శోధన అనగా....... TEMPTATION....?

గ్రీకు మూల పదాల లో శోధన లేక శోధనము అనే పదాలకు రెండు అర్ధలు ఉన్నాయి.1 పరిశీలన,పరిశోధన,పరీక్ష, ప్రక్షాళన, శుద్ధిచేయుట ఇది -దేవుని పని  2. కల్మషాన్నీ వేదకటం, ఉన్నతస్థాయి బండి మలించటం పాపాపకార్యానికి పురికొల్పడం- ఇది సాతాను పని. బైబిల్ లో శోధన అని వచ్చినపుడు, దేవుని దగ్గిర నుంచా లేదా అపవది నుంచా అని మనం ex చూద్దాం:హెబ్రీ11:17లో అబ్రాహాము "శోధించబడి" అని ఉంది.ఆది22:1 చూస్తే పరిశోధించెను అని ఉంది.అబ్రాహాము లో ఎటువంటి దురాశ లేదు గనుక ఇది దేవుని దగ్గరినుంచి వచ్చిన పరీక్ష గా మనం అర్థం చేసుకోవాలి. *రెండవ అర్దనికి tempting, temptation, గా స్థిరపరిచారు. ఈ రెండవ అర్దనికి  సంబంధించి కొంత విపులంగా చూదాం.          శోధన అనగా.....*స్వకీయమైన దురాశ  ,
తెలిసికూడా తప్పవు చేయాలి అణా భావన,

 సత్యం నుంచి దారి మళ్లించే వక్రమార్గం 

పరిస్థితులా ఆధారం గా నీలో కలిగే చెడ్డ కదలిక

  నీలో శారీరిక స్వభావాన్ని బయటకు లాగే వత్తిడి

అశింది ఎలాగైనా పొందడానికి  అవలంబించే తప్పుడు మార్గం

  దేవుని చిత్తం కానీ దానిని పొందాలనే  ఆశ పాపం చేయాలి అనే చెడ్డ ఆలోచన   

దేవుని నుంచి వేరైపోవాలి అనే ఉద్దేశ్యం.

   క్రీస్తు బోధలకు  వ్యతిరేకంగా  నడవలెనే ప్రేరణ

Source....r.p.d....book

Who Am I....?

Who am I....?

Self-esteem is one’s opinion of oneself, an emotional evaluation of one’s self worth. A high self- esteem is having a good opinion of yourself and a low self-esteem is having a bad opinion of yourself. Having a good self-image is a new age phenomenon founded on humanistic psychology. It’s the mantra of current times, even in the Christian world.

Self-esteem depends on many thoughts that run in a person’s mind. A few important ones are:

Am I successful?

Do people respect me? Am I accepted?

How am I compared to others?

Self-esteem is self-centred, not God-centred. Christian teaching on self-esteem is not biblical.

How should a Christian view self-esteem? A good self-esteem as a Christian comes from having a right relationship with God. When we know who God is, we know who we are, what we are made for and understand the meaning of life. We understand that we belong to a huge family across the world, the family of Jesus Christ.

In our society, people often have feelings of worth based on appearance, status, career accomplishments, the neighbourhood we live in, the cars we drive, dressing styles etc. This kind of attitude can cause us to take excess pride in ourselves, make us indulge in self worship and lessen our love for God. The Bible teaches us that the love of self is the root of all sins. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, followed by a list of terrible sins (2 Tim 3:1,2). Esteeming the self is nothing but loving of the self.

The Bible never asks us to consider ourselves highly esteemed. Instead Jesus wants His followers to deny themselves, take up His cross and follow Him. We are not worthy or special, but we are forgiven, accepted and loved. God in His grace has made us His children.

God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble (James 4: 6) Our trust must be in God and not our earthly resources. Wealth comes and goes. God is our friend and anchor all the time.

The youth of today pay a fortune to make themselves look good and flaunt accessories to highlight status. They think that will make them more successful and accepted. Maybe we can impress others with our looks to an extent. Jesse proudly paraded his seven sons before Samuel in Bethlehem. Samuel looked at their fine features and appearance and thought that one of them were God’s choice for a king. Instead God spoke to him. . . . God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. (I Samuel 16:7) This incident must be an eye-opener.

The forgotten shepherd boy became king, not the handsome older brothers. God knows our hearts.

