The halfbaked Bard

Psalm 4 was written by David centuries before the gospel became true. But he conveyed a strong message here. V:1 says God who declares me innocent. David knew how wretched a sinner he was. Still he says God declares him innocent. He has a confidence that God forgives his sins when he genuinely repents. That confidence is what we see in Psalm 51 No excuses. No reasons. Do we have that confidence? Rom:3:22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. Rom:3:24 Yet God with undeserved kindness declares that we are righteous. Rom:3:26 He declares sinners to be right in His sight when they believe in Jesus. Oh what a privilege? What confidence? We need not beat our body or strain or strive to please him. No amount of pilgrimage or offerings is able to bribe Him, to please Him to accept us into Him. Only an act of God could do this justification. An old definition of justification goes like this  - JUST AS IF I NEVER SINNED. He not only declares me innocent...

Psalm:3:3 But you o Lord are a shield around me. Shield is for protection. And usually it has enarmes in its inner aspect to hold it aloft. Gal:6 says about shield of faith as part of the armour of God. But here in this Psalm, it is said that the Lord is a shield around me, surrounding me. Not infront of me alone as you hold it up to protect yourself. So if a kattappa comes from behind too, he won't be able to smite you. It is like a ppe kit.  It is like a biosecure bubble. God protects all around us. So when fiery darts come at us from any direction, no harm will befall us. Unless we stick out our hands and try to defend ourselves.  He is a shield around us. Psalm:91:9. If you make the Lord your refuge. If you make the Most High your shelter, no evil will conquer you. No plague will come near your home. Many a times, we forget the first part. To make the Lord our refuge. He alone should be our refuge.  He alone should be our fortress to whom we run to.

Israel is a peculiar nation. When the Lord said to go and occupy the land, they hesitated,they doubted, they rebelled. So the Lord says, because they treated the Lord with contempt, He is going to abandon this generation. For 40 years they would wander in wilderness. All except Joshua and Caleb who gave a good report on the promised land, would perish. Now what do they do now? Num:14:39-40 says that when they realized the truth, they were filled with grief and the next morning they decide - okay then we will go. No remorse, no repentance.  Just a change in direction. I don't think there is any trust involved. Nor is there any feeling of "Oh! I've hurt God" Probably because their aim was their comfort. Be it going back to Egypt or now when this promised land has become more practical and makes more sense. Their God was their belly. They were not God oriented but self oriented. Dear one, it is not about what you will do or what you desire to do or what will happen to yo...

Num:14:19 In keeping with your unfailing love, please pardon the sin of this people, just as you have forgiven them ever since they left Egypt. Next verse says, Then the Lord said, "I will pardon them" No sin is too great that God cannot forgive. No sin is too heavy the Jesus couldn't carry it on the cross. His unfailing love is the reason for the forgiveness you received. He did not wait for the Israelites to seek pardon, so that He could extent His hand of forgiveness. He just forgave them - because of His unfailing love. That is the epitome, because 1Cor:13 says that love never keeps a record of being wronged. Because of His unfailing Agape love for me, He doesn't keep a list of my wrongdoings. He just forgave. You might have messed up you life. Or you might not realize you have messed it up, but enjoy in the dirt, still lurking around sin. The choice that God has made, is to forgive your sins because He loves you unfailingly. What is your choice? What ...

Num:14:17 Moses reminds God. For you said "The Lord is slow to anger and filled with unfailing love forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion. Num:14:19 in keeping with your magnificent unfailing love please pardon the sins of this people just as you have forgiven then ever since they left Egypt. No wonder God trusted Moses. No wonder God testifies about Moses that he sees the Lord as He is. Do I have this openness to God? To openly talk to God like this. God invites you to this kind of a relationship. To talk to God like this. To open your heart out. To commune to Him as friend. Like Abraham. James:2:23. He was even called friend of God. I am a friend of God I am a friend of God I am a friend of God He calls me friend Who am I that You are mindful of me? That You hear me when I call Is it true that You are thinking of me? How You love me It's amazing Who am I, Lord Who am I that You are mindful of me? That You hear me when I call (is it true O Lord?) Is it true that You are t...

