Kingsly's Scribbling

As we come to the end of 2010, there may be too many unanswered prayers this year. What I have learnt this year regarding unanswered prayers is that God is SOLVING MUCH BIGGER PROBLEMS. Let’s look at one of Jesus’s request that was not granted. (Yes you read it right) Jesus was about to enter is final hours of his life. He was about to be crucified on the cross. Here, Jesus prays that he will be saved from the cross. But the answer he got was NO. Why? The Father gave a negative reply to Jesus because He was solving a bigger problem. He was solving the problem of SINs of the World. May be some of the negative answers that you have received are because God is seeing the bigger picture and he is solving the bigger problem. Moses wanted to save one Hebrew but God wanted to save the entire nation. Joseph’s cry for help was not answered but God used him to save a nation. David could have prayed for more sheep and a well settled life but God wanted him to lead a nation. Ruth wanted food and...

Recently, I had a discussion among a group of friends. They were discussing about how we should pray. To be more precise, they wanted to use the right words in prayer. It was a very “theological” discussion. To some extend I was even trapped. They even told me, I didn’t pray the “Right way” with the “Right words”. While I was returning home that day, I was almost floating over a flood of thoughts. I had questions that I never had on prayer. I was wondering if ever I could pray the right way. I thought over what was discussed and I felt more terrible. I was trying to count the times when I used the right words. Is there a right way to pray? Are there some right words to pray? With these questions, I opened the door to enter my home. I didn’t know I was opening a door of answers for these questions. As I opened the door, my two boys crawled towards me in Joy. One stopped half way through and started clapping. Another started to shout in joy. Then they were lifting their hands towards me ...

"The Gospel According to Jesus: A Faith that Restores All Things" - Chris Seay's – Book Review I had Just finished reading Chris Seay's book "The Gospel According to Jesus: A Faith that Restores All Things" today. It took some time to think about what the author says in total. The book starts with the quote of M.Ghandi “I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ” "The Gospel According to Jesus" really revolves around one Word “Righteousness”. The author adds surveys that indicate that 84 percent of Christians have a misunderstanding of the true meaning of the word righteousness. That’s how this book starts and the stats given were really interesting. There are some very interesting interviews with great persons that keep the book lively. This book was not an easy read for me as I had to pause and think on many issues that the author writes. Though I don’t completely agree with whatever is written, ...

Sometimes it’s just so discouraging to know that there is only one or two who read your blog. So at times I have thought to quit writing. Recently I was encouraged through the character of Dr.Luke. He is one of the writers of the bible. He has written a couple of books in bible. Luke and Acts. And what stuck me was he wrote both these books not thinking that it must get in to the Bible or the Best Seller List. He just wrote to one person, Theophilus. And to write to one person, he didn’t just give a rough scribbling. He took pains to write and also did research before he wrote. Look at what he says “since I(Luke) myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus”. He put all of his mind, soul and heart to write to just one person. And Luke, of all the gospel writers gives more details about each incident. The timings, the dates are so specific in his writings. He could have said, w...

As I was reading a incident that is recorded in Mathew 15th chapter, 4 things that just stood out for me. 1. V21 says “And (Jesus) going away from there”. Where was Jesus going away from? This really made me curious to find what turned Jesus away from a particular place. So I read the previous verses. By doing so, I found out that Jesus was going away from the hypocritical Pharisees. They thought they knew everything and they were not teachable and were puffed up with pride. Jesus doesn’t linger with those folks longer. 2. The 2nd thing that I noticed was Jesus’s unJesus response to a wailing parent. That woman was really crying out and begging Jesus to heal her daughter. But Jesus, the one who answers before we call and the one who hears us while we are yet speaking, did not answer her V23. This act was so non Jesus. Sometimes in life we wail and cry and beg only to hear the loudest silence from God as His reply. And parents would definitely understand how that woman would have felt. ...

