Photos

On November 2, 2009, the penultimate day of our vacation in Mexico, after kayaking in the afternoon, Reuben started building some sand castles on the beach and as we searched for the camera to take a picture of what he had built, we realized that it was not in the bag that we usually carried it in. I went to the room to look for it and when I did not see it there, I started to panic. Panic stricken I asked Reuben to pray and we both prayed as Sangeetha walked over to the restaurant where we had lunch to see if we had left it there. I eagerly waited for Sangeetha to return with the good news that she had found it but that was not the case.

This is when it dawned on me that what I really felt concerned about was not the camera itself but the photos that was in the chip within the camera. We had taken about 200+ photos since the beginning of our vacation, including some family pictures at Chichen Itza, which is one of the seven wonders of the world. The camera is just a shell and was replaceable but the memories that were captured in the chip within were not only irreplaceable but priceless as well.

Likewise the shell of our bodies (jars of clay) is not what we should be concerned about but what we contain within it in our hearts (chip) is what truly matters. And what truly matters is the treasure of Jesus Christ (who is priceless and irreplaceable) whom we should hold within our jars of clay (2 Corinthians 4:5-7) in our hearts.

Eventually, we did find the camera which was in the room carefully stowed away by the housekeeping service personnel and now I believe that this experience was given to teach me a valuable lesson. i.e., what really matters is the treasure of Jesus Christ hidden in those who believe in His name and not our ephemeral bodies that will metamorphose one day into celestial ones.

2 Corinthians 4:5-7 (KJV)
⁵ For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.
⁶ For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
⁷ But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

Masks

Shakespeare quoted in Hamlet Act 3 Scene 1 – ‘God hath given you one face and you make yourself another’. At Chichen Itza, we bought a beautiful Mayan mask (see image) as a decorative artifact for our home. The mask is intricately designed and when placed in front of your face, it hides the contours and shades of the face. But no matter how much it masquerades the face, the wearer is still the same person. As I admired the intricacies of the handiwork in the mask, I was reminded of how we all wear masks as well and could relate with Apostle Paul when he wrote, ‘the things I want to do, I do not do and the things I do not want to do, I do.’ (Romans 7:15).

We only showcase the ‘good’ to the world around us, hiding the ‘bad’ and the ‘ugly’ aspects of our lives behind the masks we wear. While we may be able to successful hide our ‘real’ self from men behind the saintly masks we wear, there is no hiding from God. In fact, when we play double agents with God, what we are essentially doing is
1. denying the omniscience of God stating God does not know.
2. challenging the righteousness of God and ignoring his justice stating God does not care.

But thankfully, God is not interested in the masks we wear, He is interested in our bad and ugly lives. Unless the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us clean, we are sold under sin (Romans 7:14). We must first remove our mask before God and then before men/women for in not doing so, we are like men/women who are false prophets, deceitful workmen/workwomen, who masquerade as the apostles of Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). When we remove our masks before God, coming to Him as a sinner, the only response evoked is one of acceptance, wherein God accepts you and me just as we are. He removes the masks from our lives and lets the world see who we really are – His children.

Drowning God

During our vacation at Mexico, we spent a majority of our time in the beautiful swimming pools of the Azul Sensatori Resort. With our three year old son, Reuben, I played several water games and one game in particular that he enjoyed was called the ‘Save’ game. In this game, I acted like I was drowning and he would jump into the pool and try to rescue me. When leaving the pool, I once mentioned to him, saying, ‘Reuben, thank you very much for saving dada, I would have drowned without you’, for which he responded, ‘No dada, you cannot drown, the height of the water in the pool was not high enough to drown you; you could stand in the pool!’. He is right. Even at the part of the pool where the water was the deepest, the waters did not come over my shoulders as the maximum depth was 4′2”. His response did make me think about how in essence God who is above all waters (troubles) is incapable of drowning. He in fact, holds the very oceans in the hollow of his hands! (Isaiah 40:12). But sadly, we belittle Him and think of our problems in life to surpass and drown God and His power.

