure they are at peace with people around them as much as they can. I have seen her do the same at so many other instances and this is the first time my light bulb went on!

The Bible says,

As much as you can, live in peace with all men. Romans 12:18

As we grow up, we loose track of how God created us to be and start building walls. How awesome it would be if we could all be like children and ask important questions more easily!

The Story Behind My Name

Every name has a story behind it. No matter how trivial, the story makes the name special. I’ve got a story too, for each of the names I have. But today, I wanted to share the story behind the name I rarely use. Not many people know that I was named “Mercy” when I was born. As with most Indian children, my name took different forms before I was named finally named “J. Sukirtha Thanga Mercy”. As I grew up, I shed my two middle names and ended up being called “Sukirtha Joseph”. I still chuckle when I say my long winded name out loud. My first middle name “Thanga” was in memory of my late grandfather, Mr. A Thangadurai who passed away a few years before I was born. My second middle name “Mercy” was chosen by my father for a very different reason. My father still becomes emotional when he narrates the story behind that name, which is part of the reason why I still like that name.

Here’s the story:
When it was time for my mother to deliver me, I decided to stay inside her. She waited 11 days past due date and I still did not come out. So they eventually went to the hospital only to be met with angry doctors, who were extremely upset that my mum and dad had waited 11 days past due date! They admitted my mum immediately. My mum and dad were both young and scared but my dad had the biggest fear of his life when he came to know that I may not make it out alive. He was asked to fill out many forms and asked to sign that the hospital was not responsible if there should be a loss of life. Now imagine this happening in the 1980s in India, when emergency c-section were considered a huge risk and surgeries were abnormal. No one had ever had c-section in our family back then, so my dad signed the papers with a heavy heart and he stood there in the hospital corridors and cried out to God for His “Mercy”. He pleaded with God to save both lives, and he got what he asked for. I was born healthy despite the risky birth. And so my dad decided to name me “Mercy”, to remind us of God’s merciful gift of life.

Last night, I was asking God to show me what He wanted me to focus on and He led me to this scripture:

Yet you brought me safely from my mother’s womb and led me to trust you at my mother’s breast. I was thrust into your arms at my birth. You have been my God from the moment I was born.
Psalms 22:9‭-‬10 NLT

That is word-to-word, my story in the Bible! He brought me out safely and I was thrust into God’s arms when I was born. I’ve grown up trusting in Him but I too have had my doubts and fears. I’ve been as confused as anyone else but God in His mercy has walked with me step by step. He was faithful to bring me into this world and has since been faithful no matter what life throws at me (trust me here ;)). I cannot imagine a life without Jesus and His love and mercy. If not for Him, I would have gone long back!My name “Mercy” holds a special place in my heart. It reminds me of my father’s tears and prayers, it reminds me of the pain my mother endured, but more than everything else, it reminds me of God’s mercy, from even before I was born. As a cherry on top, to add more meaning to my name, both my children were born at “Mercy Hospitals”, to remind me that His mercy will continue onto future generations. What a blessing!

Someone Worth Dying For

This morning, I read the following passage from the Bible and couldn’t stop thinking about how this one passage sums up everything I believe in and yet how often I forget who I really am!

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything. For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.
Colossians 1:15-20, 22 NLT (emphasis mine)
http://bible.com/116/col.1.15-22.NLT

Christ, the visible image of God, did something amazing to make peace with everything in heaven and on earth. He says we are without a SINGLE fault – holy and blameless. The Judge says “NOT GUILTY”. But the judgement is no good unless we realize we are free indeed. We don’t have to live in the prison of sin and man-made rules to get us right with God. We are already in His presence – blameless and Holy, just like Jesus our God and Savior.

Think about this for just a moment. This realization could save the millions of people in depression who blame themselves for the past failures. It could bring hope to people contemplating suicide, who do not realize their worth. This could be the only true light for people sitting in dark prisons for the crimes they committed in a fit of rage. This realization could cause profound change in how we see ourselves. It could finally help us see ourselves from the eyes of our Creator – blameless and someone worth dying for!

Umbrella Dance

It was raining while we were travelling in our car the day before yesterday and my 2 year old daughter suddenly realized she needed an umbrella to dance in the rain. My husband and I reasoned with her throughout the entire trip and she finally agreed to use my umbrella for dancing when we got home. She got my pink umbrella after reaching home and she danced with it for a while and then came to me asking if it was mine or her’s. I said it was mine but I was sharing it with her. She didn’t like that. She wanted her own umbrella, not mine. And then the negotiations  began again. We slept that night and then first thing in the morning, she asked me where was her dad. I told her he was at work. Without waiting a moment, with utmost confidence she said, “Dad’s gone to work and then to the shop to buy me an umbrella”. We didn’t have any plans of buying her an umbrella, and so I decided to be honest with her. So I told her we will get her an umbrella later, just not today. But she said with determination, “No. Dad’s gone to work and then to the shop to buy me an umbrella”. She must have said that statement at least 15 times the entire
day and you know a mother’s heart. My heart was moved with compassion for the faith she had on her dad. Well, she got her umbrella that evening from her dad. When I saw her dancing with her new umbrella, I remembered the words of Jesus

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.    Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?  If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
Matthew 7:7-11 NIV

I sometimes don’t ask for something that I need/want, thinking it’s too trivial to ask God for. But Jesus encourages us to ask. We may not get the exact fish we ask for but we can be sure we will not receive a snake either. Ask!