Thinking Aloud

Blessed are those who mourn…. . This rather paradoxical statement was made by Jesus during the course of a lengthy discourse He had with His followers, an exposition that would later come to be known as the Sermon on the Mount ( Matthew 5, 6, 7) . He goes on in the same vein to say that those who are persecuted, insulted and falsely accused are also blessed and commands the victims of these circumstances to rejoice and be glad . (Matthew 5:4, 10, 11, 12). Some experts claim the sermon was addressed specifically at the disciples and was not meant for public consumption. But of this, we will never be sure. A world that is in a relentless search for pleasure, a world that diligently seeks wealth, power and authority, a world that is seethed in greed, selfishness, and lust for power - would find an injunction like the above meaningless and startling. But the values of the kingdom of heaven Jesus talks about are diametrically opposed to those of a fallen world. I have ...

Matthew 8:34 Then the whole city went out to meet Jesus, and as soon as they saw Him, they begged Him to leave their region.   This is a very sad verse , describing a very sad situation – an anti climax that followed a spectacular miracle by Christ. The Lord entered the country of the Gerasenes out of compassion, to heal men of sickness, physical, mental and spiritual. He started with a man possessed of a legion of demons. People who heard about the incident flocked to the scene, not to witness this extraordinary event and praise God, not to be cured of any ill health themselves, but to ask the author of it to leave their midst! They considered business and income more important than the Lord’s presence. But rejecting Jesus, turning away from Him, and refusing His offer of salvation is not uncommon. We often deny Jesus by downplaying our Christianity and trying to merge with the crowd, when we shy away from sharing with others our experience with the Lord and   whe...

Where is God? The obvious answer would be ‘‘He’s everywhere’’; as a spiritual being God is there wherever He wants to be, the omnipresent God. It could also be said ‘’He lives in the hearts of everyone who loves in Him -- who seek Him sincerely”. These answers are true – but the Bible also tells us God lives in heaven surrounded by angels and other “heavenly hosts”.   Is   there is actually be a place called heaven – a geographical entity -where God resides?   – If I may dip into vernacular, does God have a permanent residential address? However odd it might sound, the answer is yes! The scriptures make it clear: Nehemiah 9:6   you alone are Lord. You created the heavens, the highest heavens with all their host…… Psalm 102:25 …. the heavens are the work of Your hands. Psalm 115:15 ……..The   LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. Psalm 136:5   By His insight He made the heavens. Isaiah 45:18 For thus says the LORD--He who created the heave...

Our story starts at Genesis 12 – that momentous day when God asked Abraham to leave his homeland Haran , and proceed to the place where He tells him. God promised Abraham He will bless him, make him a great nation and a blessing to others. Abraham obeyed this command with alacrity, not even knowing where he was to go and proceeded with his wife and his nephew and protégé, Lot . He took with him all his moveable property which was enormous. The party  arrived in Canaan (Shechem). God promised Abraham that He would eventually give his descendants the land of Canaan to possess. The family continued its sojourn to Negev and eventually Egypt . There he encountered a problem - his enormous wealth and extremely beautiful wife came to the notice of emperor. After some confusion and unpleasant consequences,  the family was escorted out of the country and allowed to settle in Negev – between Ai and Bethel - not far from Jerusalem , the future capital of Judea . The faithfu...