Let us recognize the incapability of anyone or anything in this world or the one to come to drown God and may our response be as that of a child, ‘No God, you cannot drown, the height of my problem(s) in my life is not high enough to drown you, you can stand over my problem(s).’

Isaiah 40:10,12 (KJV)
¹⁰ Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, …
¹² Who hath measured the waters (oceans) in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?

Kayaking

For the very first time in our lives, Sangeetha and I took Reuben and we all went kayaking in the Caribbean sea along the shores of Puerto Morelos (South of Cancun, Mexico). It was a tiring yet enjoyable experience. Our guide kayak was for the most part kayaking alongside us but at times left us and went toward others in the party, leaving us in between the shore and the vast ocean.

Reuben sat with me in the front and Sangeetha sat behind.  He enjoyed the zephyr on his face, and even when the water that buffeted against our kayak, at times came into the kayak, he was calm and cool and was having fun. I had my arms around him and he even helped me with steering using the oars.

What we learned quickly was that in order for us to steer the kayak forward, both Sangeetha and I had to steer the kayak in a synchronized fashion. We even came up with a strategy where Sangeetha from the back would call left, right, left or left, left, right or left, right, right as needed. As long as we both moved our oars together and uniformly, we were okay but every time I missed a beat or was slow, we found that the kayak, veered off course and at one time, we were kayaking straight into the ocean, until we managed to get our beat back together and steer ourselves to the shore.

What this experience really taught me was three things -

1. First, as long as the guide was alongside us, we were not worried. Similarly as long as we are aware and know of God’s presence alongside us, we have nothing to be worried about. (Deuteronomy 31:6)
2. Second, when my arms were around Reuben, he had not a care in the world. Likewise, when God’s arms surround us, we need not have to be anxious about anything.
3. Thirdly, just as it was required for Sangeetha and me (and Reuben) to work together in a unified manner to advance the kayak forward, so also in order for us to advance the kingdom of God forward, we must work in unity with one another and more importantly with God. Jesus’ request to God the Father was the we may be one with Him and God, just as He and God the Father are one (John 17:21).

Deuteronomy 31:6 (KJV)
⁶ Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
John 17:21 (KJV)
²¹ That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: …

Signs

Today we were blessed in taking the first step toward one of my life long dreams, which is to see all of the seven wonders of the world with my family. With a trip to one of the seven wonders, the Chichen Itza, in the Yucatan peninsula, there are six more to go. The ingenuity and resourcefulness of man in building such a pyramid, the thousand columns and the ball court is incredibly fascinating.

We drove from Cancun for nearly three hours, with the majority of the trip on autopista (toll road 180D). While the drive itself was uneventful, there were many signs on the toll road that caught my attention.There were several signs that had to do with the drive. Some of the noticeable ones were:
Respete limited des velocidad (Respect/Obey the speed limit),
Obedezca las senales (Obey the sign),
Dismuniya su velocidad (Slow down),
Maneja con precaucion (Drive with caution),
Topes (or) Reductor de velocidad (Speed bumps),
Radar en operacion (Radar in operation) and
Un solo carril (Single lane)

Quickly it dawned on me that the signs on the road are very applicable in our Christian journey as well. Our Christian walk should be one in which we respect/obey the signs (God’s commandments in the Bible). Though we often view speed limit signs to be a limitation of our need for speed, it in reality is for our own protection. Likewise, in Christian life, people tend to view the Bible (God signs to us) as a one that limits our freedom, while in reality, it is given to us for our own protection, for in keeping its ways saves us from the chambers of death. We must slow down when necessary and drive with caution, especially behind enemy lines. Our experiences in life sometimes can be akin to spiritual speed bumps and the law, synonymous to the radar in operation, but what is most important, is that there is only one lane, a single lane by which we can access the throne of God and that is believing in Jesus.