Num:14:12b Then I will make you into a great nation and mightier than they are. This is the offer of a life time for Moses. Fed up of the contempt and rebellion, God wants to destroy the entire Israel nation and bless Moses and make him a greater nation. As a reward to his loyalty, meekness and trust. Yet v:13 starts with a queer response from Moses - But Moses objected. We are filled with so much of self love that its difficult for us to understand this. Moses asks God, then why did You bring them out of Egypt? What would the Egyptians or the other nations think? I was thinking, how I would have responded had I been in Moses'shoes. 🔹Oh the Lord is so gracious. 🔹Yes He is nobody's debtor. 🔹Amazing plans to prosper, not to harm. 🔹Man proposes, God disposes. I would have misquoted all these verses for my convinience. That shows the amount of love I have for myself. We need to always remember that the specific will of God for me will never counter His general will....

A sudden twist in the plot. A chosen nation almost about to set foot on the land that is promised to them, on the verge of setting their foot ashore, desires let's choose a new leader and go back to Egypt. Almost set foot. Almost claimed. But wanting to lose it for Egypt, a place they were suffering. And this act so much hurt God. He describes it with such pain - that they were treating Him with contempt. Any act of doubt or distrust is treating God with contempt. Any act of mistrust resulting in disobedience to God is treating Him with contempt. Any lack of belief in God is treating Him with contempt. And contempt is a very strong word - Treating somebody as worthless. When God says something we have to believe it. We have to just trust that God will take care. That God is enough to take care of all consequences. No descendants of Anak will be able to defeat us. Just trust and obey. If not we are actually considering Him and His promises as worthless. Not a shadow can ...

When the spies came back after forty days, there were two reports. Caleb said " We can certainly conquer it." Others said "they are stronger than we are." Where the majority looked at the problem per se, Caleb looked at the God who called them. The majority looked at the giants, the descendants of Anak and saw them as big. Where as Caleb looked at his Almighty God and thought the giants were small. One favourite quote which has always stuck in my mind - When you face with a big problem, do not tell your God how big your problem is, but tell your problem how big your God is. I'm not against praying to God when you come face to face with a problem. But I was advocating the entity called faith.  In Malayalam we have a saying ' Vilichavan vishwasthan ' which means, the one who called us is faithful. Stop trusting in logic. Stop putting your hope in reasoning. Ps:20:7 Some may trust in chariots and some in horses, But we trust in the name of the ...

In Num:13:1 we find out that it was the Lord who instrcted Moses to send 12 leaders to explore the promised land. It was a test of faith for them. It is not like God testing whether they would have faith. Many a times I have misinterpreted "test of faith", as God putting a test and seeing whether we would qualify.  The picture is not of a teacher putting an exam to see who all would pass. But that of a loving father who would leave his hands so that his child would learn to walk. Such tests are means for us to exercise our faith. Unless we are aware of this act of the loving father, we would always see him as a cruel taskmaster. The Lord wants us to grow in our trust in Him. And all circumstances that He takes us through are means by which we would place our trust in Him more and more. We cannot live in this world without placing our trust in Him. And our faith will only increase if we exercise it. And we can only exercise it if it's tested. And God gives ampl...

Miriam and Aaron criticize Moses because he had married a Cushite woman. " Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?" None other than God Himself comes for Moses' aide. The Lord says - of all my house he is the one I trust. And He testifies about Moses that he sees the Lord as He is. When you are cornered from all sides, when you feel all alone, when you feel, you are facing the whole world against you, it is a solace to know that there is someone on your side. Your closest friend or the love of your life or you mother will always be in your corner. Just their presence doesn't bring much of a solution to your problem. But knowing that there is someone in this world who considers you have done right is such a comfort. Here is God defending Moses. God testifies that he is the only one whom God trusts. What an amazing solace it is to realize that God is on my side.  That you are not alone. That there is God who understands you. You might be helpless. But He acc...

The people craving for meat gets enough and more. Quail was all around, they were gorging. But the Lord's anger falls upon them and they were struck with a great plague. The Lord was angry because they were thankless.  Sometimes out of our persistence, out of our selfish desire, even if He doesn't approve, He might grant it to us - but with its consequences. The Lord approving doesn't mean He compromises. His standards never change. But ultimately Rom:8:28 still holds true. God works all things for good for those who love Him. Let us not be adamant of our desire. Let our prayers be like Jesus - Let not my will but yours be done.