There are many who suffer low self- esteem. A low self-esteem could come from lack of good looks, lack of education, tragic happenings or abuse. This could lead to sin, abuse, drug addiction, sexual promiscuity and so on. A word of encouragement or kindness can go a long way in helping such people. God’s forgiveness and love can be shared with them so broken hearts become healed in Jesus Christ.

God paid a huge price to redeem us. His words comfort us, corrects us, encourages us and shows us the way. As God’s children, we can walk in confidence and trust, which leads to a healthy outlook towards life.

A low self-esteem can appear to be the opposite of pride, but it too can be a form of pride. Some tend to associate low self- esteem twith humility and end up being proud of their humility. Some people want others to help them out, comfort them and feel sorry for them. This can be a self- focussed and selfish attitude. As Christians, we are called to be selfless people.

God’s love and mercy is not dependant on our performance or accomplishments. What a wonderful God He is! He loves us unconditionally, just the way we are. We are important to the Almighty God.

A few promises from the Bible to rejoice in

1. God made each of us in His own image.
2. God watches over us night and day and knows us inside out.
3. God has a plan for our lives. Each of us were born for a purpose.
4. God’s word is the way, the truth and the light.
5. God’s grace is sufficient to handle all life’s problems.
6. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
7. A heavenly reward awaits each Christian who walks in faith.

Do you struggle with your feelings of self-worth? Child of God, take your eyes off yourself and look up to God. The Cross is bigger than our doubts, tears and failures. God calls the broken hearted, the miserable and the riff- raff of this world to come to Him. He sets them free from bondage and crowns them as His princes and princesses. Straighten your crown and walk free.

Do you have problems with pride? Read God’s word and ask God for help and forgiveness. Let us remember that we are mere mortals. Riches do not last forever. Money and looks can perish in no time.

There are three views to every person on earth. What God thinks of us, what others think of us and what we think of ourselves. Of these, the first one is the most important. Let’s turn our hearts back to God and live for Him. Let’s strive to lead a God-centred life, not a self-centred one. Let us learn to love others more than we love ourselves. Let us keep away from subtle yet deceptive new teachings like self-esteem. Let us not be lovers of the self.

Christians find their identity not in an improved or enhanced self-image, but in Jesus Christ.

Jeslyne Isaac has a Masters in pharmacy and serves on the Board of Healthcare Christian fellowship India

MENTORING SPIRITUAL LEADERS

Mentoring Spiritual Leaders

“An army of sheep led by a Lion can defeat an army of lions led by a sheep” – African proverb

The need of the hour for the developing and maturing organization like UESI is mentoring servant leaders. The focus area or the thrust area for the coming 2017-19, as declared by UESI is MENTORING SERVANT LEADERS.

If we go back to the origins of the word Mentor in Greek mythology, ‘Mentor’ was a trusted friend of Odysseus who was appointed to take care of his son Telemachus when he left for Trojan War. Mentor became Telemachus’ teacher, coach, counselor and protector, building a relationship based on affection and trust.

Over the centuries the word ‘Mentor’ has come to mean as trusted friend, effective coach, creative teacher, reliable counselor and wonderful protector. Mentor builds relationship with his mentee based on affection and trust and thereby brings out the potential of the mentee and shapes his character.In the coming years we will be focusing on mentoring servant leaders who can lead from the front with a servant attitude having the mind of Christ for the betterment of UESI.

Our Lord Jesus Christ is the best example to model upon. Jesus had chosen 12 disciples and mentored them for over 3 years and had a wonderful relationship with them. As mentor, he invested his precious time in building them, taught them valuable lessons both about the kingdom of God and about daily living, prayed for them and prayed with them, rebuked their attitudes and actions, tapped their potential and assigned them with specific responsibilities, loved and protected them, demonstrated to them what servant leadership is all about, worked constantly on enhancing their faith in Him, forgave their shortcomings and restored them; and more than anything else, he ultimately suffered and died for them. After our Lord’s death and resurrection, His disciples exhibited the same qualities in their lives and ministry to the amazement of many. Our Lord and his disciples left a wonderful legacy for the church to follow.

Next to our Lord, Apostle Paul is the second best example to model upon. He mentored several servant leaders. He picked upon young disciples in all his missionary journeys and worked on them in terms of shaping their character, entrusting responsibilities and helping them to learn new things from him. Timothy, Ephaphras, Epaphroditus, Silas, Titus, Philemon, Onesimus, Dr. Luke and Young families like Aquila and Priscilla are few servant leaders who were mentored by Apostle Paul. The great Gamaliel and encouraging disciple named Barnabas mentored Paul.