God is omniscient. He is all knowing. Nothing can be hidden from his eyes. He knows our thought and he knows the word before it comes to our tongue. Now, having such a God, I sometimes wonder do I have to tell him all that’s happening in my life. Doesn’t he already know it? Do I have to confess my sins? Has he not already seen what I did? So what it is the point in confessing to God. Does it increase His knowledge about us? No. But it does increase our knowledge about ourselves. When we confess we really see our real self as God sees. Only by God’s help we can confess. As we confess we start to see our sins and weakness and claim that we are helpless and also that we need God’s help. So Confession I must confess is mainly for us to realize us than to letting an all knowing God to know about ourselves. Any Confession about your Confessions lately?

Recently my sons started sitting all by themselves. So we as parents became so proud of them. We called their grandparents (Our Parents) to tell them that the little boys don’t depend on us for sitting anymore. We were filled with joy and with pride. There will be more and more such moments in our lives when our sons will start doing things on their own. They will start to stand, walk, run, learn, eat, and do so many other things on their own, becoming less dependent on us. We call is growth. As children grow, parents expect them to more independent. Most of the parents are proud like us. But spiritually the process is reversed. Spiritual growth is measured on how much we depend on the Heavenly Father. As soon as we are born again, we learn to depend on God and as days goes by we learn more and more to depend on God. A person who had walked with the Lord for 40 years depends on God more than a person who has walked with the Lord for 4 years. We call this spiritual growth. Jesus was the...

Music has almost become a synonym to worship now a days. When people say we will worship our Lord, they always have music in their mind. There are so many worship services where music plays a major part. But worship is not about filling up for the silence. Your sincere silence could become a sacred worship before God. The art of worshiping God silently is vanishing. We now a days dance, shout, jump, make noise and we worship (or Do We?). I was reading about a woman in the bible who came to Jesus and worshiped Him without a word. She used tears, kisses, breaking a costly perfume. She worshipped Jesus with her Works rather than her words. She reverently kissed the feet of the Lord. Did you notice the paradox here? Reverently kissed. Reverently feared and reverently stood at a distance, may make sense. But reverently kissed? Well the word used for worship in the Old Testament is Barak and in the New Testament is Proskuneo. Baw-rak - To kneel or to bow. To give reverence to God as an act ...

Recently I heard a story about a son who returned home after living a wayward life. And the reaction of the Father made my heart sink. His father kicked him out of his home again. As I heard this story, my heart immediately remembered the parable of the prodigal son. Thanks to Dr. Luke, who is the only gospel writer to pen down this famous parable of Jesus. Two fathers. Same situation. Different reaction. One father KICKED his wayward son away. Another father KISSED his wayward son and brought him home. And I thank God that I have a Father in heaven who kissed me when I came back home. We have all had wayward times in our lives. But then we have a Father, a perfect Father who is ready to RUN to us and Kiss us and not Kick us out. Aren’t you glad that we have a Loving Father?

Recently I was diagnosed with a disease by the Great Physician. You may also be familiar with it. The disease – Familiarity. We tend to become too familiar of the things and people around us. The result, life becomes very boring. You don’t learn anything new because you think you already know it. “Familiarity breeds contempt” is a familiar saying. When, you are too familiar with something, you tend to stop appreciating it. The sense of awe fades away. That too when you are familiarity is with Jesus, it’s a great problem. This was the problem of the people who lived in Nazareth. They had this disease of familiarity. They thought they knew Jesus very well. When the news about Jesus was spreading fast “is he not the carpenter?” is what they said. “He made our table and chairs” said one. “He made a beautiful door for us” said another. “He is just a carpenter. We know Jesus very well” was their claim. But they didn’t know him. For them he was just a maker of table and chairs. But in reality...

