Biblical Thoughts

  There are many lessons to be learnt from Paul’s final sea voyage to Rome which turned out to be a major disaster due to crew’s disobedience to God’s word and yet a salvage due to God’s grace. This voyage tells how God sustains a fallen world through his people though they remain a thin minority. It tells how much leadership Godly people can demonstrate in a hostile world if they are led by the Spirit from the example of Paul. Paul was undergoing a trial under procurator Felix after Jews accused him of being a ringleader of the sect of Nazarenes and stirring up riots among them (Acts 24:5). The case dragged on for more than two years. Festus who replaced Felix did not declare his innocence to please the Jews though no charges could be proven. Meanwhile Paul made an appeal to be tried before Caesar. Festus consented as Paul was a Roman citizen and was taken to Rome for a trial. A centurion named Julius was given the charge to escort him to Italy. Paul was accompanied by Luke as...

    Faith and Unbelief go hand-in-hand if unbelief remains unchecked. Many believers fall into this habit of living in faith and unbelief at the same time without being aware of it. This is a state in faith life which can turn a believer ineffective in their faith journey. This is a trick played by Satan from the days of Jesus where he keeps a person free from guilt of not having faith yet fills him or her with unbelief for a given situation. Jairus came to meet Jesus and pleaded with him saying, “My little daughter lies at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her that she may be healed, and she will live”. So, Jesus went with him (Mark 5:23, 24). It is clear that Jairus had full conviction that Jesus could heal her even from the point of dying. So, he was a man of extraordinary faith. Jesus reciprocated to his faith by deciding to go to his house. The decision of Jesus to go with him is enough to conclude that the life of his daughter is completely taken care ...

  Paul wrote to Corinthians famously; the letter kills but the Spirit gives life (2 Cor 3:4). Paul, who was once a student of Gamaliel writes that the law of Moses kills but the Spirit of God gives life. What led him to make such a bold declaration? Why did he decide to deny his whole Jewish background once he met with Jesus? The answers to these questions could best be found by studying the life of Paul besides his epistles. Paul was born in the cultural, commercial, cosmopolitan capital of the Roman province of Cilicia, Tarsus. He was born to the dispersed Jews who settled outside the Holy land. Tarsus equaled Athens in Greece and Alexandria in Egypt as a dominant center of education. All of them stood out like bright jewels around the shores of the magnificent Mediterranean Sea. Being situated at a cross junction of civilizations, Tarsus had traders and learned people bustling the streets where a young and aspirant Saul (Paul’s Hebrew name) grew up. Though he grew up in a ...

Bible begins with the expression “In the Beginning”. Fiction writers invented the expression “Once upon a time” and we read them in bedtime stories from childhood days. The expression “Once upon a time” suggests that according to the author the event happened at a certain point in time in history and is unsure when it happened. Such an expression also suggests there are events that have happened prior to this moment. If Bible began with an expression, ‘Once upon a time God created heavens and earth’, it would have led to the obvious question what God created prior to this moment. The expression “In the Beginning” refers to the very beginning of time. It was a point in time where time itself was introduced. It was a point in time where the Spiritual initiated the physical. Time is necessary for the physical world to function unlike the spiritual world which is not time bound. For them a thousand years is like a day (2 Pet 3:8) of ours. This expression was well endorsed by John...

  Abraham Maslow was an American Psychologist who developed a hierarchy of needs to explain the innate needs of man from a basic level to the highest level. At the lowest level are the Physiological rather the physical needs such as air, water, or food. Once the physical needs are met, mankind go beyond to look for safety needs which cover personal security, employment, health..etc. Once they are met, he or she looks for a sense of love and belonging. Beyond this, one seeks esteem which covers respect, self-esteem, status, or recognition. The final stage according to Maslow is the self-actualization where a person finds fulfilment by trying to reach his or her full potential. While this hierarchy of needs suggests that higher levels of needs arise only after the lower ones are met, it does not suggest how they could be met. How does Bible deal with the subject of human needs? Does it suggest a similar pattern? When God cre...

When God placed Adam in the garden of Eden, he was designed to live in absolute victory. Why would God who is full of love create an earth and allow his children to live in defeat? He authorized him to subdue and reign. He ate from the bounties of Eden, played with the animals, swam in the streams, and enjoyed the companionship of Eve and an unceasing communion with the Father. He lived in utmost freedom and utmost victory. Slavery and defeat were unknown to him. He lost his authority the moment he submitted to satan and was driven out of the garden. Instead of living by God’s Word in God’s world, he had to live by his own sweat (Gen 3:19). Instead of relishing the golden bounties of Eden, he had to till the land for his living. Toil took a toll of his life.  Fatigue, and stress came into his life. Poverty and lack followed as his sweat could not suffice. He lost his mastery over life, lost his divine health and sickness stole into his flesh. Pain became his partner. For Adam and...

    Psalms 91: 4 says His truth shall be a shield and a buckler. How can truth become a shield? Natural mind can see a piece of metal becoming a shield, not a piece of truth. First let’s look at how we turn a piece of metal into a shield? We shape them into a shield, hook them onto our hand and then use them against the fiery arrows. A piece of metal becomes a mighty weapon in the hands of one who decides to use it. A piece of truth can play a similar role. The best example is found in the life of Jesus. When satan came to tempt him saying, Turn the stone into bread (Math 4:3), he refuted him by quoting the Truth from Deuteronomy, that Man shall not live by the bread alone but my every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord (Deut 8:3). He kept quoting from scripture till satan fled. Here Jesus used an Old Testament Truth against satan. Adam faced a similar situation in the Eden Garden. In both the cases the temptation was about eating the forbidden food. But Adam...