We can work on at least 3 important areas in mentoring. Every mentor should focus on these 3 areas as he or she commits himself or herself to this wonderful relationship of mentoring.

Firstly, we should work on Character building of the mentee. Character includes who we are, our attitudes, our core values, commitments, what passions drive us, how we relate to each other, how faith policy works in our organization and what servant leadership is all about. These are some of the most important things that determine the effectiveness of our movement.

Secondly, we should work on Legacy that is, leaving wonderful footprints for others to follow. What do you want to be known for? How to go about it and how to build on so that others can walk in the same path as Paul said ‘follow my example as I follow the example of Christ.’ In the process of mentoring, a mentor’s life style, vision, commitment, sacrifice and many more areas are being watched and adopted by the mentee. We have wonderful examples of spiritual stalwarts who served and slept in the Lord like Prof. Enoch, Rev P. T. Chandapilla (to name a few) and a cloud of witnesses whom we call as UESI diamonds like Sis. Prema Fenn, Sathkeerthi Rao, P.C. Varghese and so on. They have left us a wonderful legacy to emulate.

Thirdly it is about Presence, How to do things in an effective way, how to learn new things, how we should go chapter by chapter in a way that brings glory to God. Paul commends Timothy in his letter to Philippians saying, “ I have no one else like him who takes a genuine interest in your welfare ”. About Epaphroditus Paul says “ my fellow worker, fellow soldier..”. Mentors are bound to make their mentee’s work effective, bringing out their hidden potential and motivating them for a higher calling and living.

Character, Legacy and Presence are three important things to be focused in terms of mentoring. We are not here to make our own clowns but to help mentees to become what God wants them to be. Indeed spiritual mentoring is a tiresome responsibility but the end result or productivity is immeasurable. Let us make lions that can lead…

Sudhir Gaddam is the State Secretary of UESI Telangana

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Facing the Failure

Facing the Failure

Testimony – Lessions Learnt Through Failure

“Hello! My name is failure” failure knocked at my door one day. An invited guest forcibly entered my life.
I had graduated from MIT Chennai in 2014 and started working in a private firm. After attending a leadership camp, God talked to me to move to government job, so I started writing exams. Having read so many success stories and positive quotes, failures in the initial exams did not bother me. I was able to take it in a positive way. But slowly, as the number of failures in exams started increasing, my confidence level started going down. Every failure started choking my confidence level and positive energy. This led into sleepless nights, depression, stress, doubting God’s plan for my life and finally great disappointment with God.

My uninvited guest ‘failure’ was laughing at me and it took hold of me. I thought my life is sunk and every effort was down the drain. I could see nothing but darkness for the rest of my life.

I still pulled myself up, Though the one year journey of writing different exams (almost 30) and having failed in all the exams, choked my confidence and positive energy level, God in his sovereignty used this phase to teach me many valuable lessons that I would like to share here.

1. Be sure God prepares an individual through tough times
God uses the failures in our life to mould us and shape us to be the best. God allows the failure in our life to break down the pride and change our belief system from “I can do all things” to “Without God, how can I?”

2. Failure increases the faith of an individual
The more failure you face, the stronger your faith will become. Failure in one phase will help you to go through the trials and tough situations in the next phase. If you look at the circumstances, sometimes you may doubt God whether He is listening to our prayers and why He is allowing failures in a believer’s life. But Romans 8:28 says, “In all things God works for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose.” This is true, I thank God for letting me understand this verse first hand.

3. Failure story is unique for every individual
We as humans will always want God to act immediately in any situation, to give us the solution or to do a miracle. But the reality is that God has his own timing and plans. Sometimes we will look at the life of other graduates / fellow students failure phase and we will expect God to work in the same way in our lives. But the failure story of every individual is unique. Don’t compare your failure with that of others.

4. Be grateful for all that you have in spite of current failure
While writing exams at the different parts of the city, I got a chance to meet many aspirants, most of them were unemployed. I then realized that I never thanked God for my job. So many aspirants travelled from different parts of the state to attend the exam, but I got the exam centre in the same city. I did not have to travel much to write any exam. Instead of grumbling about the situation, I started thanking God for what was there in the life. The life which we are living is a dream for many people. Instead of worrying about what we donot have in life, thank God for what we have in life.