Scar was always jealous about Mufasa and Simba. Because they had something which he never had. The throne. Jealousy is not something that we see in the present era alone. Moses was asked by God to bring 70 elders into the Tabernacle. When they came they were filled with the same Spirit as Moses and they began to prophesy. Two of them had stayed in the camp itself and they began to prophesy there. Joshua son of Nun who had been a young assistant to Moses tell Moses to stop them  Moses immediately identifies it as jealousy. He in Num:11 says a very selfless statement. I wish that all Lord's people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit on them all. This message needs to go deep into our hearts. How do I take other's prosperity? Be it spiritual or material or academic or work related. We can either react like Joshua or like Moses. Phil:2:3 In humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also ...

What's happening? The world is under the scare of a deadly virus which is even smaller than your one cell. Has His arm lost its power? Is it troubling you when things continue to go the way you did not like or prefer? Where is God? Why is God not acting when there is butchery and murder and rape and treachery and money frauding happening around? Has His arm lost its power? The everyday news has nothing but to say of all these heinous crimes. The world is filled with so much of dirt and filth. Is God really there? Why doesn't He act? Has His arm lost its power? Personally do you struggle in some sin? You are so sick of it. You tried every possible way to renounce it and throw it off from your life. But why is God so silent? Why doesn't He intervene? Has His arm lost its power? This statement in the header is asked by God Himself to Moses when the Israelites were rebelling and whining for meat. The Lord promises them meat. But Moses is all doubtful as to how He wo...

Num:11:1 Soon people began to complain Why? One was about their hardship and the other was because they don't have the good things they had in Egypt. #1 When you complain of your hardship, you miss the big picture.  Boy, you are going to the promised land flowing with milk and honey. Rom:8:18 says I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed in us. When we fix our eyes on the destiny, these hardships become silly. Be it pain, be it rejection, be it injustice, be it debt, be it sickness, be it anything that disturbs you right now. Do not let it make you complain. He giveth more grace. The malayalam translation of the Fany Crosby song 'Draw me nearer' has a stanza which is translated as ' I thank you for the angel of sickness that you have sent me to bring me closer to you' Dear one, these hardships are just mere means to look unto God. Rom:5:3-4 We also glory in sufferings, because we know that sufferin...

Moses asks his brother in law Hobab, who was a Midiamite to join them in their journey through the wilderness into the promised land. The reason for this queer invitation was that Hobab knew the wilderness and where to camp. Is Moses so short sighted? The promise is, the Almighty, All Powerful God is going to take you. And the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire is there for your guide and protection. And it's ascending and descending assures His presence althroughout. And he immediately seeks man's help. Aren't we also like that? The Lord promises something. He has led you thus far. But still we need an affirmation, a human wisdom. Does the Lord's voice seem abstract? It could either be because we need solid wisdom from someone who knows better so that we wouldn't need to own up for our own decisions later on or there is this lack of trust in the God who has led us this far. We need to tell ourselves. He is worthy to be trusted. He has led us this far. H...

God asked Moses to make two silver trumpets (Num:10) Apart from calling the community to assemble or calling the leaders or calling them to start moving, the other major purpose of these silver trumpets was to use them in times of gladness, to sound them in the times of annual festivals. Psalm 150 is a wonderful Psalm of praise. Itbis written as a final great Hallelujah, as a final conclusion of the Psalters. It just says, get everything you have got, to praise this God. ☑️ Blast of ram's horn. ☑️Lyre ☑️ Harp ☑️Tambourine ☑️ Dancing ☑️ Strings ☑️Flutes ☑️ Cymbals and loud clanging cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Infact the Psalmist is trying to say. Don't sit quiet. If you are alive, praise Him. Today's church is filled with so much melancholy that it looks like a funeral procession which mourns for the death of its Saviour. Yes my sinfulness should definitely give me remorse when I come to His holy presence. Godly sorrow brings in repen...

I have always found it imperative to ask the Lord during taking major decisions in my life. I remember the time before our marriage was the time I prayed the most. Asking God _ Is she the one? Regarding pursuit of my career. Regarding the school my children would go. Any major decisions in our life has always been linked to asking God - Lord what's your will? I believe we all have fasted and prayed for atleast one thing in our lives - to take the correct decision, to know what's best for us. Because that was the most important thing for us then. How to know God's will is one of the most common querries that come up in any Q & A session. And the urgency is because you feel- What if I lose this golden opportunity? What if someone else comes in my place? If I do not do this now, according to God's will, will I suffer later in my life? Will God punish me by letting me be unsuccessful in my life, if I do not say yes to this now? Be it marriage or career or an...