2 Timothy 3:16 (KJV)
¹⁶All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

Dispelling shadows

Recently, I noticed our darling son, Reuben, who is three month shy of turning four, try to stamp out his shadow and when I asked him what he was doing, he said, that he did not like his shadow and did not want it to follow him. I explained to him that there was nothing he could do about it, until it dawned on me that the only way that he could get rid of the shadow was to be the source of light himself. As long as light shines on him, his shadow will follow, but when light shines from him, his shadows that follow him will be dispelled.

In our walk with Christ, it is no different. In our very lives, we have many shadows that follow. The shadow of self (personal desires over God’s), the shadow of sin, and the shadow of death (sin’s wages) are lingering shadows that become evident when the light of the world, Jesus Christ, shines on us, giving us the knowledge of the glory of God (2 Corinthians 4:6). And when we accept Him, He comes into our life, and His radiance dispels self, sin and death. How? We become a new creation (dispelling self; 2 Corinthians 5:17); We are imputed righteousness (dispelling sin; Romans 3:22); We have eternal life (dispelling death; John 3:16).

When Jesus Christ shines on our lives, we can observe the shadows around us, but when Jesus shines from within us, all shadows are gone. The only way that we can get rid of the shadows is to hold within ourselves the very source of light, Jesus Christ. Christ in us, is the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27).

2 Corinthians 4:6 (KJV)
⁶ For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Colossians 1:27 (KJV)
²⁷ To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Beloved’s desire and delight

Song of Solomon 7:10 reads ^“I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me.“  Throughout this book, allegorically Israel is painted as the beloved’s (God’s) betrothed bride (Hosea 2:19-20) and the Church as the bride of Christ.

From the verse, there are three things that we can learn:

1. We belong to God (I am my beloved’s)
2. God is beloved, which means He is to BE LOVED. The sum of the law and the prophets is in loving the Lord, our God with all our heart, soul and mind and loving our neighbors as ourselves. (Matthew 22:40). In other words, it is all about first God being Loved.
3. God’s desire is toward you and me. Psalm 8 poses the question, “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?” (Psalm 8:4) and Proverbs 8 answers that question by stating “and my delights were with the sons of men.” (Proverbs 8:31). In other words, we are the delight of God.

Points to ponder:

1. Do we belong to God?
2. Can you and I say that God is my BELOVED i.e., God is being loved by you and me?
3. What a wonderful thing it is to realize that we are not only the desire of God, but we are his delight as well. His desire for us is constant and never changing, but are we living our lives in such a way that when he finds us, he will be delighted to see us.

Hosea 2:19-20 (KJV)
¹⁹ And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.
²⁰ I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD.

Consumed and Called

Jeremiah 15:16
Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.

Questions:
1. Do we consume (eat) the word of God when we find it?
2. Does the word of God consume us (nourishing out heart making it joyous) when it finds us?
3. What are we called by those around us? Are we called by His name? Calling His Name (as did David when he faced Goliath) is one thing but being called by the Name of God (as Christ Ones a.k.a Christians) is something altogether different. Both are necessary.

Faith and Fear

What is Faith? Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1). It is the substance, meaning it it real. It is an evidence, meaning that it can be proven even if invisible.

What is Fear? An acrostic for the word ‘FEAR’ reads False Evidence Appearing Real. Fear is diametrically opposite of faith. There is no substance and the evidence is not only invisible, but non-existent and cannot be proven.

Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17)
Fear comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of the enemy of God, Satan. When Eve and Adam listened to the lies of Satan in the garden and sinned against God, they were afraid (they feared) and they hid themselves from God.

God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7). So are we living by Faith or are we living in Fear? The question really is, whose voice are we hearing – God or his enemy?

J-E-S-U-S

The F.E. Marsh Bible Study outline has an interesting acrostic of Jesus that reads as follows:

J – Justifies us by the Blood of His atonement (Romans 5:9)
E – Endows in His peerless person (Ephesians 1:3)
S – Saves us in His life (Romans 5:10)
U – Unites in His baptizing Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13)
S – Sanctifies by His indwelling presence ( Galatians 2:20)

What more can I say, but just “show me a God with a name that justifies, endows, saves, unites and even sanctifies us, other than Jesus, I dare you”.