“In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD’S Passover” (Exodus 12:11). If you are planning an early morning trip with small children, sending them to bed in traveling clothes (except […]
“Now Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh” (Exod 7:7). Both Moses and Aaron had had crossed the age of retirement when God entrusted them to speaking truth to the powers of this world. Moses brings to the job only forty years of experience shepherding his father-in-law’s […]
Everything was as usual as Moses led the flock to the sparsely vegetated landscape around Mount Sinai. As the sheep moved from one bush to another Moses followed them playing his shepherd’s flute. He noticed a bush far away in the fire. Dry grass and bushes catch fire in the Mediterranean sun where the day […]
“Love is a verb”, the bumper sticker on the car that sped past me said. That is true. Love is not just a noun, an abstract feeling that we hold, but love means action. But as the car vanished from my sight, the bumper sticker lingered on in my thoughts for a while. One part […]
What does Christ expect from his followers? The prayers of Christ drop enough clues about his hopes in us. Christ is looking for strong, sanctified lives who live fully surrendered to him.
Scarecrows are placed on farms to scare the birds away. Even though the scarecrows have only a skewed resemblance to human beings who can harm them, birds go nowhere near them. But some birds are smart enough to tell the scarecrow from a real human. They know that they are just hay for the body, a broken pot for the head and still. These birds also know that the scarecrow is placed where there is something to eat. No one puts a scarecrow where nothing is grown. Instead of being scared away, they dare to land on the scarecrows to enjoy the feast the ripe field offers. This is the difference between faith and fear. (Click the title to read further.)
Centurion’s faith was commended because his faith came from his experience and his recognition of Jesus’ authority. In Jesus he saw more than a Galilean tramp. In Jesus he saw a man who has authority over all sickness. That belief is what the Bible calls faith. Faith involves how we perceive the divine. Jesus Christ is not just a Galilean carpenter.
The journey with the risen Christ is exciting. “The longer I serve him the sweeter he grows.” But why?
God’s will is good, acceptable, and perfect. We should surrender ourselves to his perfect will.
Paulson Pulikottil 