Psa:2:6 For the Lord declares, "I have placed my chosen king on the throne in Jerusalem in my Holy mountain" Then He continues to say. You are my Son and I've become you Father.  A similar proclamation by The Father we see in Matt:3:17 about Jesus Himself. We need to understand that whoever is in authority, the Lord is always in control. He is the ruler of it all. Be it Trump or Biden Be it Modi. Be it Nitish Kumar or Tejaswi. The Lord is still on the throne. The Lord is in control. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God. Romans 13:1

Whenever Moses went into the Tabernacle to speak with the Lord , he heard the voice speaking to him from between the two cherubim above the Ark’s cover—the place of atonement—that rests on the Ark of the Covenant. The Lord spoke to him from there. Numbers 7:89 NLT Two aspects are important here. Moses speaking and the voice of the Lord speaking. Moses everytime he went to the Tabernacle both these happened. Some of us want to speak to God only. Just want to present our requests alone.  Some of us want to hear God speaking alone. No talking back to him Both are important. Speaking and listening. Dear ones we have the privilege that the Lord resides in us. His temple is our body now and we can go up to Him anytime we wish. Unlike Moses. Even in our bed. While driving. While cooking. While working. While playing. Anytime is quiet time. Anytime is relation time. Are we serious about that.

Num:7:1-11 The day the Tabernacle and the furnishings and utensils were anointed by Moses - the tribes brought their offerings of 6 wagons and 12 oxen. These were distributed to the tribes of Levi themselves inorder to help them in the work they do. The  Gershonite and Marrarite divisions. V:9 says - But He gave none of the wagons or oxen to the Kohathite division, since they were required to carry the sacred objects of the Tabernacle on their shoulders. Totally unfair? Or extremely privileged? It all depends on how you see it. What more privilege than carrying the sacred objects of the Tabernacle on your very own shoulders? When I look into my life, I have been the most privileged in my life. Yes life has had its difficult times and there were times I was just fed up not knowing what to do. But when I realize that what God planned for me is ultimately for my good, there comes no room for complaints or injustice but only gratitude. When question arises - Why...

The first time I have come across this verse. Num:6:25   May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. Along with other priestly blessings, this has clung on to my heart 💓 When do we smile? 🔹When we are happy. May the Lord be happy about you. Though we are marred and can only do things which hurt Him, the prayer is that may the Lord find happiness in you. May He enable you to live a life that is pleasing to Him as in Rom:12:1. 🔹When we are satisfied. May the Lord be satisfied with you. Let Him say "Well done, good and faithful servant". 🔹When we enjoy. May the Lord find His enjoyment on you. Infact He is always mindful of you. We are His. And He has redeemed us back to be His own only because He loves us and enjoys us. We often want the second part of the verse. That God would look favourably on us. So that our things of this earth would be met. But more important would be that God would smile on me. That God would be happy and satisfied with me.  Yes the ...

Integrity was a complex term that I failed to understand for a pretty long time. Somehow I couldn't grasp the meaning of it. But I presume the best definition of integrity is seen in Psalm:1:1 📎 Not follow the advice of the wicked 📎 Not stand around sinners 📎 Not join with mockers. Someone who doesn't compromise on his values, his standards and what he believes. Always. Without any fail. He is not a person who believes in something and does the opposite. He is a person who sticks on to what he believes in his heart. Such a man is called blessed. Blessed is a man with integrity - To paraphrase it. How does he get his values? That's because he delights in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. And what's the blessing?  Like 🌲 trees planted by the river - being nurtured and provided with all the time with all you need.  Bearing fruit 🍎 in all season - being enabled to do what you are supposed to do. They prosper in all they do. And the Lord w...

john:19:34 One of the soldiers however pierced his side with a spear and immediately blood and water flowed out. Physiologically it represents dehydration and hypovolemic shock. Theologically it represents fulfilment of a promise. The pain and agony He had to go through to redeem this wretched sinner is unfathomable. The price He had to pay is beyond imagination. I better be serious about Him, for He was always serious about me

Numbers Chapter 4 The duty of the Kohathite clan of the Levi tribe was to transport the sanctuary and sacred articles whenever they moved. But it was instructed to them not to touch these sacred articles or even enter the sanctuary to look at them even for a moment. For this purpose, first Aaron and his sons must always go in with them (v:19). And inorder to carry them and not touch them, they must cover them with blue cloth and goat skin (v:15). The things of God have always been considered so holy that even an iota of sin in us disqualifies us to have access. Just like a father who is ready to go for work, bathed and fully dressed in neat and well pressed clothes would deter to hug his own son who has just finished smearing food all over his body. Though he loves him to the core. So is God, though He loves us, our rebellion and our sin disqualifies us from having access to God. But the story doesn't end there. Heb:10:22 Let us go right into the presence of God with si...

