Treasure In Clay Jar

Not a Fancy Cart but a Consecrated Shoulder Each and every story in the word of God has something significant to teach us. As the story unfolds in 1Chronicles 13 and 15 we see king David - a man after God's own heart, the ark of God which represents the presence of God, the new fancy cart to carry the ark of God, and a victim named Uzza. Yes, that's the story of bringing the ark of God from obscurity to the place of prominence. The good intention of bringing God's presence back to His people by king David somehow resulted in the tragic death of Uzza. At the first glimpse it seems so weird why the obvious action by Uzza- to steady the ark of God when the ox stumbled, was so severely punished by God. But as you take a deeper dig into the story you understand the severe punishment as a justified action from God. We see the familiarity of actions of these characters in the following aspects of our own life as well. 1. Decision Making   Then David consulted...

Pain-ful But Prayer-ful Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.” And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested. I Chronicles 4:9‭-‬10 What a gem was hidden between the genealogies which I considered boring to read and insignificant to look into. Recently I read an interesting fact regarding genealogies that God often includes certain names and excludes some. He starts a new line where He sees obedience. I would have easily skipped this blessed prayer of Jabez which was hiding between the list of genealogies like an oasis in the desert. This insignificant character Jabez was of much importance in God's eyes that He made sure to include a short yet powerful glimpse of this character. Often ...

Knock knock - Worry here !! That's the knock I hear at the door of my mind every now and then. Mostly I rush to the door and welcome this uninvited guest named Worry to make it's nest inside my mind. As I entertain this guest it makes sure not to leave my mind anytime soon. It's companions-  fear and depression follow, not long behind. Finally I find myself strangled and robbed of joy, peace and contentment. I remember some of the childhood dreams I used to have before exams. Time running out, pen not working, teacher coming closer to take the paper and the fear of not being able to finish my exam. In my dream I was picturising all the "what if's" which I would have thought during the day - oh the fear and anxiousness. Suddenly I open my eyes with that dreaded feeling, only to find out that it was just a dream and not reality. Phew. What a relief !! Worry is something similar to this. Worry is the whole bunch of "what if's". What...

Guard your Heart Above all else, guard your heart Proverbs 4:23‭ Yes we need to guard our heart more than any treasure of this world. We usually guard what is valuable and costly to us. This reminds me of a picture of the temple of God in the Old testament ( 1 Chronicles 9 and 2 Chronicles 23) which was guarded by the gatekeepers. I was amazed to see that David appointed  4000 gatekeepers to protect the temple of God( 1 Chronicles 23:5 ). Much importance was given to protect the temple because 1. They understood the preciousness of the temple of God . Temple was precious not because of its infrastructure but because of the presence of the most holy God in it. Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16 Today we are the temple of God. The most holy God resides in my heart. This heart is precious because God has paid a huge price to turn it from a stony heart to a heart of flesh. Oh if ...

Journey from fear to faith    But when I am afraid, I will put my trust in you. I praise God for what he has promised. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me? You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book. My enemies will retreat when I call to you for help. This I know: God is on my side! I will fulfill my vows to you, O God, and will offer a sacrifice of thanks for your help. For you have rescued me from death; you have kept my feet from slipping. So now I can walk in your presence, O God, in your life-giving light. Psalms 56:3‭-‬4‭, ‬8‭-‬9‭, ‬12‭-‬13 David the king , God's anointed was fearful . How can be the one who walks so closely with God can be fearful? But he is fearful. He comes before God confessing that I'm afraid . He states before God his weakness . He comes before God as He is . There is no pretense but only confession of a true s...

What do you see ? In the picture above what is the first thing you see. A broken clay jar? Or darkness inside the jar? Or a light shining through the dark broken jar ? It matters what you see. What you see changes the whole perspective. I often see the half glass empty than the half glass full . I often focus on what I don't have than what I have . I often linger on my darkness . But as I was meditating through 2 Corinthians  chapter 4 I was amazed at apostle Paul- the way he sees things . The way he see his earthly life through the heavenly lens. He says in 2 Corinthians 4:17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. He says that his afflictions are light . Really? As we read through 2 Corinthians 11:23‭-‬27 the terms which described his afflictions are- been put in prison, been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again, thirty-nine lashes. Three times  beaten...