How about an Haircut?

Yet those who WAIT FOR THE LORD will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary. - Isaiah 40:31

Dear Saints in the making,

  OK first things first,I hate going to the barber shop.I know 'hate' is a strong word but there are primarily 4 reasons for this 'hate' -

•    I like long hair.
•    With the big sheet of cloth tied around my neck during the haircut,I feel stifled and have a perennial fear of asphyxiation.
•    While the barber (errrr the hairstylist,that's the preferred name these days)goes about his business,I have to do nothing and wait for him to finish his job.
•    As my barber(hairstylist[sic]) only speaks Kannada&Tamil and I speak none,we can't have a conversation and I have to keep my mouth shut(for a motormouth like me this scenario is like hell on earth)

  But I still diligently go for my hair-cuts and trimmings because -

•    I look like a schmuck with long hair.
•    My desire to stay employed is much stronger than my desire for long hair.
•    Parental disapproval and in severe cases parental lynching for uncontrolled hair growth on head or face is always a risk.(the grunge look doesn't work with Mom )

 Of all the reasons I mentioned for my 'hate' - doing nothing and waiting for the haircut to be over is the scariest.Think about it waiting for anything is difficult,right ? We have a normal tendency to dislike 'waiting', especially in our I_WANT_IT_NOW society. Ours is a society that has grown accustomed to immediate gratification. But God our father puts a special emphasis on 'waiting'.Repeatedly the Bible exhorts us to 'wait on the Lord'. Why is it so hard? Because, as humans we are tuned to take matters into our own hands, to follow our own plans. Yet, over and over again the Scripture tells us to  “wait on the Lord.” And God promises special blessings for the virtue of  patient 'waiting'.Now,I don't know what are you waiting for today,maybe its a new job,maybe its a spouse,maybe its your exam results,whatever it is be patient and know that He is Lord.His timing and planning are perfect.

Have a patience-filled day ! (And go get a haircut if required )

Point2Ponder

      Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections, but instantly set about remedying them - every day begin the task anew. - Saint Francis de Sales

Prayer Intentions:

• Pray for our country and its citizens
• Pray for the people looking out for jobs
• Pray for the people looking out for spouses
• Holy Father's Prayer Intention - That Christians may achieve full unity, bearing witness of the universal fatherhood of God to the entire human race.

Written by - Piyush Philip , JYBangalore , Professional Ministry

Superman

"Yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary." - Isaiah 40:31

Dear Saints in the making,

          I was about 5 or 6 when I first saw a Superman cartoon and needless to say I got  hooked from the word go.Those days all I wanted to be was Superman.I mean Batman with his Batmobile and awesome gadgets was cool too,but SUPERMAN......boy he could fly.So,in came the cape,made from my mother’s old red sari,then there was this red under-pant which had to be diligently worn over my PJs. (don't judge me,that's how little boys are supposed to behave  ) Many jumps from the edge of my bed,a few bruised elbows and scratched knees later I realized - alas I can't fly.So I outgrew my fantasy.The cape was thrown off and,thankfully for my Mom,I started wearing underpants the way they were meant to be.And everything was normal again.

     

        Enough of the flashback !

 

        Almost all of us at some point in our lives have wanted to trade our lives with someone else,haven't we ? Maybe if I could talk like him,maybe if I could look like her,maybe if I could walk like him/her......maybe.......maybe.......life would be better.We wrongly assume that if we were someone else we could fly.But God our father says that we have been fearfully and wonderfully made.He says that He has a plan for us which is perfect.Yes my beloved,God has created you as an original so do not ever become a cheap imitation of anybody.None of us is an accident nor are our gifts and apparent deficits mistakes. We exist as we are, the way we are for a purpose, a purpose for us and for others. We all have an irreplaceable role in God’s kingdom and show forth aspect of His glory uniquely.Trust Him,wait upon Him,be at peace with yourself and be thankful because HE DOESN'T MAKE MISTAKES.And soon you will realize that by His grace you can truly fly and achieve all that HE has planned for you.That's my prayer for you today.Carpe diem.Seize the day.Make your lives extraordinary.

Have a SUPER-DUPER day !