The Levites belong to me. Num:3:12 The Holy Priesthood, as we are, we belong to God Himself. We are His. Isa:43:1 Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name. You are mine. Isa:43:4 You are precious to me. You are honoured and I love you. I am the Lord's beloved. I am His alone. Nothing can seperate us from the love of God Rom:8:38

I was awakened by the stage show in the sky yesternight. It was the second season of monsoon that happen in Kerala that we call the "Thulavarsham". The flashes were appalling and the rumblings were Raucous.  It made me think how small and puny I am. I realise this was one of the minors that we see here in this part of the earth. Catatumbo lightning is scary enough. This happens at the mouth of the Catatumbo river in Venenzuela. Which is supposed to be the most electric place on the earth Sheet lighting is intracloud lightning which can be seen by naked eye as a flash of light. The anvil crawler is a cloud to cloud with multiple branching pattern. Slow enough for the naked eye to perceive. The very famous idiom "bolt from the blue" is this. The lightning moves horizontally for a distance from the cumulonimbus clouds and then travel vertically down farther away from the source. Only to name a few. When I cons...

Continuing on the thought on Joseph. We do not know much about this man apart from the first one or two chapters in the gospel. And that too not all of them. Later on its all about Mary. Till even the death of Jesus on the cross.  We don't know what happened to him. He chose to be off the limelight. Though he was the father of the Saviour of the world. He chose to be in the shadows.  But I'm sure Jesus had a better understanding of the Father in heaven because he had a wonderful father in earth to emulate especially in His formative years. Being in the backstage is actually a good thing. Provided you do what God expects you to do. Not to be lazy or sit idly. The makeup man and the one who raises the curtain are all important for the show to go on along with the lead role. Though no one recognises or acknowledges their importance.

The world was shocked to see this tweet of the Olympic silver medalist P V Sindhu. But I believe her following tweets were highlighting the same thing I wanted to say today. So let's choose to retire from all negative things that rule us. And strive towards The only Holy God.  Let's retire. Let's shift gears . 

The book of Numbers start with registration of men older than 20 years of age who are able to go for war. Every tribe excluding the Levites were registered and more than 6 Lakh men were rostered. The Levites were spared from this responsibility. They were given the charge over the Tabernacle. To take care of it - the maintenance, the shifting, the hoisting. The Lord had promised them the land of Canaan, but it was their responsibility to claim it. They had their role to play. They had to fight their wars. It is solely my duty to nurture the relation that the Lord hath promised. The eternal life that he hath offered. Do I take a valid and notable effort to maintain that? How do we nurture? I faintly but vividly remember what I have been taught years ago by Dr. Mathew Jacob a mentor of mine. * To read the Bible - as you would a letter * To meditate the Bible - on a daily basis * To study the Bible - as you would your text books, with cross references, commentaries maps and wi...

I’m often amazed at Joseph’s obedience.  1. Heading in Matt:1 says Joseph accepts Jesus as his son.  2. V 24 he did....  3. Ch2 v14 so he got up.....  4. V21 so he got up.....  5. V22 he withdrew.... Whatever the Holy Spirit tells him he accepts it with his whole heart and obeys it completely without questioning or without any compromise. Not just in his deeds alone.in his mindset and thought process too. Very little do we read about Joseph. But the fact that he accepted Jesus as his son despite thinking what the world would say. And completely believing what God told him and completely obeying. Definitely a man to emulate

The last chapter of Leviticus says about many ways and things which you can dedicate to the Lord.  There are people who dedicate things for many things.  People dedicate themselves for serving their country. To serve mankind.  To earn maximum money. To studies. But what really matters is whether you are rich unto God. If not ultimately God calls you a fool. You might be rich and successful According to the world. But God will still call you a fool if you are not rich in your relation with God.. says Luke:12:20-21