5. Graduates role in helping the students to face failure
As, graduates we have a huge responsibility to help the students or young graduates during this time, because mostly they stay away from their families and they need spiritual support to go through the phase. They need teaching to face the failures and disappointments by referring to the word of God and sharing from their own experiences. I remember how my graduates and mentors helped me to prepare for exams by opening their homes and providing all the moral support and prayer support whenever I needed. Once on the way to attend an interview, I was in a very panic mode, but an encouraging word “If God has reserved that job for you, no one can prevent you from getting it” from a graduate helped me to look to God in that situation.

Conclusion

Dictionary says failure is the opposite of success, but according to God, failure is a part of success and He allows it in a believer’s life to mould an individual. Instead of asking God, why this failure in life; we can ask God what does He want us to learn in this phase. Instead of complaining, we can be grateful and thankful to God. God will fulfill His purpose in our life. Focus on God always, instead of looking at the situation. God gives sufficient strength to face any situation.
Now when I look back, I thank God from the bottom of my heart for allowing all the failures in my life.

Jesintha Chandrasekar
The author is a young graduate from Bangalore failed in more than 26 exams before joining a Research Lab of a PSU given by God.

GOD ANSWER YOUR PRAYERS

answer my prayers?

Does God really mean it when He says that He will give us what we ask for? Bible texts come to our minds, such as Matthew 7:7, "Ask, and it will be given to you"...  Will He really answer when we call?   Isaiah 65:24: "Before you call I will answer, while you are still speaking, I will hear."

Does God answer prayers?

Have you ever asked the question, why doesn't prayer work? Why at times does it appear that God ignores us when we pray to Him. Many have prayed for God to intervene and solve a problem that they are struggling with, but sometimes going depression in my way lot of i have question about is jesus is reall but why he,sn,t listening my pryers som much confusion in my mind my self i was struggled a lot but in my every struggle i shared with god

God knows what’s best
Even when we feel that God is not answering our prayers, you can always know God is a God of love. The Bible tells us He loves us:

John 3:16. '"For God so LOVED the world".......
Jeremiah 31:3, "I have loved thee with an everlasting love."....

God created us and knows infinitely more than we know. He knows what is best for us, and what would not be good for us. If you have children, when they were very small, sometimes they asked for things that would not be good for them, or would harm them. For good reasons sometimes parents do not always give their children what they ask for, when they ask for it. Parents give them what is best for them.

It is the same way in our prayers to God. God gives us what is best for us. We are God’s children and He gives us what is best for us, and at a time when it is best for us. Our lives must be right with God before He can answer our prayers.

Right way
God has certain conditions that must be met before our prayers can be answered. One of the first, is we feel our need of help from Him. Isaiah 44:3 says, “I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground.” The heart must be open to the Spirit’s influence, or God’s blessing cannot be received. One cannot pour water into a cup that is already full.

Right heart
If we have cherished sins in our lives, and refuse to give them up, or if we are doing things we should not be doing, and are disobeying Him, we cannot expect Him to answer our prayers. He cannot answer our prayers if we have sins in our lives that are unconfessed or if we are hanging on to cherished sins. Also, if we refuse to forgive others who have wronged us, God cannot hear us. (See Matthew 6:12 and Ephesians 4:32).

This is not saying you can earn God’s favor to answer your prayers, it will always be Jesus’s blood that makes us worthy; but we do need to do our part if God is going to work in our lives.

Pray without ceasing
One of the reasons we feel our prayers are not being answered, is because we stop praying. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says it best, "pray without ceasing." Paul is more direct in Philippians 4:6, “In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

In reality, we should not be worried so much about if God hears our prayers – He does and He does care. What we should be worried about is if because of temptations, hard times, and trials we get discouraged, and give up praying. In Luke 18:1, Jesus, “spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart."

His time, His will
God is a God of love, and He is interested in every detail of our lives. He hears our prayers, and answers every sincere prayer if we meet His conditions. We must not expect that every answer will be "yes", since we are sinners and do not always ask what is best for us. Sometimes His answer is "No’ and sometimes it is "wait." (Hebrew 10:36) We need to end each prayer with, "Not my will but Your will." Even if we are sincerely doing God’s will, and to the best of our ability, following His will for us, He may see that it is best for us not for Him to say "yes" at this time. We must continue trusting Him, regardless of His answer at the moment.

God's timetable is not the same as ours. He knows better than we do when is the best time for our prayers to be answered. (See Hebrews 6 :13-15). God is eternal and does not measure time as we do. 2 Peter 3:8: "Beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."