Today has been one of those incredibly lonely days. It has been a day of being misunderstood and misrepresented, a day when those I loved the most seem the farthest away. The other reason today has been so difficult and lonely is that I have also failed my friends and family. I have misunderstood and misrepresented them and in that I am certainly not like Jesus. So God forgive me and make me more like Jesus. These days don’t come often but when it comes it’s a bit tough to get through. But I wanted to see how Jesus handled his lonely days and moments in life. I read about Jesus’ lonely battle in Gethsemane. He was afraid. He was confused. He was lonely. He didn’t want to do what he was about to do. His friends were snoring while his sweat was turning into blood. If you were there, you could hear is deep sigh. His voice was shaky. He was lying face down. But face down before God. There he received strength for the cross. His situation and loneliness got worse but he became stronger. So ...

I was reading Mathew 6 th chapter, the last few verses. Jesus was teaching his disciples not to worry. He said worry accomplishes nothing. Three words popped out and said a hello to me from these passages. Faith, Father, and First. Let’s try to understand these Words. Jesus says that when you worry it’s an indication that your faith level is low. When you don’t trust God, you start to worry. So what do we do to increase our faith? Try these two things. 1. Pray as a father who came to Jesus prayed “Lord, ..help my unbelief ! Mark 9:24. 2. Faith comes from hearing the Word of God. Read more of His Word. As you intake more of His Words, your faith begins to increase and you begin to trust him more. The second word that Jesus uses, is the “Father”. “Your heavenly Father knows that you need them”. He reminds us that we have a Father in Heaven. Our Father is full of love to care for us, full of Wisdom to guide us and full of power to save us. We have a very strong, loving, wise Fa...

Whatever He Does Prospers --Ps 1:3 What a promise. As I was reading this sentence the word “Whatever” hit me strongly. What if some one promises you that “whatever” you do from today you will prosper? Won’t you leap with joy? Whatever seems like an unconditional promise. But this “Whatever” is not for “Whoever”. It’s for the “He”. Who does this He refer to? He refers to the person who mediates the Word of God day and night. He delights in the law of the Lord. Mediating and Delighting go hand in hand. When you don’t delight in something, you don’t mediate it. When you don’t mediate, you won’t delight. Have a look these examples from David. Psalms 119 15 I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. 16 I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word 23 Though rulers sit together and slander me, your servant will meditate on your decrees. 24 Your statutes are my delight; they are my counselors...

Here are some verses for you to ponder.. Romans 3:22 justified freely by his Grace Romans 5:2 Grace in which we now stand 2 Corinthians 8:9 His Grace makes us rich Ephesians 2;8 For it is by Grace you have been saved, through faith 2 Thess 2:16 by his Grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope James 4:16 But he gives us more Grace . ..... gives Grace to the humble 1 Tim 1;14 The Grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly Titus 2;11 For the Grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. Grace and Grace Alone!!!

Lets look at some of the objects around the Cross and try to gain some understanding. Nails Jesus was nailed to the cross. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. Colo 2:13,14 So what does this teach us? God nailed the written code that was against us on the cross. So the next time you remember your past sins, remember the nails. Your long list of iniquity and sins has been nailed to the cross and washed by the blood of Jesus. Nail this point down to your heart, so that you will be free from guilt. Next time, when the devil comes with to make you guilty, show the nails and nail him down. :)

This is one of the reply that i got for the "Been Thinking" Post. Found it useful.. You prayed to stop the rain. Someone else ( like a farmer or an agriculturist) prayed wanting the rain. Two conflicting prayer requests to God. God has all the power and authority to make His decision to whom He would answer. Praying with authority is good. But the motives also play a part I believe. You got stuck in the rain. You wanted to go. It was for "you". When Jesus stopped the winds, it was for "Others" ( the disciples who were afraid). Whenever he commanded the spirit or the sickness to leave the prayer was for "others". But when he prayed in the Gethsemane to remove the bitter vessel (Cross) it was for "him". And God DID NOT ANSWER even Jesus' prayer in a positive way. Praying for others; Living for others. That is God's plan for his disciples. Only few know that. Among them only few try to follow that to a certain ext...

Its Lent Again and Time to remember our Lords Passion once again...