Point2Ponder

         Angels can fly because they can take themselves lightly -- G.K.Chesterton

Composed By - Piyush Philip 

Cruise Missiles

He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and buckler. Psalm 91:4

 

Dear Saints in the making,

The BrahMos is a supersonic cruise missile.It has been developed jointly by India's Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO-Bangalore) and Russia's NPO Mashinostroeyenia.The name BrahMos is a blend formed from the names of two rivers, the Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of Russia. The missile travels at speeds of Mach 2.8 to 3.0.(that's really fast).It has a maximum range of 290 km and has been designed to carry warheads in the range of 200-300kgs.

So why am I discussing cruise missiles here ? Well,I was just wondering in case of a war,if the enemy decides to hit us with a BrahMos (this scenario is highly unlikely,as BrahMos is very much a Desi Indian product) we would be, well...dead.The reason ironically is that we don't have suitable technology to intercept a cruise missile traveling at that speed  So,in case this unlikely scenario actually plays out, we can be absolutely sure about one thing -  we'll be as dead as a dodo.Period.

Though,eventually we are sure to get our hands on such a technology . But sadly there is no human technology that can intercept the missiles of Satan.

You see,the evil1 is continuously busy launching missiles at us.These missiles carry warheads of fear,anger, desperation,doubt,depression and all the negative ungodly emotions you can think of .The only intent of these missiles is seek-and-destroy.All too often,sadly these missiles find their intended targets and the result is spiritual lukewarmness and ultimately spiritual death.

But today,lets teach the evil1 a lesson  Today and the days to follow,whenever you feel these missiles coming at you counter it with the greatest Anti-Ballistic Missile System in the universe - JESUS .Jesus can seek out and destroy any missile that has been targeted against you.Call out His name.Seek Him because He has promised that He'll never leave you nor forsake you.Soak up His love.Be @ Peace.

Have an awesome day !!

Point2Ponder

       I do not seek to understand that I may believe, but I believe in order to understand. For this I believe--that unless I believe, I should not understand. -- St. Anselm of Canterbury

Written by - Piyush Philip , JYBangalore , Professional Ministry

My Daily Bread

It's not about Roti and Daal. Jesus categorically said, do not worry about what to eat. We can be as inattentive to this as we are to our growing nails. This is because there are some real things we should be mindful of.

Consider an Artist, his Brush and the Painting. As time goes by, what remains and matters is the Artist and the  Painting, not the Brush. No body says this painting was done by the nylon, fan round, flat, size 8, French made, brown Brush. The Artist is God, I'm the Brush, The Painting is my life, a master piece in the making. In another words, Jesus is saying, be mindful of the Artist and the Painting and don't worry about the brush too much.

"Give us today our daily bread" alludes to our need for a daily doze of nourishment to translate, a day in our life into a fine stroke of the Artist on the canvas of life. In simple terms, the need for a personal time with God on a daily basis.

Since this is all about a relationship, Let us refer to God as the "Father" here on.

In an earlier post, we saw, how we need to raise ourselves above the physical, emotional, intellectual and social realms to meet with the Father in "Spirit", for we are to worship Him in Spirit and Truth. Some times we think we are so immovable and unshakable that we will need couple of tower cranes to lift us up and plug us into that spiritual spot. But the good news is that we can put away the immobility and the cranes because the lifting is not our job but His.

It all starts with a realization that we need this bread for the day. When this happens, often we find ourselves led to a quieter place. Here we present the real "us" in absolute honesty, totally unmasked, as an open book before the Father. A few words find it's way out from the depths of our being as a response to this admission of our utmost frailty and the magnanimity of the Father. Our spirit acknowledges the love that is lavished on us through Jesus Christ. As this reality slowly crystallizes into a conviction, we begin to see our iniquities, shortfalls and how it impedes this building relationship between us and the Father. So we allow ourselves to be purged little by little. And as this happens, we are enveloped in an ever increasing tranquility and inner peace. Our bodies groan and tears roll down. These tears are unmistakably that of repentance, forgiveness, unconditional acceptance and freedom, a foretaste of the reality of heaven.

Our hearts now delightfully resonate with verses such as "One day in your court is greater than a thousand elsewhere. Taste and see how good the Lord is. He is like the honey in the rock. It is no longer I but You who live in me. If you drink of the water I give you, you shall never be thirsty again. Let me dwell in your presence forever more...". 