In the story of Abraham, God promised a son to Abraham. But Abraham became impatient when Sarah didn‘t bear him a son, so he took his wife’s servant as his wife. Abraham tried to solve the problem in his own way and the result was disastrous. We are still seeing the results of his mistake today. God eventually answered his prayer at the time when He saw it was best for Abraham.

For God to give us what we ask for, we must ask "according to His will." Faith cannot take the place of "asking according to God's will." 1 John 5:14, "…if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us." If you do not ask according to God's will, it is not real faith in God. If God's answer is "No" we still must be willing to wait patiently, and trust God to answer in his own way and in His timing.

Trust God, even though it may seem like prayer doesn't work. Even though it may seem like at the moment He is not near and has abandoned you.

Isaiah 41:9,10:
"You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest regions, and said to you, You are my servant, I have chosen you, and have not cast you away. Fear not for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you,
Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."

If we have faith and sincerely trust God, we will not be concerned as to whether the answer is "wait" or the answer is "no" or "yes." We must just trust, and wait and see if God in His timing will see fit to answer as we have requested, or perhaps He has something better in mind for us. Remember your prayer should end with "Not my will, Lord, but Your will." (Luke 22:42). "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths." Proverbs 3:5,6.

Contentment – A Way of Living

Contentment is the state of being happy and satisfied. When one is thankful about something marvelous happened, or when one has everything needed, then there is a feeling of contentment. So the feeling of contentment is more like a peaceful state of mind. The word contentment in Hebrew means simply “to be pleased”. But the Greek bring out the full force of the word in 1 Tim 6:8; Heb 13:5 and in 1 Tim 6:6. Here we see contentment as more inward than just mere satisfaction. The difference is that the former is a habit or a permanent state of mind while the latter has to do with a particular occurrence/object that makes us satisfied with whatever status we are in or whatever possessions we own. Paul says this in Phil 4:11 that he learned to be satisfied or happy or contented with whatever situation he was in.

The general tendency in the present day world is to keep going higher or to have more in terms of finance, status, designation, possessing materials, latest gadgets and technology, fashion, comforts etc. It is because we are never satisfied. Not everyone is truly content with his or her life. Other times we are dissatisfied and seek more for what we don’t have and who we are. Unlike Paul, some of us are never satisfied with what we have or what we possess or the status we are placed in or even degrees we hold. The problem here lies in never stopping once in a while to sit and think of all the things God has given us or to understand what God desires for us in our lives.

We need to be content with what we have or where we are, because we aren’t going to carry our achievements or possessions with us when we die (I Tim 6:7). We came into this world empty handed and we will depart from this world empty handed as well. The status of our finance, degrees or the designations that we own or achieve do not make one shred of difference to our standing when we go to heaven. So, if we are not going to carry anything with us into eternity then why strive? What use will all our accomplishments bring us except the pride that we try to showcase in society? Paul instructs us to “flee from these things and take hold of the eternal life to which we are called” (I Tim 6:11b).

Paul also tells us in I Tim 6:9b, striving or desiring to go higher up the ladder, makes us fall into various temptations and traps us into many foolish and harmful lusts. These temptations ultimately lead us to fall into sinful ways and sinful living and in the end we stray away from our relationship with God. As a child of God can we afford to stray away from our Heavenly Father?

The most important thing we need to remember is “the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil (1 Tim6:10). The greed and desire for money can stray a believer from their faith. “It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith” (1 Tim 6:10b). Losing faith is very scary because losing faith is losing salvation. In addition to losing our faith, we become self-dependent rather than depending on God. The danger in this is one can even push oneself into sorrow and painful situations and even bad habits (1 Tim 6:10).

So Paul Commands:
1.  To flee from the love of money and the greed of going higher.
(1 Tim 6:11a) And instead,
2.  To aim to achieve righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness and gentleness. (1 Tim 6:11b).
3.  To fight a good fight of faith in the midst of the conflicts with evil that we face in the world (1 Tim 6:12).
This is what is required in the present day.

In the end, contentment is usually discussed in connection with desiring more than what is required. Desire comes out of comparing with what others possess and getting depressed for what we don’t have and fail to acquire. We end up putting pressure on ourselves and our families for all the things we think we need to have but don’t. Let us remember that our lives on this earth are a passing phase. This thinking leads us to live a contended life. Jesus said that a happy life doesn’t depend on the things we have. The true treasures that make us happy come from loving God and loving one another (Mt 6:19-21).

