Living a fulfilling life as a Lean Christian in a Fat World ©

The other day I was reminded of the differing characteristics between a pig and a cat.  The pig loves the dirt so much that it keeps going back into the swamp, as if the dirt is pulling the pig into the swamp.  However, the cat has a total opposite nature.  The cat is a clean animal, the moment a single drop of dirt falls on its body it immediately cleans itself. Interestingly, I saw a similar analogy in our lives.  I am sure if you look into your life you will find some things or some characteristics that you seem to be constantly struggling with or inadvertently doing.  Many times we wonder why we keep doing those things?  We make every effort to cover it up, read books to understand the root cause to possibly resolve them, sometimes we try counseling for help, and sometimes we even talk to friends or family for assistance.  No matter what we seem to do we never seem to get complete deliverance from these infirmities that exist in our nature....

The year 2019 offers us three bible verses as promises for us. First, in the book of Exodus, the Israelites under the leadership of Moses are delivered from Egypt’s 400+ years of bondage as God amazingly takes them through the Red Sea on dry ground. He then feeds them manna in the desert. But when they reach Meribah the Israelites begin to complain about being brought to the desert with no water and then God brings out water from a rock. As they reach Mt Sinai, God gives Moses the two tablets of 10 commandments and when he comes down the mountain Moses sees the Israelites again rebelling against God by creating a golden calf. God is angry at the people and Moses pleads for them. That is when we see God saying in Exodus 34:10 (ESV) 10 And he said, “Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels , such as have not been created in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord, for it is an awesome t...

Luke 2:48 : ……His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.” According to the Jewish customs, when Jesus was 12 years old Mary & Joseph brought him to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Passover.   After traveling a whole day on their return journey, Mary and Joseph realized that Jesus was not among them; neither was he with their relatives or friends. They started to panic, and worry and were overcome with grief.   They decided to travel back to Jerusalem in search of Jesus.   After three days on finding him in the temple, Mary asks Jesus , “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.” In modern day America , Mary and Joseph would have perhaps faced serious charges of negligence. As parents of a 12 year old child, they would have been responsible for the whereabouts of Jesus.   They assumed that he was with their family.   I presume ...

Whenever we read the Christmas story, we are always reminded of this verse from Luke 2:7  (ESV) 7  And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn . Isn’t intriguing to see that “there was no room in the inn” for Joseph, Mary and for the birth of baby Jesus. In the story of Christmas, we see an obedient young virgin girl Mary who was doing what God said to her through angel Gabriel. One would imagine if God has given her this task then God too would help them through it.   But the story of Christmas tells us differently. The story starts with Joseph thinking to divorce Mary, since she was pregnant, but through an angelic revelation he willingly accepts Mary. Right before the delivery of the baby, there is a decree from King Herod forcing Joseph and Mary to travel to Bethlehem.   Travelling through the rugged terrain of Israel, they hope the...

Luke 24:32 They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?" It is the 3rd day after the crucifixion and Jesus has just resurrected from his death on the cross.   On the same day we see two people walking to a “ village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem ”.   After a few moments Jesus appears to them and starts walking with them.   These people did not recognize Him and he jumps into their discussion.   However, only later in the evening when they were going to eat dinner did they recognize the person who was walking with them from Jerusalem .   As soon as they recognize Jesus, he disappears from their sight, and that is when these words were spoken by these men.   I believe the words spoken by these men communicate a truth, which many times we ignore.   That is, when Jesus spoke and opened the Word of God to them, every word spoken by Him made their...

“I will never succeed”, “I will not get a promotion”, “My dad had cancer, so I too will have”,   "I will not get admission", "My marriage will never be joyful",   "My relationship with my brother will never become okay."  We constantly hear these negative statements within the circle of our family or friends. Inevitably, in due course of time this comes true, even if we believe it or not now.   S uch comments are not only uncalled for, but dangerous. God loves us so much that he wants to bless us, but many times we seem to be inflicting damage on ourselves by putting a curse or a hindrance to our blessing.  There is an interesting story in Luke 1, about a priest named Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth. They both were very old and they “were upright in the sight of God.” However, they never had children. One day, as Zechariah was in the house of God, an angel from Almighty God came and told him that, “your prayer has been heard. Your wif...

In the Bible there is a story about the Israelite's, where it took them forty long years to reach their promised land, which otherwise would have taken only 11 days (Deuteronomy 3:1-3).   It is also stated that God took them through a longer path since the Israelite's were not ready to take on their Promised Land on their own and would have become discouraged with the wars with the existing nations. Many times we get frustrated and angry when we see delays in our path of life.   Delays or hindrances seem unacceptable to us, since we are a rushing generation. The shortest path is our preference.   However, the shortest path may not always be the best path for us. Many years back, I remember the time after graduating from High school; I had not got admission into the top engineering schools in India. I was very disappointed, and sad. However, I joined a local college and was determined to give it another try, after studying for an additional year.   A ...