As this experience recede and gently re-leave us into the reality of the world, our hearts want to tell Him, Lord use me. This daily doze of love is what sustains us for the day. This intimacy lingers through the day, as our eyes, hands and feet becomes that of Christ for He has none but ours.

Father, Give us today our daily bread.

The life and beyond

If our life on earth is a dot we make with a pen on a paper, our life after death is as much as going around the globe a million times. But this small dot decides how we will spend our life in eternity, that is in heaven with God or in hell in total despair.

A saint once had a mystical experience of God. It was so profound that in ecstasy he exclaimed, if paradise was like this, I wouldn't need another paradise. To this Jesus in a vision told him, If the experience you had is like a painting of sky, the paradise you await is the real sky.

All goodness we enjoy today is a foretaste of our ultimate union with God. Death we fear becomes a gateway to this reality. Maranatha, Come Lord come.

I'm Who I'm

Mighty God, you defined yourself as "I'm who I'm". I wonder why you did not speak anymore.

God is bigger, greater and super exceedingly beyond us. We are only his creation. if He were to define himself, our small brains could not have handled it.

Imagine, you created a creature like an ant using all your intelligence and this creature asks you to define yourself. What would you tell him?. I would think, You tell him, I'm your father, care taker, creator or friend. Would you tell him that you are a hominid, bipedal primate with a brain volume of 1400 cc, characterized by superior intelligence, articulate speech, and erect carriage, contains 23 pairs of chromosomes. He will never understand you. He will feel so little and will not be able to identify you as father anymore.

This is precisely why our father who is far superior to us just said I'm who i'm. In another words, He is what He has revealed to us. Rest we will know when we meet Him in person in the life yet to come.

Jubilee & 10 Lepers!

Sharing by Shibu Devasia a Singapore JY

Dear Family,

I am not the odd one out, if I try to relate all the inspirations & insights with Jubilee, during this year. This thought has been in the pipeline for about couple of week's. Unlike me those who closely hear the gospel, can recall last to last Sunday's gospel reading, it was an ever inspiring gospel of 10 leper's. The reason, the gospel still rings a bell in my head was that I had to frame this mail.
              The scene of me sitting & hearing the priest, do still persist in my mind, more so the gospel theme & how closely we can relate to it. Not because we all were 'lepers', but frankly speaking we were not better than 'one' either, before Jesus & the movement came in my life - the pain of being not 'accepted' & not being one of the 'normal' is quite comparable to a feeling  a 'leper' may have. Though the physical pain in no way comparable, but the emotional pain is somewhat similar and when our LORD heals us we do owe him a lot.
            Today when most of us look back, we may agree that the life we live has been a blessing & what we are today might just be a dream if we had not come close to Jesus through the movement. Today if we have a stable job, its simply because of HIM, never in my life I could have imagined a job that I have now, more interesting is the 'least' of the effort that I have put to get one, its all pre-planned by the one above.
              Today if our talent is show casted through the way we think, or the way we write or the way we speak/sing or the way we deal with people is simply because we learnt from the movement through its various initiatives.
              Today, if we can voice our say pretty articulately, with precision & added flavor of creativity then no denying fact that we have learnt that from our various stages of involvement in the movement.
              I would even say, to correctly discern our vocation & to lead a healthy family life was in a way taught by the movement & still it continues...
              End of the day, if I look back all the mess that was in my life or the wounds as a 'leper' that persisted has been healed by Jesus & mostly these blessing have come through the movement. The gift of a liberal thinking, gift of loving others, gift of good job, gift of a good family, gift of good friends & many more has been freely given to us by the real 'gifter' but in most of the case it didn't fall 'directly' from heaven but I guess through the movement.
               So, sometime I wonder, can any of these 'gifts' has the real 'gravity' or the reasoning to hold back any of the Jesus youth around the globe from not attending Jubilee? Attending it is our simple way of giving thanks to the Lord for what we are today! and the least one can do as a gratitude & acknowledgment for the unlimited grace & blessings that we reap each day & will continue to reap till our death. 

May we as the lone wise 'leper' rejoice & come to the Lord this Jubilee.

Love,
Shibbs & fly