John the Baptist, while baptizing people said to the crowd, “Bear fruit worthy of repentance. . . any tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” Several people then asked John what was to be done and John answered the tax collectors and said, “Don’t collect more than that is appointed”. In other words, do not be greedy. And to the soldiers he said, “Do not extort money from any one by threats or by false accusation”. In other words, do not illegally collect what you desire through bribes and fines but be content with your wages (Luke 3:14-15). In both scenarios we are taught to be content and live as commanded rather than through suggestion or exhortation. Commands require obedience and by desiring more than what is required, we live outside of God’s will and are disobeying God’s command, thereby inviting sorrow upon ourselves. Also in striving to earn more we will be slogging in our lives and have no time for God and for the family.

Beloved brothers and sisters let us not be conformed to the image of this world or its worldly practices/believes but rather let us rise above all these and live transformed lives. By doing so we will prove that which is good and acceptable and perfect will of God (Rom 12:2).

Mrs. Aruna Fullonton

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Failures – Hurdles or Stepping Stones?

Failures – Hurdles or Stepping Stones?

The Olympic Champions do not achieve their goal always at their first attempt. Thomas Edison’s teacher said that he was “too stupid to learn anything.” He was fired from his first two jobs for being “non-productive.” As an inventor, Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb.”

1. Failure in Exams: Most of us experience failure for the first time only in the context of our school exams. Immediately most of them go depressed. Failure in examinations has led 2403 people to commit suicide in 2014. In the Big Picture of our lives, this failure is not a big issue. We have to ask God to give us His Wisdom – James 1:5.
The next step is to chart out a workable study plan and follow it scrupulously. “God helps those who help themselves” !
Attitude matters !

2. Love Failure: Many young people face “Love Failure”. Movies, media, modern gadgets are the tempters for the immature youth to get into love relationships. But most of these end up in separation after campus life term gets over leaving a big scar in the heart. 4168 people have committed suicide in 2014 due to love affairs. Attraction between the opposite genders is a natural action. But that infatuation needs to be controlled till one finds one’s God-given partner and gets united in marriage. A student has to concentrate on his/her studies and nothing else. except asking God to bring the right person of His choice in His time.
It is the challenge of his love by his partners that destroyed Samson – .
“You hate me! You don’t really love me.”Jud. 14:16
“How can you say, ‘I love you,’  – Jud. 16:15
Alertness is needed to avoid unwanted affairs!

3. Failure in Family Life: Unrealistic expectations can lead to a failure on the family front. Matters like rearing the children, taking care of the aged parents, managing the finances within the income limit and the like are to be discussed and sorted out. One cannot have these as pre-conditions before marriage. In that case where is “God’s Will”? ‘Don’t count the chickens before they are hatched’, goes an old adage. The beauty and success of a marriage are found in talking with the spouse on important issues and arriving at solutions. Absence of such solutions took spouses to extreme cases like divorce. “I hate divorce,” says the Lord, Malachi 2:16. According to statistics 28,602 people in 2014 ended their lives due to family problems. Accepting one another as Christ received us is the bottom-line solving family problems. We have to surrender our ego to God, dare to apologize to our spouse and be willing to go the extra mile to safeguard the relationship.
The family that Prays together Stays together.
“If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?” – 1 Tim. 3:5

4. Moral Failure: One man, one wife is the biblical dictum. We live in a society where men and women work together. Healthy distance must be maintained in relationships between men and women at the work place. If no caution is observed, ordinary friendship becomes an intimate one This applies to both man and women. Man and Woman are like cotton and fire. Even in the religious context is not exempted from this.
Moral failure is not the end of life. Jesus restored people who were living in sin – John 4:17,18; Luke 7:37-39, 47,48; 15:1,2,20; John 8:11. A real repentance from the past life is needed for change. After confessing our sins and being assured of the forgiveness of the Lord, we have to set right our lives in the right track by the grace of God – Pro. 28:13. Otherwise we will face a worse situation – Mat. 12:43-45. We need to fill our mind with the Word of God for a new life – Ps. 119:9,11. “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”

5. Failure in Vocation: Right choice should be made in choosing our vocation. Job satisfaction and a sense of fulfillment in our vocation are the signs of right choice. If not ,we have to take a bold decision to change jobs. The decision has to be taken in consultation with our spouse and children. The society and friends may not appreciate. But we have to be clear about our convictions. A high salaried friend of mine realized that he was not able to give quality time to his family. He took the bold decision, of changing his job and now gives time for family and for ministry. Are we willing to take the risk and save our family? At the same time one must exercise caution here. It doesn’t mean that we have to change our vocation when a promotion is denied, an increment is postponed or one is served with a transfer order. Joseph was doing his work as a slave, house keeper, in charge of prisoners without any murmur or compliant. God made Joseph the ruler of the nation.Gen. 39:2-5, 21-23; Ps. 105:17-22. Accept the sovereign hand of God in all situations and you will get over the feelings of failure.
Achieving our goals depend on avoiding the distractions!
“Do you see someone skilled in their work? They will serve before kings; they will not serve before officials of low rank”. Prov. 22:29

6. Failure in Personal Spiritual life: No Christian can claim that he will never backslide from faith. A musician told once, “If I don’t have my practice one day, in the next performance I can note the mistakes I make. If I don’t practice for 2 days, my fellow musicians can notice my mistakes. If I don’t practice for 3 days, my audience can note the mistakes I make”. Similarly if we neglect our personal relationship with God, it will show up in all our activities. If one feels the prayer a waste of time and Bible is an ordinary book, can’t hear God speaking anymore.

The basic things needed for spiritual growth are:
G – Go to God in Prayer – Mark 1:35
R–Read God’s Word – Ezra 7:10; 2 Tim. 2:15
O – Obey in Fellowship – Heb. 10:25 W – Witness for God’s love
– Rom. 1:8
“For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the LORD and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel” Ezra 7:10.

7. Failure in Ministry: God’s Great Commission is always ringing at the back of your mind of every child of God. At the beginning one is enthusiastically do a lot for His cause, investing time, resources, & expertise. As time goes by perhaps due to other commitments and pressures, focus from the ministry has shifted. This shift may have either stopped from involving or diminished the effect of involvement.
No more you are able to enjoy the time with God and the ministry.
“Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.” – Gal. 1:10

May be you need a break to set right your priorities. Elijah needed it and God gave him good food and sleep – 1 Kings 19:5-8. Take a break; spend time with God and His Word. Take the counsel of some senior friend. God will refresh you for your future ministry. Our God always gives us a second chance. Let us submit ourselves in His hands so that He can shape us even through our failures.
“But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.”Jer. 18:4

• Bible Questions & Answers
• హిందువుల ప్రశ్నలు

క్రైస్తవులుగా యోగాను మనం ఆచరించవచ్చునా?

By

 Sathish Gnananandam

 -

April 16, 2016

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ఈ ప్రశ్నకు సమాధానం సూటిగా చెప్పాలి అంటే ఆచరించకూడదు అని చెప్పాలి. మన ప్రధాని మోడీ తన హిందూ మతాన్ని అందరూ ఆచరించాలి అని చేయని విశ్వప్రయత్నం లేదు. ఒకప్పుడు R.S.S లీడర్ గా ఒక వెలుగు వెలుగు వెలిగిన ప్రధాని మోడీకి వున్న ఈ ఆసక్తి ఆశ్చర్యం కలిగించేది ఏమి కాదు. ఇటీవల ఈయన గారు జూన్ 21 ను ప్రపంచ యోగా ధినోత్సవముగా ప్రకటించారు అయితే ఒక్క మన భారతదేశం తప్ప ఇతర దేశాలు ఈ అంశం పై కన్నెత్తి కూడా చూడలేదు. ప్రపంచం మొత్తం హిందూ మతం వైపు తిరగాలని ఈయన ఆకాంక్ష కాబోలు. అయితే దేవుని జ్ఞానం లేని కొంతమంది క్రైస్తవులు కూడా ఈ యోగా ధినోత్సవమును ఆనందముగా జరుపుకున్నారు. ఇంకా బాధించదగిన విషయం ఏదనగా “ప్రభువుదినమైన” ఆదివారమును కొంతమంది సంఘకాపరులు వారి వారి సంఘాల్లో జరుపుకున్నారు (Church Service that Included Yoga).

సరే ఇప్పుడు అసలు విషయానికి వద్దాం. యోగా అంటే ఏమిటి? “యోగా అనే పదం సంస్కృత భాష నుండి వచ్చింది దీని అర్ధం “ఏకమవుట” లేక “కలిసిపోవుట”. యోగా యొక్క ముఖ్య వుద్దేశ్యం “ముక్తిని లేక రక్షణను పొందుట”. యోగాలో అనేకమైన పద్ధతులు వున్నాయి. “ధ్యానం” అన్నీ యోగా పద్ధతులకు మూలమై వున్నది. మరి ఈ ధ్యానం అనగా ఏంటో ప్రతి క్రైస్తవుడు తెలుసుకోవాలి. “ధ్యానం అనగా మనసును, శరీరమును, ఆత్మను యేకము చేసి దానిని బ్రహ్మ అనే దేవునితో జతపరచటం”. ఇలా మనుష్యుని ఆత్మను, బ్రహ్మ అనే దేవుని ఆత్మతో సంధి చేయటాన్ని మోక్షం (Moksha) అంటారు. ఎంత అవివేకం క్రీస్తు యేసునందు దేవుడిచ్చే ఉచిత రక్షణను (ఎఫిసీయులకు 2: 8 – 9) మనుష్యులు వారి సాధనతో కొనుక్కోవాలి అనుకోవటమా?. క్రైస్తవుడిగా అది ఎన్నటికీ మనం చేయకూడదు. ఇప్పుడు అర్ధమైంది అనుకుంటున్నాను యోగా యొక్క ముఖ్య వుద్దేశ్యం ఏమిటో.

ఆరోగ్యకరమైన ఉపయోగాలు వుంటే యోగాను క్రైస్తవులు ఎందుకు చేయకూడదు: ఈ సందేహం చాలా మంది క్రైస్తవులలో కలుగుతుంది. మనం ప్రతి రోజూ చేసే వ్యాయామాల వలన మనకు ఎన్నో ఉపయోగాలు కలుగుతాయి. ఆరోగ్యముగా ఉండుటకు ఇటువంటి వ్యాయామాలు చేయటంలో క్రైస్తవులకు ఎటువంటి తప్పు లేదు. అయితే యోగా అభ్యాసము చాలా భిన్నమైనది. యోగాలో వ్యాయామము మాత్రమే లేదు, యోగా వ్యాయామముతో కూడిన ధ్యానము. యోగా యొక్క ముఖ్య ఉద్దేశ్యం ఏదనగా “మనసును, శరీరమును, ఆత్మను యేకము చేసి దానిని బ్రహ్మ అనే దేవునితో జతపరచటం” ఇధి వ్యర్ధమైన ప్రయత్నం.

About Nabeel Qureshi

P

opular evangelist Nabeel Qureshi, who once sought Allah, has now found Jesus face to face. He died Saturday of stomach cancer.

The 34-year-old convert from Islam was an itinerant speaker with Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM) until his diagnosis last summer. He spent months in aggressive treatment, including the removal of his stomach, all the while praying for a miracle to heal him.

In a September 8 video, the last one posted before his death, Qureshi announced that doctors had “given up” on treating him and put him on palliative care.

“If there’s something I’m wrestling with through all this, it’s ‘Where does my faith need to be?’ vs. ‘I, as a believer, am a real person. Where can I actually find my faith?’” he said.

“In other words, do I need to perform? Do I need to say, ‘I’m going to have this level of faith right now.’ Honestly, I don’t think so. I think God understands where I am right now and he comes alongside us in that and he loves us and gives us the strength.”

Qureshi had been receiving treatment at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, where his home faced floods during Hurricane Harvey weeks before.

He was raised in a Pakistani-American Ahmadi Muslim family and came to faith reading the Bible to debate a medical school friend. He shared his testimony in his book, Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus, and in a 2014 issue of Christianity Today.

The God of the Bible “reached me through investigations, dreams, and visions, and called me to prayer in my suffering,” he said. “It was there that I found Jesus. To follow him is worth giving up everything.”

Ravi Zacharias and his team met with their ailing colleague for a preliminary goodbye in May. At the time, Zacharias wrote, “He is torn between what seems imminent and what is always possible with God.”

He described Qureshi as “one of the finest preachers I have ever heard.” [Editor’s note: Zacharias later shared a personal tribute to his protégé, as well as gave the eulogy at his memorial service.]

Qureshi got his M.D. from Eastern Virginia Medical School and held masters degrees in Christian apologetics from Biola University and in religion from Duke University.

He is also the author of No God but One: Allah or Jesus? and Answering Jihad: A Better Way Forward and had been working on another book, 20 Questions Muslims Ask and the Answers that Convert Them. The cross-cultural apologist was listed among CT’s 33 Christians under 33.

He leaves behind his wife, Michelle, and daughter, Ayah.